Easter PSA

[Annie]

Well that explains something about a guinea we have. He apparently has superior genes because he is our lone survivor and has been going solo for 7-8 months. Before his wife and children were all murdered by some nefarious creature he was content to eat bugs in the yard and hang out by the barn.

After their demise he started roosting on the basketball goal and pooping on the driveway. That was annoying but tolerable. I came out one morning to find gray feathers all over the yard and figured he was a goner too. To my surprise, he had simply retreated to some safe spot in the woods to heal his wounds and reappeared a couple weeks later.

Now, the poor fella wants to hang out with people because he has no feathered companions. He sits on the back porch and looks in window all the time. He stays pretty close to us but not close enough for us to catch him and "re-home" him. I am tired of him pooping on everything on the patio but I respect his knack for survival too much to shoot him. I don't what I'm going to do but something has to be done.

My advice would be to replenish his flock (but you will have keep them separated until the babies are half or more grown or he will kill them) or shoot him. Harsh (or a pain in the ass), I know, but that is just the long and short of it.

How's Bella doing?

 

[dennishoddy]

Yeah, I don't think we ever fed out just one by itself ... at least two at a time.

I can't tell all the stories about raising one to butcher that went nuts.
Not just jumpers, but they were homicidal. Wanted to attack you at feeding time.
I do remember the folks we got fresh milk from every thursday when I was a kid had an AM radio playing in the milk house when the cows were in there.
FM wasn't invented then.

 

[Annie]

Replenishing is a no go. I am trying to downsize. Everyone else is now on board. Shooting him is a no go either. My middle child would remember that forever. I may tip our house sitter a little extra next time we're gone to make sure he disappears, no questions asked.

Bella is just an awesome dog but she is starting to struggle with her hips. This has impacted her level of exercise which has caused her to put on weight which makes her hips worse. It's a vicious cycle and were not sure what to do for her. She's almost 7 now but I didn't expect for these issues to be showing up yet. I don't think she is suffering just sore and stiff. She still wants to be outside when the kids are outside and she makes sure she is close to them wherever they are. We could not have asked for a better dog.

Yep. Unfortunately that hip thing -- actually joint thing -- comes part and parcel with having a GSD. Jackie's hips were what eventually did her in, although I'm sure her back injury didn't help any.

These two here are in a strict diet now. I let them get a little too heavy over the winter and Nero, especially, is suffering because of it. He's coming up on his 12th birthday. Jackie made it to 14. The other dogs we have had all had pre-existing, or congenital conditions that were varied, and took them all from me way too soon. Life of a pet owner, I guess. Kills me every time and every time I say no more pets but I cannot imagine my life without a dog in it.

You are so right, too, you know. Bella is a GREAT dog.