The Hounds of Hell…

And a few more

We share our little trailer with a few animals.  I have two dogs, and Yvonne has seven cats.  Then we were just recently adopted by another dog.  We didn’t mean to have so many animals, but somehow they just keep getting dumped on us.



Titan chills out with a tennis ball.

The Dogs

Titan is a Weimaraner.  He’s a smart, beautiful dog, but he’s goofy, and there’s just no other way to say that.  He’ll be 7 in July, and he finally grew out of the puppy stage about a year ago.  The puppy stage with this dog was brutal.

Titan is a chewer, and he experiences separation anxiety, which means he chews even more when he is home alone.  A few of the items he has chewed include a staircase, a recliner, a dustbuster, and the left shoe of every pair I owned for a few years.  Those Kong toys for chewing dogs that are supposed to be practically indestructible?  Not for him.  They just usually took about five more minutes than a normal dog toy.  Now, thank goodness, Titan is only into chewing tennis balls and sticks.  Yvonne has a wonderful friend who plays tennis, and she keeps the goofball well supplied, and there’s always a stick to be found somewhere in our fenced-in yard so everything else appears to be safe for the time being, including my left shoes.

At 80 pounds Titan is a big dog, and he is blessed with ADHD.  For the longest time I’d try to walk him, and he would just take off running, usually knocking me to the ground and dragging me along behind.  I’ve experienced more than a few injuries thanks to this dog’s exuberance, and the neighbors experienced a few laughs at the spectacle of me bouncing along behind beast.

Brighid loves to ride in the car.

The second half of the Hounds of Hell is Brighid.  She’s a little diva of a Welsh Corgi of the Pembroke persuasion, and she’s nearly four months younger than Titan.  She’s small for a Corgi, but she makes up for that with attitude.  She thinks everyone who visits has stopped by for the express purpose of worshipping her, and she lets them know she expects them to be totally absorbed in their devotion to her.  She also tattles.  Titan gets by with nothing in our household because she tells us about his every mood.  If you burp in our home you had better make sure you excuse yourself afterwards or she’ll tattle about too.    Since she’s so vocal she has her own Facebook page so she can gather more worshippers.

And that brings us to the one we share.

Lil Bit the Chihuahua unexpectedly joined our home back in September.  She stuck her little head in the pet door and was promptly chased out by the Hounds.  I thought all of the commotion was because Brighid had tried to herd one of the cats out the door again, but when the barking didn’t stop I went outside to investigate and found a little three-pound bundle of energy.  Once I got the two beasts calmed down, the tiny puppy curled up, shivering, in my arms, and she just never left. 

Since Lil Bit was a full-blooded Chihuahua, had just been groomed, and was pretty much house broken, we just knew someone was looking for her, so we kept her around thinking her owner would soon be located.  We posted things all over Facebook, the neighborhood, and in local pet stores.  Yvonne knocked on doors, and I called vets, the nearby apartment complex, and more.  After two or three weeks it became apparent that someone had dropped this little dog in our yard on purpose as not a single person stepped forward to claim her.    

Neither Yvonne nor I were big Chihuahua fans, but this dog has one of the most pleasant personalities I’ve ever experienced.  She is always happy, wagging her tail, playing, and showing affection.  She’s just a little doll.  Until she sees a man.  She does NOT like men.  For some reason, they terrify her.  She learned young.

When Lil Bit is behaving Yvonne claims her as her dog.  When she misbehaves or needs to be fed she suddenly becomes mine.  That’s why we tell people that Lil Bit is the Music City Chihuahua with Two Mommies.  Not too many dogs can claim that title.

I refer to the dogs as My Entourage because it doesn’t matter where I am they’re usually only a step or two behind me.  You can’t lose me in the house.  Just look for the pack of dogs.

The Cats

Lynx is the matriarch of the clowder, which is the appropriate term for a group of cats.  (I bet you didn’t know that one, did you?)   Anyway, Lynx is about 16 or 17 years old.  Yvonne found her by a dumpster when she still lived in Arizona, and that was more than 15 years ago.  Even at her advanced age she’s a beautiful lady.  She’s a bobtailed Himalayan, and she’s strictly a housecat. 

I’m going to lump the next four together since they’re two pairs of siblings, but I can never keep straight which two go together.  All four of them make good use of the pet door, coming and going as they please.

·         Precious – This bobtailed gray tabby and white cat is a gentle sweetheart.  She was hit by a car as a kitten and probably should have died since her pelvis was crushed, but she’s still here several years later.  She has the softest fur and a very strange relationship with Brighid.  I’ve caught them curled up together, but then Brighid is driving her crazy by trying to herd her all over the house, which includes a lot of running and barking and which Precious does not seem to enjoy at all.

·         The Kitty – This little lady is a gray tabby, and she loves to talk.  I mean she really LOVES to talk.  She will carry on a complete conversation with you, and it will last an hour or more if you stop and pet her while it’s going on. 

·         June Bug – June Bug looks like Precious, just with more white.  However, she and Precious are not littermates.  June Bug is our hunter.   The only thing she can’t seem to catch is a mole.  We’re blessed with those in our yard, but she doesn’t take much interest in them.  Anything else, however, needs to watch out when she’s around.

·         Nub – Nub is our gentleman.  He’s a bobtailed tuxedo, very handsome, always very clean, and very laid back.  This cat is rarely in a hurry.  He just strolls through life like he doesn’t have a care in the world, which makes me wonder how he’s always catching birds.  He just loves to turn birds loose in the house.  Then he sits back and watches the mayhem of the Hounds going crazy and me trying to get the bird back out.  Nub seems to think he's more dog than cat.  He may spend the day outside acting like a feline, but he comes in every night to curl up with and sleep with the dogs.    

Titan snuggles with Nub

That brings me to the last two cats, the ones that are Yvonne’s by default, so to speak.  Shadow was discovered under the trailer as a kitten.  She’s a beautiful gray cat with a foul temper.  She’s evil.  I’ve seen it.  Yvonne’s daughter could do anything to this cat, and she would be so docile.  She’d curl up with her, very loving, and look absolutely normal.  But she’s not.  She likes to greet strangers as if she’s a sweet little kitty cat.  She allows them to touch her, and then she turns and attempts to rip out their throat.  She must always be approached with caution.  You have been warned.

Then there’s Nip.  Nip is a skinny tuxedo with a freakishly long tail.  He was adopted at a pet store by our former roommate who left him behind when she moved to Florida.  He’s a devilish sort, and his favorite thing in the world is to torment Brighid.  He loves to wait until she’s asleep, slowly sneak up, bop Brighid on the head, and take off running.  Brighid then jumps up barking like the house is on fire.  She doesn’t trust him and frequently complains about him, but he doesn’t seem to mind. 

Sadly, Nip was injured a few months ago.  We believe he was hit by a car.  While his mischievous personality is intact, his poor body isn’t the same.  He still runs and loves to torment Brighid, but he can’t jump anymore.  Climbing is rough for him, and he limps when it’s cold or rainy. 

So there you have it – our zoo.  We’ll share their exploits from time to time now that you have an idea of who they all are.