They're Watching, And They Learn. Oh Yes They Do.

Our dog Trix learned from one of our other, long departed dogs, that one's higher canine purpose was to protect the world from vacuum cleaners. He'd be proud to hear me say that our vacuum is *never* turned on without him attacking the hose.

Ozzie the rabbit has obviously been paying attention, because he now, too, attacks the hose and nozzle as we vacuum his cage each day. It's all in fun, they're not afraid of it, it's a toy to them. In fact, Oz still enjoys being vacuumed, which is incredibly helpful during shedding season.

It's funny how in sync Oz and Trix really are. Trix gets fed once a day, at 5pm, and there are many days when I get home from work and need a nap. When asked when I want to get up, the answer is usually "dinner time". Sometimes Trix will let me sleep until 5:30, but mostly his internal alarm isn't that patient and he wakes me up at five-ish for dinner.

The rabbits get fresh greens every evening at 8pm. If we're a little late, Ozzie will run into the bedroom where Liz watches TV, makes some noise or thumps to let her know he's there, then runs back to his cage. Translation: "Dinnertime, dammit!"

I look over at their cage and three beady sets of eyes are on me. Each of them are chewing away, Oz and Java at their hay bins (apparently they love this new batch of timothy grass we got them), and Fred one level above, munching pellets.

Staring.