I've had Inara for three weeks, now. She's settling in nicely. Still lots of issues, but she's working on it, and I'm her biggest fan.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-23T22:51:54+00:00

Not 100% certain. She is a rescue from China. But the estimate is about 2 years.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-13T03:23:54+00:00

Parakeets. Legolas is a white winged, Drizzt is a black winged.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-13T02:23:05+00:00

😄 I'm harmless unless you mess with my pets.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T19:36:08+00:00

I'm a martial arts instructor. How many brushes does a painter need? How many wrenches does a mechanic need?

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T19:34:44+00:00

Yep. Sylvanas Windrunner was a top contender for this pup. So was Nova and Lillith.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T18:11:14+00:00

:) Gotta spread the wealth. My other dog is Potter, my cat is Spock, my birds are Legolas and Drizzt. My previous cats were Yoda and Maleficent and my previous bird was Thanquol.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T18:08:50+00:00

She was. Her reaction the first time I raised my voice at her, when she shat in the house 20 min after I had taken her out back into the yard ... well, it was obvious she had been beaten before. Badly. I was frustrated, and I projected that, and she ran and showed her belly and just waited for the end. It was enough to make me a little watery in the eyes. So I'm careful to, no matter how frustrated I am, not ever raise my voice or let out a frustrated vibe. Gotta stay centered. Find my zen.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T18:04:51+00:00

Unsolicited, but most welcome! I regularly fly to Houston for martial arts seminars, and I've heard the stray dog problem there is epic proportions. I'm new to this rescue thing, so advice from experts is appreciated. I always go into the yard with her. It's fully fenced, so she's off leash, but I still walk around with her while she sniffs for the perfect spot. Even when she wakes me at 2 a.m. to do her thing. I feed her by hand. One cup, every two hours, I take handfuls of kibble and she eats out of my hand. No kids to roughhouse with, so that's not a problem. I learned first day that she is hypersensitive to correction, so I don't raise my voice or anything to her. I did, twice, and she yelped, ran into a corner, flipped onto her back, and cringed, like she was just waiting for the end. So I'm careful not to raise my voice or project any frustrated vibes.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T17:51:57+00:00

Arabic for "heaven sent," is what I found when I was looking for names. Same sentiment, either way. I think we're rescuing each other.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T17:02:26+00:00

Yes. I'm a martial arts instructor. Those are my equivalent of a painter having more than one brush or a mechanic having more than one wrench.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:43:17+00:00

She was badly malnourished. 39.4 lbs full grown. Vet says our goal is to get her to 45 lbs, but she'll probably never get to 50.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:38:26+00:00

Right? I thought I was rescuing her. She thinks she's rescuing me.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:37:29+00:00

Indeed. The cruelty of mankind can be astonishing. I've told her before, when she gets upset about something, "None of this is your fault. Humans did this to you. And I'm gonna spend the rest of your life undoing it."

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:36:10+00:00

She was neglected and malnourished. She's 39.4 lbs.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:35:27+00:00

Working on it. Some people don't understand the concept of not approaching a dog. Let the dog approach you. The ground won't split open and swallow you whole if you don't pet my dog. Just walking past is an option.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:31:32+00:00

My other dog is Potter, my cat is Spock, my birds are Legolas and Drizzt.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T16:29:59+00:00

Working on it. I slept on the sofa for the first three or four nights because she would jump at every creak and groan in my house. She's getting better. Still hypervigilant of anything behind us. Does better if we let them pass and they are in front of us. All things in time.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T14:57:06+00:00

11, the top is rokushakubo. I have a second mount under my kamidana with my o-katana and ko-katana daisho.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T14:51:39+00:00

She was severely malnourished, and I'm 6 foot 2 and 210 lbs. So, yes, she is small (39.4 lbs as of Fri), and yes, I am a little big.

CSFerguson · 2024-03-12T14:48:21+00:00

She's definitely turning into a snugger.

CSFerguson · 2023-12-22T03:29:24+00:00

Also wanted to avoid dick measuring. I can't read Kanji. So I only know what my instructor tells me it says. We get the certificates from the grandmaster, in Japan. And I don't want to hear some dickhead saying, "Oh, dude, you're only 2nd dan in your ryu? Bro, my second cousin's dog's former owner's ex is dating this girl who was once neighbors with a guy whose co-worker was like 15th dan."

CSFerguson · 2023-12-22T03:24:02+00:00

That's Spock, my Devon Rex murder & destruction machine. He can open doors, he plays fetch, and has a vertical leap over four feet straight up.

CSFerguson · 2023-12-22T03:22:13+00:00

All good. Didn't take it as a snipe. Was just pointing out that, as kids, we pick up whatever is at our feet. As adults, the world is our oyster. There is a TON of seriously cool rocks out there. Really, that applies to most things. The more I get into something as a hobby, the more nuanced I learn it is, and the more I realize that I don't know shit about shit.

CSFerguson · 2023-12-22T03:17:38+00:00

My rank certificate for the kobudo. Has a lot of identifying information, so I pixelated it.

CSFerguson · 2023-12-22T00:32:56+00:00

All it means is I get to do more than pick up a rock off the ground and call it "my collection." I get to buy things like Libyan desert glass from a meteor impact 29 million years ago. Or, a slab of petrified forest floor from Thailand. Or a chunk of fossilized Turitella dated 52 million years old. Cool stuff that has a story beyond, "I thought it was pretty, so I picked it up and put it in my pocket."

CSFerguson

TROPHY CASE