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Call me Charles. Charles Bean.

June 25, 2011 / posted in Junior, Uncategorized / No Comments

There comes a time in every new marriage in which the two partners must make the most momentous decision of their relationship… the decision to get a new pet. We’d long been thinking of a pet for little Jake, and, slowly, now began to feel like a good time. We looked around, visiting a few rescues and even seeing a baby pup listed on Craigslist. There were stops along the way, too, like when I fell in love with a boisterous pug at the Lange Foundation, who gave me kisses all over my face; but we felt a smaller dog (so as not to outweigh Jake by so much), and probably a mutt (healthier in the long run, you know), were better choices for us.

And one came by, too. Early on, we heard about this one dog — Bean — from some friends; he caught their attention because he was such a twin for Jake. He caught our attention too, with that cute face and shiny coat. So we contacted Pryor’s Planet, the rescue that was housing little Bean. They brought him over to our house to meet Jake (and us, too!). The two pups got along famously from the first, and Bean and Courtney were a pair too; he warmed to me more slowly, but, by the end of the day — Sunday, June 12 — we knew that Bean was the one for us. So he stayed.

At first the new little boy was shy as anything. He’d been rescued from a hoarder, and, we think, abused there as well by men, cats, and larger dogs, so he kept his tail between his legs, backed away from me, and was skeptical about Court. But he also was a love sponge who, given a moment’s feeling of comfort, just wanted to be picked up, held, cuddled, and to give his new people kisses right on the nose. Heck, if you hold him in your arms and cuddle him, he’ll lean back, show his belly, lift his snoot up in the air, ask you to scratch him under the chin, and fall sound asleep right there.

Bean slowly warmed up, slowly became comfortable pooping on walks, and even stopped crying through the night. As a new member in the household, little Bean got a new name — it was finally Charley that stuck. So, introducing Charley:

Charley Investigates

He’s a little shy, but I know he’d like to get to know you! Just be quiet at first and let him come to you. Don’t chase him: he’ll run behind the sofa, just like a cat, and growl at you from there. But give him a chance and he’d love to sit on that sofa with you!

More sharing of the couch

Also, watch what he gets in his mouth on; he’s used to having to scrounge his food and hoard what he finds! He already found an ancient french fry that was too old even for the crows who frequent our backyard — and the wing of a crow too, come to think of it, both of which he well wanted to hide away for his later use.

Now, of course, one of the reasons we’d gotten the small pup was to maximize the chance that Jake got to continue to be the boss of the house. So far, Charley and Jake had only one big fight, although we’re not yet quite sure who’s #1 in the house. (We think it’s Jake, but Charley has been some sassy lately, and he’s trying to assert himself over Junior!)

So there’s a lot to work out still (like: will Charley be allowed to sleep in the bed?), but Jake and Charley have really started to get along.

Close at last!

They’re even walking fairly well together — thanks, I’ll admit, not to our skill in training (we probably make our pets worse-trained than they came), but to the great guys at I Said Sit, who’ve been working us through our first-ever pet manners class. Jake and Charley both are responding well to the clicker training, and we are too — I just bought us treat bags and little, stinky, bite-sized salmon treats, style choices we’d never made before.

And they’re quite the pair; when I took them to Centinela Feed to get them good harnesses and a y-attachment for their leashes so that I can walk them both at once, the manager ended up talking to me for 20 minutes about how great they both were.

So now our happy family is one bigger. Even more than the decision to get married, this seems like the biggest thing we’ve ever done together. And it’s great, and it makes us all so happy. It’s exciting, and, best of all, we know that a new spot at Pryor’s Planet was opened up for, and taken by, a little Jack Russell who needed a new home the very same evening we got our Charley. He’s at our house, maybe you should get one yourself?

Charley looks regal








Little dog, big jackal growl. (Turn up the volume and ignore the too-dark video; it’s the a

September 7, 2010 / posted in Junior, Uncategorized / Comments Off

Little dog, big jackal growl. (Turn up the volume and ignore the too-dark video; it’s the audio that counts!)








Big Day For a Bird

May 9, 2010 / posted in Junior, Uncategorized / Comments Off

There’s something to be said for having a pet who can talk. At the very least, it makes life a little bit exciting. New words are always fun, but so is the whole weirdly not real conversational aspect. But first, of course, Junior practices. Sometimes, I get lucky and I get to overhear the practice.

That was how Friday started. Junior was playing in the driveway, running around on the ground and tearing up some wooden toys he has. He was excited, running back and forth, throwing the toys up in the air, then grabbing them in one claw and tearing at them with his beak. Some prey!

