Doc & Dora to Doc & Aurora

[PaGal]

I don't know if this is possible but is there anywhere on your trip when you are nearer to your parents that is not the highway? I was just thinking if you have some time still to drive to get to your parents once you are off the highway then maybe you could leave home with one in the carrier and one in the box and later when you are near stop somewhere and place the other in the carrier for the remainder of the trip if you would be able to pull over for the last of the trip if a fight would break out.

Although if that's possible I do wonder if 1. it could cause a fight over territory if one bun has rode in the carrier by itself and then you put the other in even if it isn't for long that one is in there alone and 2. I would be very careful when putting the second one in the carrier to make sure it could not get out of the car if somehow it got loose while you were moving it from the box to the carrier.

 

[lyndym]

Morgan - My parents are about an hour away, sometimes I can make it in just under an hour with no traffic. I'm anticipating no traffic since I'll be leaving around 8PM or so. Probably closer to 9 since I have to load all the rabbits' crap, sheesh. Their carrier is a sort of small one, it fits them together perfectly. It's the same one pictured when I was stressing them in the laundry room awhile back, and it's the kind you'd probably get to put one cat in. Some people say it's small for two buns, but I feel like they don't slide around together while in the car, which is probably safer for them.

Chris - Yes, it is really hard to deal with everything! I used to leave the smaller cage in my trunk so it'd be one less thing to load for D&D, but now that I'm dealing with D&A and all their drama.. hahaha. I wish you had a crystal ball, too! Or instead of that, a magic wand to just wave at my buns and have them get along already.

PaGal - I feel really bad not knowing your name! Unless you'd prefer not to disclose. Anyway, I totally had a really similar idea to what you suggested - driving them up separately and then putting them together upon arrival and going around the block a couple of times or something. I'm getting three pairs of shoes and a purse delivered today, so I should have plenty of spare boxes! (I'm really excited for some new stuff, hahaha.) I could try and find a second box to be something fresh to put them both into.

As a general update, Rory's behavior has really improved lately. She hasn't lunged at Doc at all the past couple of days. (This would only happen when he was out and coming over to see her.) I am a little worried, because it seems that with this positive change on her part, Doc has for some reason become a little more nippy! I guess it's a little more of a checking her out sort of nip, but not something I really want to see from him.

 

[lyndym]

Updating from my phone really fast, so I'll keep it short. The buns and I are safely at my parents'! I decided to go with separate transport, so Rory got a box. I was really mad, the first box I prepared for her was a bit to small once I put her in, so I hurriedly made holes in another and found a stray bit of cardboard as a top. I put her on the passenger seat with Doc in the carrier at the foot of the seat and used a box of tomato soup to keep the top on her box, hahaha. Anyway, right when I arrived, I unloaded and set up allll their things, crammed Doc in the box with Rory, and went around the block a few times. Then we sat in the ex pen in the kitchen for almost half an hour. No grooming, just cuddling, and no violence! I might try a no stressing date tomorrow.

In other news, my housing plans completely fell through today. I am beyond PO-ed. I have the worst luck with housing. I will regale you with tales of the past once I get on my laptop tomorrow, but man. I do not need this with my audition coming up, my lease ends right when I come back.

 

[whitelop]

Just take a deep breath and focus on your audition! All that stuff always works out someway somehow.

I'm glad there was no violence when they got into the kitchen! Thats exciting! Hopefully their date goes well today!

 

[lyndym]

Thanks Morgan. Actually, yesterday morning, everything fell back into place! Astonishing hahaha. I'm still on my phone, but really must tell one of my strangest housing situations later.

Sorry I haven't been as present on everyone else's blogs! Spending most of my time preparing for Florida. Thankfully not over-practicing, just trying to relax. Though last night I woke up at 2:30AM and didn't get back to sleep til around 5! Must be the nerves coming on.

