Late day labs

The other day an email came my way about a woman looking to dump two, 4 year old labs, male and female littermates.  The only explanation given was:  "I have some health issues."  I hate to talk to dog dumpers so Karin made the call for more information.  The dogs had to be out of there by Wednesday because they were going on vacation.  Vacation dumpers, the lowest of the low.  They had no attachment to the dogs in spite of having them since they were puppies.  When they grew "too big" they were relegated to an outdoor kennel where they stayed all the time.
 

I've got no space so we decided to just board the dogs for a while until I could make room.  "Boarding" is an idea that never occurred to the owners as a way to deal with the dogs during their vacation, but like I said, they had no attachment to the dogs and just wanted them to go away without spending a dime.  This evening I went to pick them up, a lovely pair of labs, Max and Maddie.  The neighborhood and house were nice, money was not the issue, and actually the kennel was nice, a wooden platform base, a goodsize doghouse, and a tented canopy cover.  Still, that was the last money they had ever spent on those dogs.  The female was spayed but the male was not neutered.  They had no vaccines.  They were well fed but their coats were dull from the cheap dog food they've been eating.  I didn't even bother to ask about heartworm prevention. 

I had one vacant 10' x 20' kennel next to Sparky that I hadn't been using because it didn't have all day shade.  But with the cooler weather we are having this week they should be ok in there and I can put a shade cloth over the top.  Max and Sparky did the obligatory male piss-and-sniff through the fence.  Sparky kicked up a lot of dirt to show that he owned the place, but I suspect he will be glad for the company. It's not a change in living conditions for them so they should settle in quickly.  At least they are now on their way to a better life.