Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

T R E 4 5 O N

Usually wrong but never in doubt

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Good Things Come in Small Packages

Reader Interactions

87Comments

  2. 2.

    Dave C

    Ok, I confess that I haven’t been paying attention. Whence did these puppies come? Are they to be permanent residents at Casa Cole?

  8. 8.

    Violet

    Ooooohhhhhh! So adorable it makes my teeth hurt. That puppy yawn! And look at those tiny paws. Too cute.

  9. 9.

    PurpleGirl

    Only one proper reaction… SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!

    Oh, they are cute.

    JC: You really need to get a pet playpen and you put Ginger and the babies in it and Ginger can take of her babies and they can sleep safely. The rest of the Cole animals can just look at them until they are old enough to interact. (Use dog pads for Ginger, a number of the cat fosterers use them for problem kittens/cats.)

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    This is fine and all. But not putting up either NFL thread today is a fucking disgrace, Cole.

  18. 18.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    They are very cute. Be mindful of Rosie, however. Without even a hint of malice, she may mistake them for rodents and, well, JRTs have have been designed to control rodent populations. Did I mention that they are very cute?

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    Total adorableness, and I can just smell the puppy breath…

    What did the vet say? How healthy are they – esp. Ginger, who had a terrible life before now?

  23. 23.

    PurpleGirl

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): This is another reason a pet playpen (or portable cloth/mesh kennel) would be good. It can be large enough to hold Ginger and the two babies. I’ve seen them used with momcats and kittens and they are very good.

    ETA: I do not have stock in any company that makes the playpens. I’ve just seen them used with kittens and think they are better than hard, box kennels for keeping the tiny animal babies in the house.

  24. 24.

    Joy in FL

    Ok, now I can go to bed.
    Hoping for Ginger, Lily, Rosie & Steve pics tomorrow…. Not in the same photo, of course. And more Lovey and Thurston.

  25. 25.

    Anne Laurie

    Sample puppy playpens, for the uninitiated. You want one with a lid, John, because eventually Steve will come to check out the puppies, and it will be embarrassing all ’round if he leaps into the pen & either Ginger or the little guys take exception to his forwardness!

    (Not saying Steve’d try to harm them, or Ginger Steve, but it’s best for long-term relations if everybody has those first few conversation/stare-downs on either side of a barrier, just so that nobody feels impelled to prove anything.)

  30. 30.

    seaboogie

    I’ll bet Ginger is so relieved after her vet visit and bath….in a home that is warm and soft and cozy, full of loving humans and fellow critters to welcome her and her pups…she must be thinking “thank fucking Dog – Finally!”

    Ginger’s nail situation makes me very empathetic on one hand, and angry on her behalf on the other. There was a local sort of homeless fellow in my little hamlet with a small dog with way over-long nails, and I gave him some money and secured his promise that he would have his dog’s nails trimmed at the neighboring vet clinic. Then, not sure that he would do it, I went home and grabbed my (former) dog’s nail trimmers and drove back down to do the job myself and then gave him the trimmers after I showed him how to do it.

    Dogs are really the best, most honest and loving people that you will ever meet and know. My motivation to get my act together is so that I can have the cash-flow and schedule necessary to make a home for and to enjoy another canine companion.

  34. 34.

    John Cole +0

    I’m not buying a playpen because I don’t need one, and I need to save my money because it looks like Ginger is going to have some big vet bills removing the baseball sized goiter on her abdomen.

    I have them in the bathroom in my bedroom. I put their crate (which is ample for lily, rosie and ginger to fit in) in my shower, which is floor level so they do not need to jump up to get in and out. The whole bathroom is tiled and clean, there is a heating vent so the room is very warm, and I have the doggie door up so no one can get in or out. It’s ideal.

    Plus, if Ginger needs to go potty or if something is wrong, it’s right there in my bedroom.

  36. 36.

    MomSense

    Soooooo adorable!!

    We had a major hellion phase today. Everyone is exhausted. Now the puppy is sleeping like an angel and we are wondering what on earth will happen tomorrow.

  39. 39.

    Anne Laurie

    @Pogonip: Pups will not be at all hard to place, in a month or two. And they deserve to be .the heart & soul of someone’s household, the way Lily is in John’s house.

    Ginger may be a harder sell, especially if she lives in the Cole menagerie while being treated for a tumor, after the puppies are weaned. But although I’m sure she’s happier now, she might still want to retire to a permanent home less active than one shared with Rosie, Steve, and a floating squadron of Cole’s visiting frat brothers.

  41. 41.

    MomSense

    @John Cole +0:

    Sounds like you have a really good set up for them. Makes me really happy that they are warm and safe and together. I can’t believe Ginger was so neglected. Makes me sad and angry for her. My wish for her is that whatever time she has left be safe and happy for her.

  42. 42.

    Anne Laurie

    @John Cole +0: Sound good! Watch out for Steve, though — he’s a Maine Coon, he’ll burgle his way through your puny human defensive gates. And with the best will in the world, he’ll still make Ginger nervous for her babies.

  44. 44.

    seaboogie

    @John Cole +0: I posted my Tina Turner thing while you were posting this, and I hope you don’t think that I was ever doubting the size of your heart and it’s open-ness to the critters, I was just giving my version of Ginger’s voice, because up to this point in her life, she has known the exact opposite of John Cole. Love and fond pats and all blessings to you and your kith and kin and kritters.

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    Oh, and if you do decide to get a playpen, those are a super-common yard sale or Goodwill item. Or used-kid-stuff-store item. Like all baby stuff, they are absolutely necessary until they are not, and they last much longer than a kid needs one, so they often get donated or sold cheap.

  49. 49.

