A trip to the dog show with Jane

I always have fun with Jane. We met about five years ago when we were showing our girls Winnie and Venus against each other. We struck a deal, whoever won had to take the other one out for lunch. It's too bad she lives so far away! We finished both girls and have taken turns dog-sitting for each other and have found various other excuses to hang out together such as driving down to California for the regular greyhound specialties. She got Finn a couple years ago and I handle him for her when she enters him in a show. This weekend he was entered in the Sammamish show on Sunday so I drove up on Saturday night and came home Sunday.

The show was fun and our friend Linda finished her dog Wyatt's dual championship! She took us both out to lunch (thanks, Linda!) in celebration!

The other excitement was that I got to meet Jane's new bird, Homer. Homer is a Slender Billed Cockatoo. When she first told me that she had a new bird I looked it up on the internet and thought that Slender Billed Cockatoos were not very attractive birds! They have these blue bald eye patches and orange feathers around their face. Plus, they have these long skinny bills. Well, these birds are not very common pets (Homer was bred and raised in captivity) so perhaps there just aren't enough good pictures out there. Jane told me that she wanted this type of bird because she had heard that they are very engaging and love to interact with people yet aren't as clingy and needy as other cockatoos.

I have to say, that there is definitely more to this guy than meets the eye! She took him out and set up on my shoulder and I tried to shrink away. That is a big bill and it is right next to my eye! Plus he makes this loud honking noise that sounds like a horn and makes me jump every time. It didn't take me long though, to get more comfortable interacting with Homer. He wanted me to scritch him (as opposed to Owen the African Grey who always looks at me mistrustfully). He would nibble gently on my fingers if I stopped and would tilt his little head and arch his neck to encourage me to get his favorite spots. When he started getting too nibbly, Jane put him away.

The next day, she bought him a new toy at the show, he instantly loved it! It was a ball type toy with lots of texture and a bell inside (you can see it in this picture). He would pick it up and hop around and make cute little sqwaking noises (more like a chicken). He was obviously having a great time! We rolled it across the floor and he hopped after it and retrieved it. It was very, very cute.

I endeavored to take some good pictures of him so that you can see that Slender Billed Cockatoos are indeed very pretty and extremely charming! I love the orange feathers that underly the white on his head and neck. It's true that the more you get to know someone and the more you like their personality, the more attractive they become!

Of course, I had to include pictures of the other kids so that they don't feel jealous! At the top is Venus (I love the way she looks on that couch!) and then Finn doing what greyhounds do best and below is a picture Owen who wants me to remind everyone that he was the first bird in the house!