Shelter Pets

I visited the Story County Shelter today and though the cat room was closed due to illness I did get some photos of some dogs and a couple of rabbits that I’d like to share with you today.

This tri-colored, wirehaired terrier type dog is a friendly but very active dog. I could imagine him making a good family dog with children who have a lot of time to walk him and play with him. Perhaps he’d be a good fly-ball competitor :)

This beautiful girl is lab-sized and friendly but a little laid back. She seemed to be camera shy too. Every time I pointed the camera at her she turned her face away. While the other dogs barked away she simply wagged her tail and smiled in a doggy way. I think she’d be a nice quiet dog to sleep on the couch with you.

 

Then there’s this big happy fella. He may look like a Beagle but he’s nearly 6 foot tall when he stands on his back legs. He was just so happy, happy, happy. He must have a little Lab in him.

 

I tried to get some photos of this unusually colored Cocker Spaniel but he was wary of me and wouldn’t hold still. When I lowered myself to his height he calmed a little and licked my hand. I think he would be best in a home with responsible, understanding adults. He’ll also need some socialization so he isn’t so afraid of people. His color though is so cool. It’s somewhere between buff and liver. Not exactly sure what to call it.

And finally I caught this adorable black and tan Dachsund in the front room just coming in from his walk by the lake. He’s just so darn friendly I couldn’t get a very good picture of him. He just wanted to lick me and be petted rather than have his photo taken!

Then I just couldn’t resist capturing shots of these two bunnies. I don’t know much about bunny breeds so I can’t tell you what they are but the lighter colored one is a neutered male and seems pretty friendly but he didn’t want to face the camera. The darker bunny is a female and just about the most lovable furball I’ve seen. I could just hug her for hours. And those adorable cheek tufts…..what more can I say. I didn’t ask but from the looks of their cages they seemed to be litter-trained

 

Okay, so if you live in central Iowa stop by the Story County Animal Shelter and adopt one of these loving pets. In a week or so the cat room should be open again and there’ll be plenty of cats and kittens vying for your attention. Fortunately there are about 6 kittens in the front room that are available although I didn’t take any photos of them.

Rabbit Hopping

I finally got out to see a new sport this past spring. The 4-H kids are spearheading a thoroughly entertaining activity called “Rabbit Hopping.” It was so much fun to watch these rabbits do what they do best. And because most 4-H Fairs are going to be taking place this week I thought this was a great time to post this. Maybe I can convince you, my readers to attend your local 4-H Fair to see Rabbit Hopping for yourself.

Now if you’ve been following my blog you know that I am involved with feline agility. So I am somewhat familiar with the concept. I think though that what feline agility and rabbit hopping have in common is that both take advantage of the animals’ innate ability.

Rabbits are born for this! I could tell that many of the kids involved were very nervous. Remember how it is when you are young and stepping up in front of a crowd of people for the first time? Then imagine that you had to rely on your pet to perform and not embarrass you.

I think this rabbit was a little nervous

I don’t think any of these competitors (rabbits or humans) had anything to worry about. They all performed so well.

Rabbit hopping courses are varied in both difficulty and structure. In this particular competition they started with a simple, straight line of lower jumps. Next the moved on to a more difficult course that zig-zagged like two connected “z”s.

Next they raised the bars for higher jumps on each course for more of a challenge. Unfortunately I had to leave after that but they were preparing for a high jump and a long jump. I’d really like to know how you get a rabbit to understand it has to jump “long.” If anyone knows please explain in the comments.

Ready to go!

I spoke with some of the kids and parents while I was there and learned that training the rabbits is a lot like training cats. They use either treats or toys as lures in the beginning but in competition use neither. Some also use clickers or other sounds for training. And like a cat whose athleticism is inborn, a rabbit’s ability to hop is only natural. They perform because jumping is what they want to do.

I could tell that some of those rabbits were definitely spoiled pets. One in particular acted like he was used to sitting on chairs next to his girl. She held him on a leash but whenever she sat down he tried jumping up to the chair next to hers. Unfortunately those slippery metal chairs weren’t made for bunny feet. I was fascinated watching how devoted he was to his girl.

Not at all concerned with the crowd

On the chair just before slipping off

Another rabbit that caught my attention and even had me laughing was the tiniest of competitors. I’m afraid I know nothing of rabbit breeds so I can’t tell you what he was only that he was tiny with the most wonderful, big eyes. And yet when it came time to raise the bars he didn’t hesitate to jump them. Or, perhaps I should say he was willing to jump them but he did hesitate.

He was hilarious to watch. He would jump over the obstacle with ease and move to the next jump then turn his back to it. He wasn’t refusing to jump because when his boy reached down toward him he turned back around and jumped that obstacle. But then he turned his back to the next one! He was so funny.

See how fast they can go?

Of course 4-H stands for “Heart, Hands, Heads and Health” so any activity associated with 4-H includes not only education but also fellowship and moral development. I watched as kids who were new to the sport learned how to work with their rabbits. But I also saw and heard competitors helping each other to overcome any training problems or questions. And the officials or superintendents also stepped in whenever needed to show the competitors new methods for enticing their rabbits to stay on course. No cutthroat contests here.

I just loved watching both the kids and the rabbits having a great time with this new sport. I hope it catches on elsewhere too. I think the value of rabbits as pets could benefit from rabbit hopping. Perhaps more people will be adopting rabbits out of shelters in order to participate.