National Geographic Kids Chapters Terrier Trouble And More

National Geographic Kids Chapters Terrier Trouble And More True Stories of Animals Behaving Badly by Candice Ransom               Paperback Book:  111 pages         

This was such a cute and laugh out loud funny book.   The true stories of Atticus the black cat,  Peepers the Emu, Coco the White West Highland Terrier and Norman the Briard ( a breed of dog originally from the Brie region in France.   So funny!     A couple in Fredericksburg, Virginia thought their house had gotten too quiet after their elderly cats had died so they decided adopting a kitten from the local Rescue Shelter would liven up their home.  BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.  J   As soon as they got home with this dear little baby kitten he went all Warner Bros. version of the Tasmanian Devil on them.   He hit the floor running so fast he was literally bouncing off the walls.   He learned about unrolling toilet paper and pulling tissues out of boxes.   He leaned how fun it was to jump up and pull down cereal boxes then open them for a snack.    He jumped up on the table while his people were eating and snatched stuff off their plates.   (They should have just set him a plate and put some munchies in it so he would feel he was a part of things.   They were his new pack afterall.)   His people started putting all food stuff in plastic containers with lids.   Once when his people were cleaning up and getting ready to toss garbage in the can just before they did they saw Atticus sitting on top of some potato peelings inside the trash can looking up at them.    They got a trash can with a lid.   I remember learning to live with cats – my first lesson DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING MADE OF GLASS in your cabinets, on your counters or anywhere that looks like a fun place for a cat to jump up on.  When Atticus saw the lace curtains he scaled them like a ladder then shredded them.    When he learned a new game, pull the shade down and it will snap back up.    His people took the shades and curtains off their windows.  He ran everywhere but on the occasion his people couldn’t find him he was fast asleep under the bed between some boxes of shoes.  He had always liked to play with toys then his people’s feet, then he started biting and scratching his people now and then.   They were afraid for anyone to come over in case Atticus decided to turn attack cat.  All of a sudden the doorbell rings and it’s a neighbor with her 3 kids who brought a toy mouse and want to see the new kitty.  (This is so like a cartoon I have tears running down my face from laughter.)  It was all good – the kids were running and squealing through the house with the cat in tow (cue the “Jaws” theme here) Atticus’ eyes changed – he got in stawker mode – the little girl bends down to pet him and Candice, Atticus’ owner yelled, “NO!” and snatched Atticus up before he could bite the little girl, who had actually figured out trouble was looming because she had ran behind her mother’s legs just before Candice’s scream of NO!     She put him in the laundry room for a time out but Atticus didn’t know why she did it so that didn’t work.   Candice tried to play with him during the day running through the house with toys for him to chase.   The only one tired was Candice, Atticus never seemed to slow down or tire out.    She started reading up on cat behavior.   But nothing she read seemed to work with this cat.    She packed him up and took him back to the shelter, though she cried outside the building before she went in.   Atticus was as quiet as his toy mouse.   The Director said they didn’t have room for him then but told her to bring him back in 3 days.  When they got back home, Atticus was a changed cat.   He was demure, he purred in her lap.   He did not bite nor scratch.   Three days later, she called the shelter back and said they had decided to keep him.   She thought his trip back to the shelter must have scared him, he was a new cat on his best behavior.    As soon as she got off the phone, Atticus winked one green eye at her and knocked over a potted plant.   He knocked a pillow off of the sofa, then gnawed on a corner of the coffeetable.  Candice turned the tissue box upside down.  They ate holding their plates up in the air.    Candice finally realized Atticus misbehaved because he didn’t have his mother around to teach him how to behave.   She found out if she put time in with him she could teach him a little and when he grew up he still bit but mostly shoes and door hinges.   So funny, the mental pictures you will get as you read are hilarious.   Not to mention you will learn some tips about cats along the way, like when black cats are in the sun a lot, their fur turns brown.   This has happened to my alpha male and I didn’t realize it was from the sun.  Or that only the Pharoahs or rulers of Ancient Egypt were allowed to own cats as pets.   I knew they wroshiped the cat goddess (a woman’s body with a cat’s head) , Bastet, but I just figured cats roamed freely.   There was however, a colony of cats in the temple of Bastet.  Cats were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians.   When cats died they were brought to the temple of Bastet where they were wrapped in linens and mummified sometimes even mice were mummified and placed with the mummified cats.  

