Jen, to answer your question: Yes, Kuma knows how to act differently around bigger and smaller 'playmates'. Specifically with Nyx, he basically keeps his mouth slightly open and nuzzles and licks and nibbles a bit while she ravages his face!! When he's with bigger dogs he gets excited without being too out of control - well, it's not like Rui lets him out of control. Some of the morons we meet don't have the same presence of mind, unfortunately. Kuma jumps up and down and wags his tail a lot. Whatever size the playmate is, though, he never gets scared - he's such a 'cool cat'! He's just a sponge for love and affection - a real flirt.
You guys are doing such a great job raising them. I am so impressed. And I LOVE Kuma. Between Kuma and Hilo (and Keigo and Mika) I really am falling for akitas
I had given up on it, since I couldn't find it and on ebay, either no one was selling for Kuma's size or just the shipping was a crazy price. But today we went to this huge department store, that's a Spanish franchise (El Corte Ingles) and we found a few at the pet area. Got Kuma the giant size, liver flavoured one, that is flexible. He's been playing with it for the last 20 minutes non-stop. I first had the chicken flavoured hard white one, but I got afraid it would be too hard fo his teeth so I thought I'd rather buy another one soon than have him hurt himself or somethig. Let's see how long this lasts. I don't know how much they are around there, this one was 11,75 euro (around 17,5 dollars). Didn't think it was bad.
I haven't looked at the prices for the giant size, but that doesn't sound totally unreasonable when you factor in the strength of the dollar against the euro.
We're both laughing our heads off right now!! Kuma was lying down by the sofa sleeping, very still. Nyx was having one of her crazy moments, jumping at stuff on the walls and all that. During one of her sprints, she ran over Kuma, startling him to a sit. The result? A kitty looking at him with this experssion of "what? what do you want? I didn't do nothin' ", and an Akita with hick ups .
OMG I want Kuma!! (or a Kuma I should say) I am catching up on all the pics and everyone I say "OMG Chad you have to look at this one, no this one...no this one". Too freaking cute, Kuma and Nyx both!
Yesterday we went on a day trip to a little village close to Arraiolos, in Alentejo. You might have heard of this town because of the tapestries form Arraiolos, which are famous. We drove there to meet my parents, that are there spending a few days.
It's a small, rural village, so loads of people have their own poultry that they raise in their backyards. Here's Kuma and turkeys
There's also one guy that has a cow business, so there's a corral full of future beef.
Some more scenery
Since he spent pretty much the whole day awake and going around, we had pretty tired pup on the drive back home
We drove home during sunset, giving us great pictorial subject
It was a good day, we were very lucky with the weather since it's normally very hot in Alentejo in August (sometimes over 40ºC), but yesterday it was around 23/24 and it even drizzled a bit. That we managed to keep Kuma outside. He liked it.
Rachel - Being house trained is a plus for you! But what would the Chad have to say about us adopting you?
Kuma is getting big, he's over 26Kg(around 58lbs) by now (he was 25,95 Kg last week, and he's averaging half a Kg a week). Haven't measured him in a while, but I'd say he should be around 56/58cm (around 23in) to the withers.
Dave - He was quite curious about them, even pulled on his leash a bit to get closer. Not so much with the cows thought. They were much bigger than him, he got cautious, almost fearful.
I think half the time Chad would pack me up willingly...LOL. Sasha may not be too happy. Chad always calls my friends and tells them to come get me because I am bugging him... : )
Dorothy - Thanks! It's actually Nat's credit. Portugal does have some stunning sceneries. As we sometimes say "it's a beautiful country. The people sometimes ruin it" (something might be lost in translation, but the general idea passes, I think)
I confess about the only thing that would make me want to come to Atlanta right now would be you guys!!!
And perhaps the fact that there seem to be a ton of vegan restaurants in Atlanta.
Cafe Sunflower Green Sprout Soul Vegetarian Restaurant Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant Soul Vegetarian No Two Cafe Sunflower/Sandy Spring World Peace Cafe /Vegetarian Flying Biscuit Midtown Lov'n It Live Veggieland Restaurant Inc
Did you know there is ONE veggie restaurant in all of Providence! And it blows!!! No wonder I am a great cook! I would starve to death otherwise.
I've been to the Flying Biscuit - it's pretty good (that's coming from a dedicated carnivore).
I'm surprised that there is just the one - I've been to Providence once and only had a day to be there. I spent most of my time around Brown, catching up with friends and stuff. It was during the time (2000, maybe?) when there were a bunch of painted potatoes everywhere for tourism.
Jess - I'm not shocked that there isn't much for vegan eats where you live. The dominant cultures around there are pretty into their meat, especially the Portuguese, those people love to eat meat. I wish some Portuguese would move here and open up someplace to eat.
Outside of meeting you lovely people, I can't think of a reason to go to Atlanta either, unless I drove, then I could stop and eat BBQ shacks along the way. I once spent a night in Macon, yeah, I was kind of terrified.
I'd love to get back to New England though. If for some reason I couldn't live in Madison anymore, Boston is tied with San Francisco for where I would want to move (could it be any more obvious that I'm a liberal?).
Having moved from New York to Providence I was WAY spoiled as far as vegan options, I was shocked that a place with SO many colleges and art students had so few options though. I know a ton of vegans here and we're hungry.
