Looking for Rudolph

Ready for a few bits of fun? Via Tim Blair: This dog gives us an idea what our Dotty might have been like before David brought her home, already an old lady. This dog also reminds us of the exuberance of our dear, departed Snickers. Snickers started out as an ugly adolescent, but turned into a handsome adult Queensland/Black Lab mix, a black and white negative image of a Dalmatian, with a little more fur, and a white tip on his tail. We considered sending him to Civil Engineering school, as he enthusiastically dug tunnels in the sand, with only the tip of his tail showing. When too exhausted, he would come into the garage to rest for a few minutes, then leap back out to continue digging. He had full faith that he could dig faster than any gopher or ground squirrel.

Snickers loved to romp like the dog in the video on runs through the fields, but he was surprised at the squishy ground at the bottom of an almost-empty canal. In his only encounter with snow, he took great joy at biting snowflakes. He would have loved a deep snowfall.

We have never had a cat like the happy Australian one in this video. Though our little princess-cat Darla will play with a trickle of water from the bathroom faucet. She still likes to sleep in the bathroom sink, but doesn't get much chance to do so anymore, with Maggie the Warrior Queen and Troy the Giant Dog limiting her indoor time. And to add insult to injury, the little half-starved Chihuahua adopted by our neighbors (young men with no clue how to care for a dog) has decided to take over one of the heated kitty boxes - the one on our porch. Even though I set up one for him on the neighbors' porch. Incidentally, if anyone needs a quiet little black Chihuahua with big ears, he is available. He likes other animals but is a little slow to trust new men. We are over our legal limit for dogs (we fudge by having 2 lots).

My favorite of the adored, but seriously annoyed, Japanese cats pictured at the link to this post is the froggy cat.

One commenter speculated that these cats are looking daggers because, "I think they’re actually the species that invented style."

Remember these rules (from the Japanese site) for dressing cats:

1. You need to dress a cat. And you will say to a cat together with a family. "It has changed just for a moment". [ "it being very dear" or ] You will pass pleasant one time.

2. If a family and a cat become fortunate, you will take a commemorative photo! Therefore, please photo your cat lovelily with much trouble.

3. If it finishes taking a photograph, you will make it remove clothes from a cat immediately. You will say then, without forgetting the language of gratitude to a cat. "-- be flooded -- a way -- good -- having done one's best -- ! -- "

4. And if you want your cat to look like a Beloved, Merry Rudolph, Also remember . . .

I think I'll stick to a few kitty and doggy treats to make our pets feel loved this Christmas.