Dem Damn Dogs!!

So, when the dogs were still puppies, they had a nasty habit of going into the flower beds, and digging everything up. I got some "pet fence" stuff from a friend, and fitted it. Basically a steel wire mesh strip, which you put around the flower bed on purpose made plastic carriers. The you add power. When the dogs touch it, they get a nasty shock. I attached the end to my neighbors electric fence. 9700V!!!! The male was the first to learn that this was a no go area. I remember hearing him howl, saw him run to the front door, and when I went out to see if he was OK, he wouldn't let me near him, and continued to yelp for a few minutes. They never went back into the garden, and in fact, I disconnected it from the fence at least a year ago.

This week, for some reason, they went back in. And have all but destroyed the garden. Not sure why, but last night we reconnected the fence to the strip. I'm sure that by tonight, they will have learned that it's again a no-go area. Just sorry I'm o not there to see them learn it!!! Stupid dogs!

As Puppies.......

And now - as just damn naughty dogs....

Salagatle!

My last few posts

have been so opposite. A couple on the bike weekend away, and then work, day 1. How totally screwed up is that? The common denominator - me!

So, reality is that we live the life we have to, partly by choice, partly by circumstance. And every now and then we get to experience that part of life we look forward too, almost as a teaser of what could be, if only.....

I'm not complaining about my lot. I think overall I've done OK, all things considered. But it could be better, more "normal", easier perhaps? So why not find alternative employment you ask? Well, I am a middle aged white male living in South Africa. For all my experiences, and achievements, I fall way down the list of "preferred employee", mainly due to the reasoning that I come from a previously advantaged background (is is???) and that the new democratic regime needs to correct the injustices of the past by introducing and enforcing reverse racism. Black before white for all jobs! OK, so that's not a big deal. There are not too many darkies out there that can deliver like I do. But that's not the point - they get the jobs anyway, and then A N Other white boy like me gets to do 2 - 3 peoples work to cover for 2 - 3 darkies who are his peers, but don't deliver. They there to make up the BEE numbers, so that their employer can get a shot at the lucrative Government / Public Sector business!

Now I know most of my readers know this already, in fact most of them are affected by the same problem. But there may be the odd / random reader from outside of South Africa who might read this, and get a better understanding of our situation here. Maybe I'm just recording it here to get it off my chest. Either way, it's here for those who want to read it.

So, for a measly USD 300k, I could settle all my debts, sort out all the little bits and pieces needing sorting, and then leave my job and go do whatever it is I want to, for a much lower salary maybe, but much improved satisfaction level! Now that's peanuts actually. Wonder if there is any way to start a "fund". "Rescue the Wreckless Euroafrican from himself" fund. Donate USD 1.00 to a very worthy cause.... LOL. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

So, in passing chit chat today the employer provident fund came up. I was surprised to find out that some who have 2 - 4 years less years service than I do, have almost double the funds in their provident fund than I have? Wonder how that works? Be that as it may, no one is retiring on that anyway. It's barely enough to earn slightly less than a state old age grant if put into a fixed deposit, with earnings paid out monthly..... Geeezzzz, you are almost better off on a state old age grant! Kind of like being on the dole in the UK, not worth going to work!

Talking about the UK - GMan is talking about going over for a while, to work, and find his way forward. We have a friend there with his own company who could employ him, and his current girlfriends Mom and step dad live there - and he has his own business, so maybe GMan could get a job there. Either way, I think it's probably a good thing for him.... Time will tell.

LuckyL is going through the motions of final few months of school. And, even though he knows what he wants to study for, he's not sure he wants to go to varsity next year, or take a gap year, or study through a Technicon. I think he wants me or the Princess to take the decision for him. There is always the factor (which he will not address) f not wanting to make the wrong decision. So, if we tell him to go to Uni, he might blow it as did GMan, if we tell him to take a gap year, he may not want to restart studying the next year..... Difficult choices, and I'm not sure where to go with this.

The Princess, Ahhhhhh, she's just the perfect Princess. Works hard, takes good care of all three of us, and our home, and the two grannies..... She's just brilliant. Often threatens to "trade me in" on 2 x 25 year olds, but I think she enjoys being seen in public with her "old man", especially when people mistake me for her Dad!!!

And finally, the two dogs are good (touch wood), apart from continuing to destroy stuff, like the bushes down the bottom of the yard. They wont pull out the weeds, oh no, rather tear up the plants that I ave bought and planted. Every morning there is a newly picked crop of hedge, bush, flowers on the floor outside the front door. Almost like they bringing me presents. Ah well.....

