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AJ,
That's great!
I had a kitty, Teddiah, who loved to meow in the phone. I wonder now if she was really trying to talk.
Mom had a cat, Panjee, who used to smack the phone when it rang. I think she just didn't like the noise, though.
God bless!
posted by
songbirdshafer
on December 8, 2005 at 11:44 PM
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Pet Freedom
We've, for the most part, had outdoor pets (mostly, cats) but make sure that they're well-fed and cared for as well as always having somewhere to go that's safe and warm in winter weather. We have lots of farmland and woods, so they liked to roam around there during the day but always came home except on those occasions when they either got older and went off to die or else met an untimely death on the highway that runs along the west border of our property. Highway deaths didn't happen that often, and at least we knew that they were living full and free lives at the time.
Since other people in the area had roaming cats, it wasn't even a nuisance should one or more of them wander into someone else's yard.
We were more careful with our dogs but really actually didn't need to be, because they were more homebodies and not really inclined to leave our property. It was sort of a compound, because we had relatives (my grandparents, uncle, and cousins) living where I live now, while my folks and I lived together, and we were actually all of the humans of all of the pets who wandered from one place to another.
One dog, Spot (who mostly belonged with the relatives but could also wander up our way), had this thing about the telephone ever since Mawsie let him listen while Aunt Ruby talked to him.
From then on, it was HIS telephone. As a young dog, he grew up on an isolated farm in Kentucky (where the relatives lived before moving to Indiana), so he was outdoors all of the time. In Indiana, he was mostly outdoors or in the basement with occasional visits into the house. As he grew older, he liked to stay in the house more (mostly, in either the family room or my grandparents' bedroom) and go outside during the day.
Anyway, he had this definite thing about the telephone.
When it rang, he was after it--and you'd better acknowledge that he was there and let him listen in, too, or you got furiously barked at (and, sometimes, given a little nip--though not enough to draw blood).
If he were away from the phone and couldn't hear it ringing, and Uncle Jim would hear it and run to answer it, Spot would be after him.
Uncle Jim decided to do an experiment one time to see if Spot were responding to the ringing or if he could sense that a phone call was happening even without the ring.
So, he got up and started dashing towards the side of the house where the phone was--and Spot charged after him.
It soon got to the place where, if the word "telephone" were said, Spot would jump up and charge in the direction of the phone.
One day, I was sitting out on the back porch playing solitaire when I saw Spot wandering in the direction of the neighbors to the north who had a dog named Candy whom Spot decided might be a real treat.
Knowing that the neighbors didn't want Spot doing the wild thing with their dog, I called to him, "Spot! Go home! NOW!"
He just ignored me and kept walking.
Then, I got this bright idea: "Spot!" I called. "Go home! You've got a telephone call! Telephone, Spot! Telephone!"
You should have seen him turn around on a dime and head back!
Cheers!
AJ
Do you think Santa
will leave
switches & coal
for me
since I wrote
such an ornery
parody
of
The 12 Days Of Christmas
!?!
posted by
Ainsley_Jo_Phillips
on December 7, 2005 at 1:59 PM
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Godiva,
Thank God you got your dog back.
I've never been able to understand the mentality that allows animals to roam free. They ARE little kids.
Usually, it's that people don't care enough to keep pets in, but occasionally, it's out of ignorance. Many, many years ago, my family let pets roam, but we did care. ...and the wonderful thing about caring is that we can learn. We learned better, and because we cared, we tried harder for our animals as the years passed, and in the end, gained valuable experience.
From our pet learning journey, I can now take the best care possible of my animal kids, though I still make mistakes, but thank God, not nearly as many!
posted by
songbirdshafer
on November 8, 2005 at 1:51 AM
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glad we share the same philosophy
I'm totally with you on keeping pets confined to the home area unless walked and leashed. I don't understand people who allow their pets to run wild and not worry to death about something awful happening to them whether cat or dog. That would be like letting a little kid roam free. How can these people say they care anything for their pets? One of my cats was originally a stray but she doesn't even have any desire to leave the house now. She's got it too good and she knows it. My parents let the dog loose a few weeks ago and it took 4 days to find her. And she's 16 and deaf! It is so fortunate that she was picked up by dog lovers. And because of my parents' negligence, the dog is now solely in my custody and we're all happier for it.
posted by
Godiva
on November 7, 2005 at 11:35 AM
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Hi back to you...
Great to "meet" you!
I'm primarily a cat person, but I really love all animals.
I try to approach the care I give my critter young'uns as a learning experience, so that I can constantly improve. It's rewarding, back-breaking, and heart-breaking, but these animals really give more to me than I give them.
posted by
songbirdshafer
on November 3, 2005 at 10:26 PM
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>:-} Hi! welcome!
I'm pretty fond of my animal family members, too! We have 4 guinea pigs, 10 bunnies, a parakeet and a dog! Some of my posts in my Dr. Wigglenose Says blob have been about them, and there will be more. Who knows what we'll be able to share! Nice to meet you!
posted by
wiserabbit
on November 3, 2005 at 10:02 PM
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