Difficult decision

Hi everyone

Since our last blog we had to make a very difficult decision: Princess keeps nagging us about getting in on our blog which we had denied her when she first brought it up. But things have been and are still changing a little bit with her and we have to admit that after having had her for 6 months, she is becoming more of a family member than just a pet to us by the day. At first we had thought that we would never accept a dog in our home. Then we got to kind of like her to the point that we decided, she can stay. Then there was the incident where she protected André and Sue at Yellowstone National Park. That made her some points with both of us. But then there was that other thing, too, when she and Sue went on that walk in Grand Canyon National Park, which sparked some doubts again.

So we sat down with her in a meeting to determine what to do. And we came to an agreement on how to proceed, which is more than what can be said for the US government at this time. Those guys should all get cats and learn from them how to make things work. But let's not go into politics. That is something smart beings such as us stay away from whenever we can. Anyhow, we decided to let Princess join us in our editorial meetings. We will hear her points and opinions and then decide if and what to include in our blogs. Then we will review that agreement in a few months and if she turns out to have made some valid contributions, she will become a part of our team. Fair? We thinks so.

See, we actually think she's smart. Just recently she has learned the proper response not only to a command but to a hand-signal. Now André and Sue can make her sit down either with a word or by showing her this signal. Sue even thinks of teaching her more commands and more hand-signals, too. She would like to teach Princess a certain response for a "yes"-signal and another one for a "no"-signal. This way she could impress people by asking Princess questions and Princess giving the correct answer, making our dog look really smart. We have to see that before we believe it of course but hey, crazier things have happened!

It would help us find out just how smart our dog really is, though. I mean is it intelligence to do what one is being told, or signed for that matter, or does it mean Princess is too stupid to have an opinion and a will of her own? Gee, she now even sits without André and Sue having to tell her to. Before you know it she will be doing all kinds of stuff simply because Sue wiggles a finger or André farts (sorry for the language).

Now, that is a very ill chosen example, Hunter! We all do something when André farts (sorry for the language), whether it is putting a paw over our noses or leaving the room. But you made your point. That's why this new trick / hand-signal thing will be so helpful to us. It will let us know for sure if we should be proud of Princess or embarrassed at her. I put my money on proud.

I'm not betting against you, Trapper. I, too, think our dog is really smart but I still like the idea of her proofing it to us. And once she's done that we can try and teach her some stuff of our own, like snuggling up with you. Yes, don't act so surprised! I know you would like that especially with the weather turning cold again and Florida still a few weeks away. I saw the way you looked at her the other day when you both were laying on the couch.

Well, ok. As for now here is Princess' first contribution: "Thanks for giving me a chance, guys." Well said, Princess! That's one point for you.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Blame it all on Princess?

Hi everyone

You have to read this! We could not believe what Princess got Sue into the other day. And I believe it was all her fault. If it hadn't been for her, Sue would never have gone on this walk.

I'm not so sure about that, Hunter. After all it was still Sue's decision and she doesn't want to blame any of it on our dog. As a matter of fact, she is quiet proud of how Princess did through the whole thing. So let's see what our fans think of this stupidity. A few days ago André and Sue were at the Grand Canyon and they had Princess with them. They enjoyed the view from the north rim and took a lot of pictures. When the time came to move on to another location and take more pictures there, Sue decided to take Princess on a 2-mile walk along a trail and meet up with André at the other end. So off they went, not really having prepared for this adventure. They had no water, no emergency gear, nothing but Sue's cell phone (which of course had no reception, duh!), thinking it would take them probably no more than an hour or a little more to get there. Americans are not exactly known for their love of walking so the trail couldn't possibly be that bad, could it?

That's what they thought anyways. It was supposed to go downhill and they've walked further than two miles many times before. The trail started out just as they had expected, no big deal, more or less level. Then they came to a steep decline. This made sense since the end of it was at a lower elevation and Sue estimated, that by now there was only about a mile left to go. Somewhere the decent had to come. It was really steep though, they almost had to sit on their backsides and slide down at times. When they arrived at the bottom, they could hear the road going by only meters from where they were. The trail then climbed up again and rounded a corner away from the road. Sue and Princess kept walking and came to some great view points were Sue took pictures. Then they kept going, around another corner, downhill and up again and further and further.

By now Sue was starting to think that something wasn't right here. Maybe they've taken the wrong trail but she estimated that they had long passed the two-mile mark and still no road was to be seen or heard. She figured that a decision had to be made: move on and see if the trail-head was around the next turn or turn around and go back to where they've come from. It would be a long walk back, they had been under way for close to two hours by now. But if they kept going every step they took now would add to the return trip if the road could not be found soon. Although Sue didn't exactly cherish the idea of walking all the way back and Princess was tired and thirsty, Sue made the call to turn around. So they started walking again, both of them tired and knowing that by now André would be worried about them. But what choice did they have?