Yesterday I had a rehearsal at my high school. Every three years they have an alumni concert were past students join the orchestra. It's really fun, I've done three since graduating. It was the conductor of this group that first started me on bassoon, and he's really great and inspirational. He loves seeing all of us come back too! Anyway, the group is actually pretty good since it's an arts high school, so that makes it an even better experience. Two of my friends from my year are also playing, so it's nice to see them.

Had another date last night - spent 10 minutes on the dryer then about half an hour in the ex pen. No one really made a move, but Rory was really snuggling her head way down underneath Doc's head and sometimes his whole body, hahaha. I ended it when she sort of nipped his back. It was a light nip, and I think she was just trying to get him to pay attention to her as groom her, hahaha. I have more laundry going (oh the simple joy of bringing home laundry to do for free) so I might let them in the pen in the laundry room when the dryer goes.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Sounds like you´re having a good time and it´s sometimes good to go back and especially if he was one of those people that inspired you to play.

Sounds good with those two, hope that being somewhere else brings them closer together.

 

[lyndym]

Another quick phone update - Took them in the laundry room next to the running dryer. No grooming, but I can tell Rory is really not a fan, she keeps breathing really rapidly and hiding her face under Doc. Decided to graduate from stressing since I don't want to overdo it for her, so today we just sat in a small pen in the kitchen for maybe a minute or two. Nothing really happened, but it looked like Rory wanted to nip at one point.. Gah.

Might not make it back on in awhile, flying out early tomorrow morning! Everyone send good vibes on Monday.

 

[lyndym]

The buns and I are safely back in LA! My mom said they behaved well, and she was especially impressed at Rory's cleanliness - Rory's a good little "vacuum" and is great at getting most of the stray hay bits that get everywhere. She/I didn't feel comfortable with her dating them, so they didn't get any more face-to-face time while I was gone, but after our (separated) drive last night, I took them both into my bathroom for a little bit. Maybe five minutes tops. I brought them both in in a box and took them both out. They sat next to each other, I petted them, nothing huge happened. Once they started to grow more curious about their surroundings, I ended it. That's usually the point where Rory gets uncomfortable and picks a fight, when she sees Doc looking around, so I didn't want to go there just yet. I'll try again later today, no stressing first.

My concert with the high school and trip to Florida went well. It was so much fun playing with my high school. Like I said before, I got into bassoon there, so that school and the orchestra director are the reason I am doing what I am today. He also seemed happy with how my playing has improved, so that's always nice to hear. As far as Florida goes, I did not win the audition. I am not surprised or super disappointed - It's all a learning process, like you can be as prepared as ever for these things, but you have to be used to taking them. I felt prepared for everything, especially for what was asked on the first round, but was only disappointed that nerves got in the way and hindered my playing a little bit. In general over the past few years especially I have gotten waaay better at dealing with performance anxiety, but every audition situation seems just a little different than what happens in other high-stress performances. I guess I just have to get used to it! The most difficult thing is you spend maybe two months preparing the 20-30 things on their list, you're asked for 5-6 of them on the first round, and they very well might tell you thanks but no thanks. I am glad I went, it was a good experience, and a couple of difficult things in particular I prepared got to an entirely different level than they were at before, so it only gets better from here!

My friend and I spent a day and a half or so extra just exploring. We drove from Naples to Miami and spent a day there. It was about a two hour drive, and it was so pretty! Just a highway, but not like the nasty freeways in LA surrounded by industrial crap and blanketed in smog. Lots of greenery, blue skies, and really amazing clouds. We got to lay on the beach in Miami, and I swam in the Atlantic for the first time! It was really weirding me out - beaches over here have the sun traveling west and setting into the ocean, but the ocean is in the east in Miami and a lot of people were sunbathing in the opposite direction than I'm used to and it was so weird! :laughsmiley:

Glad to be home, though it's on to the next thing, which is finding a place to live! The place we all really liked and applied for was snatched up just before we got our apps in, so now it's back to square one.. Housing is such a pain. I do need to be out by the end of the month, so time really is of the essence. Worst come to worst, I stick my stuff in storage and move back home, but that's a hassle because I have a few gigs lined up and don't want to spend hours driving between my parents' and LA. Also that would basically be moving twice, which would suck! But we'll see what happens.