There are 3 other stories included here – Peepers the Emu who loved sparkly things and when people would come to see him on tours of Rikki’s Rescue Ranch in Orange County, Virginia where he lived, along with other emus, pot bellied pigs, hogs, geese, goats, chickens, cats, etc.      Peepers was quite the kleptomaniac.   He stole the watch right off of people’s wrists,  hair barrettes out of girl’s hair, glasses off of people’s faces, he even latched onto a necklace a woman was wearing and when it didn’t come free he proceeded to run with it pulling the screaming lady along with him,  he got into a tugging match with a lady with huge hoop earrings on, the lady holding her hand over her ear and Peepers tugging away on the earring until the tour quide managed to dissuade him with a bunch of fresh broccoli.   (Like I said the mental pictures here are priceless.)  They finally had to tell people not to wear anything sparkly when they entered Emu Estates.   It was all good until an elderly man bent down to tie his shoe and Peepers stole his gold money clip (holding dollars) out of his back pocket and took off across the field.  (A fast running volunteer got it back for the man.) They ought to put the ranch on t.v. seriously.   When a 700lb. hog named Petunia joined the group they decided the wading pool wasn’t big enough so the volunteers got together, brought in a backhoe and dug the animals a mudhole to play in.   I learned emus love water and Peepers was the first one to run in beating the pigs and hog.   Once Peepers spied the shiny brass nozzle he ran over and snatched the hose from theman holding it.   Everybody got a shower that day but laughed and considered it fun.  What a party animal!  That Peepers!  I bet it was a blast literally and figuratively.  The ranch received 10 more emus and Peepers calmed down, between the mudhole and the new emu friends now Peepers could have fun running races with them and he taught the new group how to shadow people  - quietly slip up behind them and when they turned around he would move his head to the side shadowing their movements so they didn’t see him till he wanted them to.     He also would give his keepers love by entwining his neck around theirs for an emu hug.   So cute and so funny.

The last two stories are about dogs, Coco, the white West Highland Terrier was such a well behaved puppy.   She didn’t bark or jump around uncontrollably, she didn’t raise a ruckus when they brought her home, she actually walked into her kennel by herself at bedtime and didn’t raise a fuss during the night.   She was always on her best behavior so when her owner had a 6 week class to attend she took her with her to college.   They wouldn’t let her keep her on campus so she found a hotel that allowed dogs and stayed there, leaving Coco in the room while she was away all day attending class.   Coco reeked havoc on the room while she was away, clawing the door facing actually causing paint chips to come off all over the carpet, clawing and ripping the carpet, all it took was one loose strand to become unraveled, then a hole, tearing up newspaper or anything else that got in her way.   It was always a new mess each day when her owner returned to their hotel room.   She couldn’t imagine what the cost of the damages was going to be.    She couldn’t figure out how to make Coco stop.   When her young son came to visit her after returning from summer camp, she had him spend hours playing with Coco and walking her on campus to tire her out.   Everything was great – no bad behavior, then it finally dawned on her, Coco was acting out because she was lonely and bored not because she was bad.    Coco just wanted to be with her family not caged up alone.   Coco was not a terrible trouble making terrier,  she was just sad to be alone and trying to get to her loved ones.  Her owner knew then, Coco didn’t have to be perfect, just her sweet funny self as Coco gave her lots of doggy kisses.

Norman the Briard belongs to dog trainer, Karen Cobb.  Karen Cobb’s dad was a veterinarian,   After she got out of college she got a dog of her own, a Shiba Inu, a dog known for being hard to train.   That was a challenge to Karen.   She worked with the dog, teaching him to respond to her commands and even doing tricks and running through tunnels and weaving through poles.   He eventually won first place for his breed in the entire country.   Other people started wanting her to train their dogs.    She decided she wanted to make dog training her career so she started taking classes and worked for a dog training company.   She later opened her own dog training school.    The owners of a Briard asked her to train their dog and she fell in love with the breed.   She already had two Shiba Inus of her own but she knew it was time to get the Briard she had been wanting for a long time.   She contacted a breeder in Washington State who had a litter available.    She went out and met all of the litter playing games with them to see which one she wanted  for her dog.   She was looking for a gentle pup that was a good learner.   She found him and named him Norman after the first Briard she had met and trained.   She took Norman back home to Georgia and began his training.   She even taught him to ride a bike.   It has training wheels, but, he is only 6.   Norman peddles his bike all over the neighborhood, he kinda looks like a Sasquatch coming down the road.   What a cutie.

I really liked this book and think it is a great read for anyone young or old who loves animals and gets a big kick out of their antics.