I would love to go to Portugal, and back to Scotland but I think it is safe to say I would be REALLY hungry there.
LOL. Yeah, I don't blame you on the whole not wanting to visit Atlanta thing. The only thing that keeps me here is Georgia Tech. We do have some wicked BBQ though. :-)
As an Atlanta native, I'll have to disagree. There are some great things in and around the city. Unfortunately, there are a lot of not-so-great things, too. Searching a city and finding those pearls make it very rewarding and memorable. When I have friends come in from other places, I do my best to show the parts of the city that very few people see.
One of my favorite places in Boston was this tiny italian restuarant tucked in the corner of a building. Think of the entrance to the bar Cheers. I found it by wandering about with a college buddy. We were there on spring break visiting one of my sorority sisters. This place was on Comm Ave - my sorority sister lived 4-5 blocks from there and never knew it existed. That's how Atlanta is - most people never go out of their boundaries to find the places worth visiting again.
Comments
Yes, Kuma knows how to act differently around bigger and smaller 'playmates'. Specifically with Nyx, he basically keeps his mouth slightly open and nuzzles and licks and nibbles a bit while she ravages his face!!
When he's with bigger dogs he gets excited without being too out of control - well, it's not like Rui lets him out of control. Some of the morons we meet don't have the same presence of mind, unfortunately. Kuma jumps up and down and wags his tail a lot.
Whatever size the playmate is, though, he never gets scared - he's such a 'cool cat'! He's just a sponge for love and affection - a real flirt.
I had given up on it, since I couldn't find it and on ebay, either no one was selling for Kuma's size or just the shipping was a crazy price. But today we went to this huge department store, that's a Spanish franchise (El Corte Ingles) and we found a few at the pet area. Got Kuma the giant size, liver flavoured one, that is flexible. He's been playing with it for the last 20 minutes non-stop. I first had the chicken flavoured hard white one, but I got afraid it would be too hard fo his teeth so I thought I'd rather buy another one soon than have him hurt himself or somethig. Let's see how long this lasts. I don't know how much they are around there, this one was 11,75 euro (around 17,5 dollars). Didn't think it was bad.
Kuma was lying down by the sofa sleeping, very still. Nyx was having one of her crazy moments, jumping at stuff on the walls and all that. During one of her sprints, she ran over Kuma, startling him to a sit. The result? A kitty looking at him with this experssion of "what? what do you want? I didn't do nothin' ", and an Akita with hick ups .
I am catching up on all the pics and everyone I say "OMG Chad you have to look at this one, no this one...no this one".
Too freaking cute, Kuma and Nyx both!
We drove there to meet my parents, that are there spending a few days.
It's a small, rural village, so loads of people have their own poultry that they raise in their backyards.
Here's Kuma and turkeys
There's also one guy that has a cow business, so there's a corral full of future beef.
Some more scenery
Since he spent pretty much the whole day awake and going around, we had pretty tired pup on the drive back home
We drove home during sunset, giving us great pictorial subject
It was a good day, we were very lucky with the weather since it's normally very hot in Alentejo in August (sometimes over 40ºC), but yesterday it was around 23/24 and it even drizzled a bit. That we managed to keep Kuma outside. He liked it.
Kuma is getting big, he's over 26Kg(around 58lbs) by now (he was 25,95 Kg last week, and he's averaging half a Kg a week). Haven't measured him in a while, but I'd say he should be around 56/58cm (around 23in) to the withers.
Dave - He was quite curious about them, even pulled on his leash a bit to get closer. Not so much with the cows thought. They were much bigger than him, he got cautious, almost fearful.
: )
I think the saying over here would be "it's a beautiful country. people usually ruin it."
Thanks Dorothy, it isn't very hard to get good pictures in Portugal.... or Malta!
Great sunset shot.
And perhaps the fact that there seem to be a ton of vegan restaurants in Atlanta.
Cafe Sunflower
Green Sprout
Soul Vegetarian Restaurant
Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant
Soul Vegetarian No Two
Cafe Sunflower/Sandy Spring
World Peace Cafe /Vegetarian
Flying Biscuit Midtown
Lov'n It Live
Veggieland Restaurant Inc
Did you know there is ONE veggie restaurant in all of Providence! And it blows!!! No wonder I am a great cook! I would starve to death otherwise.
I'm surprised that there is just the one - I've been to Providence once and only had a day to be there. I spent most of my time around Brown, catching up with friends and stuff. It was during the time (2000, maybe?) when there were a bunch of painted potatoes everywhere for tourism.
Outside of meeting you lovely people, I can't think of a reason to go to Atlanta either, unless I drove, then I could stop and eat BBQ shacks along the way. I once spent a night in Macon, yeah, I was kind of terrified.
I'd love to get back to New England though. If for some reason I couldn't live in Madison anymore, Boston is tied with San Francisco for where I would want to move (could it be any more obvious that I'm a liberal?).
I would love to go to Portugal, and back to Scotland but I think it is safe to say I would be REALLY hungry there.
One of my favorite places in Boston was this tiny italian restuarant tucked in the corner of a building. Think of the entrance to the bar Cheers. I found it by wandering about with a college buddy. We were there on spring break visiting one of my sorority sisters. This place was on Comm Ave - my sorority sister lived 4-5 blocks from there and never knew it existed. That's how Atlanta is - most people never go out of their boundaries to find the places worth visiting again.