This dog is so smart. I can see him always processing things in his mind and figuring out how to please us. I haven’t had him long but he has learned his boundaries (no chasing cats) no going in the kitchen unless asked and so recently, I stepped up his training. He has now learned to bring Mike items that Mike drops. And Mike drops a LOT of things in his day because the neuropathy is spreading.

To train Kota in a service dog setting means several thousand dollars we have to spend- time away from Mike which I can’t afford to do and travel to and from Millersburg which is about an hour away. When I told this “trainer” that I couldn’t commit to the time and the money- she blew up on me! She told me that I really wasn’t a “committed” person and it takes time to train service dogs properly. I almost told her to take a leap, but I didn’t. Her fee was $2,500.00 for a16 week course.

The other night unable to sleep, I was surfing cable channels and happened upon one called Rescue Dogs to Super Dogs and it was amazing. Regular people with health and mental issues training their own rescues brought to them by two professional trainers. It was awe-inspiring and I thought “Maybe, just maybe, I can train Kota for all our needs.” Using what I saw on the show as well as what I already know- yesterday for the first time- Kota opened the fridge door and stepped back, sat and waited for his reward instead of lunging towards the meat in the fridge! My hope is to eventually get him to fetch Mike’s diabetic kit and bring it to him when his blood sugar drops. When Mike’s blood sugar drops he gets shaky, cold and starts to shake and doesn’t know his own name or who I am. It has been happening a lot lately. 🙁

I know it is going to take a long time, but I know this dog is smart and I know he wants to just please and be mentally stimulated. I want him happy and when I ran a video last night of him doing his trained behavior, I was pleased in the re-watch to see his tail going ninety miles an hour the entire time!

The other day, I did take him for a walk and he got away from me and climbed a tree! He was 5 feet up and when he jumped down, he was limping on his back leg and all I could think of is here we go, another Cooper. But it was a sprain and he is fine now. The vet looked at me like I was crazy when I told him what happened but then I said “What do you expect him to do? All his best friends are cats!” LOL

Here he is in a public park on the down wait command-

Almost ten years ago, we had a storm here in Oregon that was pretty substantial and will always stand out in my memory as the Storm of Surprise.

I had just let the dog out briefly. It was midnight and when Brandi came back in, on her tail was this drenched, soaking wet,long-hair black cat! I shut the door quickly so the cat wouldn’t go back in the storm. She was a matted mess just under a year old and terrified. I popped her into a cat carrier and took her the vet in the morning. She was fine-

I called her MK (Mystery Kitty) knew nothing about her except after her spay she showed me inside living wasn’t agreeable for her. So I put her the one enclosure that accesses outdoors 24/7  She’s been outside, unapproachable, inaccessible until this morning.

Because we have a new dog here- I have been making it a point as Kota learns cats are not playthings, if Kota isn’t with me, I make a ticking sound with my tongue. I use this sound when I feed- or when I approach a kitty without intent. This morning, I was feeding the clowder and making my noise and MK walked right up to me and brushed my leg! I reached down and she allowed me to pet her and play elevator butt- who knew this stray loves elevator butt!

All these years of no contact and to suddenly gain trust? It was simply amazing.

I am smiling when I announce that all five have been adopted out. My hope is they live long and happy in their new homes. They did not stay at the shelter long at all!

On a more somber note- hearts and prayers going out to all who have been in harm’s way with this wild weather. Stay safe and keep all loved ones close both two and four-legged. We are dealing with these wildfires but at this point, all we are having to do is breathe unhealthy air. I don’t think I could evacuate even if ordered. I wouldn’t leave my ferals behind even though they are not confined anywhere.

Please stay safe- Sue, I know you are dealing with Irma you have my prayers-same as my sister Gwen- scary times.

Thank you for the dry food that has arrived from Petco, PetSmart and Chewy.com. It is such a blessing NOT to see Meow Mix or Nine Lives in the mix and instead the cats are chowing down on Purina Cat Chow Indoors and straight Purina Cat Chow. Eight bags have arrived so far and I couldn’t be happier because today’s donation consisted of one bag of 9 Lives and a bag of cat litter.

Sweet Ashley has come up feeling punky and taking her to the vet has shown that she too has bladder stones forming. They want me to get her to drink more water and she goes on the medicated food that we still have left here. I have placed her in a cage which breaks my heart because she has lived with us freely in the house at least for five years! But it is the only way to monitor her intake and output and she has been missing the litterpans now for about two weeks. I always thought stones were more common in the males but my vet said they can occur in both sexes.

I received a phone call yesterday from a lady who wants to adopt a 12 plus year old cat! We don’t get those calls often and I have three that qualify- well actually 2 because Baker sprays and I am sure although she wants to take on any health issues- she doesn’t want that one!  I am going to meet her tomorrow and we will see how it goes.

Again thank you for the food and the monies trickling in- it all helps and goes to the cause for the cats!

Here are updated photos of Pocket and Bindle. They are doing great eating, drinking, playing and getting scads of attention-

Last night we had a experience I hope is never repeated. A severely disturbed young man was out in front of our home yelling at the highway and the cars and threatening suicide. I called 911 while it was all going down. The dispatcher made me stay on the phone with the doors and windows locked until the police arrived. I so glad that Kota was with me- he may be young and we haven’t had him a long time, but I think he would protect us if something had happened.He also has a very formidable bark!  They finally located the young man about midnight. I hope he gets some much-needed help. I felt sorry for him, but I also felt threatened by him. Several times, he started coming down our driveway but something always turned him back around to rage at the road. It was pretty intense, the cops had their machine guns out and they were looking high and low for this guy.

Went and picked up the donation. One bag of dry food needs to be stretched to a weeks worth of food for the sanctuary cats. I don’t want to pull the food from the cats who only come out at night to feed- so now I need to make the feral feeding center raccoon and skunk proof. I know both wild critters mentioned can climb but they can’t jump. Am thinking of using slick plastic sheeting to protect the food trays. The cats will use their claws to find purchase on the slick surface, the coons and possums and skunks will slide off. (that’s the hope anyway).

She didn’t make it. Through it all, she tried. We could never get her to latch onto the bottle for more than a few seconds after that time period, it was as if she had forgotten what she just did. This morning when I went in to feed, she was gone.