Bubble Wrap?? General Chat

And all is well again with The Twooney. After dropping a aircraft carrier load of catnip on The Twooney's bedroom floor and watching Looney2 roll in it, hiss at Looney1, Looney1 then roll in it, and then going back to bed, I woke up to The Twooney laying side by side on my bed giving each other kisses on their foreheads.

Whew!!!

The podcat Looney1a is officially gone - only the original Twooney exists.

I just hope Tornado-dog has learned his lesson about opening doors.

Looney1 I fear will forget his podcat existence in short order and will escape again when the opportunity arises.

If I do anything in the backyard that includes water or the hose, Tornado-dog goes crazy. If I leave him inside, he goes berserk. If I let him out he has to get in the water.

Today I had to fill some water containers for an upcoming camping trip. So, the water sprinkler had to be turned on to amuse the monster while I filled the containers with the "drinking water hose" (I have four hoses connected to the faucet - the dog's refillable water bowl, the long sprayer hose - also attached to hot water, the sprinkler, and the drinking water hose).

Here's the after effect...

This past week, I took the critters camping at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

This was Tornado-dog before the trip - waiting is exhausting...


And here is Looney2 in the trailer (he stayed inside for the trip):


His brother Looney1, on the other hand, insisted on coming out every day. He was gracious and let the little girl in the campsite next to us pet him and the very nice men across from us got their "cat fix" through him. Here he is letting the sun worship his tummy...


Cat-dog had a rough first few days - there were a lot of dogs in the campground - but she finally started to relax a bit and show actual pleasure at being outside:


Tornado-dog and Cat-dog rode around the park with us while the Twooney and the bird stayed in the trailer at camp. They weren't allowed on the trails, etc, but did get to check out "Hot Rock" - it was expelled from Lassen Peak in 1915(?) during the eruption and flew about 3 miles away to land on the side of the road. It was still hot to the touch days later.

Here are some photos of the sights themselves.
Sulphur Works:




This is a view from what was inside the original massive Mount Tehama. When it blew, it formed several new peaks (Brokeoff Mountain, Mount Lassen being two) directly behind the camera. It's amazing to realize we were standing inside an ancient volcano :

This is Hwy 89 that runs from the northwest end (Manzanita Lake where we stayed) to the southwest end (Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center) of the park. Last summer the Dixie Fire burned from the southeast end of the park all the way to this point. The firefighters were able to stop it from spreading across the highway. You can see the trees on the left were just slightly burned in comparison to the right side.


I have some more processing to do, but will post some more scenic shots. We did see a bear during one of our drives through - he had just come down to cross the road and saw our vehicle coming and took off back up the hill - the highway had just opened the prior week, so it was good to see him avoiding the cars and people.

Fab photos. Is that a leash that Looney 2 is wearing?
I don't like the sulphur soup - yuk. i could just imagine a certain clumsy Beagle landing in that.

Yes, The Twooney's have harnesses,and leashes for camping. Looney2 actually wears TWO harnesses - one bright orange that hold his ID tag and the second gets attached to his leash - this is because he can back out of the harness with the leash.

Looney1 just wears one harness because he doesn't back out of it. He loves going for walks.

This trip, Looney2 was happy to stay in the trailer even if the door was opened, so I just attached the leash to his harness so if he did get out I could grab the leash.

I used a lightweight tether for Looney2. I attached it to a wooden barrier behind the trailer and the other end to his harness. That way he could go in and out of the trailer and hang out in the camp chairs.

The Sulphur Works has a wooden barrier around it. That "mud" is actually boiling. We didn't do the hike to Bumpass Hell. That is another area of thermals. It'snamed because the first white guy to see it, Bumpass, fell in and got his arm burned off. We saw remnants of cell phones in the mud works - we guess folks tried to get selfies using those selfie sticks hanging out over the pools and the phones fell out...

I thought that cats could slither out of any harness - so thanks for that info! In our younger days we had a couple of cats wished on to us. (Not at the same time). They had caravan holidays with us, and often came along when we visited friends or relatives. There was great excitement when they realised they were on the road home. Only later did I realise just how much we had trusted to luck. Both these sweet girls met their end on fast stretches of road - I don't think I could trust a cat with the freedom to roam again.

It really depends upon the cat. Looney2 is long and lean like a siamese, so when he backs out, his joints just disappear making it easy to slide out of the harness. With Looney1, he doesn't back out like that, so the harness works well. Loonie1 is also less easily frightened, even when people are around.