In the midst of a great hopping and flapping of wings came the new word. Something that he hears from us often, when he gets flappy around the house: “relax, Junior.” When he gets too worked up, before he can get picked up or get a kiss or anything like that, he has to relax. Reeeelllaaaax, we say it, real slow, and he stops bouncing on his tree and flapping his wings and gets quiet and earns that kiss. And then on Friday he says it to himself, and stops hopping and flapping and just quietly dismantles a clothespin.

Then, a couple of hours later, he was perched on top of the back gate. Lately he’s been spending his time on that gate ducking away from a mean crow who likes to fly low and buzz him, but Friday was a sunny day and the crow was nowhere to be found. Junior got to fidgeting, and the next thing I knew the back gate was wide open. So I shut it, and, a minute later, there was a loud click and the gate swung open again. I closed it again, just to catch him in the act this time — he’d figured out the latch and was opening it.

Finally, when his mother got home, he was so excited to see her that he came out running — something he’s never done before. I’ve got to admit, there’s little that’s as good as a bird toddling along:








In Which My Toddler Learns a New Word

April 20, 2010 / posted in Junior, Uncategorized / Comments Off

Birds, in case you were wondering, are kind of like two-year-olds: they get obsessed with the new words they learn, and they should probably be wearing diapers. Junior has learned a new word, and it’s threatening to tear our household apart.

When birds learn words, the typically practice those words for months or longer, to get it just perfect. Junior learned “good-bye” two and a half years ago, and used it just once, and perfectly, until a month or two ago, when he began to use it every day.

In retrospect, we should’ve been expecting more trouble from this new word. That one time he said good-bye? It was when DJ L’il Bit disciplined Junior for the first time. He acted out, she put him in his cage, and, clear as day, he said “good-bye!” and then turned away. He was angry and he knew just what he wanted to happen next.

Now he uses it all the time. Sometimes it’s appropriate — if you put on a coat or your shoes, he’ll say “good-bye!” If he gets a little excited, he’ll take it a little too far, and say “good-bye!” to anyone who turns their back. And he’ll play peek-a-boo all day while I’m working in my office, stepping away to where we can’t see each other and then saying “good-bye”

But the problem is that he knows the word not just as a descriptive term, but as a command. And that’s where the dog comes in.

Because you haven’t had enough context so far: the dog has stairs.  In the bedroom. The bed’s higher than he’s long, so it’s just an orthopedic requirement to keep his back healthy and limber. Like the good boy he is, he always climbs up the stairs and ususally climbs down too.

Because you haven’t had enough context yet, when I’m getting dressed, I put the bird on the bed; he stomps around and keeps me company while I pick out an outfit. Ususally the dog joins us and sits on the bed, although he hates the bird and is somtimes driven away in annoyance. On Monday, Jake climbed up the stairs and… at the top was the bird, blocking his way onto the bed. Junior looked right at the dog and said: “bye-bye!” It was a command.

Worse, it worked. With nowhere to climb, the dog backed down. Later in the day, I interrupted Junior as he was happily hanging out with his favorite person, his mother, DJ L’il Bit. And that’s when Junior told me “bye-bye.”

Nothing good will come of this.








Intervention

May 7, 2009 / posted in Junior / No Comments

It finally happened. After years, somebody finally felt it was time to put an end to the behavior. So in came the professional, and the law got laid down. It was pretty much exactly like this:

That’s what it comes to when the bird needs to straighten up and fly right. Parrots are famously jealous, and I’d initially worried that Junior would hate DJ L’il Bit taking my time, and attack her. She deftly turned away a couple of early displays of aggression, and so Junior changed his tune: he decided he would love her more than anyone, ever. Every time that he’d see her, he’d do nothing but stare — and lean as close to her as he could. He wouldn’t eat, he wouldn’t drink, and, after 2 1/2 years together and a year cohabiting, DJ L’il Bit has never seen Junior play with a toy. It was weird, it was disruptive, and it could sometimes be “loud”:http://www.mytoos.com/noise.shtml (warning: loud!).
So the behaviorist, Deborah Stambul, came by mid-day today and laid down the law. That is, she trained me and DJ L’il Bit about how to treat the bird properly. We’ll see if we have learned our lessons well; hopefully we’ll complete our schedule of treatment and come out the other end with a fully-functional family.
Or stew. We’ll see. Either way, the dog is exhausted from having the potential of training in the house.















What Do Pets Do at Night?

