Monta will be 10 years old in a few months, and is no longer able to take baths by himself. But he likes taking showers in the kitchen sink!
Monta’s morning shower
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Tag Archives: animals
Chako… still lives!
Look who I found by my bicycle just before. Chako! It’s been almost 8 years now since all the fuss, and having her spayed, and finding new owners for at least some of her kittens. That’s pretty amazing for a feral, don’t you think?
Chako, you might recall, has two different colored eyes, is missing one front paw, and never makes a sound.
You can search on my blog and find older photos, including her kittens.
The secret to getting Pao to stop jumping after cars
I think I may have found the right way to stop Pao from leaping after cars and motorbikes. When he does that he is really really strong, and if he does it suddenly it can hurt my arm.
These are the recommended things I tried which don’t work:
- Delicious treats to lure him away.
- Scolding him.
- Using force to restrain him.
- Crates. (Just kidding on this one, but at Reddit it seems whenever you ask a puppy-raising question they suggest sticking him in a crate).
What seems to work (he didn’t jump after one car yet today – fingers crossed) is complimenting him on what a good boy he is while rubbing his back. He’ll stop and stare at the cars, but he will be more-or-less still and not use force.
He was calm enough at his late morning walk that I could take this short video with one hand.
Good boy! Good boy!
I look forward to trying this again at our 4 pm walk.
Note: This does not work with cats. I have to drag him away from cats and he gives me a look like, “Are you insane, man? There’s a cat there!”
An afternoon at… the park?
In retrospect, I’m not so sure this was a great idea
My neighbor, who has a sister of Pao, was getting into her car as I was coming back from a walk with Pao. She said, “Let’s go to the Arakawa Sports Field.” It’s on the river bank.
I asked how far away it was and she said 2 km, and very spacious and empty.
It seemed safe enough, so Pao and I got into the car and went over.
It seemed to be the very essence of social distancing. I don’t think any two small groups of people were within 100 yards of anybody else. But there were families playing ball, some runners, and other people around by the river.
Pao enjoyed the car ride, but he wasn’t used to all the stimuli. When we got back and got out of the car he threw up what appeared to be his lunch and snacks. He’s quietly resting now. I think it was a bit too much for him. And it didn’t exactly follow the Tokyo Governor’s advice to stay home this weekend.
There was no contact with other people though. And the river looked nice. But Pao is subdued at the moment. He loved having the open space to run around in at the length of his 5 m leash though.
I’ll post some more pictures later.