When they came to the same gully where they had heard the road go by close, Sue looked up the embankment trying to figure out if they could make it up there. They tried one spot but could not get good footing. It was simply too steep. So back to the trail it was but after climbing up a small portion of it Sue had to use her hands to help her climbing and Princess almost didn't make it either. Sue once again looked at the embankment across the gully and saw that the road was only about 75 feet / 22 meters up from the trail. "Let's try this again" she said to Princess and went back down. They chose another spot and started climbing up towards the road. It was so steep that Sue had to help Princess by pushing her up in front of her. Princess could not find footing in the loose soil and Sue only managed by hanging on to small trees, roots and a big dead tree that had fallen down the embankment.

After finally reaching the road Sue flagged down the first car that came along. It was a small two-seater and they couldn't give her and Princess a ride. But the driver promised to continue to the top of the road and find someone with a bigger car to pick them up and drive them to the trail-head where André was waiting. He gave Sue a bottle of water, too, which she drank about half of and offered the rest to Princess in her baseball cap. After that the two got help from other people. First the driver came back (alone) to take them to the view point. There someone else tried to call André but André's phone had no reception and so he didn't answer. Finally a park worker who had come to collect garbage gave Sue and Princess a ride to the trail-head. Turns out the trail is actually 3 miles long (as opposed to the 2 miles the sign said it was) and they had been very close to the trail-head when Sue decided to turn around. André had been worried and had driven forth and back between the trail-head and the view point, thinking that maybe they had turned around for some reason. He was just about to make another trip to the view point when the worker dropped Sue and Princess off.

Thank goodness all ended well. André, Sue and Princess were reunited and made their way home, glad that everybody was ok. So now what do you think? Was this Princess' fault or not? Should we be concerned when Sue takes our dog some place or can we trust in Princess to take care of Sue?

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Our dog turns out ok

Hi everyone

We have to tell you, after having had Princess for about 20 weeks it turns out our dog is not half bad. I mean we put all our trust in André and Sue when they picked her out at the shelter but they did a good job choosing our new pet. Princess doesn't bother us a lot and we kind of got the rules laid down by now.

True, she still tries to play with Trapper here but she makes sure not to hurt him. When she jumps on him for example, she makes sure her paws land on either side of him and not on Trapper himself. He only gets scared a bit when she tries to grab on to one of his paws and pull him off the couch. Yeah, she is gentle when she gets a treat from André or Sue and so far she's never bitten Trapper, at least he's never screamed. But he does not like it a bit when she tries to get a hold of him by grabbing on to him.

Well, how would you feel if she would tray to drag you off the couch? I bet you would hiss and growl at her to let go. As a matter of fact you do that anyways to keep her at a distance. Then again Sue caught you on camera laying there on the floor next to her and all was well. No fighting or anything. Admit it, you are curious about her as much as I am. I've seen you sneak up to her and sniff her and you walk by her as if you two had known each other for a long time and settled into some kind of relationship.

Yeah, you got me there. I don't like to admit it and hiss and growl at her when André and Sue are watching but when they're not, I get along with Princess ok. It's not that she does much for us. I mean she's not serving us or something and she gets to go out with André and Sue a lot. It's is a mixed bag with her really. On one side she takes up space in our fifth wheel and she gets to go places with André and Sue all the time. They have gone out for hours or even days at a time a lot lately and she always got to go along while we had to stay home. On the other hand who wants to drive around in the car just to see stuff? Not me! I actually prefer to stay here and snooze away and I know you do, too. Princess going with André and Sue means that we have the fifth wheel to ourselves and can do whatever we want.

Right. And you just said it: André and Sue are going out all the time lately and we used to be a little concerned about them. What if they didn't find their way back home or something happened to them? Who would take care of us? From what we hear Princess has become somewhat protective of them. Now we have to worry a little less. She's gotten into the habit of trying to chase big animals away when they come too close to André and Sue. Just yesterday for example she barked furiously at some wild buffaloes in Yellowstone National Park. They came to within a few feet of the two and Princess decided this was close enough and tried to chase them away. Not bad if you consider how big those beast are! So even if she doesn't do anything for us directly, she at least tries to make sure our servants are save. That's one of the benefits of having a dog and we are pleased that we didn't get her for nothing. Now if only she would learn to take our food dish and drop it in front of André or Sue to make them fill it like she does with her own, that would be a nice touch.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Why?

Hi everyone

Guys, we need some help here. We are somewhat confused about several things and just can't figure them out. Maybe you can help us.

Yes, it all started in Florida. We had a great time down there but it was so different from what we used to know. First of all it was supposed to be winter but it was warm all the time and we didn't get to see snow. Not a single flake worth! Still our winter fur did grow in and so we figured that maybe winter in Florida was coming latter. So we waited and waited and waited but no snow was coming. And now we're shedding our winter coat and our summer fur is growing. I mean, we don't mind the warm weather but what if now that we soon will have our lighter coat the cold will arrive? We will be freezing! Does this have anything to do with climate change? People make a big fuss over that and now it has us worried, too!