Oh! Also, this is really disgusting, but has never happened to me before and now I find it kind of funny. On my flight back yesterday, THE WOMAN NEXT TO ME PUKED. She seemed a little uncomfortable during the last half hour, during our descent. Maybe ten minutes to landing, she started looking in the pocket in front of her. I was thinking, "Oh god. Oh no. No, maybe she's just making sure she didn't leave anything in there.. yeah.." But then she looked in there a couple more times. Then she asked me if my pocket had a bag. IT DIDN'T. Then she asked the guy next to her. THANK GOODNESS HE HAD ONE, she took it and barfed immediately. It was disgusting and awkward. And we were at the back of the plane, so we had to wait forever to get off, and she puked a lottt.

 

[whitelop]

OH NO! I could not handle someone throwing up next to me. Nope. Even though I'm a parent, I don't deal well with vomit. I will throw up after they do and then its an on going thing. Its because of this girl I was once friends with, she ruined me on puking. We had all be drinking quite a bit, she got really sick. I was upstairs in the loft of the condo and she was in a downstairs bathroom throwing up. It was so loud and echo-y. Then in between dry heaves, she was like "CAN SOMEONE HOLD MY HAIR?!" I laughed at that, because it was a ridiculous request, but other than that it was terrible!

I'm sorry you didn't get the audition. But I think you're totally awesome and brave for going up and playing in front of people like that! I don't know if I could ever do that! I get the shaky voice and the sweating body and the rapid heart beat that you can see through my rib cage, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't do anything like that!

I've never been that far south in Florida. I do like Florida though. We had a house in the pan-handle, so the gulf of Mexico. The water was crystal clear and beautiful. I'm not sure what its like in Miami. But I'm sure it was much different than LA, with no smog and open roads! Gotta love a nice open road! My husbands grandmother, being the total Yankee that she is, moved to Naples, Florida when she was around 60. She traded in her snow boots and winter coats for white pants and shoes, and the never ending golf-type Polo collared shirt. Florida isn't the south, its just the north with humidity. hahaha.
I'm glad you had fun though!

 

[lyndym]

I also really hate puking. I can handle it if it's someone I know. It's still way disgusting, but if a friend is puking, I'll help them out. But with this lady I was just like, "..." Plus we were in the middle of landing. I kept looking out the window across the aisle going "please please please land now land now land now" hahahaha. The girl in the next row gave me a plastic bag and napkins to give to the lady, so I kind of patted her and was like, "I have another bag and napkins when you're ready." She took the napkins eventually, and then put her original bag into the larger one I was holding AND I HELD HER PUKE for maybe a minute. I was so glad I didn't eat anything all day. But then I got home and was not hungry for a good while, and I had been traveling for like ten hours on an empty stomach, haha. I refuse to buy plane food. It also really upsets me that they no longer give a meal unless you're on a twelve hour flight or something. Also laaame to pay to check ONE BAG. My bassoon is basically my carry-on, plus we make our reeds and have all these knives and other dangerous things to take around all the time, so I always have to check.

Hahaha, CAN SOMEONE HOLD MY HAIR? I like how you hid upstairs. For a second I thought you had typed that the girl puked ON you, oh gross. Thankfully this lady was the type who had her hair all sprayed so it basically held itself back.

