BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Exotic Pets Hello everyone

Sorry I missed a few topics on Loki. While I am computer savvy, I am not the most knowledgeable about forums. I kept the first topic in my watch list, and didnt think about looking for newer topics about Loki the Wolf. My apologies to everyone, I will check the main forums more often... ( Now that I know where to look. )

We're just thrilled to have you visit the forum to help us learn about wolves. I have learned a great deal. I became a wolf parent quite by accident when I was sixteen years old. My dad found a starving pup on the side of the road out in the country by our old house. He was there every day when he went in to town to college. He taught sociology. He would stop each day and give him the lunch my mother prepared for him to eat. The telephone repairman stopped once to share lunch with him too. One day my Dad couldn't stand it any longer and brought him home. I looked into this cub's eyes, his years, nose, all very much reminded me of a wolf. I wasn't about to tell my folks that is what they had. Eventually, animal control spotted him. They thought they'd scare my folks into giving him up. Told them they needed a eight foot cyclone fence. My dad just put a eight foot cyclone fence around the whole place lol By then they were so attached to him they couldn't give him up. but, my father was quite the rule follower. If I had told him immediately, he would have followed whatever laws directed him to do, including giving him up.

Just while after that that he found a paper grocery bag in the middle of the road. There were two golden retriever pups in the bag. One had been run over. One was still alive. He was one of the neatest dogs I ever had. I ended up taking him to Minnesota with us when we moved there.

We had a miniature collie move in, she had been hit by a car and was pregnant. We kept two of her pups and gave the rest to friends. I can't even remember all the dogs he adopted. Most of which people dumped on the road as if they were disposable garbage. Heck, there was a very long list of cats too.

It is amazing how some homo-sapiens ( I refuse to call them people) feel animals are disposable. Meh, my damn dog is preggers again... #%#$^$%^# Ill just leave the mutts on the side of the road.... Those hairless bi-pedal apes upset me a lot... I feel karma will get them when they are reincarnated into a animal in their next life. :P It is funny how pets can change your life in ways you dont even think about at the time. After writing Loki' story, I am starting to realize just how big of an impact she actually has had on my life. A friend asked me what I though was after our life. I told them I am not sure.. but as long as I get to see Athena and Loki again, I Dont care what comes next :P

For the past 45 years I've been taking in strays-cats, dogs, birds, and fish. Nothing too exotic, except my half shepherd/coyote mix who had 10 puppies for me. I've had dogs walk up to me in storms and just climb into the car. I got a Great Dane in a rainstorm and a Border Collie in a blizzard.

Our first lovebird got caught in the net over our backyard pond. She was still a baby with black on her beak, and somebody had turned her out. Burdine Beakman was the charter member of the Biter Brigade.

I had a cat come into the hotel where I was staying when I was in pole climbing school for the telephone company. I had seen her earlier, standing there starving. I took her to my room to give her a bit of food. Then, I took her downstairs. Later, she ran through the lobby and into the restaurant. The staff caught her and called me to come and get her. After lengthy vet care, she became a wonderful pet. Phoebe was my dear companion for the next nine years.

You know, that is one of the things that keeps me going forward, knowing I will see my beloved animal family again, plus my son, parents, brothers, I KNOW I will be with them again, in some form or another. Who knows how but I know it will happen , we may end up being all energy, Zipping around the universe. I am looking forward to finding out.

Animals have had a major influence in sculpting who I am. I can't remember ever not having an animal. I grew up with them from the day I was born. I am so in-tuned to these guys I feel what they feel. They feel or are aware of my moods. It is funny, I swear Squeaky understands what we say. Long time ago I called her a fur ball, jokingly, she gave me a nasty look, jumped off the bed and wouldn't have anything to do with me the rest of the night. She reacts to many things I say or think.

"Long time ago I called her a fur ball, jokingly, she gave me a nasty look, jumped off the bed and wouldn't have anything to do with me the rest of the night. She reacts to many things I say or think." PMSL! Yes, I know exactly what you are saying!!!

You are going to have a good laugh over this one. George was being a big pain in the neck. I told Squeaky to kick him out of bed. She laid in-between us, with her back against me, put all four of her paws on his back, and pushed like crazy. Animals have to understand us. I don't know if they understand the spoken word, get some sort of mental images or what, but they do understand!! With the birds it was really apparent they understand us. One of my first hand-fed babies, not very old. I am sure I told you this story before. But, one morning I slept late which I usually didn't do. I always had a ritual, get up, open the parrots door to the cage. This one morning I heard, open this darn door, NOW! Never did she hear that sentence before. She heard the individual words used in other sentences. She put the words together. At first I thought I was dreaming, but she repeated it a short time later. I used to yell come in when people knocked on the door, the same bird heard this. One day when we weren't home someone knocked on the door (the door was locked) the bird kept yelling come in!!! They kept trying the door, and getting very frustrated. That could of been repeating what she heard, but it was funny.

Animals do understand us. for being "stupid animals" ( as some stupid humans refer to them), it is funny... They can understand a lot of what we are saying. What certain gestures mean, etc. But, how often do you really understand what an animal is trying to tell you? Ok, there are a lot of exceptions in this group - but, I think you may understand what I am saying. Athena ( my blue and gold macaw I had). Understood many hand gestures, and vocal commands... Yet, I never could understand one screech of Macawnese. ( Or what ever you would call spoken Macaw... by a Macaw :P). She had over a 80 word vocabulary ( by and far a huge amount for blue and golds). Demonstrated understanding of human emotions, and even humour... I thinks he was more human then quite a few people I have actually met. LOL

Athena sent mental images, she was also very sensitive to moods. She also had a wonderful sense of humor, however perverse lol. Hmm, the sky is growling, I think it is time to break the link to our computers before they sizzle. Some serious action up here tonight.

Hi Diana

How could anyone put a puppy in a bag and leave it in the road to be run over?? I cried when I read that, but then I cry at a moth caught in a raindrop and I try to rescue it! I hate the way some people think animals have no soul or feelings!

Diana you were so lucky as a child to grow up where you did and have the parents you had.

I totally know that my dogs and my birds understand what I say. My pigeon comes to my command and shares my food, then kisses me! Well I like to think it is a kiss, I think she is actually preening me. I can say to the dogs, "Will someone give me a kiss?" and one of them will come over and shove its nose into my face!

I can sit all three of my Staffies in a row and using their names I can give them all a different command and only the dog I am talking to reacts. Certain words we use will cause their ears to prick up and even certain sounds, like my son's car arriving, will send them all into a howling pack of wolves. They know when he is coming home they sit at the door and wait for him. When Murphy Jones was a puppy he used to sit look at the clock at 4PM knowing my son would soon be home!

I always know what the dogs are asking for when they bark or whine at me, like your bird they send me mental images.