Puppy Brigade

I have to write about them because, well, they are so cute. Also, loud. And demanding. But, really really cute. There are seven, yes seven, four-day-old puppies in my house. Plus the mama. Add our other two dogs, two cats, and our hedgehog and we should be on a episode of animal hoarding.

No, we do not really own all of these dogs. We have volunteered to foster a dog family for a local organization called Bully Paws. Bully Paws was created because people are  jerks   uneducated regarding pit bulls. A lot of shelters will automatically euthanize pits just because of their breed (regardless of temperament). Bully Paws rescues these pits from the surrounding shelters and places them in foster homes until they can be placed in a forever home. Good job, Bully Paws. Good job.

For those of you who don’t know, pits are AMAZING dogs. I have owned three up until this new family arrived. They are inherently very affectionate, loving, patient animals. All the media hype is a bunch of nonsense. The truth is that you can have a dog with a bad attitude (which is often due to some kind of abuse) no matter what the breed. In fact, I have met a ton of smaller satan- incarnate -chihuahuas dogs that want to bite my ankle off, but I have never met a mean pit bull. Bigger dogs just get a bad rap because the medical bills are higher with a big dog (bigger teeth= bigger bite).

Anyway, back to the puppies. The mama’s name is Midge (that is the name the shelter gave her), but we have renamed her Anya because we like it better. She is a gem and a great mama. She had her puppies in our bath tub on Sunday. I think that the world should be able to see her beautiful, loud, hungry puppies. World, here they are…

   

Despite what you may or may not think about pit bulls, I can assure you, they just want to cuddle. For information on Bully Paws and everything that they d0, check them out here. http://www.bullypaws.org. If you want to help and foster a dog, there is always one that needs rescuing and TLC. If you just want a dog, I have a few….

The Amazing Sir Oliver Bear

The reason my blog is entitled “Art and Other Stuff” is because most of the time I want to write about art. Sometimes though (like today, for example), I want to write about nonsense. Like my cat. Sir Oliver Bear. His name used to be just plain Oliver. I found him as a teeny-weeny orphaned kitten, hence the name Oliver. Over time, he became “Oliver Bear'” because he is so purry and fluffy and cuddly like a stuffed animal. I think he looks like a muppet, personally. Recently my husband starting addressing him as “Mr.Oliver Bear”, (which he still does), but I think “Sir” was a more appropriate title for such a regal cat.  It has a nice ring to it. There you have it. Sir Oliver Bear. If Sir Oliver Bear were to speak, he would have a britich accent and smoke a pipe and enjoy the finer things in life.

I take pictures of this cat constantly. Mostly, because he is just so flippin cute, but also because he is hilarious and lets me do anything I want to him and he still purrs the whole time. Like, put him in my shirt. Or put a wig on him. He plays with the dog (Mikko) too. It’s hilarious to watch them go at it back and forth (they heart each other). For your viewing pleasure and entertainment, I have posted pictures of Sir Oliver Bear at his finest.

Sir Oliver Bear tucked into my shirt

Sir Oliver Bear wearing a wig (though he doesn’t look especially thrilled here, he was actually still purring). That’s our other cat, Kimba, in the background. Kimba doesn’t do wigs.

Sir Oliver bear generally just being adorable

For those of you who are animal rights activists, pretty please, do not send me any scathing emails about how I torture my cat.  He gets food and treats, and toys, and all the love he could ever want. He loves the attention, and sometimes I might put a wig on him or put him in my shirt, but I assure you, this this a happy well-loved cat.