Ruby the Corgi did not seem especially perturbed after the disappearance of Cassie the Queen of the Universe, who went to meet her maker on the 15th. Admittedly, I did not sit on the floor and weep for half an hour, the way I did when we had to dispatch Walt the Greyhound -- but that was quite a shock, since Walt did not appear to be sick despite being filled…

Cassie the Corgi left this world the day before yesterday. She was almost 13 years old and had suffered from adrenal cancer (we think: there's some confusion about that) for the past four and a half months. She lived about as long as corgis can be expected to…

Welp, I have to admit it: I seriously did not think a corgi could rise to the level of a German shepherd, the dogs of my dreams (okay, okay: and nightmares). But by golly: Cassie the Corgi just did it.

After the Adventures in Medical Science (that would be 6 surgeries in 12 months), I fell into a kind of lassitude in which I let everything, business and personal, go to pot. But lately a small recovery has occurred.

Yesterday I happened to notice that I haven't cleaned…

You'd never know it.

This afternoon while scanning through some old blog posts by way of gathering stuff for a blog-based bookoid, I came across a post dated June 14, 2008, announcing the arrival of Cassie the Corgi at the Funny Farm. In it, I remarked that the Humane Society said her former humans told them she was two years old.

That would make her ten years old now!

Who would think…

...DOG HAIR.

Quite a lot of dog hair. :-D

So does your human.

It's been past time for Cassie and Ruby's doggy baths for quite awhile. I try to put off bathing them until the weather is warm, because I'm afraid of getting them chilled. Ruby has normal fur, but Cassie's hair is like a lion's mane, only all over her body. It's so thick and lush that it takes all day long to get dry, even in Arizona's parched climate.

Today the…

Dogs bite: some 4.7 million times a year, leading 800,000 humans to seek medical attention, of whom 386,000 will need emergency treatment. A third of all homeowner’s liability claims result from dog bites, at an average cost per claim of $32,072. Every year, the insurance industry shells out over a billion dollars for dog-bite claims.

My son, a claims adjuster for a major US insurance company,…

https://youtu.be/LjBUZ43bLjE

From my honored son... :-D

Have you ever had a problem with a neighbor’s cats? How was it resolved? Or was it?

For a book on cats, a friend and I are looking for reports about issues related to cats allowed to run free. Please tell us your story. What was the problem? Did any property damage occur (to your yard, your home, your car, or whatnot)? Did any…

My heart leapt straight into my throat this morning when I walked into the backyard and found the back gate hanging open.

It was coming onto noon. The dogs (and incidentally, I) had been up since dawn. I hadn't been out in the alley earlier, so that meant the gate must have been open all night. Ruby has a dog door, but on a gorgeous day like today, the doors to the kitchen, the family room, and the garage were all standing open. I'd had breakfast on the backyard patio, accompanied by…

It is night-time. Cassie the Corgi and Ruby the (former) Corgi Pup have been lifted onto the bed. The Human has turned on the electric throw (about a third the size of a blanket) and has crawled under it and is either reading a book or tapping away at the computer. Cassie has staked out her territory just south of an unoccupied pillow near the head of the bed, her rear end…

Does your corgi vocalize in exotic and interesting ways? Cassie, who was found at the dog  pound under a sign reading "BARKS," expresses herself almost exclusively in loud yaps, which is OK because no one is around to be disturbed except me, and I find her so adorable that most of the time her barking doesn't pose much of a problem.

On the other hand, Ruby the Corgi Pup appears to be a multilingual dog. She is the most amazing little talker! She has a wide range of…

I can't stand it. Google hates this, but I wish so intensely to bite the neighbors that I'm reproducing a post that just went live at my regular blog, Funny about Money. Et allez-vous faire fou*re, Google!

***

Ruby and Cassie are up and ready to go by 6 a.m. Normally, we would avoid the park on Sunday morning, because gaggles of…

If Big Brother is watching us and has Minions parked in front of screens peering into our homes and offices, there's NO doubt at all the Minions have been having a hilarious time watching the goings-on here at the Funny Farm.

One of the professional singers in the choir with which I have the unparalleled privilege of singing (it's a mix of highly trained professional vocalists and us amateurs) is having to move on short notice. Her husband got a very nice job in the Bay Area…

Ha anyone had to deal with rats in an area that the dog can get into?

Lovely uptown Phoenix is now fully infested with roof rats, a nice little wildlife species brought here by folks moving here from other states. They look much like a Norway rat, but mercifully are somewhat less obnoxious. In their habits, they're really more like a tree squirrel than like the…

When I woke up the other day with a cluster of itchy bites on one arm, I thought "uh-oh." Having had, many years ago, a cat that suffered a serious flea infestation and having grown up in the Middle East, I do know what flea bites look like. These looked suspiciously familiar.

Wouldncha know it, Cassie and Ruby sleep on my bed.

So I dropped everything and began Flea Eradication. Mercifully, my house doesn't have carpets. So a vacuum attack is relatively easy to…

I t's that time of year when maturing palo verde borers emerge from the ground. This particularly nasty critter lives underground for most of its two- to eight-year lifespan…

The scene: A shady bosque in the backyard, where the Human is taking its morning coffee and the Corgis are doing whatever dogs do in backyards.

Ruby (having discovered the irrigation water pools up under one plant and makes a grand muddy puddle): SPLASH FROLIC SPLASH SPLAT WALLOW SPLASH SPLATTER....RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN SPLASHITA RUN SPLASH RUN RUN RUN....

Human (having just paid Wonder-Cleaning Lady to shovel out the…

The neighbor's nuisance cat got into the pool area this morning and attacked DUCK on her nest. The terrorized bird put up quite a racket. Luckily, I happened to be home at the time. I ran outside and grabbed a hose, but couldn't quite hit the accursed cat, which was, shall we say, persistent. DUCK fell off the coping into the pool.

I threw open the gate and hollered for Cassie, who came…

At 18 months, Ruby-Doo is now just about the same size as Cassie the Corgi, who's about six years her senior. As of this evening, they each weigh exactly 21.8 pounds.

That's right at what the vet pegs as Cassie's ideal weight. Ruby looks a tiny bit shorter than Cassie, but I think that's because her coat is considerably thinner than Cassie's She's filling out: getting broader across the back and shoulders and thicker around the belly.

I'm thinking it's about time to cut back…