So, that's my update for now. More to follow, sometime.

Salagatle!

And, If you ever wondered

about dogs, and swimming pools....

Ok, maybe not swimming pools. We have two Labradors, and I have always heard that they enjoy swimming. Never gave it another thought. Last week we had a heavy downpour, so much so that the drains in the driveway could not cope. As soon as it stopped, the dogs were out of their box and running around. I spotted Captain rolling around in the puddle. he was seriously enjoying himself.

At first he was just walking through it, drinking the rain water, Then he stopped, lay down, and rolled around in it! I am convinced, if we had a pool they would be using it much more than we humans!

Salagatle!

Update on the puppies.....

So, a while ago I posted that we had got 2 new puppies. main reasons for this were the passing of Kaizer, and the fact that our then remaining dog, Snoopy, was very, very old (16yrs).
Anyway, they have been both challenging and loads of fun. We are not big on training of the dogs, because thet leads to a need for constant attention, and they not going to get that. We spend a lot of time with them, when we can, and that's how it is.

My personal opinion on them is as follows:-
Captain - He's the white male. Big dog, lazy, will roll over to be scratched as soon as you appear. Has a good deep bark, but probably only realises there is something to bark at after Morgan gives him the heads up....

Aww please , scratch me, yea, oh, yea, some more!!!

Morgan - She's the black bitch. nasty - in a nice way. She also likes to be scratvched and petted, but does not do the whole submissive "roll over and expose my belly" routine. She's definately the more intelligent of the two, and enjoys playing fetch.

I'm here for you. Now, lets play fetch, come on man.....

In fact when we throw two balls, one for each of them, they both chase. But she will get to a ball before him, and start to run back with it, at which point he abandons his ball and races her back, just to make sure he does not miss out on a "good boy" / "clever boy" pat ans scratch!!!

Feeding time - always the same side of the box.

We have them in a good routine when it comes to feeding times. Around 7 am, they get fed. We watch till the done (about 3 minutes) and then take the bowls away. Same again around 6pm. No leaving bowls of food around for the day for them to feed whenever. And they know they got to eat and get done, so it's good.

Tried fitting collars on them the other night. They didn't seem to mind, but LuckyL tried to attach a leash to the collars yesterday, and they didn't like that. Were very wary of this leash... Will take some time to get them used to that.

R.I.P Snoopy .........

Today, for the second time this year, I had to have a pet dog put down. And, like last time, I had LuckyL there with me.

Snoopy had been the family pet (one of) for just around 16 years. A long, long time. She walked in through our security doors one day, when we still lived in Randfontein (LIU).I remember we were sitting in the living room, and LuckyL pointed towards the door, and said "Goggy....!" And when we looked around this little ball of white and black fur had rolled in and made itself at home under the dining room table. It had walked in off the road, trough a Security fence, past a "Killer" Stafford shire terrier, and into our lives. I'm not too sure why we called her Snoopy, but we did, and she stayed. She grew up a beautiful and loving dog. A kind of mix between a Fox Terrier and a Jack Russel, I think. Didn't matter, she was great with the kids, clean, and protected us with her little body and big heart. Never took any crap from any of the other dogs we have had over the years, and was always "the Boss".

She eventually went deaf, but that wasn't an issue, except if she was sleeping in the middle of the driveway when we got home, it would take a few blasts of the hooter for her to become aware of the car! When Kaizer went blind, she would kind of lead him around the yard, and he would herd her out of harms way, (typical Shepard). After we put Kaizer down, she was a bit lost and lonely, but that soon changed when we got the puppies. In fact, it became a bit difficult for her. While we still had Kaizer, we used to feed the dogs, and leave their food out, and refill their bowls daily. basically, they ate whenever. When we got the new puppies, we decided to do it right. Feed in he morning, wait for 5 minutes, take away the bowls. Again in the evening, same story. They quickly learned that when it's time to eat that's what they do. No time to run around sniffing butt, and drinking water. And it works. But not for Snoopy, she was used to eating as and when she wanted to. So, we took to feeding her in the garage. And she took to sleeping there at night. So she could eat at her leisure. It was also warmer for her there at night, and even during most days, this past winter.

Anyway, last night we were going out for dinner. All piled into the car, my loaner from the car hire company, and as I reversed I felt the car roll over something. Instinctively I thought of the dogs, and LuckyL started crying quite hysterically, like he knew it was Snoopy! With her being deaf, and partially blind by now, she didn't hear the car start up, or see it reverse till too late.

