HFH* - Long Overdue GPP**

Its been so long that most people have probably forgotten the acronyms *HFH (Hounds from Hell) and **GPP (Gratuitous Puppy Pictures) but rest assured that Nicky and Nora are still running around the household.  Mind you they are no longer puppies however as far as I'm concerned they will always be my puppies.

This is now their third winter here in Canada and much like the humans they own they are still not use to or happy with it.   And they are particularly not use to (or happy with) winter arriving at the end of November!  They have however learned the difference between the temperature and the temperature + wind chill.  As an example this past Monday it may well have been only -24°C but with a sharp blowing wind that -30°C was more like it. They've learned that when it gets that cold the stylish doggie coats come out.

They've also learned that when there is snow and ice on the ground plus salt to melt the snow and ice  - and our super uses generous amounts of salt - then those detested red booties are also necessary.  The past week or two the boots have become de rigueur for even the quickest trip into the cold. 

But of course this winter sartorial splendor requires that the human equation in all this do some fancy work to get puppies clad and booted.  Not having a great experience of it  I am only guessing but I would think it is less work to get a child ready for skating on the canal.

Particularly with our Nicky.  First he runs and hides on the couch, then reluctantly creeps towards the entrance hall - trembling in (feigned) fear and trepidation.  A furtive look up and an attempt to placate the demanding human with a quick lick face-wards.  Then the real fun begins 

 Okay so the left paw - nay won't fight you on that one:

 The back paws - hmmm well okay I'll let you win that one.  In fact I may even lift my leg so you can get them on without too much trouble.

Ah the right paw - not sure on that one.... how about I just put it over here out of reach and push real hard against your paw. 

Gosh you weren't able to get it on that way - how about I push the other way.  Oh sorry that doesn't seem to be helping much, does it? 

Well okay that one is finally on - hey it only took three minutes this time, if you want I can do a repeat of the morning I went for the record?????  Okay I'm ready!  Hurry up I have to go!

Nora is a bit more of a stoic about it - no fuss, the odd furtive look and attempted lick; she won't fight you but she'll be damned if she'll help you with this form of canine torture.  She is not really happy about this; in fact if she had a cell phone the Humane Society  would be on speed dial!

 Okay now I'm ready!  I don't like this one bit but damn it red is my colour isn't it?

Okay torture - not to mention the indignity of being seen in those damned boots - over!  Biscuits given as a rewards for doing what we were aching to do anyway.  Time for a doe-doe.  Wake us when it's summer!

December 21 - 1913: Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

Songs of My People

As I mentioned last week our Nora believes that the Songs of Her People should be shared with the world. And songs she has - songs for all occasions! Songs of greeting - joyful and wary; songs of loneliness; songs of need; songs of captivity; and songs of battle. A full repertoire of cries and calls from the canine heart.  And share she does - often only in parlour performance with her intimate circle but on occasion the wider world has indeed heard her song!

Here's one that suggests neglect and inattention on the part of someone she cares about - as long as he feeds her - deeply.  Sort of a "blues" tune. And you will notice that the song has the required effect. The inattentive object of her affection responded and gave comfort and a commodious lap to nap on.

15 January - 1919 – Boston Molasses Disaster: A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.

Little Tricks of Nature

Last fall a plea went out from the Humane Society - I believe it was - for people to "foster" litters of squirrels that had been born late in the season. Apparently the early arrival of warm weather had encourage an unprecedented level of the sort of activity that guarantees an increase in the rodent population of our mighty metropolis. Though they aren't mentioned in Cole Porter's famous song apparently squirrels do do it - and last year they did it with a vengeance. And if proof were needed simply stepping out the back entrance to our building is all that's needed - and stepping out of the building with Nora guarantees that the presence of chattering, scampering black or gray rodents will be well noted - by half the neighborhood.

Offered with apologies to Quentin Tarantino.