    SWMBO

    Maybe if AL posts her email addy again, we can email her for where/when to send a check if we don’t want to use paypal.

    Or send it to Cole’s office maybe. Most of us are amateur stalkers and can find it.

  50. 50.

    PurpleGirl

    @muddy: Shelly (Vancouver kitten foster meowmy) has had her kitten cam in a spare bathroom when that was where she kept the momcat and kittens. But if this is John’s main bathroom, it won’t as well to have a cam there.

  51. 51.

    mai naem

    Very cute puppehs. To me, they don’t look like blue heelers not that I know crap. I would be willing to chip in for Ginger’s treatment..

  61. 61.

    Mary G

    I keep thinking about getting a dog. HBM was quite put out when I said I would miss Leland more than him. An older dog like Ginger would be good. I said that once before here and someone contacted me about a little old lady she was fostering here in So. Cal, but I was too timid at the time to follow up.

  62. 62.

    JordanRules

    @Mary G: Awww Mary G, I think it’s time and a Ginger type would be great. The perfect woozle situation will present itself to you.

    Yep, ready to be silly with my little bit of loot Cole, just let us know.

  65. 65.

    seaboogie

    @Mary G: How are you, and how is HBM? I haven’t been following closely for quite a while, but I have loved the story that you shared with us.

  66. 66.

    Tommy

    I’ve been waiting for these pics and it was worth the wait. So happy Ginger and her pups found a loving, cozy, careing waystation on their way to what I am sure Cole and his sister will ensure is a long-term living arrangement where they get the care, love, and attention they so rightfully deserve!

  67. 67.

    Tommy

    @Mary G: I’ve wanted a dog all my life. Been thinking about getting on for ages. I just worry how my cat would react. My little girl is just a rock star. She makes my bad days better. My good days totally awesome. Usually she is never more than a few feet from me. When people are at my house they are stunned when I get up to go to another room she follows right behind me. When I sit in the big comfy chair in my home office to watch TV, she is in my lap in seconds and won’t move for hours. She needs that “together” time.

    But she is in a fact a cat, so demanding. When she wants something she is actually pretty vocal. At night when I guess I am asleep and not paying enough attention to her, she’ll wake up at the end of the bed where she always is if I am in bed, and paw my head until I wake up and do whatever she wants. Oh and she is picky. Only eats on kind of “wet” food. Tuna out of a can. And not just any tuna, just StarKist. None of those cheaper genric brands (I have tried). I swear she’ll walk up to anything not StarKist, smell it, look up at me like “you fucking cheap idiot” and walk away mad.

    In a long winded way I don’t want to upset this dynamic I have with her.

  68. 68.

    Lurker

    It’s now been 3 days that my lovely cat Tommy passed away. I’m grieving hard.

    Thanks for the pics of the puppies, JC. It helps to look at them.

  70. 70.

    geg6

    Just had to pop in to see the PUPPEHS! to start the week on a good note. Too damn cute.

    The Pittsburgh bald eagle cam is up and running again. All three of last year’s eaglets survived and have flown the coop. Mom and Dad are showing mating behavior again and we will, hopefully, have another brood to watch this spring. Love the eagle cam!

  71. 71.

    satby

    @Lurker: Lurker, we said it earlier, but know we all feel for you. Condolences on your loss of Tommy cat. The first days are hard. But he knew you loved him, and that is heaven on earth for a pet. You gave him a life well loved.

  75. 75.

    Tommy

    I am just so confused. I am now forcing myself to watch the HBO show Girls for the fourth year. I honestly don’t get the appeal of the show, “but all the cool kids (and even adults) rave about it.” Don’t get me wrong there have been times in individual shows and even entire shows that were just LOL funny. But generally speaking when I watch it am totally underwhealmed. What the heck am I missing? Have I gotten too old and I am just not hip enough anymore?

  78. 78.

    Tommy

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh I wish. I have terrible innomnia. I sleep about 2-3 hours a day max, on a good day. Only good thing is I still have a ton of energy. When I do wake up from my limited sleep I am wide awake. In a good mood. I don’t get little colds or headaches. And about every 7 days I have what I call my “coma” sleep. I sleep for 12-14 hours. Such a deep sleep the end of the world could happen and I’d sleep through it. When I wake up for like an hour I feel like I am sleep walking. Coffee or a hot/cold shower doesn’t help. It is a totally strange feeling.

    I guess the only two positives are (1) I work for myself out of my house so I sleep when I can. Even if that is the middle of the day. (2) I can get a ton of stuff done.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Tommy: I know the feeling, woke up at 1:30 am. That was it, I was done, finally got up at 2:30. But seriously, I refuse to watch/read something just because somebody else said it was good when the evidence of my own eyes says they couldn’t tell rib eye from chicken sh!t.

  83. 83.

    Percysowner

    @Tommy: I totally understand not wanting to upset the dynamic with your cat. A dog could do that. OTOH, I have 2 cats and I adopted a dog a few months ago. Now, when I watch TV, I have a dog and two cats on my lap, instead of just two cats on my lap. When it’s cold it’s great. I’m sure come summer it will be less good. In any case, the right dog and cat can not only coexist, but hang out. And getting an adult or senior dog makes it more likely because, unlike a puppy, they won’t want to play with the kitty.

  86. 86.

    JR in WV

    @Lurker: I’m sorry to hear about your loss. It can be hard to deal with the loss of a loved one under any circumstances. We all know that Tommy was important to you.

    Hang in there, and when you are ready an opportunity to rescue someone will come up right when you need it most.

  87. 87.

    dance around in your bones

    Hey, where’s my ‘good man is hard to find’ quote?

    A good man wouldn’t scrub a dub (unless he had a loofah, hahaha!)

Comments are closed.