And when we first got him, he took one of my shoes and put it in the middle of the living room. I'd still love to know why. He didn't damage it at all, just moved it. Just the one.

However, lest you think he's this awesome non-destructive dog, he also ate a whole loaf of banana bread off the counter the other day while I was in bed with the cramps. I mean, I'd left it out because it turned out badly and I had stopped thinking about it as food, but apparently not Seabiscuit.

Dogs are great with rules as long as they are always the same.

Oh my jebus. We are having such issues right now. I have the most rule-followingest dog in the world. She is at my sister's for the week, where my sister is spoon feeding her to get her to eat because she Will Not eat out of people food dishes.

ETA: needless to say, we have no chewing issues.

C'mon Darby, eat! I swear it's the same food.

We have to be in the same room when Coco eats. Otherwise, she's afeared that this is her last meal and won't touch it, just in case.

Our vet's office adores our cat. He'll let them do so many things to him and just make sad little mews--though there were some growls when the vet was probing to see if he could get a stool sample. But considering the vet said "Well, I tapped on the back of his brain, but there's nothing there," the cat's entitled to some bad language.

The nurses there kind of nudge each other out of the way to get the chance to cuddle him, because he's plushy and gorgeous.

Occasionally the elderly cat will muscle her away from her bowl and start eating her food. Darby's response to this provocation is to come get me. (Or sometime to just stare mournfully. "Woe, now I will starve and there is no help for it.")

I keep my girls muzzled when non-supervised, because Bluebell is still chewy, and it's borrowing trouble to leave one unmuzzled while the other's muzzled.

Basket muzzles are a dog's best friend.

Man, we HAVE to start going for walks again. I've been able to get away with sending them out for a good run, as it's been cold and wet, but as soon as we have more daylight in our days, walk time is back on.

I am dying to get back on a walk rotation. It amazes me when she's elsewhere. At first I'm all "yay, no need to go out early today" and then by the end of the first day I'm getting all antsy and wanting to go.

I spend kind of a lot of time trying to figure out what rules Walter is following. He knows a lot more of them than I do.

The eyepiece on my glasses finally broke completely off, so I have an appointment at the eye doctor for tomorrow. That's a good reason to not try to do to much stuff that requires seeing, right? Like, driving 30 miles seems like a bad idea...

We have to be in the same room when Coco eats. Otherwise, she's afeared that this is her last meal and won't touch it, just in case.

Dita is just afraid in general about drinking--she'd rather do it from a faucet than a bowl, and she is very skittish when she does, as if she might get attacked, so now a couple of times a day I turn on the bathroom faucet a dribble and stand guard for her.

She used to be like that with food too, but she got over it.

Our vet's office adores our cat. He'll let them do so many things to him

Man, Kato is Mr. Stoic, and we took him to the vet last week because he had been limping and favoring one leg for over a month (but not consistently; like, he'd get up from his [cushy memory-foam] bed and not put any weight on his leg, but then he'd walk around on it and seem fine -- he would even run out in the yard). When the vet manipulated Kato's leg through its range of motion and checked for scar tissue or other things wrong with his knee, Kato just stood there with his Worried Face and did resist the range-of-motion test by trying to keep his leg stiff, but he otherwise didn't bark, whimper, whine, or pull away. He is determined to not cause a fuss, or die trying. Which makes it hard sometimes to figure out what's wrong with him.