Whippet Snippets

Ribsy got Lucky!

Ribsy and Girl went on the hunt for the Whippet lady on Haultain St. again yesterday, only this time they were accompanied by Boy and also directions to said lady's house - courtesy of Linda. Finding the iguana boler trailer as their marker, they knocked on the cottage next door. A lady named Donna came out with her baby boy. Girl asked her if she owned a young whippet. She sure did! Out come Lucky, Ribsy's brother, and Slim, the five-year old brindle whippet. Lucky was now named Zipper. Zipper sniffed and dashed and romped with Fonzie, now named Ribsy. What a delightful reunion! Although they were more enraptured with the assorted soup bones on the grass, the people were confident that the pups recognized each other. Bones aside, they were roughly the same size. Zipper had grown nicely into his mostly red coat. The visit ended with Zipper and Ribsy sniffing and pawing their goodbyes through the gate. Ribsy was happy knowing that his brother was just down the street, and went to sleep that night dreaming of future play dates and praying that Boy and Girl would offer to look after Zipper when Donna went on vacation in a couple weeks' time. Double the trouble, er, I mean fun.

Girl adds, "I'm going to buy a digital camera very soon so that precious moments like these will be captured!"

Lucky (now Zipper) is the pup on the right with the white star-like patch near his rump.

Chicken

Ribsy accompanied Girl on the usual late-afternoon pear walk, which meant going down the street to pick up a free pear from the pear box, and then circling around the block to go home. Easy as pie. However this was to be a different kind of day.

Scary Moment #1: Ribsy finds a chicken wing bone discarded in the grass. He yummily snatches it. Girl catches sight since she spends most of the time looking down at the pup instead of what's in front of her. Girl removes bone. Danger evaded.

Scary Moment #2: While Girl is playing fish in Ribsy's mouth, a big chubby young (dangerous combo) Boxer dog comes right to them. No collar, no leash, no owner. Sniffs the pair (and the pear) and proceeds to follow them home, marking the trees and scuffing the grass along the way. Tries to follow them into the backyard. Girl is freaking out. Screams for Boy who is sifting soil in the backyard. Boy comes out, and Boxer runs over to the next door neighbour's backyard. Next door neighbour is NOT a dog lover. He screams. Boxer poops on next door neighbour's lawn. He screams again. Boy and Girl put Ribsy in the house, & lead Boxer away, down the street. His owner is on the sidewalk. His owner resembles his dog. Quite squat, bald. Mean-looking. Danger evaded.

Scary moment #3: Boy tells Girl that the Boxer is not a Boxer. But a Pit Bull. Oops. Well Girl was better off thinking it was a Boxer.

Boxer

Pit Bull

All Saturdays should be like this

<---Random image. Family portrait.

Just a great Saturday, yawned Ribsy as he buried himself in the couch, all tuckered out from the walks he had today. He went to Rosie's Diner in Cook Street Village, visited the kind second-hand shop folks down on Fort Street, checked out the Oak Bay Scene, and trampled through Uplands Park and Willows Beach.

Plus he got a bath! And got his nails trimmed. Oh that squeaky clean Ribsy...'No! Ribsy! No digging in the dirt! No..........'

Poochy Keen

Girl & Ribsy went out on the hunt again last night, searching for the other whippet in the neighbourhood, aptly named Slim. Rumor has it that Slim has a new paw pal in the house, none other than Lucky, one of Ribsy's brothers! Up and down Haultain St. we went but to no avail. Girl picked a free pear from the kind house on Scott Street for Ribsy to fetch and munch, and decided to cut through Oaklands Park on the way back. Well, lo and behold, there were four-legged creatures and two-legged creatures everywhere! "What's this, a dog club?" Sorta. Citizen Canine was holding a fun test as part of the Canine Good Neighbour Program. It's a 12 step test that determines if your dog's manners are good in a variety of situations. Ribsy sensed he wasn't ready, but he was sure ready to play with all the anxious dogs waiting, who were all on the cusp of being obedient but still had a playful rebellious streak yet to tame. Ribsy especially LOVED Trooper, the Whippet X! They had a great romp time, playing as whippets do, growling and then running away! Over and over again. He tried the same with a golden retreiver and a standard poodle but got smooshed. Time to go and pick up Boy from work! Tug, tug...