You can see your heartbeat through your ribcage when you're really nervous?? I didn't even know that was possible! I used to get shaky voice when having to do public speaking sorts of things in high school. I remember one time we had to write persuasive speeches and they had to be about ten minutes long. I was so nervous. One girl told the teacher she was really nervous about it, and the teacher let her do it privately for the teacher and other faculty or something. I was so mad about that, such BS. The rest of us did it. I used to be a lot worse when performing too - sweaty and shaky hands, my air control would shake, rapid heart beat. I've calmed down a lot, thank goodness, but now I mostly get this annoying voice in my head. "Oh look here comes that part you keep screwing up and practice every day - AHH YOU DID IT AHHH - WAIT STOP GETTING EXCITED.. oh no now that messed up because you got excited about that other thing, and you never mess that second part up aaaahhhhhh why did you screw that up???" Yeah it gets crazy in there. The voice started a little during the first piece I played, but I shut it up pretty much after that. It helps that these auditions are completely screened. Someone will lead you in and announce your number, and they stay off to the side or behind you while you play. If you have a question, you motion for them to come over and ask them to ask for you very quietly. The panel is behind a curtain or in this case these wooden portable walls. It is usually like this for the first two rounds, then the screen typically comes down in finals so they can interact with you a little and sometimes even play with you.

This was only my second time in Florida. The first time I just did the whole Disneyworld thing, no beaches. I heard the beaches were really pretty in Naples, but we did want to check out Miami. The water was a lot clearer, warmer, and less choppy than here, but the sand was basically the same color, haha. I like how your grandmother in law did the stereotypical old person thing and moved down to Florida, hahaha. Everyone always jokes about it, but sounds like she actually did it and even committed to the fashion! Hahaha.

 

[whitelop]

Oh yeah, all old people from the north wind up in Florida. She lives in a community full of old yankees, hahaha. Its so funny. Plus all her friends from Pittsburgh spend New Years until May in Florida anyway and then go back to Pittsburgh when it gets hot in May. They're crazy.

No you can't really see my heart beating in my chest, when I get nervous I always think of a cartoon character when their hearts beat out of their chests like that. Thats how hard my heart beats, it makes me think you can actually SEE it. haha.

No, she didn't puke on me, thank god! Thats a deal breaker. Her boyfriend was down there and I assume that he held her hair. She had really long hair and it wasn't tied back, it actually did make it to the toilet and thats why she asked if someone could hold it. I learned that the next day. I always tell my husband if he ever feels like hes going to be sick, he should definitely go away because if I ever get puked on by an adult, someone is getting punched in the face and then left. haha. Seriously, I have threatened separation over vomit and I will leave. hahahha. I have zero patience for uncontrollable puking.
I also had a friend throw up down the side of my car, I asked if he wanted me to stop, he said no. Then threw up all down the side. That was awkward to explain to my mom the next day, then he paid like $30 to have my whole car detailed; thats a good friend! haha. Last puke story, I swear...I also threw up on my friends car once. LOL Too many puke stories. I could probably fill pages of a blog with JUST puke stories. hahaha.
And now I'm done! Its after 5 and my husband is home...ITS WINEDAY!

 

[lyndym]

Okay now that you mention it, I don't know why I thought you could actually see your heart beat through your chest, hahaha. I'll just blame the fact that it's hard to tell conversational subtleties over the internet!

Luke once puked on our friend's car, just like your friend did! Well, Luke puked out the window, I don't know if your friend got it inside or out, hahaha. One of my classiest stories is from when my childhood best friend and I went to a TGI Friday's with her older brother. This was the first time we hung out both at drinking age, since she lives in Texas, so things escalated quickly. I told them I would wait outside while they finished up the bill, and I just threw up on the ground right outside the entrance! Thank goodness it was like 2AM and no one saw. We went back the following day because it was basically the only place to go out near where we were staying (family vacation to spring training, couldn't go far) and the bartender was like, "oh hey guys, you're back! Did you see anyone throwing up outside last night? There was a bunch of puke out there." We were just like, "nope, we saw that on our way out, no idea." Hahahaha. My friend went back to spring training the following year, apparently the stain is still on the ground.. OKAY sorry that's really nasty, hahaha.

