Groundhog Day

First the Rocky Report: He's doing well. The ears are looking good, and there is no odor of infection. He's more active and playful. I gave him some yard time with Diesel today. No one wants to play much with Diesel because he's very energetic and puppy-like. Rocky got into it for a while, but I split them up because I didn't want Diesel's play to get too rough on Rocky's still sensitive ears. Rocky doesn't have the stamina for puppy play right now and a little of it really wore him out. He's sacked out in his crate this evening as if he had been on a 10 mile hike today.

The snow is hanging around and it's snowing again today, with more expected this weekend too. Diesel and Duke (both neutered yesterday) are staying inside. Teddy and Copper have moved to the kennel where I had the puppies. That's a great shelter and I'm bringing them in to straw-filled crates in the shed at night, with Sparky loose in the shed. Brady and Dakota have the other kennel and shed to themselves and they have a great time together.

It's a pretty good arrangement overall, except with 9 dogs in the house there is a lot of shuffling and rotation to do. I think I can move Diesel and Dakota soon, but the lousy weather may complicate home visits and transport. I had a phone call about Copper today, but there are 3 cats involved with that potential home. I'm about ready to automatically rule out anyone with cats or kids under the age of 10. or 14? or 18?

I'm going to change Duke's write up to say that he's not good with dogs. He doesn't miss the chance to growl at one of the boys when coming and going through the house. He is either better with the girls or knows that if he messed with Emmylou I'd be making shepherd pie out of him the next day. I think Molly could kick his butt.

I just had an email about the puppies I had been fostering. There were seven of them and they had given them the names from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I didn't ever try to differentiate them. They were pretty much identical in the beginning and I just called them all "pooper puppy." Apparently one of them has been adopted already and they have home visits scheduled for 4 more. They can't do home visits for all adoptions from the shelter, but they do for pit bulls and pitty mixes. They also do early spay/neuter at the shelter, which I firmly applaud and approve of, so all of those pups have already been fixed. The surgery is so much easier if it's done at an early age, and you don't have to track them down in six months to make sure it's been done. VGSR adopts puppies out with a contract that requires speuter within six months, but enforcing it is not always easy. Whenever I have puppies, I make sure it's done before they leave my house.