I use a Roman H harness on Looney1. It looks like this (his pattern is blue with bugs on it):


For Looney2, I use the above harness (in that butterfly pattern) with one like this:


They work the best in my experience. Both cats wear their harnesses during the entire trip. And have ID tags on the harnesses that include my vehicle and trailer license plate numbers - this way if they get out in a campground and someone catches them, they can find me even if there is no cell service.

In the suv, I installed a pet barrier just behind the second row seat. Instead of attaching one corner with the included clamps, I used a couple rubber twist ties:


This way I can easily remove that panel from the second seat to get the cats in and out of the back - without having to open the hatch door. I put a cat box back there with their carriers that I leave open:


The Twooney usually settle down for the trip and sleep for most of it. And the barrier keeps them from trying to crawl under my feet.

Looney1 has gotten to the point that he knows putting on the harness means he can go outside. As soon as I put it on him, he will streak for the door.

When I was a kid, I remember going camping in our trailer and my Mom brought our siamese with us. He got out of the trailer as we were packing up to leave and climbed up a tree. My Dad was furious and my Mom just kept saying "we're not leaving without him". He finally came down. My Dad never allowed another cat camping.

When Looney1 decided to move in, I told him he had to be a camping cat or he would have to stay home alone for weeks on end. He took to camping like a duck to water. He prefers to stay in the campground for his walks. He checks out the bugs and small critters and watches the birds. On our trip to Death Valley, he saw a kit fox. He stood for a second staring into the darkness, then started to go straight towards it. He was determined to take that kit fox. Fortunately, the kit fox took off.

So I've been doing up my backyard. I added a nice hardtop gazebo, an outdoor sofa, table and chairs. I have the dining table and chairs and umbrella. Still have to the above ground pool, chaise lounges and a couple rocking chairs.

So, each night after the dogs eat dinner (and Buffy the Vampire Slayer is over for the night), the dogs and I go out to relax. Well, Cat-dog and I go out to relax. Tornado-dog goes out to play ball. He has been putting the disgustingly slobbered and grimy ball on the seat cushions or the table for me to pick up and throw. I bought a simple cloth rope basket and have been trying to get him to put the disgusting ball in the basket for me to throw it.

This has become a battle of the trainers. He is trying to train me to pick the ball up of the table. If I don't, he barks "pick it up!" And he will tap the ball with his feet to point out my task. Sometimes, he will pick up the ball and put it BACK on the table to make his command clear.

Meanwhile, I tap on the basket and say "put it in the basket", if he puts it on the table or seat, I say "pick it up". Sometimes, I hold the basket out to make my command clear.

I'm afraid he's doing a better training job than I am...

Earlier today, I saw Tornado-dog chewing on something long, skinny and black. I asked him to bring it to me so I could see it. He got up with it, dropped it, picked it back up, and came over to me to show it to me.

It was a bright blue tennis ball.

I think he just faked me out.

That’s pretty funny. He knew you expected him to bring you something, but didn’t want to give you whatever it was that he had. Shows intelligence, also willfulness.

I’ve witnessed Katie Mae wanting what Bandit has, seen her make something else seem interesting, and letting him have it, so she can get what she actually wanted (possibly/probably just because he had it).

I had dogs do that to each other. But Tornado-dog has taken it to a whole new level. He's quite charming...

I found some bubble wrap recently while cleaning out a drawer, and thought of you and tornado dog!! I definitely popped it all before disposing of it.

You didn't offer it to the akitas??? Tornado-dog says you were very selfish to keep the joy of bubble wrap from them.

There wasn’t enough for both of them and I didn’t want to create a situation where one (Katie Mae) might get jealous and start a fight.

Edit. And that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it

Tornado-dog gives you credit for sticking to your excuse but says it doesn't hold water...

Reported - again.

This person is relentless. Grrr

Rude to jump your advert on someone else's thread too!

Well, since @steve05 has decided to usurp Tornado-dog's thread, I will say what I think.

You are not breeding happy healthy dogs. You are breeding mutts - mixed breeds - mongrols. Cavapoo is not a breed. You are nothing but a selfish idiot who thinks selling mutts as if they were purebreds is a legitimate business.

You are scum.

And anyone reading this should stay far away from the likes of you and your overpriced puppies.