Man, so you've all been seeing my moving/housing situation go back and forth. First my friend and I were scrambling to find a third roommate so we could rent a house to make music making easy. We finally found a third and got searching. Then the original roommate's job plans in LA fell through, and he questioned whether or not he should move to LA. He decided to go all in and do it anyway. We found a perfect place for us, did the whole application thing, and while I was on my way to Florida, we got the email saying someone else had gotten it. My friend found another place for us, and last night we went to go see it. Also a great place, great price, and we could start moving in whenever. This morning, our third roommate completely bailed on us. I was beyond pissed. He said he's been considering it for awhile and his new job is more stressful than anticipated, so he'd rather stay at home with his parents for awhile. Thanks for letting us know at the very last minute, buddy. Both my friend and myself have to be out of our places the 31st. I will probably end up moving back to my parents' while continuing the housing search and having to commute to LA 3-4 times a week for gigs and teaching. Such a waste of time and money. Not to mention all my things that will have to go into storage. I am beyond stressed out right now.

It's okay, everything will turn out and I will later look back and laugh. Well maybe not laugh, nothing about this situation is particularly funny. The last several times I have moved have been extremely stressful and complicated, but the time before this one was actually really funny. So I moved into this rent-a-room type of situation in someone's house. This was right after Luke and I moved out of our place, and I only did a rent-a-room because my friend who was going to be my roommate bailed at the last minute. (I seem to attract really amazing, trustworthy, and committed people!) Anyway, this house was amazing. They had it decorated really eclectically and awesomely with just a mishmash of.. everything! The guy was in construction, so he had done tons of his own renovations on the place. There was a beautiful view of downtown LA, they loved it when I played bassoon at home, D&D were not an issue. It became clear to me first that they were rather dirty.. dishes always piling up, trash bags sitting around, bug issues not being addressed. When I first moved in, I had tons of ants in my room. They told me to use this Chinese ant chalk around the walls. Ants don't cross it, but because it is POISON and is also technically illegal in the US. So poor D&D had to be ex-penned for playtime, and I was worried about this chalk stuff in general. They didn't believe in exterminators. I tried to spray around the outside of my room, but there were no visible ant trails, so they were coming in from the walls. The other renter, a girl a few years older than me, told me she once found a BLACK WIDOW in her room. !!! Once I found what I thought was a cockroach, but upon looking closer, it was just this weird huge thing crawling across my room. I bathed it in poison and left it there for a few minutes while I freaked out. IT STARTED DRAGGING ITSELF ACROSS THE FLOOR. Another time the bathroom the other girl and I used clogged up.. she had a party one night and I guess the guests were too much for it. They didn't call a plumber. Toilet water came up in the shower and tub. We were not allowed to flush any toilet in the house, we had to go find a restaurant or something for #2. They were cheap, wanted to fix it themselves. Also, the guy had three kids from a previous marriage, which I didn't know when I moved in. They came every weekend and were loud and behaved incredibly poorly. The oldest was maybe 11 and the youngest maybe 5, and all of them would run around calling each other d-bags and sh** faces peeing on trees in the yard and asking me if I was related to this really Japanese lady dressed up as a geisha on a magazine cover. (They would not leave that one alone. They thought I HAD to be related to her.) Anyway, I kept telling myself, it's just a year, it's just a year. (Back then I didn't know I'd stay in school for two more years.) One day I came home late and was making a sandwich in the kitchen. The guy comes in and is like, "Oh hey Lyndy, good thing you weren't here all day!" I was like, "why?" Thinking maybe the toilet exploded again or something. He said, "Well, you know, we just had some people over here shooting a ****. Crazy stuff man, crazy stuff, whew! The stuff you'll do for extra cash!" Then he left the room, and I'm thinking to myself, "Well.. where can I sit to eat my sandwich..?" Within two weeks or so, I found a new roommate, found my current apartment, packed myself up in one night, and told them the next morning that I was ouutttt.

So yeah. Stuff like that is funny. Right now I just feel like poop, but.. eh.

 

[whitelop]

"Where can I sit to eat my sandwich..." I'm still laughing about that one! I feel like I would be like putting my ham on my bread and he would walk in and be like "oh yeah, ****...extra money...crazy stuff..." doesn't specify a place of **** taping. I would have put my ham down and backed away slowly, because is the ham safe? What happened to that bread? Is my mayo REALLY mayo? Is that counter safe? What about that chair, that chair looks suspicious.
See this is why I could never go to LA, I would be scared to death that everywhere I was there was once a **** filmed there.

