Kosmo Rabbit Dog

Here's Kosmo.. AWwww !! come on.. what a cutie !! Here's our Baby Boy.
he's almost one year old now and due for his
one year old Injection... Ouch!! must take him to the vet very soon .
We found and bought him from a privately run pound when he was
only 11 weeks old.. he seemed such a shy,timid thing when we first saw him... he wanted to hide in his boarding house kennel,and he didn't seem interested in finding a new home thanks..well..not at first!
( he must have known from the beginning what a strange house he was about to enter) because it took him a while to break the ice..
We named him Kosmo Rabbit due to his enormous ears that stick up just like a rabbits ears..and we do love his ears!!
Anyway..on with this true story.. He must have finally decided that hey!..these walkers aren't that bad after all..and once he had made up his mind.. that was it
..he was the new kid on the block and the new kid in this household ..and he certainly knew how to make himself right at home.
I have all the chewed up furniture and chewed up EVERYTHING to prove it..!

Yes.. after walking those pound pens with all those other doggies waiting for
adoption..and then spotting HIM..well that was IT folks and it was
Definitely love at first sight !! we just Knew that he was our dog
...he belonged to us..it was written in the stars..or in the cosmos even..ha!!

Kossie as we nicknamed him ,or kosso or Kosmo
is a cross between a Border collie and a Kelpie.
A highly energetic dog..a working dog by breed and nature..they like to round up sheep .. apparently ,they like to round up anything at all.. and it's not unusual that they will try to round up humans ..if there's nothing else to round up..heeha!!
it's a lot to keep up with this bundle of sheer amazing power and energy ball of black and white .. and a takes a lot of energy from ourselves
to keep him entertained and happy as he is always wanting to play,or walk,or kiss you or eat something or dig holes and bury stuff or lick your ears out with his long doggie worm tongue..awwww!! that reminds me ..he has to wormed again very soon... or just generally hound us into playing with him..he can be very persausive..for a dog you know!....he's becoming quite spoilt when I really sit and
think about it.

Seeing he needs a few JOBS to keep his mind and body healthy..I had to put my thinking cap on so..
I've taught him to sit at the front door politely and patiently and just wait a bit....STAY kosso
..now stay kossie..good Boy!! good boy Kos!! ..I then proceed to collect the paper (any paper ) from our letter box and I give it to him with instructions ..
kosmo
"Give it to bob" go on..kossie give to Bob
Kossie will run..excitedly,noisily.. and making a bee line..
usually with paper dragging behind him.... to Bob and then drop the paper at his feet..pretty good there ehhh!!! what a dog..
Kossie ..smartest dog in the world..here have a doggie biscuit..smart dog..ha!!
Kossies understanding of the human vocabulary is growing wider each day
He knows the word WALKIE and CAR CAR..I've never seen a dog get more excited than when we say those few words "CAR CAR" to him..he loves his CAR rides even if it's only to the local 7/11 store and he loves his WALKIES...even if it's only a few times around our little court here.
He knows the words DIN DIN..Oh yeah!!
and the word TOY .. Kosso has had many toys
..though most are unrecognizable as pet toys now.. they are mostly chewed,bitten and mangled bits of thing now.
He knows the word LEATHER..No.. we don't strap him with this....we give him
scraps of leather which he just loves to chew on and it helped when those tiny puppy teeth were starting to fall out..
helping to ease the new ones through as well, no doubt.

He has a favourite toy and it's old boot tied to a tree,
it's hanging there from a thick rope on one of our gum trees
and it's certainly his most favourite plaything...Kossie can sound like Rocky balboa when he's NTO that old boot..let me tell ya!! macho dog..ha!! GGRRRRRRRRRrrrrra!!
It's a joy to watch him .. pups just seem to love life so much and they love US so much and it lifts the spirits of us weary old human beings.

He sleeps at the end of our bed at night on his own special blanket
(this is rather strange for us,as we swore to friends that WE would never have a dog sleep in OUR bed..ever)..ha!!..

and it's usually the way that he's awake very early..probably ready to round up those sheep.. and he seems a hell of a lot closer to our heads by morning time.. with his long legs sticking straight up in the air.. he's on his back..in a most comfortable position.. sound asleep..and he's hogged all our doona and I'm sure that's a big smile on his long lipped face!!

Oh the joys and the irritabilities of a new pup in the household..but we couldn't be without him now ..no way !!...there would be such a hollow space if he were ever to leave us.
He is like Sunshine on a very cold day.
I don't use any special pansy type dog foods for him..I do use an australian manufactured dried and complete..and cheap food called WOOF BIX..mixed with any canned dog food(specials) like chum, select and pedigree varieties..anything that doesn't cost a fortune..It's hard enough to feed ourselves here..but kossie does alright..
As a treat he has those dried pig ears and dried meat dog sticks,dog biscuits and some human food..minus onions , chocolate and milk hearing that those foods are very dangerous for dogs.
And.. Occassionally as an even healthier addition to his diet we give him a specially made "fresh dog food" that a friend supplies us with.
This "Other dog food" is made for the greyhounds both the dogs and puppies are fed this mixture.. apparently it has everything in it,all the parts of the chicken and beef ground up and lightly cooked..it looks revolting..and smells awful to me,
but ALL the dogs we know just love this food..and kossie is no exception I'm sure it helps to keepa dog in good condition physically...all nutrients that dogs need are kept and present in that horrible looking guk that all dogs love..ha!!!!

I have decided not to wash kossie with normal human soap
have you ever seen any type of dog wash itself with soap in the wild..I don't think so !! so...seeing he likes to play under and with my herbs in the garden..especially my lavender.. when I do bathe him ..I use some fresh lavender with a liitle
rosemary thrown in ..I boil this mixture and then use it in some warm water..washing him all over , I think he really enjoys the scent and his bath..and I find that this (my own made up.. herbal formula)..keeps his coat glossy, shining and it's probably better for him in a lot of ways.
Enough said about our new and gorgeous family member ...here he is.

cathy xxx