Wakamotoharu

It’s been so lovely to have a nice, normal year of weather. No ice storms, no heat domes, no forest fires, no floods, no unseasonable anything. Just … Oregon. To be fair, I guess it was a bit wetter and colder than ‘normal’, but that’s a direction I’m willing to take. But ‘typical’ Oregon summer doesn’t start until after the 4th of July, and we achieved that this year. We didn’t even have the weird March heatwave this year, it’s just been relatively chilly and wet, and then BAM, here comes summer up in the 95s immediately after the 4th of July. But I can’t complain, if Summer sticks to 6 weeks instead of 4 months, I don’t mind it so much. Everything is still all vibrant and green, very pretty.

I’m officially on break, I have lots of online class homework to catch up on – including just actually watching/reading the different things I’ve purchased but never had time to really dive into. Hoping to start patching those foundation behaviors in agility with Bryn, continue to work on Asher’s jumping so we can act like at least I TRIED to help him out. I stupidly entered SIX DAYS of agility trials in August that are two back to back weekends at the only venue that is close to my house. Get all three dogs some serious miles without months in between. Looking forward to having the arena to work on little things I’ve wanted to set up.

Then there is herding, which is where we need to put some energy. Bryn is back from Idaho and she was NAUGHTY. So not as much learning new behaviors as making sure she was doing all her foundation behaviors correct (or at all), which is always more important. Still, Bryn didn’t make it easy. Bonnie did a great job with her, getting her off the sheep, squaring out her flanks and, yes, introducing inside flanks and putting verbals on her. And teaching her patience. Lots of patience.

It was a good experience for Bryn all around, as she also learned to like kids (took her a bit for that too!), and learning to do things like ride on the quad and trot next to it. And not be a pill when it wasn’t her turn. And not be a pill when it WAS her turn. Apparently my little princess is pushy. Which actually does surprise me, because she does not at all remind me of Navarre – who most definitely is.

So Bonnie wants us to work on NOT coming to balance, working on small drives and fetches, and keeping all her hard work in place. As maybe Bryn will go back and have a refresher in the Fall, as I’d really like to get to Idaho again – it’s been a long time! I’d like her to actually have progressed by then, so we need to get out there and practice this summer.

Practice is also what Asher needs, I know the behaviors he should be doing, and we’re going to train it my way. I’d love to take him to a trial and have confidence that he will be able do what I know he can. I think he’s such a nice match for me, we can do it. With practice – which I should have time for this summer! We are going to do a clinic with Kristin Sittner this month, but mostly they just need practice. Did I mention practice? In all things.

Meanwhile, the boys have been busy with Carol, and will continue to be this summer. Carol ran them in the OSDS arena trial at the county fair. Boy, I like herding a lot more when it’s more like agility – short runs without a lot of rules or subjective judging. You either do it or you don’t, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like. This is a type of event I could really get behind! I had a lot more fun at this event, both watching and how my dogs felt about it.

I was thrilled with Asher, I was very concerned when I learned they were using the same sheep they had at his last USBCHA trial where they turned and faced him off and he couldn’t move them. Such a discouraging experience for him! But apparently he took notes and while a lot of dogs couldn’t move these ladies, Asher did it THREE TIMES, without an issue. And one of those times was in the finals! Yes, Carol and Asher were in the top 5 dogs that made it into the finals! I was super surprised, and while he didn’t do super great in the finals, he moved the sheep and he was trying. Maybe not always in the right direction, but he was trying. After watching this event, this sort of thing I could totally do with Asher – so I hope they have more of them in the future.

And Navarre … was Navarre. He pissed them off pushing up their butts and slicing all over the place. He had TWO sheep that just stopped and head butted him. What I was happy about with him was that it didn’t bother him, he didn’t get discouraged or even stop trying (or being an ass), he was having a great time. Both boys loved the speed and letting loose, I must say. Navarre, uh, did not make the finals. He wasn’t last though! His first run was better than his second, dork.

