A Special Card From Reilly (and "Momma")

As a puppy with White Shaker Syndrome and a Maltese underbite as well as a "Momma" with Cerebral Palsy and other conditions, Reilly thanks Former President & First Lady Bush 41 (ז״ל) especially for signing the Americans With Disabilities Act into law!

#MaltipooMonday: "Auntie Nicole" Fell, And...

She scared Camille as she accidentally lunged forward at her and then caused what "Mom-Mom" described as what must've been "an earthquake" to her. So, she literally had unintentional insult added to her injury, which occurred right as she turned to the right and hit the area between her hip and her upper leg (or maybe it was, as "Mom-Mom" told her, her hip—she can't exactly tell what that area's called. Either way, she fell enough to cause an apparent "earthquake" throughout the family room and leave a bruise where she fell.).

Then culminated the next part in the whole incident. That part included "Auntie Nicole" having left Camille scared as well as "Momma" having scared Reilly, Reilly wanting to go outside because of how scared she was, Camille having to pee to the point at which she could be said to have literally had the pee scared of her, "Auntie Nicole" having to put Camille on her lap while she still was harnessed and leashed because she would've run away otherwise, and the same "Auntie Nicole" sitting her furniece on her lap to explain to her that she was just walking toward her to give her a kiss on the head and not trying to hurt her.

Meanwhile, both Camille (who was shaking as she sat on "Auntie Nicole"'s lap as "Auntie Nicole" was trying to comfort her and explain what happened) and Reilly (who avoided "Momma" for quite a while) took some time to be convinced that they were not going to be lunged at by "Auntie Nicole"/"Momma".

Early Hanukkah 5778 and Belated National Mutt Day 2018 Card

PS: 1) "Momma" and Reilly get an extra day of Hanukkah, since Hanukkah begins this evening. 2) This card affected OCD/Anxiety, too—thus, part of why it's late.

A Really-Important Reminder From Reilly And Camille

#FluffyFriday & #FoxyFriday (No; Really...)

The bratheads saw their newfound friend again—twice! Well, he or she may not exactly be a friend, though they did bark at him or her—"Reilly like a banshee" and Camille "like a copycat", "Mom-Mom" told "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole"—and the second time was when they barked as "Mom-Mom" described how they barked. Why did they bark more the second time than they barked the first time, though? Well, "Auntie Nicole" suspects that especially Camille may have actually been angry at the fox for not sharing his or her...if one will...leftovers that he or she came to pick up in a neighbor's yard...

Those leftovers happened to be a lapin sans tête, and Camille—perhaps partly because she has a French name and is ¾ Poodle 😉—has frequently barked at lapins, whereas as Reilly has not barked at them (notwithstanding that, like Camille, she'd like to chase them if she could do so). So, for her to be angry that the fox would not share—not to mention that he or she caused the neighbor to frightenedly scream as he or she jumped over the fence with the remains of his or her catch en bouche—would make sense.

PS Moments like these are part of why "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" would like "Mom-Mom" and "Auntie Michelle"/"Mimi" to at least walk with them when they walk Reilly and Camille, even though she can't walk Reilly (yet, anyway. "Mom-Mom" did once suggest that maybe "Momma" could someday walk Reilly if she can put her leash loop on the handle of the rollator). 

Re the Apparently-Abusive and -Otherwise-Evil Pet Owners: For God's Love, Really...

If you see an abandoned and/or otherwise abused, or deceased pet, consider that he or she could be or could've been be lost (e.g., escaped from a backyard and with concerned owners looking for him or her) or stolen. Please have him or checked for a microchip and/or a collar, and/or otherwise try to locate his or her potential owners. e.g., A couple in Pennsylvania was wrongly accused of abandoning their four-year-old Shitzu by putting him in a crate and having him freeze to death. In the Facebook post re that matter, one of the couples' neighbors said that they recognized his "I LOVE LONG WALKS" collar and were "devastated".

Same with other apparently-neglected/abused pets: the owner(s) might have disabilities (including invisible illnesses) and be unable to care for the pets, all while (s)he gets or they get demonized instead of have somebody to help him/her/them care for them. Please for God's love, don't bar those of us with disabilities like Depression, OCD/Anxiety (which can bring about hoarding), ADD, and Cerebral Palsy (all of which I have) from owning pets. Don't especially the "Adopt; Don't Shop" types demonize people with disabilities enough, and notwithstanding that our medical providers—e.g., my physiatrist at the time—recommend that I don't adopt—and my physiatrist had her reasons for doing so. By the way, she is now a researcher at NIH—and where are you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types in life?—and I mean besides sitting behind your computers, marching on the streets, and/or doing something else at God knows where to spread more ableism, assuming that everyone can and/or should adopt (and not that you've ever really considered us people; but hey.)

Also, you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types of course demonize legitimate breeders by conflating them with puppy millers partly or even entirely because of your ableism—and you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types who are also people with disabilities are hypocrites and obviously self-hating PWDs—and I know that PWDs, let alone "Adopt; Don't Shop" types whom are PWDs, are not immune to ableism especially since society has tried to ingrain it into us since the time that the first person who had a somehow-noticable disability existed, and you're still supposed to try to fight both ableism and intra-ableism instead of buy into it.

Speaking of buying and adopting instead of shopping, maybe you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types should—if you can—try to adopt attitudes that involve critical thinking, compassion, and empathy—none of which anybody can buy, since critical thinking is an acquired skill and values such as compassion and empathy are learned (not to mention that, e.g., especially quite a few rich and famous "Adopt; Don't Shop" types don't have those values in the first place, anyway—no matter how much they fake that they do, particularly when it comes to us PWDs and the other less fortunate among us.)

PS Having Reilly (See below.) has saved me from having my life taken by Depression—and were Reilly not in my life, I would've died from starvation due to oversleeping (since I naturally wouldn't have been awake and thus able to eat)—and Reilly is one of the reasons that I am alive in the first place.

"FO-OX!"

So begins a not-too-unusual Woof Wednesday a la casa de Reily y Camila. Of course, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" had a usual myoclonus flareup. "Mom-Mom", on the other hand, considered the situation another emergency-bark one, and she considered it correctly: she saw a fox walking down the sidewalk across from the window.

Obviously then, that Reilly's and Camille's barking translated to "FO-OX!" clicked. At least the fox just walked on his or her way, though, and didn't even think to jump over or find a way to get under the fence. After all, Reilly and Camille weren't going to let him or her get any birdies or squirrels that were at the birdfeeder, and he or she would have to go elsewhere despite how cold and windy his or her den's environment might've been.

(Incidentally, "Auntie Nicole" just had another myclonous flareup as she finished up typing because somebody named Camille barked loudly enough to cause her to flinch!)