Anyway, I jumped out the car, and saw she was hurt. There was some bleeding on her left back leg. I ran to the garage and got a towel which I used to cover her, and gently lifted her into my arms. not the passenger seat, and the Princes drove us down to the vets. We got there and saw that they closed at 7pm. It was 7.22 pm. Damn, Call the after hours emergency number!!! As the Princess was dialling, they two vets came out of the building, locking up. So we quickly got inside, they know me, and checked her out. Now I saw she had a wound on her left front leg as well. She was shaking, obviously in shock, and couldn't stand properly.

The vet wasn't going to do the whole x-ray / scan thing at that time,  but after getting her history and age from me, told me that at her age, we were blessed she was still around, her life from here, even without the injuries, would be measured in weeks and months, and that if she had major injuries, it was unlikely they would ever heal properly, so we should consider having her put down. We agreed to get her comfortable, and pain free for the night, and he would check her out the next morning, after which we would make a decision.

Difficult. I felt (still do) like shit. I had driven over my own dog for fuck sakes!!! Anyway, there are always a lot of if's and but's and if only's.... but the deed is done.

Got the call today from the vet at about 1pm. Pelvis basically shattered, and broken hip. Also, internal bruising. I called LuckyL, who was just getting on the the school bus to go with the drama group to Randfontein. He was doing the lights and sound for their stage show. I told him to get excused, tell the teacher he would meet them there, and go to the vets to say his goodbye. I then called SleepyK's mom, and asked her to accompany LuckyL to the vets. I was a longer drive away. As her offices are close by to home and the vet, it was simple for her, and she agreed. I then left for the vets offices.

I got there, and found LuckyL "chatting" to Snoopy. He was not a happy boy. I mean, she's been his pet for basically his whole life!

Anyway, after about 2 minutes, i asked the vet to administer the meds. Both LuckyL and I had a hand on Snoopy, who was lying there very calmly (read - doped up). And she passed. One last goodbye to a very special family pet. There will always only be one like her.

So, now Snoopy is gone. "Don't blame yourself Dad" says LuckyLsms he sent me last night (11.30pm) and again today when I drove him back to fetch his bike. However, I know I drove over my dog. And this killed her. I also know that she was very old, wouldn't have been around for very much longer I suppose.

Go well Snoopy. Say hi to Lobo and Kaizer for me. Thank you for picking us as your family, all those years ago.

Salagatle!

Captain & Morgan

Those of you who read my stuff every now and then will recall we got two new puppies as pets not too long ago. Labradors, brother and sister, black and white..... Lovely dogs, but naughty as shit!!! not the first time I wanted to dispose of them.
Anyway, the other night / morning, GMan comes home from work, and calls us on his cell from the gate. it wont open. i immediately got dressed and went down stairs, warning him to be on the look out as this could be a staged setting for a possible high jacking, and to keep his car in reverse and ride away if he sees any movement at all in his immediate surroundings!!!

Anyway, I walk up the drive, and confirm the gate wont open. And then I see why.

One of those two little shits (Captain or Morgan, not sure which) had chewed of the power cables to the ate motor. No way I was going to do any repairs at 2 am, so I bypassed the system, let him drive in, then padlocked the gates closed for the night. Next morning I repaired the wiring, bypassed the fuses (3 x all blown) and we could use the ate.

After school that afternoon LuckyL went to get new fuses and replaced them. All fixed - for now!!

Salagatle!

The puppies

here Snoopy is getting her own back - stealing food from Captains bowl!

Are growing fast. In fact, they are now bigger than Snoopy, who's the 16yr + old lady of our extended family. If not watched, they steal her food!
They are damn destructive, getting into the flower beds... chewing up flower pots, destroying the door mats....
If they get into the garage, they carry away anything they can lift, and Captain is no weakling, believe me.
However, I am getting them into shape, of sorts. They starting to know whats allowed and what not, but just like naughty kids do, if they get a gap, they get out of hand.
Anyway, they are here to stay. They have already shown much intelligence (as these dogs are known to be) and can be trained, quite willingly.
As a matter of interest, Captain stands and eats, without lifting his head till the food is finished. Morgan, as can be seen in the photo, lies down in front of her bowl, and like Captain, does not stop gobbling till the food is finished.

More fun will be had in the future, I'm sure!

Salagatle!