Anyway, we had fun hanging out with Carol at the trial, who is very relaxed about the whole thing. Sometimes people can get a little too wound up at herding trials, which is not my cup of tea. Dog things should fun and relaxing, not serious business. And I think Carol had fun, the boys are off to two more AKC trials with her summer. Better start getting Bryn ready for her to take, or she’ll run out of border collies to take to trials!

My Haku turns THIRTEEN next week. That is a scary age. You can say that 12 isn’t that old, but when your dog is a teenager … you can’t really deny it any more. And Haku is not a young thirteen, he looks and acts like an old dog, and that’s hard. It’s also sort of precious, because everything he does is precious. Even if it’s just barking for no reason at all, he’s always so excited – that hasn’t changed.

We went down to see my folks at the coast and the dogs had a GREAT time – and Haku was so spunky and ran so much! He even swam in the river, which he doesn’t always do these days. I can’t help but get a little panicked about the possibility of things being his ‘last time’ at this point. I have yet to have a border collie live to 13, he’s the first – and with his physical limitations, he’s not going to be living until his late teens like my old dogs. We are living it up while he still can, hopefully for many more years. Love that dog, love him so much. After spending the week at the beach, then hiking when we got back – he really needed an adjustment, including acupuncture and laser for his back. With the Galiprant he’s feeling good though!

I’ve been trying to convince myself I don’t need another cat. I don’t know where that urge came from, but I’ve been contemplating the idea. And, yes, contemplating extraneous purebred cat breeds. I don’t know if my sissy cats can handle a ‘real’ cat! I wanted to go in a different direction though, I worry about the health issues of bigger cats like the maine coons, and want a bit more spunk. I really would like to train a cat! Or attempt to. Both Dragon and Marvin were supposed to be ‘adventure cats’, but it didn’t really work out that way. Which is fine, but I still don’t have my lap cat – though Dragon is getting better! We really are buds these days, and he actually is becoming an obnoxious lap kitty that likes to wipe his wet nose on me all the time. While the cat I specifically got to be a lap cat has zero interest, of course. And Fizban is perfect, I’d take another of him in a heartbeat – that cat is just so COOL.

So I had been looking into the Devon Rex, which are just adorable and seem to have very fun personalities – but I really worry about health issues. I also worry they would be too cold in my house, I like a cold house and they have no coat! Some seem to be fuzzier than others though. I did remember like 8-10 years ago going to a cat show and there was this adorable stocky little polydactyl bobtail cat that was swaggering around the show on a harness and I was enchanted with him:

I don’t recall what he was though! I’m assuming American Bobtail or Pixiebob. Now, I like tails so the lack of tail thing is not really a plus for me, but I loved his bombproof personality. And they seem a nice step up from the maine coons energy-wise, without getting into Bengal territory. I think they would actually enjoy my cat perch play wall! And supposed to be very sweet and cuddly, not too much grooming – and sometimes extra toes (which, I’ll admit, I find adorable!).

So I’ve been doing some online researching, which is always fun, but I wasn’t sold on the breed(s) or even getting another cat – I figured the urge would pass. But these chonky cats were speaking to me in a way the Devon Rexs just weren’t. I was checking out both Pixiebobs and American Bobtail groups just trying to figure out the difference between the two and what they’re actually like. And then, as these things happen, I came across … a little face that spoke to me. He had more ‘attractive’ looking siblings, but this little face … he just felt ‘right’.

“THE FACE”

Now, I don’t really trust my ‘cat sense’ like I do my ‘dog sense’. My dog sense has never steered me wrong, my cat sense had gotten me the Sunshine Kittens, Dragon and Marvin. Who I have not connected with like I did some of my old kitties. Now, to be fair, there was a certain amount of ‘convenience’ attached with all of them. The Sunshine kittens, well, that whole litter was just ‘slow’, and that mama was a weirdo. I never really felt pulled to them, but I assumed when they grew up they’d turn into normal cats. I had raised the litter so Neko would have another cat around and this seemed like a good way to do it. Ha! Yeah, that never happened – they were ‘special’ and never grew into real cats.