Were you related to that Japanese lady on the magazine cover?! hahaha. Just kidding! What racist little kids! Like, you're of Asian descent so you MUST be related to or know everyone from the entire continent of Asia. You know, and all black people know each other too. LOL

Thats super classy about the TGI Friday's. I will never be able to look at one the same way again! haha. Oh I have plenty of classy throw up stories that involve me. I think the best thing was though, and its not a puke story...its a poop story that doesn't involve me, I was just there. A large group of people and a keg were at a lake house. The water wasn't on so we were filling the back of the toilet with lake water to flush it. As we got further into that keg, we didn't want to fill it anymore. One guy decided he had to go #2 REALLY bad. He comes running out of the house with the TP streaming behind him and hops up onto this dock railing. It wasn't part of the house, it was like an over look for the lake. He goes potty over the side of the railing. We laugh and take pictures, whatever. The next morning, we get up and this other guy goes over to this railing to brush his teeth and look at the glorious lake/sunrise. We're sitting there, not thinking about whats directly below this kid...until he screams. He was like "what is that? Is that what I think it is? OMG I was standing over it brushing my teeth! Dude, its like you birthed a baby!" hahaha.
Best morning of my life.
Oh and now, I'm really done with gross stories. Promise. I had really eventful teenage years and really stupid friends. So I have stories to go on for days! LOL Sorry.

Anyway, I hope you get your housing situation figured out! Thats what I was trying to say in all that up there. Really.

 

[lyndym]

Omg your poop story. Amazing. It is actually lucky the guy made it outside and didn't drunkenly poop somewhere in the house or something, or on the porch, hahaha. If it was a girl who pooped, the guy brushing his teeth would not have thought it was as awesome!! Hahaha.

And yeah, after I started telling people what happened with the **** situation, everyone would crack jokes about my room being involved, D&D being scarred for life, etc. I never thought about my sandwich!!! I'm sure the contents of the fridge were safe. When I was moving out and told the lady I just wasn't cool with the ****, she was like, "oh I totally understand, but just for your peace of mind, it was very classy. The ladies didn't even take all their clothes off." What! Who cares, **** is ****, especially if it's on my couch!! Gah.

Anyway, thanks for the laughs! I feel a little better. I baked raspberry lemon bars tonight instead of starting to pack. Now I have to start packing. Hahaha. Putting off the inevitable.

 

[Chrisdoc]

OMG, I´ve missed quite a bit and had a real good laugh at all this.

Lyndy, sorry it didn´t happen for you but, as you say, we have to look at the positive in every experience and keep that with us. It´s all good life experience for us.

I´ve had quite a bit of people puking while travelling in my times. I used to do a coach tour in Andalucía when I was a travel rep and many a time, we had to dive for bags and make sudden stops for people who were not feeling well. I´ve had to clear up more than once as well, that is not a great experience. But my funniest story about puking is when I picked up my friend and her work colleagues from near Gibraltar. They have their office Christmas party every year down that way and I take them down and pick them up so they can all drink. They year before last one of them was quite drunk but seemed OK. We´d been driving about 15 minutes and I could tell he wasn´t well but luckily, I´d stuffed a few plastic bags in the car just in case. He was barfing quite badly in several bags and we made a stop in the petrol station to get him air and to throw the bags away. I only found out this year that one of the bags he puked into had a present that his boss had given him and the next day, he made his wife drive him all the way back down to the petrol station to see if the bag was still there and it was with the shirt that she´d given him inside it...I was laughing so much thinking that...yuk, yes covered in puke. The other funny story was one of my clients who barfed out of a car window and threw up their false teeth as well.

Hope you can find a new place. I hate moving house, it is so stressful especially if you have animals as well. My friend´s daughter has just moved for the 5th time in three and a half years...she must be mad, I haven´t moved that many times in 30 years. Take your time and find the right place. Bit naughty of your room mate doing that, makes things even harder for you.

