Fiona and Drinian - Colorado Mountain Dogs

After being in Colorado, it was such a joy to come back to my BELOVED Colorado Mountain Dog, Fiona. When I'm gone, she often stays with her brother, Drinian, from the same litter. Fiona and Drinian arrived together from Colorado and I was there with my friend, Cat, to meet them. Yes, her name is CAT. Fiona is the princess on the left. Drinian is the prince on the right. He's a little bigger...she's only about 60 lbs (probably the smallest Colorado Mountain Dog ever produced) and Drin is edging up to 200 pounds, which is more "normal". Of course, he is male, and in dogs, the male is the larger (which is weird to me. I'm used to birds of prey where the female is the larger of the two).

These two are the best of friends. They play and roughhouse all over the yard, with Fiona keeping up a snarling that you wouldn't believe, but it's all in fun. She's usually such a quiet dog! They sleep together, eat together,...they do everything together. Still, they also wear each other out. When Fiona comes home, they both sleep almost nonstop for a week or so before getting back to "normal", whatever that is.

This time, when I went to pick her up, my mother came, too. We went down the street and visited Cat's horse, who lives with two goats and a pig! YES! The pig is highly intelligent and opinionated, and I pretty much fell in love with her. She does what she wants, when she wants, and is not cowed by the interests of humans! When Cat goes riding, there are the two white dogs, the black pig, and two black and white goats strolling along beside her. What a sight.

The pig made it very clear that we were to rub her tummy immediately, and we did so, with great enthusiasm. She was clean and cute! She made me think of Sy Montgomery's pig Christopher Hogwood from "The Good, Good Pig".

If you haven't read "The Good Good Pig" what are you waiting for? It's a wonderful book! Sy misses Christopher like I miss Wesley. And I miss Wesley as if he had just died yesterday. I miss him viscerally.

I did a talk at the G2 Art Gallery in Venice Beach, CA. last week, and Luna was there. Luna is an unreleasable female barn owl, whose human is a dedicated rehabilitator named Christina. It was so great to see both of them, and being able to interact with Luna made me miss Wesley all that much more. Luna is all personality and I love her. It's always a privilege to work alongside one of Wesley's "cousins" and it always makes me long for Wesley.

But at least Fiona is there for a good cuddle to ease the longing. Fiona is a dear, dear dog. She has a gentle spirit and a quiet way about her, yet she can be very protective at the same time. You can see in the picture that she's smiling! Don't these two dogs make a great pair?

Fiona is my dear, dedicated, beloved girl and I love her so much. She sleeps on the bed with me and is a great cuddler. I don't know how she stays so clean, but she's almost fanatical about it, and that makes it easier than ever to cuddle with her.

Sunday will ber her and Drinian's second birthday. Happy Birthday Fiona and Drinian!

Stacey