Dragon I picked out from MANY kittens – but none of them really spoke to me, they all seemed ‘fine’. I was getting a playmate for Fizban, so I just picked the most playful one, we never had a connection – but nothing SEEMED to be wrong with him at 11 weeks when I picked him. There was most definitely something wrong when I picked him up at 16 weeks. And now, what, 8 years later, we’ve finally kind of come together. That’s a long time to wait.

And Marvin I didn’t pick out, he was who was available from the breeder. And he was adorable and fun as a kitten, yes, he was still an asshole, but he was affectionate and personable until he had the rabies vaccination and it totally changed his personality. He’s never been the same, and to this day he could care less about me. I sometimes wonder if he didn’t have Fizban to glom onto if he would find a human that he could connect with.

Anyway, so I was suspicious about my attraction to this kitten – who was back in Ohio anyway. But I thought I could contact the breeder to ask more about the questions I had about the breed. This was a show breeder (who also happens to show maine coons too), so not just someone breeding random cats to sell on the internet, so I felt more comfortable contacting them. And it turns out she was really nice and happy to answer my questions – just very normal and generous with her time.

Turns out that Pixiebobs and American Bobtails are pretty much the same breed, but American Bobtails come in all colors, Pixiebobs are only tabby, and they can have the cute extra toes. She had gotten into bobtails as she felt they had a lot less health issues than maine coons, and loved their personalities – she called them, “Furry potatoes”, which I thought was adorable. “The ideal bob (for me) is an unflappable companion that can be handled as easily by children as by adults with a good drive for play” was her description of what she’s looking for in her cats. She also raises her cats with ENS and puppy culture, which I found novel – and they’ve been raised with dogs too (Australian shepherds).

I felt really comfortable with the breeder, and we talked cats for quite a while, and it really sounded like bobtails would match what I was looking for. A cat that would get along with the other cats and dogs in the house, a cat that is food motivated, would enjoy training and playing but not be over the top crazy, and a cat that might enjoy adventures, hiking and traveling. I have dreams to train the kitten to do agility – I mean, I have access to the equipment, and when you’re talking training cats you need a LOT of time around equipment to eventually get it trained. Or at least try some tricks, teach to walk on a leash – do all those things I never got to do with Dragon and Marvin.

So, yeah, eventually I decided to go ahead and make the plunge. The litter she has now is from her grand champion mom, that even has a cat agility title! I just wanted to get the right cat for me, so I asked her which of the kittens might match what I was looking for, I was open to any of them. And the two kittens she recommends include the kitten that had spoken to me initially (not that I had told her about that). So I get more information and there is one kitten that is more bold, but tends to overwhelm and bully the other kittens somewhat. While the other kitten likes to ride on shoulders and hang out with her all the time. Well, I know which one was right for our household – and, yes, that’s the kitten I felt drawn to initially … and I’m just going to say it’s meant to be.

Haru and his mom

No, I don’t need another cat, but I’m so excited about this little guy. I think my cats will adjust quickly, and maybe new kitten will kick Marvin’s butt. Maybe new kitten will give Dragon a buddy, as Marvin is just glued to Fizban at the hip, Dragon doesn’t spend much time with them as he used to. I’m excited to attempt to train a cat again, though I’m realistic that it may not work out. I’m hopeful I’ll have my kitty that I wanted with both Dragon and Marvin, which is my adventure lap kitty. Life is short, get the kitty!

Haru, aka Wakamotoharu, (I’m keeping the name, it’s cute!) comes home in August after his neuter, he’ll be four months. He’ll be fully vaccinated and ready to go, which is really nice. And his breeders are actually flying him out as they wanted to visit Oregon anyway! So count down to kitten, life is about to get interesting. Oh, and, yes, he has a tail – which is just a bonus in my book 😉