The Ribsy's New Clothes

Ribsy never found the need to chase himself in circles. He always thought it was something that less elegant dogs did, trying to snare that elusive tail of theirs. But yesterday, with those evil, wet drops falling from the sky, he went around and around, almost dizzying himself and his Girl. Why? There was this foreign object, this red nylon and fleece fabric draped all around him, velcroed around his neck and underneath his barrelled chest. He could see as he nimbly twisted his neck to check out his great lookin' backside, the red fabric flaring out over said backside, covering his great asset. He nipped and even snarled at this offending fabric but to no avail. He ran back inside, a wee frustrated, and became happy as the Girl unburdened him of his new coat. He shook himself silly, as usual after a spell in the rain (drizzle, really), right down to the tip of his tail, and realized, hey! I'm not so wet after all. Maybe that coat ain't so bad. Thank that Linda, Girl said. It was amazing that she made it in one day, with a pocket on the back of a coat to place a potty bag too! Oh, and a matching blanket. All went perfectly with Ribsy's red collar and leash. Ribsy licked his paws appreciatively.

Two Babies

On Saturday morning, Ribsy came face to face with a baby! Another baby! In the house! With him! No one else needed their poop cleaned up until HE came along! The fuss being made over him too. It was as if HE was the cutest thing ever and not him. The nerve! HE couldn't even stand up on his feet yet to fetch the frisbee. Ha! And Ribsy thinking smugly, he didn't even need diapers! He knew where and when to go, whether it be the grass, the garden, or Linda's living room carpet as he demonstrated at Sunday night dinner. HE couldn't even do anything, anything at all, except poop and cry and sleep.

But despite all these shortcomings, he began to worry. Would his Boy and Girl stop coddling him? What if they forgot about him? Girl glanced at Ribsy, who looked unusually sulky. She promptly held her baby nephew Nicholas in front of Ribsy who in spite of himself, couldn't help but be curious. New scents! He sniffed him; there wasn't anything threatening about him. Ribsy grudgingly admitted that HE was okay and licked his toes...as long as HE didn't eat any of his food, which was getting tastier all the time. Mmmmmmmm, though Ribsy. That ground turkey kibble enhancer that his Girl got from Jody at Skinnydog.net (thank you!) sure hit the spot.

Today Ribsy has the whole day together with just him and Boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Hopefully Boy will still be cleaning the garden and making all the soil nice and soft for his spindly paws to dig holes in. Oh boy oh boy.

Wake me up before you poo-poo

Poo Poem, Part I (yesterday):

The rug was greeted yet again
By the howdy doody of Ribsy's poopy.
A little chunk that packed a punch,
It got goopy and I went loopy.

Poo Poem, Part II (this morning):

The girl was awaken yet again
By the whoopy whirly oh so early
Of a peppy puppy who'd just gone potty
So discreetly but not so completely
Out of his ass and onto the grass
Who then danced on her head, in the bed
And pooed a little onto the pillow
Then smeared the sheets, oh it reeked!
Washed the linens, washed the pup
Smelled myself, will I throw up?
What a scene, what whippets are clean?
I don't think so and I'll tell you why
My hair is stinky and the house is a sty
But in the end we love Ribsy even if not clean
But he sure is one $&@^ stinkin' poo machine.

Lap Dog

To all those worried about Ribsy's eating habits as of late, he's proud to report that his zest for kibble is back - provided that enhancers (not steroids) are added, such as fresh chicken, salmon, carrots and broccoli. He loves broccoli! Can't get enough of it. All these natural foods have re-fueled him, and he's never done as many laps in the yard as he does now. Round and round he goes, endlessly skittering away from his people, holding his soccer ball toy in his mouth as he plays a speedy game of keep-away. He also met Boy's friends Jay & Jocelyn, and loved Jocelyn especially - licking the back of her neck, oh my!!

He also is growing quite fond of the Cedar Hill golf course trail. He's meeting lots of dogs there, plus so many hills to race the girl on - not to mention unscooped poo galore to sniff at. Oh that sniffy dog.

Kibble & Snits

For the first few weeks in his new home Ribsy was feasting on Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb Meal & Rice formula, (the same food his breeder was giving him). Suddenly, in the last few days, Ribsy finds that he eats a few bites then will walk away. He is still hungry though. Treats like his Snausages are good, kibble not so much.

Maybe it was because of that incident the other morning. He thought he had eaten a whole wad of his kibble but then he went out in the yard and threw it up whole. Ribsy did, though, manage to eat the regurgitated mush off the lawn, lapping almost reluctantly.

Ribsy is also dumbfounded by the fact that his teeth are falling out! He can now gnaw on Boy and Girl's hands without them saying Ow! He sure hopes a new set of teeth will grow in. His people soak his food up to soften it but still he doesn't finish his meals.

He sure did want some of his people's Krispy Kreme doughnuts & wild pink barbecued salmon over the weekend though.

Whippet Great

So Santa's Little Helper turns out to be a greyhound, not a whippet. Oops.

But these last couple of days Ribsy's gotten identified correctly as a whippet 80% of the time, which is pretty amazing since his name usually conjures up references to Devo or other bad jokes.