16.9.12

meet the family

OH NO! There're no future in-laws being introduced here??! 
Of course not! I wouldn't do that to anybody - lol.

Instead I thought you might like to meet some of my fluffy friends starting with ...

Think you can get to the house? You'll have to get past us first!

My two independent and aloof chowchows. They are alert but only bark briefly when they feel there's a threat to all they protect, they aren't attention seekers, won't grovel for affection and - oh joy - don't stink to high heaven when they get wet.

Kipps loooooves the snow
Meet Kipps: He was an only pup without siblings to ever put him in his place. As a result he is headstrong beyond belief! He's also highly intelligent and that combination makes him a challenge to own. He won't be fooled and is not to be trifled with. 

Did I mention his eagle eyes? Kipps spots all that moves on the ground and in the air ... in daylight and at night 
As it happens I am pretty single-minded myself. Which is probably why I have a soft spot for him and protect him from the wrath of others when he's being naughty.

Meet Polly: She's quite different to Kipps. Smaller in build, she came from a large litter and constantly tries to entice Kipps to play - even though she mostly gets a gruff response. She's a darling with a funny face and transient deafness which sets in whenever she does something she shouldn't.

Polly as a pup. She loved sleeping on this step but kept falling off whenever she woke
Chows are known to select their favourites from amongst the family they live with. Polly's favourite is my daughter Zanna. Kipps' favourite is me ... hurray :)))

Polly loves her bed and sleeping with her head on an obliging teddy
Meet Basti: Basti belongs to Zanna. He came to us from an animal sanctuary when he was 3 months old. He's almost 10 1/2 now. On average domestic rabbits live for 7 years. So Basti is doing extremely well. 

Basti: One smart bunny in his home-crocheted bunny-harness
As a veteran he has very specific culinary requirements: he eats his food soaked, carrots and apples grated, spinach defrosted ... in short: he gets whatever he wants whenever he wants. 

In good weather, he spends the day outside in his 2-storey rabbit house complete with his own little garden. He loves it there. He's also fond of wanders in our large garden. As we're not short of hungry foxes around here, Kipps' and Polly's daily task is to guard their little long-eared friend against unwelcome furries looking for their dinner. 

Being house-trained (it is easy to house-train rabbits!!), Basti comes in at night and can hopple around the house freely. Kipps and Polly love that too because with Basti comes all that yummy food and - to their delight - there are plenty of opportunities to steal it and then wait for second helpings!

Heading for the veggie patch with his keeper in tow
I'm here so Basti's safe from the fox

11 comments:

  1. they are adorable!! :)
    Maria x

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  2. awwww so cuddly looking. Love the pic of Kipps in the snow. Such a handsome chap!

    Polly looks like a cutie. And Basti looks in amazing shape! You obviously have a magic touch with furry friends :)

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  3. Gorgeous photos - loved looking at them - beautiful animals

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  4. Basti looks so funny with his long lead ;)

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  5. Hello Basti! You are a lovely little fella, and what a fab palace you live in! I wish you could come and visit my four bunnies...

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  6. Your dogs are adorable:) They look like big fluffy teddy bears themselves:)
    crow cottage

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  7. you know Liz, when one of my chows was a pup and I took her for a walk, some children shouted 'that dog looks like a bear' whereupon I told them that she WAS a bear ... and they believed it :) ....

    Hi Wendy, yes I bet Basti would love to come and visit. He often travels ... in the cat-basket on the back seat ... to stay with our kids while we're on holiday ... him in the car, our parrot, two dogs ... hardly space for our stuff lol

    Frances: the one thing Basti can't get used to is that there comes a point when he has the lead a full stretch. The only remedy: Zanna legs it wherever the fancy takes him. She DOES a good job xxx

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  8. Such a cute furry family! I had a bunny named Lexi years ago. We are huge animal lovers here :)

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  9. Whoa... those dogs are amazing... I have seen Chows before but I honestly didn't take the time to truly admire them, they are gorgeous... You "only" have 4 kids?? :) That's a lot, my trick of the trade was to have the kids waaayyyyyyyyy far apart... so when the first one leaves home I'm still having enough time left of myself to enjoy the little ones. You are so blessed to have 4! I have 4 boys and Hannah is my caboose... I'm so glad you stopped by because I will now be friendly stalking on your blog... I hope you don't mind!! ~Tammy

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  10. I love your chow chows! Stunningly cuddly :) We have a bird, 4 gold fish and a Japanese Fighter and my daughter desperately wants a dog or a rabbit! I'm a bit hesitant. I like what we have atm because they are contained :) and low maintenance - I will have to give in one day though.

    Sophie xo

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  11. Hi Laura - Lexi : makes me think of LEXIkon, German for encyclopaedia - well rabbits are clever, much smarter than the know-nothing-about-bunnies-folks would think - ;)

    Hi Tammy, only just spotted your comment - slap my wrist ;) - will call by your blog again later :)

    And Sophie - A dog's is obviously much more of a commitment. If that's hard to make, I'd whole-heartedly recommend a bunny, ideally one that's given plenty of human contact - they become so incredibly tame and trusting - are a real joy to have in the house too, as I said litter training is easy, they are clean animals. Basti keeps charming us and making us laugh xx
    But what's a Japanese Fighter ???

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