Cats and Dog

News isn't always bad on the animal front and sometimes it's very good. Mama cat Satin has adopted puppy Charlie into her litter of four kittens. The Meriden Connecticut Humane Society had picked up a dog that subsequently gave birth to two puppies. One of them was still-born and she rejected the other, as sometimes happens. Staffers were bottle feeding Charlie but were unable to maintain a high level and quantity of nutrition. Someone researched the possibility of using a cat as a wet nurse and brought Satin into the picture. It turned out to be very successful for all concerned. Charlie is part Rottweiler and will soon be towering over his littermates but that shouldn't make too much of a difference while they are still young.

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Dog Days of Winter

Cooperstown's 41st Winter Carnival logo
click the picture for the official carnival website

Many communities sponsor winter festivals and carnivals to help break up the tedium, monotony, and boredom of a long season of dark and chilly. We went to Cooperstown's festival our first winter here and were entertained all day with the doings. Snow sculptures, foot races, wiffle ball out on the frozen lake, sports and dancing at the Clark Sports Center, and special dinners and tastings are just a few of the activities. Our favorite, of course, that first year were the dog activities, including obedience and agility contests. So many dogs were running around sniffing, playing, and having fun - and those were just the "spectator" dogs - that their exuberance was catching. We went to the following year's carnival but the dog events had been dropped for that year. Same for the next two years.

Dogs were back on the schedule this year - how could they not after developing a doggie theme? - so we decided to take Goofus and Doofus Mochie and Toby to see what the other canines were doing. The dogs did better than we had hoped and seemed to greatly enjoy themselves although it took forever for Mochie to calm down and stop squealing like a little girl pig in his excitement with all the dogs, people, and hubbubbing commotion. No growls or aggression by either of our two made us both very proud of them. I think there were more dogs as spectators than were in the dog show. There were also teams of sled dogs for demonstrations, giving sled rides, and answering endless questions - their handlers of course, silly.

The mild winter weather - some snow but not too much, temps in the 20s, and periods of sun - held up so being outside for a couple of hours was not uncomfortable. After the dog doings we took ours for a walk through town and ended up down by the lake at Lake Front Park (clever name) where the New York State Snow Sculpting contest is to take place during Snowfest 2007 from Thursday 2/15 through Sunday 2/18. Two action packed weekends of fun back-to-back.

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Scooping up some ice-puppies

Cold weather settled into the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest while an ice storm was engulfing regions south and to the east of them. Temperatures were well below freezing, including a -16 in Minneapolis. The ice storm passed through us with a minimum of effect, trailing the arctic front in its wake. Although we didn't get that cold, our low upon waking up this morning was 0.5, a seasonal low, hitting our high of 16 in the afternoon.

in front of a neighbor's creek on a pleasant, warmer morning

It was 2 degrees when Beth took the dogs out for their morning walk and they returned sooner than expected because it was too cold for them. We call it "walking on 3 legs" when they slow down and start lifting their legs, drawing them away from the cold surface. They quickly recover inside and seem to forget their discomfort, eagerly hoping to be asked to return outside in minutes. Saying it was breath-taking and chilly doesn't begin to describe how it feels. Winter is back.

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