Jimmy is having a breakthrough!!

I am half dead today. I worked way too hard. But I nearly have the land ready..... It is taking more than I thought. I have to get it clear so I can throughly treat it for ticks and stuff. I put a few big tree trunks in it for them....

Here's a progress pic.... The ground has probably NEVER been exposed before. It has been in a natural state for as long as they woods have been there. This week clearing it, grass is already growing. The ground/dirt is very rich... And for some reason not as rocky as the front. Which I might add is rock free now. The last two weeks have been rough as far as clearning, cleaning and de-rocking for spring and lawn mower season. The enclosure is going to go to the large tree in the left part of the pic. The one leaning to the left. The big tree with the rocks around it is going to be in the enclosure. The new area measured out is approx 20 x 35-40. We are doing wide and not long so we can put 20 feet of dog yard behind the cats. The dogs will have three side of the cat area in their yard. The only part that won't be connected to the dogs is the front, which is in our front yard. After the cats are done, we are clearing the other land for the dogs so their yard will be larger too... That is our summer project. And also... if anyone who has read previous stuff, this was the "outhouse area" and this is the area of the woods that were behind it..... It looks so good now.. It had many back breaking hrs put into it and there are many more to come. Hubby wishes he could help me but he just can't right now. He brings me water and tells me to take breaks. He told me today I am tenacious.....


And here's Charlie hound today.. They love watching me work. I have already prepared the back yard for new grass.....




And my molly.. She has always ran off when we let her out but eventually comes back. Today I let her out solo with me off leash. She promply ran off down the dirt road where a 5 lb dog ran her back home.... hehe.. I am serious.


Didnt' 'take any of emma.... She was out with me.

And this is the future dog yard where we are expanding them. They get all of this and then their yard will loop behind the enclosure and on around to the other side.... I feel comfortable with that.


And here is Yellow Man waking from his nap...... He can't wait for his enclosure to be larger... He is one of the reasons for the enclosure. He likes to take 6 week vacations. He will never be loose again... He is a rough old tomcat but he is very sweet. He sleeps with hubby every night snuggled up...


Spring has sprung.......


ok.......... that's all for today......

See ya all, Jenn

I've also done this this week.......... This is the front yard....... We harvest rocks... I guess that's why we live in Stone County.....hehe





This was a killer........ I had to do this too for mowing purposes.... I did not do it last year when we bought this place. There were too many other things to do. This is why the enclosure area is moving slowly..... It should pick up now.

But.......... check out these rocks.... Snake heaven... We will never clear back here.

For a comparison.........

This is the cat enclosure area before anything was done with the old outhouse..... The big cedar tree behind it is the tree that is going to be in their enclosure a couple posts above this one. So much work......

AND NO!! We never used it...... hehe But the previous owners did. They had no plumbing or water. Before we moved in and before the septic and well was installed, I had a 5 gallon bucket....... hehe

Major difference....


I lost the first pics I had of the house and yard when it was at it's worse. I sure hate that. Before and after always makes ya feel good.

Jenn, you have done an amazing job.
I got tired just looking at the pictures!!

Charlie looks so happy in those pictures, he's one luckly little man.
With those stubby little legs I wonder if he has some Bassett Hound in him?
I can't remember the name of the little dog with him, she's a cute little thing though.
Molly has such a sweet face.

Yellow man is a handsome boy, he looks so soft and cuddley.

Muffin is the little girl with him....... And we have always thought Charlie was part Bassett..... When he initially saw him, that was our first thought. He's a cute little guy. He is laying behind my chair right now.

He'll probably stay........ They seem to be doing better.

Good on you Jenn, they will all have a fantastic summer!!

Originally Posted by jcribbs

Muffin is the little girl with him....... And we have always thought Charlie was part Bassett..... When he initially saw him, that was our first thought. He's a cute little guy. He is laying behind my chair right now.

He'll probably stay........ They seem to be doing better.

Click to expand...

You are doing a great job Jenn, your yard looks great.

I am glad about Charlie too

I'm so glad Charlie is getting along better with his Sisters!

ok................ Charlie charlie charlie.........

He tried to bite me while ago over a chewy....... All I did was pet his head which is nothing new. This is not working. He has slowly become more and more agressive....... Just when I think all is goign to be ok......

but it's not ok.......

I am heartsick......... I' can't do this... not the biting. I'm going to bed. Will discuss it tomorrow......

I am sorry to hear that Jenn, has Charlie been to the doctor or anything lately, maybe something is going on with him. He was so loving when you first got him. I just don't understand it.

Jenn, I do hope you can sort something out, do you know anyone without any pets who would be able to take him on? LSULover - this does happen occasionally, when I got my second cat, she was all over me in the rescue (she had only been there a day), yet I ended up looking like I was into self harming the majority of hte time I had her, and she beat my other cat up as well (he came after her) - part of hers was food related with being a stray, she was very on edge when her food bowl was empty.