October 14, 2007 / posted in Graphically-Illustrated, Junior / 1 Comment

The AIG has this wonderful little dog — let’s call him Seamus. Seamus is pretty much Perfect Dog — friendly, respectful, cuddly, well-behaved, slobber-free, possessed of incredible bladder control — but he’s also got these soulful eyes. And, if he has one weakness, it’s his stinginess with kisses. So, when he woke us with kisses this morning, and deep, downcast brown eyes, the question was: what happened to the poor thing last night’s treats and cozy climbing under the covers and this morning’s plaintive paean for approval?
There’s only one possible explanation: my talking pet whispered mean things all morning while we slept.
!/images/sadjake/meanjunior.png!
!/images/sadjake/jakeattacked.png!
!/images/sadjake/poorjake.png!
After all, how does a little dog protect himself against an animal who can talk? The poor thing is the only one in the whole household who can’t use words. And Junior is a crafty, crafty bird who knows a lot more words than he use — and takes advantage of that to use the exact, unexpected phrase at the right moment. I’m pretty sure he’s been doing just that to poor Seamus lately. Yesterday, for instance, Seamus and Junior were in my bedroom, while the AIG and I were fixing lunch; suddenly, Seamus barked, and when we checked the two out, Junior was looking very bashful in his cage, hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar-like.
What do you do when your parrot harasses your dog?















Good Morning!

August 13, 2007 / posted in Junior / No Comments

Let the official record show, today Junior said a new word. He said it clearly, loudly, and proudly, and I do think I’ll hear it again! I got out of bed, uncovered his cage, walked out of my bedroom and was called back with a boisterous “good morning!”
I’d said those words every morning when I uncovered Junior, greeting him and then giving him his breakfast (Junior hasn’t yet learned the word “breakfast” — or any other food-related word). But he’d never said anything back. Today he did! I hope he does tomorrow.
Junior’s actually been doing well with the words lately — the AIG is convinced that he said her name (he might have, but he’s not a big name-user), and, the other day, when we were playing the game where I bounce him up and down on my hand,[1] he repeatedly said a nice clear “woooo.”[2] So, perhaps he’s got a lot to say these days.
Cockatoos aren’t good talkers in general, but it’s always fun when Junior learns to say something new, because he always uses words with very specific meaning. Even better, he always goes on to combine his words into new phrases. For instance, he made up “pretty white bird,” “who’s the bird?” and “[insert adjective -- white, cute, pretty, etc.] birdy bird!” (He also made up birdy, so far as I know.)
Talking pets are fun.
fn1. A game he loves when he’s already worked up, and one which seems to burn off energy in a good way.
fn2. I was trying to get him say “whee!” but I guess Junior’s more of a cracker.















In Which I Show Off My Vocabulary

April 18, 2007 / posted in Junior / 5 Comments

I’m a good bird; I like to talk nice, using sweet words and saying them in a sweet voice. That gets me love and kisses! And what bird doesn’t want love and kisses? But some days talking sweet just doesn’t work.
Like last weekend. My dad left to stay with his new strumpet for a lot of the weekend, which is OK, ’cause I’m used to that. My dad likes the girls (I do too). but he kept on coming back to the house for just a few minutes. Of course every time I got excited because he was going to take me out of my cage and scratch me and pay attention to me! And what bird doesn’t want scratches and attention? But I didn’t get any, because each time he just left to go off somewhere else.
Every time I talked nice, my dad responded in a patronizing voice, telling me I was good and then saying bye. That made me mad. At first I screamed, but, let’s face it, that doesn’t annoy my dad at all. So I had to bring out the big guns.
See, before I came to live with my dad I lived with a private eye in Hawaii. No Magnum P.I, this was, just an average guy who thought birds looked like good props. Now, my first dad, he had a mouth on him, and of course I learned to curse like a sailor. My first dad would laugh every time I said a dirty word, but, after he sold me, the pet store owner didn’t and then my dad was too nice to me for me to want to curse. So I quit.
But last weekend, screaming didn’t do it. Dad wasn’t listening, and I was frustrated. So, the last time, I just said what I meant. He put me in my cage, and I said “hello pretty bird,” just like I always do when I’m friendly. He just said “aww.” “Gimme a kiss!” I demanded, because usually that gets him to come in and give me a kiss. It didn’t this time; instead, he said the dreaded words: “bye-bye Junior!” He was leaving me alone *again*! The bastard. So of course I was frustrated. So I said what I felt. I made sure to say it real clear, although I didn’t yell. I just said it once, but I know he heard me just fine. And then I was quiet, ’cause I’d already said what needed to be said:
“Shit.”
And then he left. The bastard. If he doesn’t shape up, he’ll hear more of my vocabulary soon!















Junior Plays (Edited, This Time)

March 24, 2007 / posted in Junior / 1 Comment

This site’s namesake is pretty darned cute. Here’s Junior playing, set to the soundtrack of the audio from “Most Shocking”:http://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/most_shocking/, which I might not choose to have on for the next one of these super-cute clips. Also, I think I need to work on the lighting. But this time I edited it for length and to maximize the interesting content per minute!















Play Time

January 18, 2007 / posted in Junior / 2 Comments

Finally, in action, this blog’s namesake:















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