That poop story is so gross, I was cringeing.

Good to hear Doc and Rory are doing well

 

[lyndym]

Hey everyone, sorry for the unannounced hiatus. I was putting off updates because things really picked up for Rory and Doc over the summer, and I wanted to eventually come back on and announce their bond, but unfortunately that still hasn't happened. This whole thing has been a long roller coaster of great progress mixed discouraging set backs, and right now is one of the negative times.

At the beginning of the summer, as you all know, I moved to a new place. I was feeling like it would be a positive step for Rory and Doc to enter a brand new environment together, and as the summer went on, I could tell it did definitely help. First I noticed so many positive changes in Rory. Previously, she had been super jumpy at even the smallest things and always displayed open hostility towards Doc. About a month or so after moving, she was almost completely different! So much calmer, she frightens less easily, and even lets me hold her for extended periods of time, just like I hold Doc! She's like a new bun! I think my new roommate really helps; he didn't seem particularly thrilled about the buns at first, and yeah, before you get to know them, they just seem like messy little furballs, but he really loves them now and finds them fascinating! He really put in time getting to know them, which I think made Rory feel way more comfortable.

During this time, I didn't put them together at all. I really wanted to establish my new place carefully territory-wise for them. Late June to early July, my roommate and I went on a camping trip with our friends. (I must post photos from this later, it was so much fun! This group of friends goes every summer, and it's always a great adventure.) Anyway, the buns stayed at the shelter where we got Rory, and it was actually her foster mom that got to take care of them for a lot of the time! She worked with them and got them to a different level of pen dating, so for the couple weeks after I got home, I was able to sit with the buns in our ex-pen a couple times a day. We started with 20 minutes or so, and eventually got to over an hour! Grooming from Doc first, then Rory a few days later. After a couple weeks, we graduated to the bathroom, letting the dates go for 90 minutes or so. My butt did notttt thank me after sitting on tile for that long, hahaha. Things got a little interesting - in the beginning, Rory was not at all happy about seeing Doc explore. She would charge, nip, and growl if he didn't stay put while she explored. A couple of dates later, and they traded mind sets. After a few more times, they seemed to not mind the other's movements much at all. So we moved downstairs into the living area, where I set up their ex-pen by the couch, out of view from the cages. For several nights I would watch a movie while they hung out in the pen without me, for 2-3 hours. Small spats, but no big deal, usually just nipping I could stop from just yelling and clapping my hands. Things were going pretty well, so I decided to introduce a brand new litter box so they could stay out longer. Doc would not like Rory trying to get in with him. No fighting, but he'd nip and she'd hop out. Thankfully it didn't deter her much, she'd just get in once he was done. I decided to introduce a new hidey cardboard box after more dates had passed. Terrible idea. Doc was not having Rory near that thing AT ALL. I removed all items to try them on an empty pen again, but they just started getting more and more nippy until full on fighting was breaking out, and I put them on dating hiatus. We'd been easing back into it for the past couple weeks - instead of 2-3 hours all at once, I'd have them out a few times a day in an empty pen for 45 minutes or so at a time. I visited Luke this weekend, and my roommate was home to watch the buns. He sent updates every day, and it sounded like they were doing really well. He said they were just cuddling and grooming all the time, and Doc would occasionally mount Rory and she didn't mind at all. Then one night, a huge fight broke out, they pulled fur and everything. I let them cool off my first night back, then decided they could try hanging out while I cleaned their boxes this morning. As soon as they were both in the pen, they lunged for each other. They can do so well together, I don't know why there are all these steps backward all the time. I feel really discouraged, and at this point, I can't give Rory back, but it is such a hassle to keep them separately. I am welcoming any and all advice! I really don't know what to do.

To make this post less depressing, I'll add some pictures. Look at how sweet they can be, what is their problem?? Hahaha. But really buns, get it together.

Their first date after I got home from camping.

Hanging out in my bathroom.

Sharing pellets for the first time! For a few weeks, they were able to have breakfast pellets and dinner salads together every day.