Oh Jenn, I'm so sorry to hear that.

I can't remember if Charlie is neutered...if he's not maybe that's where some of the aggression is coming from.

When I first got Charlie, he was fine but he has never been loving by any means...... He was happy to be in out of the cold. I think he would have liked or responded to anyone getting icicles off of him. Don't take me wrong but I am trying to be realistic here.

Charlie is a possessive animal. To the point of fighting over anything. I think it is in his breeding. A stick, a person, a chewy or space. He is very dominate. He tries to do what I want but his true personality is finally coming out. And he is agressive and dominate and he wants to be to over everything in our household. I felt or sensed this initially but there was nothing I could put my finger on. It was more in how he looked at things and I do mean looked at things [on a physical level]. He had a stance about him. He can't help it... Not sure how to explain it. He is not a waggy tail kind of dog. He is serious and firm if that makes sense. The times I have corrected him for behavior about anything... he stands there and looks at me hard. He does not respond like most dogs do to correction OR to praise.

He is not neutered. However, that makes absolutely not difference as far as I am concerned. I cannot and will not have an agressive dog toward me.

I am not sure if I am going to try and find his previous owners or take him to a shelter. I have already called our local shelter and they are full. They gave us the number to the one in Cassville, MO. He was not in bad shape physically. There is one neighborhood we did not knock on door in, in that area. Charlie runs aways when loose. It is possible someone put a tight collar on him to pee and he broke it. He might not have been an abused dog. He did not appear to have been abused. He had a tight collar and had icicles on his belly and feet. I am not taking Charlie with us when we got look however. If someone says they are the owner and it is a horrible place, they will never get him. I will not abandon him to a bad situation.. I care about Charlie in spite of everything.

One more little note on this:
When I got up this morning Emma was in the house and Juan told me he had brought Emma in because Charlie had her by the throat and they were fighting.

He wants to reign ...... and my mind is made up.... He will have to go.

We are leaving for work early to drive a certain neighborhood and see if anyone knows Charlie.... I would rather find a home for him than take him to a shelter.

I don't like shelters..........even no kill ones. I have two dogs that came from shelters. Emma has a permanent scar on her tail that was untreated at a shelter and Molly has crooked hips from laying on concrete for over a year.

I'm sure some do as good as they can but none are an ideal situation.

And it would bother me to think Charlie might be in a cage looking for me..... It's more than I can take.

I have to be matter of fact about this or I will break down. And I already feel slightly crumbly..... I feel so bad about this.. I have tried....... I really have. I am already crying but must keep this is perspective.

When I get home from work, I will post the outcome of finding Charlie's owners.... I am going to take a digital pic of him with me.

Jen, you might find he is less aggressive when he is neutered, surely it is worth a chance?

That was my thinking too.

I know my Sister has a Jack Russell and he was very aggressive towards everyone and everything until he was neutered.
I'm scared to death of dogs in general and even I hold him...I wouldn't have went near him before he was neutered.

I'm in no way trying to pass judgement on you, because after all you're the ones who live with him day in and day out...I just knew how much my Sisters dog changed when he was neutered and wondered if maybe it might change Charlie's behavior also.

To me, it is not worth a chance. Basically it is due to everything concerning charlie. It is not just one thing.

Me and the agression. The cats and the agression. And the dogs and the agression.

I am at work right now and we drove through a really nice neighborhood that is 1/2 mile or so from where we found charlie called Fox Trot.

We went to one house and on the porch was a fat little tiny puppy with legs exactly like charlies. It was a little black dog with white legs that were speckled. Juan said it looked like a replacement dog. There were toys scattered about. They had kids. We left a note with our phone number on the door. We feel this was Charlie's home. It was a goat farmer in the country with peacocks and guineas. But this pup, except for a few markings looked like a baby version of Charlie. A huge house with a wrap around porch and NO CATS.

I just got home from work. We left messages on several doors about Charlie. One lady called us. I will call them in the mornin and see what they have to say.

Good luck with the calls - except from what you have said, I wouldnt' trust him where there are kids. I would still get him neutered before you let anyone take him though, just so you know he has been done, and there is no chance he will be left to re-populate.

Well, the lady called back and told us LAST FALL she has lost a little black/white boy dog.... knee high dog.

Juan got her email address and I sent her pictures of Charlie.

If what she is saying is true, it is possible she lost her dog last fall, and someone else found him and he broke loose and was trying to get back home when we found him.

We won't know till we hear back from her.

I would rather find him a home than for him to become a pound pup.

I have my fingers crossed. The woman that called is elderly.