More Smokey and if sausage doesn’t agree with you, don’t feed it to the dogs.

Waste not, want not, isn’t always the best policy.  Woke up to two messes on the floor from dogs having eaten the sausage that I couldn’t eat.  It wasn’t their fault so there were no recriminations.  I got punished by having to clean it up. 

Smokey liked to share everyone’s food and drink.  That drop left on top was his.  This is my much younger sister sharing her ginger ale with him.

 

Birds are messy pets.  Nature somehow taught them to throw down some of the seeds of the plants they eat so there will be a crop for the next year.  Probably the birds who didn’t do that starved to death leaving only the messy birds to survive. 

At least a third of the food goes flying.  If it is vegetable matter it will stick to the wall.  They will eat about anything you eat.  I would shop for a weeks worth of veggies at the salad bar at the grocery.  

When I think of wanting another bird I remind myself of the once a week job of washing floor and walls as well as cleaning the cage.

Smokey was allowed out of his cage while I was home.  He would try to creep down the side of it before he could fly.  If I saw him doing that I would yell “get back up there” and clap my hands.  So he connected the action with the words and started yelling “get back up there” as he crept down the cage.  A great give away that kept him safe.

Dusty, the dog, had killed a couple of mourning doves in the past and they were similar in size and color to Smokey. 

Dusty was cured of  killing mourning doves, even though they are really stupid and just hunker down when you get close.  I took each bird from him and did a little shake and bake with alum powder and pepper, then gave them back to him.  The second time I did this I had to pry his mouth open to stuff the bird in.  He never killed another one, but I didn’t completely trust him.

Smokey tortured that poor dog unmercifully.  He would call him and throw down a peanut shell.  The dog would try to eat it, since he thought “I” had called him and given him a treat. 

Smokey also tortured me by barking like the dog was outside and wanted in, when the dog was already inside or outside enjoying himself.  End result was the dog got left outside sometimes when he wanted in, or I made trips to look for the dog – wherever he was.

Later….