My little buddy turned 3 in August! A guesstimated birthday, but he's fine as long as he gets a fancy salad. Dora shared the guesstimated birthday and also would have been around 3. :hearts

Look at how chill they are! Where did these sweet buns go??

 

[Azerane]

They do seem like such sweethearts, but do not be discouraged, if anyone knows about tough bonding it's Troller, finally managed to get his Flemmies bonded after much of one step forward, two steps back process.

Since they obviously show evidence of wanting to bond, I'm sure you'll work it out

 

[Chrisdoc]

Lyndy, I was wondering about you and Doc and Dora and good to see you back. I was thinking about you last week when I was watching Last Night of the Proms on TV and Nigel Kennedy played there, he is absolutely fabulous and so talented it´s unbelievable. He was just the best I´ve seen, you´d have loved it. He is such a character as well.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv3MoFaRak0[/ame]

Yes, bunnies are just so annoying at times. Yóu think you´ve got it all sussed out and they suddenly start niggling and nipping and start again. I had quite a bit of trouble with two of the boys when I left them at Christmas and changed their living area as I thought it would be better and it turned out to be the worst thing I could do. They started fighting, I had to separate them, separate time out and this went on for around 7 months. They´ve finally sorted themselves out after I extended their time out area with the balcony and although they still chase and nip a bit, they are fine now and spend loads of time cuddling and grooming. So what can I say, it took patience, time out for both where they didn´t spend time together for weeks and quite a bit of time supervising and separating and shouting. Perservere, stop them all out fighting but I allowed some nipping.

Michael (Conan and Xena) is our expert now after his experience bonding his two. Much the same as yours so have a look at his blog as he documentated nearly all the dates they had so you can see the ups and downs.

They look lovely together and they show real signs of wanting that but are just finding it hard to compromise in some things. Had missed seeing them and I do love a white bunny, Dora is gorgeous too.

How are you doing with your music ??

 

[lyndym]

Guys. I don't know what to do. I know Chris and some others saw my post seeking bonding help, but just for the sake of this blog, I'll just say that tonight I tried some of the immersion method. I planned to stay the night in my living room with them and let it all carry over well into tomorrow at least. All I got was about 30 minutes of non-stop fighting, all of it Rory not leaving Doc alone at all. I'd separate them with a Swiffer broom and she'd go right in for him again. Even if he wandered in the opposite direction, she'd seek him out to attack him. My poor little guy is all battered and bruised - he has several wounds on his tummy from hair pulling and quite the nasty bite on his lip. I have never seen a rabbit bleed much before, except for a few of Dora's oddly brittle toenails that were prone to breaking easily, and poor Doc has blood on his little face. It never bled profusely or anything, but as you can imagine, I will get little sleep if any at all before calling our vet at 7AM sharp. It looks even worse because he's so clean and white, and I feel all nauseous and heebie-geebie over it. I did some Google searches and looked around the forums here a bit, and he's not near as bad as some pictures I saw of other buns that didn't end up getting stitches, so I'm telling myself he'll be okay. He's eaten hay and finished his greens and the pellets I gave him as a treat.

I hate to say it, but I think I need to give up. It's been 7 months, and while there was a period over the summer of really great progress, I can't let this happen again. My poor guy was so scared and making sad little noises and breathing so heavily while I snuggled him after rescuing him from Rory. She, on the other hand, wasn't bothered in the slightest. I just really really really REALLY don't want to keep separate buns indefinitely, but I feel like I can't give Rory back - as much as I might want to throw her out in this moment for hurting Doc, she's sure bonded with me over these past months even if she'll never bond with him.

Anyway, I just thought I would update this thing with my depressing news! Thanks Chris for asking about my music and everything, that all is going well at least. Maybe I'll feel better later to update on myself later.

 

[Azerane]

I'm so sorry to hear that the attempt at extended bonding didn't work out at all. I hope Doc is ok though and will recover quickly from his injuries. It's a shame that they won't bond, but better off they be separate than fighting all the time.