Our Nora comes from a long line of hunters - as oft mentioned her mother, the lovely Lucy, is a champion boar hunter in Italy. And Nora has inherited all her mother's hunting instincts and the truly frightening hound howl that echoes many mornings across the Canal. Failing the presence of any great number of boars in the area our girl has decided that the pursuit of Sciurus carolinensis is a fair enough substitute. Many of our neighbours are in full support of her decision and would be more than thrilled should she succeed in "decreasing the surplice population".

However there is one gentleman who has made it his mission to show up every night at 1800 with bags of nuts which he distributes around the neighbourhood. Now whatever you say about squirrels - and believe me the people around here have much to say about squirrels, none of it printable in what is after all a family blog - they are bright little creatures. They know this gentleman will show up every evening and at 1800 precisely they appear lurking around the edges of the landscape like creatures in a Stephan King novel. Why spend all that time foraging when you know the nutty Good Humour man will be making his appointed rounds like clockwork.

And if further proof is needed of the intelligence of these ubiquitous pests this little scene caught my eye on Friday afternoon as I was walking home through Confederation Park.

Why do I honestly believe if the earth is flattened in one of those cataclysmic accidents beloved of Hollywood and young video game players that the only thing left will be ants, dandelions and... squirrels?

03 June - 1889 – The transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway is completed.

Long Overdue HFH Videos

Its been a long while since the Hounds from Hell have made a video appearance here - not because they have not been the subject of cinematic projects on my part but because I've been lazy.  Well okay I do have an excuse I have been in moving mode for 11 weeks now and frankly its wearing me down.

I though I'd post  two little clips - one is BC - Before Canada and the other AI - After Italy.

The journey from there to here was a relatively good one - a little bit of excitement at Fumicino as Nicky tried to attack anyone that came near his cage - they weren't going to take him away from his homeland without a fight.  Nora was a little more placid but complained in her own inimitable way.  And for anyone who wasn't aware they flew in the cargo hold of the aircraft: a. - They are too big to fit under the seat and b. I don't believe in animals (or children) in the cabin of an aircraft.  And no we didn't give them any tranquilizers - 33 years experience in the airlines taught me the dangers of that, so we simply put a used bit of worn intimate apparel from each of us in each kennel.  That way there was a familiar smell.  Believe it or not it is the best way to calm an animal in that situation.

They were fine upon arrival and despite some whining made the car trip up to Ottawa with their Uncle Pervy without a problem.  Our dear Betty Jean - to whom be all honour and glory - took them in and they had a wonderful time at Summer Camp Culley.  Even Nicky's attempt to claim - in true canine fashion - her sofa as his own, or at least a lower corner of it,  didn't seem to phase her -she remained calm, cool and... well Betty Jean, then and through the whole 3 weeks she had them.

As for the new apartment - well much is still in boxes so free reign is not possible and the geography of their current area keeps changing as boxes are moved around, wine is stored and pictures hung.  But there is always the daily walks along the Canal - three a day, sometimes four - with new smells and squirrels!  Oh yes there are squirrels and as you may recall Nora's lineage is firmly in the hunting hound world - her mother is a champion boar hunter - so on the odd morning the neighbours have been treated to a full hunting hound howl.  And at 0630 it tends to echo very distinctly across the water.

The future holds some obedience lessons to see if we can get them both socialized a bit better with other dogs and maybe turn Nora's hunting frenzy to a more practical bent.   And then, of course, there will be their first walk in the snow to look forward to - now there's a thought to give me nightmares for a few weeks!


30 agosto/August - San Fiacre

Buon Complianno Nora

The official 2nd Birthday Photo - regal but still approachable.

Its hard to believe that Eleanora della Casa Degli Orsi (that would be our Nora) is two years old but time, except for dogs they tell us, flies.  Our little boar hunter was one of 5 pups in Mama Lucy's litter and has inherited all of her mother's tracking instincts.  Even in the middle of the city she's busy tracking, if not wild boar then certainly, neighborhood cats. 

And sometimes a girl just looks into the future and seriously ponders ...  when will I get the next biscuit?

19 febbraio - San Corrado Confalonieri

HRH - A Wee Bit O'Nora

Yesterday we had Nicky doing his "I'm too sexy for my kibble ..." thing so I figure its Nora's turn today. Our Nora is a little less of a poseur and pretty much ignores that infra-red light when it zeros in on her. But I still figured it was time for her to have her day in the sunshine - literally!

