Source: wackom
8.4.12 Noel Took Charge
Noel In Charge
The trouble with leaving Noel in charge of the zoo while I was gone, is that she actually took it very seriously. Here you see her taking over the dog bed in my office and forcing poor Louise to sleep on the floor. That is the trouble with animals of different species. They seem to boss each other around in funny ways. What I found really cute is that Louise actually listened to her and vacated the bed. Maybe it is an age before beauty thing; Lulu being the younger animal of course. I think that in my absence Noel was forced to deal with situations that she did not prefer; like having to be with people other than Mommy and actually being with the rest of the herd/pride. I noticed that she has been out more the last couple of days since I have been home. She was investigating ‘Syd,’ the platypus that I brought home from the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, for Peanut. Funny what happens to certain animals when you give then a sense of responsibility.
Maybe Noel will start being more social with the other animals now that she has been in the leadership role. I doubt it though. I do find it interesting that the dogs allowed Noel to be in their bed when they do not allow any other cats to even come close. They are really possessive about their spots usually. I have seen Sofie get extremely upset at Nine for trying to enter her kennel (she probably was protecting her lovey, Beaver, who was sleeping inside). The dynamics of my pack/pride are very interesting. When you change one thing, take out a member or add a member, even for a short time, the relationships seem to shift. Sometimes they come back to where they started, and sometimes, they don’t. I really hope the dogs don’t start standing on my desk and sleeping in Noel’s bed under the window. I don’t think I could deal with that.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Clarification on the 8.1.12 MommyLag
It appears that some of my humans were upset by my closing remarks on the MommyLag blog piece yesterday, where I commented about how long it would be before they take me for granted. Now, you know that is not what I meant. I was talking about how quickly things get back to normal with the humans after you return from being away. Coming home to the humans gives you like 15 minutes of fame. You come home and you go out to dinner to celebrate your return and then it is, “Hi, we missed you… now can we get back to our normal routine.” What I was trying to say is that with the dogs, I think that takes longer. It is not that I think my family takes me for granted, that is not what I was meaning to say. But now that it has been brought to my attention, I guess it was a bad choice of words on my part. My apologies family. You did a great job while I was gone with taking care of yourselves and the zoo. Thank you. It is never my intention in my blog, or in my life, to offend or hurt anyone in any way, especially my family. I write the blog because I feel that it helps me look deeper into my life, spirit, and motivations and gives me a chance to better understand myself in relation to my world, especially my world with my animals. I have many blog followers and have made many new virtual friends in the 9 months that I have been blogging and for that I am very grateful. I try to speak from my heart and write honestly and carefully, but I know that sometimes, things I might say may offend or otherwise displease someone. If I do, I am sorry. Thank you for reading and for following me and the zoo: I do not and never will take that for granted. – DogDaz
8.3.12 Melbourne and Sydney Trip Animal Pics
Funny dog clothing – Melbourne Open Market
- Thinking Buddies – Taronga Zoo – Sydney
- EMU – Taronga Zoo – Sydney
- Kookaburra – Sydney
- Tasmanian Devil – Sydney
- Bottlebrush Bush – Sydney
- Dhole ( Australian wild dog) – Sydney
- Wallaby standing next to me
- Big Reds ignoring me
- Kanga looking at me
- Ibis trying to eat my lunch
- Ibis following me around the city
- Flightpath Sydney to LAX
‘Not’ Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
8.2.12 What leaving looks like.
Here is a sequence of Sofie and Nine watching me drive away. (How sad is that?) You can see the reflection of the car in the front door glass. This was the image I was left with on my way to the airport. Two of my goofballs snuggling and watching me go. Notice how Sofie is straining to see me over Nine in the last shot. It is so wonderful how close the animals are. Sofie had no idea that Mommy would be gone a long time. She just knew that I was leaving the house and getting into the moving thing without her. I have talked about separation before, but this trip was a really hard one for me and for the animals and humans. Probably because of the length of time (10 days). For me, my animals are a calming and life enhancing force. I miss my humans very much too, don’t get me wrong. I need my humans as a constant sustainable energy of love and comfort, but the animals, my need for their presence is different. They give me a sense of peace. They are my home. They are the earth force that seems to remind me to eat and take walks during the day. Having so many animals, there is always someone near by wanting something; pet me, feed me, let me out, walk me, play with me, scratch my head, hold me …. I adore my zoo. I find great comfort in the company of animals. So, this is what leaving looks like at the zoo. What’s it like at your house?
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
8.1.12 MommyLag
Welcome Home Mom Attack
Lulu won’t let anyone near me! “My Mommy!” she growls.
My understanding is that both the humans and the animals were losing their minds by the 5th day I was gone. The animals were being so annoying they just wanted someone, anyone, to pay attention to them. I heard that Sofie actually started hitting Louise in the head to get her to play. While I was gone my daughter took some pictures, so I will have to see them to understand some of the antics. I did Skype with Muffin and Nine but they were not very talkative; the dogs were at daycare, so I missed them on the call. The report was that the dogs actually did sleep until like 8 AM which never happens when I am home (very interesting). Like JetLag (which takes a major toll on your circadian rhythm especially when you were 14 hours ahead and now you have to come back), MommyLag is similar. It takes time for everything to return to ‘normal.’ Right now both humans and animals want to be near me a lot more than usual. Sofie won’t let me out of her sight. Lulu wants to crawl inside me and keeps one paw on me at all times. I’ve read that JetLag takes one day for every hour you need to readjust, I wonder how much time it takes for MommyLag? I am sure the humans will be back to taking me for granted way before the furballs do. Nice to be home.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
