My Autistic Family

Life with Aspergers - One child's story

My studmuffin Maximus a White English Bulldog

As of today King 'Maximus' of ARK is one year six months and 21 days old, he is registered through the  White English Bulldog Preservation Society "A private group dedicated to the preservation of the Old White English and Brindle Bulldog. Where we don't sacrifice principles for profit" he is truly a blessing to me and my children in ways that even a blog can't explain. I can't believe at one time he weighed a mere 12lbs versus the now 100lbs!

I use Diamond dog food from Tractor Supply, it's Gluten, Soy and Whey free so no huge piles of poo to fall in, hence most is absorbed so a 50lb bag goes a month. I've tried many different types of dog food and trust me DO NOT think you are saving money with Ol' Roy, you have to take in account how fast that lovely food is going through their body. Another words how much is going to their muscles and fat stores and how much is just passing through waiting for you to step in it? Although Max looks menacing to those unknowing, he is really quite an aloof fella only out to take care of his family and livestock. Often uneducated people not knowing the difference between an American Bulldog, Pit Bulldog, Brindle Bulldog etc... are intimidated by Max little do they know what an intelligent gentle giant he really is. He (along with other White English Bulldogs) require little to no training at all, they are family orientated and are submissive yet protective. My favorite quality of the WEB is they are not those annoying barking type dogs. You know what I am talking about, your out taking a nice and peaceful walk next thing you know baby Kujo comes out of nowhere and instantly ruins your silent oasis with a high pitched attempt at a ferocious yip. Better yet the 'wait until everyone is asleep' barker, yes I think my neighbors dog knows when my head hits the pillow. Secretly I believe they have somehow gotten in this house and put sensors in my bedroom, I have tested this theory and it is still a work in progress. My dark side thinks it's time to get a BB gun, my angelic side thinks the owners should by shock collars and train their dogs. Thank goodness Max only barks if there is a reason, and none of those reason include terrifying an unsuspecting and quite innocent person or an extremely tired person or the mere fact their butt hair has tweaked to the left turning on the 'I am going to bark all night' button. Out of respect for Max I finally made the time to put his picture out on my logo:

He is my pride and joy, canine he may be but he is part of the family and I have gained new and life long friendships in the journey to preserve such a magnificent breed. Yes my skin crawls a bit when someone says "Wow he sure is a handsome American Bulldog" but I step back and realize five short years ago I myself didn't know the difference either. I see the glazing over of the eyes when I start talking to most but sometimes I see that spark of  interest from strangers too. When they want to understand just how historic this breed is, hope fills me and I look at my children hoping they can keep the legacy going. Max isn't a show dog,  he isn't judged for hang time or how pretty he stands and I am more important than any other judge in this world. I look for the simplest quality... loyalty. Max has been my therapist, my friend, my canine companion, my savior and most importantly my hero. He saved my boys life from being attacked by a Pit Bull that was later shot and killed by the local Sheriff's Department  and he has put himself between me and a domestically violent situation. That my fellow bloggers is quite a smart dog and I give him a score of 10 all across the board.

Thank you Ray and Heather for everything without you Loosahatchie Bulldog's wouldn't exist and quite possibly I wouldn't be alive.

We have chicks!

I am one of those people that talk to all their animals (and yes I do believe they understand us) and have become very fond of chickens in the last  year and a half. My chicken story started out rough and expensive especially if you include the E.R. bill, yes I almost decapitated myself when the 4x8 building being moved broke... and it broke on the left side of my face, neck, arms and chest. By God I had the most expensive chickens in at least a three state radius! Thankfully the scars have healed for the most part and even though I have moved since then my hobbies haven't changed. Last week I successfully hatched out eight Delawares out of twelve, and today a shipment of day old assorted brown egg layers came. I think the postman thought I needed to pop a pill when I squeeed in delight and clapped my hands excitedly when he handed me my chirping package. For a moment in time I felt like a five year old opening that present that Santa had assured me would be under the tree, ahh it was bliss opening up the box and seeing all of the chicks alive and so fluffy and just absolutely adorable. Integrating my week old Delawares with the day olds proved to be so interesting, almost good enough to YouTube. Athena my five week old kitten that thinks she is a chicken was on top of the kennel watching in awe as fifteen little poof balls made the eight occupants spread like wildfire. Of course it wasn't helping the situation any when my oh so intelligent three year old was instructing me how to 'gret the cheekeens mommy!' and even taking the time to point as he was dictating. As I realized what a huge mess I made, total chaos right before my eyes Athena decides to join the madhouse. Let me stress no chicks were harmed at all. When I say she thinks she is a chicken, I'm not joking, I'll be lucky if my kitten even attempts to attack a mouse. The entire purpose of getting her was because of our lovely rodent problem, I mean I can handle mice but NOT an I do mean NOT standing on my foot while I'm doing dishes at 9pm. If you are trying to picture a 36 year old woman in shorts and a t-shirt flailing her arms and screaming, your good so far but you would think the mouse was gone... I wasn't that lucky. My fiance is laughing hysterically and pointing at my foot that was still occupied by the mouse. Yes I woke up the boys during all of this and now if you say mouse they scream and it is all my fault, but that is where Athena falls into place. One problem, last week she discovered she can cuddle with the chicks and go to sleep so today was pure joy for her. Next problem the new poof balls didn't know that the giant was a friendly, so operation peck anything you can reach was initiated. Part of me wanted to cry but my three year old Caleb was still telling me how to help the 'cheekeens' not once blinking an ounce of concern to Athena, then the uncontrollable giggle erupted. Like the kind in high school where if you even snicker your teacher is sending you to the office but your best friend looks at you and some sort of silent joke sets you into a fit of laughter. Yes I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face, Caleb then tells me to turn my water off and then Athena jumps on me with a poof ball clinging to her tail for dear life. I half expected her to be trembling but mind you she was actually purring, she fits in quite well in this dysfunctional family. What should happen doesn't and what does shouldn't and the results are always out of the ordinary and definitely intriguing. So Athena was out, poof ball back in, all 23 chicks have assimilated and I have soupy chicken feed in the kennel to clean up yet. But we have chicks and I am so excited! It has started this comical already I can't wait to see how they are when the hen house is up.