She was feeling a little under the weather this morning - something she ate? the sudden change in the weather? who knows but she wasn't hungry and didn't even want to fight with Nicky. All she wanted to do was curl up on the bottom shelf of the bookcase (????) and absorb some rays.

And she isn't above the odd lick or yawn just to show how bored she is with those pesky paparazzi that are always following her.

And then back to the healing rays of the sun!

22 giugno - San Tommaso Moro

"Assassino!" ...

... muttered my friend and colleague Jolka, who disapproved of what was going on, as she passed me at the front door of our office building. And the look that Nora gave me when I picked her up at the Vet's late yesterday afternoon said pretty much the same thing. In fact every time I pick her up to take her out I'm getting the same look plus she refuses to kiss me.

So why the epithets, the cold shoulder and the looks guaranteed to bring on - and they do, believe me - fits of guilt? Well yesterday we had our Nora spayed. Now this was a decision that was not lightly reached however we felt it had to be done. Nicky and Nora had come into our lives as pets and it was never our intention to bred them. We leave that to people better equipped for that sort of thing.

Nora is now six months old and had given signs of having her first heat. This has led to some misguided attempts by Nicky to do what dogs do - though for a while there he was humping her head. When I mentioned to a friend of mine that he seemed to be unsure of the process she sneered: Typical of an Italian male! Whatever that may have meant.

Miss Nora on her first post-op foray out of her kennel. She's still very sore and, dare I say it, angry with me for it all. Hopefully both states will pass.

Now that brings up the subject of Nicky, who at the moment I might add is quite miserable. He is being kept separate from Nora and though they fight like, well, dogs and dogs he doesn't understand why he can't be with her. A good deal of his time is spent at the door of her kennel crying and I've caught him on at least one occasion attempting to open the door. So why are we not having Nicky neutered? It is not blatant sexism as a few people have suggested but based on past experience. When we had our Reese, who was a long-haired daschie, fixed his whole character changed - he became indolent and deferential. Physically he also changed - his coat became more fur than hair and he developed what we liked to call a "soccer player build" but was actually fat. This was one of the causes of his back problems later in life - always a problem with daschies. Now I know there is no guarantee that is going to happen with Nicky but at this point in time we have decided to leave things as they are.

In the meantime we are giving Miss Nora extra pats and a bit more careful cuddling and just letting her rest.

NEWS FLASH: She kissed me when I took her out to pee late this afternoon! I am now feeling a little bit less of an "assassino".

22 agosto - Beata Virgine Maria Regina

GPI*

What gives with pets and toilets? What is the fascination with that white porcelain bowl and flushing water?

My friend Speck told the story last week of Smudge and the midnight pee break . And I've noticed how Nora delights in the swirl of water as toilets are flushed:

Admittedly unlike Smudge Nora has yet to drink out of the bowl but that could only because she can't quite reach it ... YET!



And speaking of pets, my friend and colleague Laurie sent me this picture of her kitten Pepper.


Now neither Laurie nor I approve of playing Mr Dress Up with our pets - she has four cats - but in this case Pepper is dressed like a convict in a Mack Sennett one reeler for a very good reason. After some routine surgery Pepper developed a dreadful skin condition where the fur literally peeled off. She spent almost two months at the vet's but is back home now. However she still has a very large patch of furless skin that bothers her and she bites at it - making things worse. After turning her into a cone head for over a month Laurie thought she'd try something else: a sweater to cover the raw area. Well apparently the sweater lasted long enough to have this picture taken and within minutes it was back to the cone. Poor Pepper has been through a lot and the healing process will take a long time. But she's a brave little thing and if love can cure her problem she is receiving an endless supply.

*Gratuitous Pet Items

21 luglio - San Lorenzo da Brindisi

To Bloody Cute For Words

Nora decided that since I post so much about her and Nicky she might as well take over the keyboard. Less grammatical errors that way!



04 maggio - San Ciriaco di Gerusalemme