And if that was not bad enough, we simply can't figure out what's happening with our walks. Again it started in Florida. Sue would take us out on a regular basis, almost every day to tell the truth, and we did enjoy that. Over time she became more and more reliable about it, too. Then she and André adopted Princess and we got the feeling that our frequent walks were kind of a bribe to make up for that. Though we are getting used to the dog, we still much prefer not to have one. Problem is, there is nothing we can do about it. Princess is here to stay. So we thought that maybe this would mean continuous daily walks and we sure would take those. I mean take a little, give a little, right? Less space for us in the fifth wheel, more time outdoors. Not as good as having no dog but still not a bad deal I would say. But in the last week that did not happen anymore either! What is going on here? The dog gets to spend a lot of time outside, tied up to a small tree and on at least two long walks per day and we are stuck inside except for a couple of times a week. It just isn't fair!

Sue says it's because the ticks are out and she doesn't want us to catch any. As if she ever let us catch anything! If it moves, she hightails it. Especially if it's a snake or a big spider. But we are very worried that the ticks are just an excuse. Maybe she is too tired to walk with us because she does that with Princess now. Then again we think she would be fair enough to let us have some fun times outdoors as well, wouldn't she? But why then make such a fuss over ticks. We don't even know what those are. Could somebody please explain that to us or better yet, talk some sense into her? We really like the outdoors and don't want to be stuck in our fifth wheel forever! Please help us!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Something is going on

Hi everyone

Something is going on in our fifth wheel. The weather is getting even warmer than what it was all winter long and it seems that the season is changing. Spring is in the air and with this come some changes around here. André and Sue seem to get antsy to hit the road again. They have been talking more and more about travel plans for this summer and the other day André washed the whole fifth wheel down while Sue went golfing. She sure took the easy way out there. Anyways, they are getting ready to leave Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park and head North. So far as we can tell, it's still pretty cold in Ontario and so we hope they have enough smarts to take it slow. We don't want to go see snow!

That just might be wishful thinking, though. As you may know by now, André and Sue went off the deep end a couple of weeks ago and adopted a dog! What were they thinking?! And not just any dog. I mean not one of those small ones called one sort of toy breed or another. No! Princess (what's up with that name anyways? Is she going to get the royal treatment while we have to share our space with her?) is a Shepherd/Collie mix and weights in at about 60 lbs. She is huge, I mean like 10 feet tall or so. At least it looks like that from where we stand.

Don't go over board there, buddy. She's no more than 7 feet if you ask me. The good thing about her is that she has all green lights from the vet, all her shots, a micro chip and is spayed. André and Sue got her at the animal shelter in Inverness. An animal shelter is the same as the human society which means she is a rescue dog. André and Sue are all excited about her and claim that she is very well behaved. To us the only thing that really matters is that she leaves us alone for the most part. Even to the point of outright ignoring us. We still don't trust her all the way though and will keep an eye on her for the time being.

I don't think we have anything to say about her living with us. She is here to stay so we better get used to it. Meantime we enjoy that Sue takes us out for walks almost every single day. Must be the bad conscious although we must admit that we got to go outside regularly lately. We'll see how that is going to play out once we're traveling again. So come back and see - we will keep you posted.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Cats and dogs

Ok, we hear you. Some of you didn't like the comment we made about dogs last week. You have to look at it this way: we were actually paying them a compliment by admitting that they can learn languages. But don't expect us to go any further than that - we are cats after all. And the proverb "fighting like dogs and cats" isn't just some invention. It describes the relationship between us and them pretty accurately. So whenever we hear André and Sue talking about getting a dog some day (they love dogs as much as they do cats for some reason) it scares us a bit.

Actually cats and dogs can go along just fine as we know from quiet a few examples. So I am wondering if that would work for us, too. What do you think? Maybe we could train a dog, especially if it's a puppy, and then have some fun with it. I saw on TV that all you need to make this happen is a calm and assertive pack leader, so if the puppy would understand that, the two of us could be that leader and make it happen.

Yeah, possible. I mean it's not that we are opposed to other animals - some of them would really be fun to chase. Well, there was the time when Hunter moved in. Sue had two birds at the time and she and André wanted to make sure Hunter would not harm or scare them. As if he had a chance to get to them in their cage. That's almost cruelty on animals - put them right in front of you with wire in between. Takes the fun right out of it.

It was frustrating, I must admit. Whenever I approached the cage, André and Sue would spray me with water. And you know how much cats hate water! Only my coat is so long and dense, that the water never reached my skin and therefor did not bother me the least. I would just close my eyes when they aimed for my face and sit there, dripping wet. It took them some time but they eventually got the message: no matter what they did to keep me away from the birds, I would not budge. So after a while they gave up. It was then that I started go sleep right on top of the cage. Didn't seem to bother the birds at all. They would actually climb up the side and pull on my fur - true story!

Well, enough of that, lets go for a snooze. See you all around

hunter and trapper