The Name Game

The Dogs of Jackman Ave had a great post about how they got their names. It seemed like a good idea and I've had several inquiries about how we got our names so here's the stories of How We Got Our Lovely Names.

This is Ethel.

At the shelter she was called "Dallas" which neither of my apes especially liked and which she didn't really respond to anyway. And, since the Dallas Cowboys are the mortal enemy of our closest football franchise (go Eagles!) we decided she needed a change. Ethel is the name of a famous comedic sidekick--Ethel from I Love Lucy. This makes me Lucy, I suppose.

This is another famous Ethel--Ethel Merman. She sang show tunes and provides great inspiration to drag queens everywhere (No comment!).


Mostly, though, my apes just liked the way "Ethel" sounded, especially when paired with Wally.

And speaking of Wally, here I am!


I came with my name! The rescue I came from decided I was a Wally and I'd had the name for about four months (no one wanted me for that long--can you believe it!). It's fitting because I resemble the creature who has a similar name--the walrus! My ma ape has always been a huge fan of seals, sea lions, and walruses (walrii?) so it's a nice fit.


To clarify, neither Wally nor the Walrus have anything to do with THIS creature whom we believe is trying to pass as a walrus to hide his inner malignant nature.

Westward Ho!*

This is not the face of a happy dog. Why? The ma ape has gotten out her suitcase. And suitcases always mean the ma ape is leaving. I love the suitcase when she returns because it is filled with piles of dirty clothes which make excellent nests (clean clothes do in a pinch but dirty clothes are ideal). So I started getting together my things, bags of kibble, piles of stuffies, my favorite blankie, my football pillow when my ape tells me I'm NOT GOING.

Turns out she has a "conference" in "San Francisco" and although she will be talking about animals she is not taking me as a visual aid!

I've heard this place has something called "San Francisco values" that my ma ape might be indoctrinated with and they apparently involve obscenely expensive costs of living, regular gay rights parades, LSD trips, detectives with OCD and lame football teams. I have heard the Speaker of the House has these. I hope my ma ape knows that I am the Speaker of our House.


I also know they have a big bridge. I'm not a fan of Vertigo so I'll pass on that.


THIS time my ma ape better bring me some presents! I would like a nice leather outfit but will settle for some nice West Coast seafood.

*The title of this post may or may not be disparaging my ma ape. I AM mad at her right now.

Smarter than your average ape

Primatologists meeting at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago are discussing chimp intelligence. The title of the New York Times article about it is Chimpazees: Almost Human, and Sometimes Smarter. Well, duh. All of us in the animal kingdom have known about the intellectual deficiencies of the naked ape for quite some time now. In particular, I was worried that the naked apes studying their hairy relatives might suspect my plan for world domination that involves working with our chimpy friends to displace the naked apes and begin a reign of peace, bananas, and picking nits off of one another. Doesn't look like they're on to us. Read the article, though. Chimps have great memory. Better than the naked apes! They will surely make great partners in our quest for global domination.

ANOTHER recall!

Apparently Natural Choice has decided to yank two of its products: Venison and Brown Rice Dog Formula and Venison and Green Pea Goddamn Cat Food. They don't know what, if anything, is the problem but they have gotten some calls about gastric distress after eating the food so they decided to yank it. More info here. If there's a problem it isn't gluten cuz there isn't any gluten in it.

Sigh. What's a dog to eat (answer: anything he finds in the fridge).

Bonus Sunday Corgador!

It's rainy, it's miserable--what a better time to browse for new corgadors! This one is Zippy in Pottsville, PA.

Moo Moo is listed as a Newfie/Shepherd mix at a New Jersey puppy rescue. My ma ape speculates this is what I looked like as a wee one--complete with milk moustache.

Sacre Bleu!

What is THIS? To the untrained eye it looks unremarkable, a dog in a crate. A slightly too large crate but still, dog in crate. No big deal, right?

Wrong! This is WALLY in a crate and it is, indeed, a big deal. I hate the crate, I always have. I've avoided and abhorred crating. When I had separation anxiety my ma ape thought maybe I'd enjoy the comfort of the crate filled with PB kongs and toys and snacks. And also she thought maybe it would prevent me from escaping the house to find her. WRONG. I just broke the crate.



So this is my sissy's crate. She loves it and spends a lot of time in there. I like to call it Abu Ghraib. That's how strongly I felt about it. But Friday? I crawled in of my own volition. My ma ape thought maybe I was just trying to get away from her because she kept futzing with my face--yanking on the bloodsucker and then cleaning the area.

But then that night, when no one was futzing with my face--I went BACK in and promptly fell asleep and started snoring.


I do this kinda stuff a lot, I pick up new behaviors, drop old ones. Like the stuffy killing. I didn't disembowel a stuffy (deliberately, some games of tug have gotten out of hand) until about a year ago. Now it is business as usual. I never used to be afraid of thunder but then after my sis Morgan (who WAS afraid) died, thunderstorms terrify me. Anyone else funny this way?