The Puppies.....

who have now officially been named Captain and Morgan.....

keep crapping on the driveway! It's paved, so makes no sense. For some reason they just didn't want to go on the lawn.
So, after getting some advice (Boere raad - LIU), I mixed some Jeyes Fluid with water, and sprayed the whole driveway. And guess what - they now only crap on the lawn. Go figure!!!

Salagatle!

Names for the (destructive) puppies

Thanx to everyone with the great name ideas.
I liked Fishmans option a lot.
The famiglia have decided on

Brandy and Whiskey!

Salagatle!

So, the weekend was

quite productive.
Followers / readers here will remember when we had to put Kaiser down for a disease he had which was incurable.
Also, that our other dog, Snoopy, is already 16yr + old, deaf, and not going to be around for long (although she seems to be quite fit for her age.....)

Anyway, between LuckyL and the Princess, there was much talk about what we should be getting next (from a pet perspective), It started out with 2 x BoerBulls (LIU). Then maybe a Boerbull, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback (LIU).
Maybe 2 x Staffies, or 1 x Staffie, and 1 x Boerbull.

Anyway, the Boerbul's eat too much, and shit small mountains! After much toing and froing, LuckyL's girlfriends parents said that their neighbors had had puppies, (or rather their dogs had) and they were giving them away. Thorough bred Labradors. There was a few left of the original 9 pups.
So we asked for a black one, and a white one. One male, and one female.
And this is what we got.
A black female (very dominant) and a white male (timid).



On the lawn



This is the life.....

We have not named them yet. Options thrown around are:-
Jack &7 Jill (Queenie's idea)
Ivory and Ebony (Princess)
Black & White (various)
Fido and ? (My Mom)
Milo and ? (Princess)

Salagatle!

Good bye - Kaizer

Last pic of Kaizer, at the vet, last night, just before we had him put down...



Last night I had to make a very, very difficult call. Last week Sunday, our White German Shepherd, he who went blind just short of a year ago, was suddenly very sick. A call to the vet, who agreed to come out, even though it was nearly 9pm, and he was admitted. They checked him out, agreed he was very ill, did some blood tests, and decided to wait for the next day.
Next day, Monday, they called and recommended they open him up to check what was the problem. Cut him I said.
And they did, and found that he had a major disease of the pancreas. What was strange though was that this is normally found in small breed dogs (lap dogs) mainly because of their feeding habits. Not one of the 3 vets at this place had ever seen this in a large breed dog. Sample was taken and sent off to the labs for diagnosis, and they put him on a drip, and general antibiotic to start treatment. In the meantime he was vomiting and had the runs.....
Nothing was going / staying down, he was weakened to the point where he was almost unable to hold up his own weight.
We visited every night, and got an update every night.
As he was not eating, a decision was taken to operate again and install a feeding tube. However, this didn't help, as he was vomiting the food up within 20 minutes of being fed.
Anyway, last night on the way home, I got the call. Basically the vet was telling me everything that is wrong, what he thought was going on, and what would probably happen within a day ot two. "Do we put him down Doc?" was my question. "Yes".

I went home, had a chat to LuckyL and GMan, and the Princess. The two boys agreed they wanted to say good bye, and came along. The Princess, well, she stayed home and said goodbye in her own way.
We spent about 10 minutes with Kaiser, and then I told the boys that I was calling the vet to administer the injection. They should go wait in the car. GMan went, but LuckyL decided he wanted to stay with me.
So, the vet came, and did the deed, and mercifully, within 15 - 20 seconds, Kaizer lay his head down as asleep, and was gone.

So, my dear Kaizer, now you can see again. The pain is gone, you will probably let anyone wash you as often as they want. Even let them brush your beautiful coat, which you would never let us do. Run around and play at your hearts content, and know that we will always remember you fondly. Not too sure what's going on in Snoopys head right now, but clearly she's missing you, and at 16yrs of age, will probably join you soon, there where you are now.
Thank you for 7 years of company, fun and laughter. Thank you for youer protection - untrained you knew where your place was, who to defend, and who not to trust. you have no equal in my world, and even if we get another dog one day, I can only hope he has half as much intelligence as you had.
Sorry you had to suffer for a while, but as humans we are selfish, and don't want to let our pets just go.....

I will miss you. RIP.

Born 15 July 2002 (on My and the Princess anniversary....)
Died 07 September 2009
Member of the Family from 09 September 2002.... 7 years tommorow.

Salagatle!

"Bite him Kaizer!!!!'