Link: https://margsanimals.com

She has decided that all of a sudden we have to wear this weird stuff. Why in the world do we need to wear collars etc? Fortunately, all she has purchased so far is a Christmas collar and I hope she doesn’t think we are going to wear all kinds of things.

We were good and let her put that collar on us for a few minutes but if she hadn’t taken it off, we would have tried to get the darn thing off. But Santa is coming so we just have to be good so we get lots more toys. So we let that person take our picture with our collar around our neck.

And she needs to improve her picture taking too if we are going to do this.
So here we are trying to look a little like Christmas.

HERE I AM, KHAKI, WONDERING WHAT IS AROUND MY NECK

AGAIN WONDERING WHY I HAVE THIS THING ON

HA, MY SISTER TABATHA HAS TO WEAR IT NOW

TABATHA IS ASKING ME TO PLEASE TAKE IT OFF OF HER

Link: https://margsanimals.com

Thanks so much to The Frugal Housewife for organizing this Blog Hop.


It is not easy to decorate for Christmas with cats, dogs and what ever else around you. You have to be very careful with the kind or ornaments you use on the tree because those ornaments become instant toys for the cats and then they are in one million pieces. The best kinds of ornaments to use are the plastic ones that don’t break. This is kind of sad; because I am sure everyone has collected all kinds of wonderful ornaments over the years. But if you want them to stay in one piece, leave them in the boxes until the kittens are old enough not to care.

Here are all the Rudolphs
Also that wonderful tree becomes a wonderful climbing toy. I can just see their little brains working over time, look there; she brought us a tree to climb. And up they go and so all the ornaments etc. are all over the house. One solution to that is to tie the tree to the wall or a very heavy piece of furniture. My solution is to just have a little tiny tree with not many ornaments at all.

Also one of my many favorite things about Christmas is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Now none of us would ever have had presents if it hadn’t been for Rudolph. And the song is just wonderful and very catchy to sing that is if you can sing. But it is a lot of fun, and over the years I have collected many, many stuffed Rudolph’s. Some of them sing and some do not. And this year is the first year that I haven’t seen any singing stuffed animals at all.

And here is Black trying to be a Rudolph
So when I decorate, it is almost entirely with Rudolph. And so my house is still festive and very musical if I turn them all on.

Please visit this wonderful blog, Gardens and Crafts. It has all kinds of great ideas for crafts and she even has it so you can get all the instructions in a pdf file. It is a great blog.

Link: https://margsanimals.com

"Do you ever get up at Midnight on Christmas Eve to see if animals can actually talk to you and each other?

I know that many times I have gone out to my barn to see the animals on Christmas Eve. First of all, like many, I was curious as to whether they would talk or not. But besides that, it is such a peaceful thing to do and the animals are always glad to see you. I have to say they never actually spoke to me in human language but they always speak to me in their own language.

The donkeys do Heehaw at me to tell me they are very hungry. The cats run around wildly telling me to hurry up. The dogs just want to play and they tell me that by wagging their tails, and pushing me with their noses. The goats just give that look like where is the food. All animals have special ways to tell you things, just not in the human language.

So on Christmas Eve, it is a special experience to go out and see the animals. They are always glad to get a little extra snack and after all it is Christmas. And all you animals, don’t forget to give your staff, or Mommas and Dads some special little attention on Christmas Eve, then we will know that you are talking.

In the barn on Christmas Eve,
After all the people leave,
The animals, in voices low,
Remember Christmas long ago . . .

Link: https://margsanimals.com

Last year, some friends of mine and I decided that we would dress up the donkeys and the goats. Well Joe was the only one of the donkeys that would let us do anything. I will do another blog about the silly goat.

Anyway here are some of the pictures of Joe, some of which he was not a happy boy but he was a good sport and put up with us women putting this stuff on him.

So this is our Donkey Santa.

Link: https://margsanimals.com

I have had many, many Aussies during my life. And they have all been super dogs. They are very smart and are good at many things. They like to herd other animals or anything that moves, they love to do the agility tests, and in general just like to please their humans. They are super with other animals and can be taught to do almost anything. They can be a little on the hyper side and I guess that is why they aren’t used for the therapy work.

I had one dog that just loved everyone and one of her favorite people was the veterinarian. Long ago, our dog and cat vet would come to see our horses too, so everything would get done with one trip. It was great. Anyway, when this particular vet came to the barn, Tiger Lily would race around and if she couldn’t find a stick to take to him, she would actually chew one off of a tree. And he would spend 20 minutes throwing the stick for her.

They also make wonderful watch dogs. The dog that I have now, Jasmine, is great at letting everyone know that she is in the yard and please don’t come in. I do not believe that she would bite anyone, but she sure sounds like she is a watch dog.

They are excellent at competitive obedience work. Unfortunately I never took the time to do the obedience training but they are so easy to train, it is just amazing. I wish I had done the training with at least one of the dogs.

This is a picture of a really pretty Australian Shepherd.

The only down side of the Australian Shepherd and it probably isn’t just related to this particular breed is the fact that they love to chase a ball or a Frisbee. So as they get older, 9 or 10 years old, they get pretty bad arthritis. And I guess the fact that the aussies just love to chase things, animals, balls, Frisbees and they try so hard to do it right, that they end up hurting themselves. I think every dog that I have had ended up with bad backs, or just plain arthritis. And it is mainly in the back. I had one poor dog who’s back got so bad, that she would drag her hind legs when she walked, so her feet would get all bloody. At that time I did not know about the wagons they make these days for dogs that can’t use their hind legs.

Anyway, some of my fondest memories are of the many Australian Shepherds that I have had. They are a wonderful dog.

Has anyone else had an Australian Shepherd???