A company day

Timber

I work for a company called LexisNexis.  It is part of a larger, Dutch-owned company called Reed Elsevier.  They publish legal and business texts, judicial opinions, and myriad other materials.  I work for Shepard's, which is an important legal research tool incorporated into the online database, lexis.com.  The most appealing aspect of the job for me is the fact that I work from home.  Also, the company gives us two days per year, paid, to spend on community good works.  I used one of those days today, and I needed it. 

Bo and Benji went in to the CASPCA in Charlottesville for neuter surgery first thing this morning.  Neither was thrilled about it even without knowing what was going on.  Bo, however, is very scared in new situations and I hated leaving him there, but those testicles were the last obstacle we had before we can start in earnest to find him a new home. 

After that I stopped by Staples for an envelope and the post office to mail Timber's tags to his new home.  He has been there since last Sunday and it sounds like things are going fairly well, but they have three cats so it remains to be seen whether or not this will work.  He's a spectacular dog and their current dog, a senior female GSD, seems to like having him around.  They are working on it, and all the cats are still alive, but it's going to take some time so I'm still holding my breath on this one. 

After reloading my coffee mug at Starbucks I headed down to the Natural Bridge exit on I-81 to meet my doggie dealer.  Today she brought me two dogs, and a third that I was just transporting for someone else. 

Nero is a black shepherd, about a year and a half old.  He's a nice dog, and he will be a good looking dog, but he's pretty sorry looking right now.  He has scratched and bit himself until he's raw and his skin is infected.  The underlying cause may be an allergy, but based on how much he's scratching, sarcoptic mange (scabies) was strongly suspected.  He had a dose of Revolution a few days ago and today he got started on prednisone and antibiotics.  The hair loss visible on his face is nothing compared to the bare, raw, and infected skin on his belly and legs. 

He looks uncomfortable, but the meds should kick in soon and he's young, so I expect him to bounce back quickly.  The good news is that he was heartworm negative and he was already neutered!  His altered state and his basic temperament tells me that this guy had some good care and a good life early on.  Apparently the owners sold him to some young guy who didn't address whatever was causing the dog to itch and scratch.  When Linda (my doggie dealer) met the dog, she took him without even anticipating that I would take him; she just knew that he needed to get away from where he was.  The dog knew it too, and was very anxious to get into her car to leave, having no hesitation about leaving his most recent owner.  She put the Revolution on him and wormed him, and fed him (he's still quite underweight), and gave him a start on the road back to good health.  She called me the other day about another dog but mentioned Nero as well, and needless to say, he's now with me. 

The dog she had originally called me about is this little beauty, a 10 month old female Golden Retriever pup.  She's very blond, almost white fur, soft as silk, and very cute.  Her owner was an older woman who had been a breeder.  She still had this girl's mother and father, both very good looking and very nice dogs.  She got out of the breeding business but kept this pup from her last litter, but found having a puppy was too much for her when her son moved out.  To her credit, this woman was quite insistent that this girl be spayed; she did not want her subjected to accidental or irresponsible breeding.  She entrusted the dog to Linda, who entrusted the dog to me, and of course she will be spayed. 

She really loves people, all people. Being a puppy who has never known anything but love, she assumes that all people love her as well. She has been well raised and it shows. She is at my feet under the desk as I am writing.

I got back home with the new dogs after meeting someone to drop off the third dog I was transporting.  I unloaded the golden to a crate in my office and then headed back to Charlottesville for a late afternoon vet appointment with Nero.  I knew what the vet would say, and I already had the meds, but I needed dosages and confirmation of my anticipated treatment plan. 

Then I went back to the SPCA and picked up Benji and Bo.  I had to pick up Bo literally, he was still pretty out of it and would not walk out under his own power.  I only picked up the front end of Bo.  Fortunately there was a young man working there who picked him up and carried most of the weight as we toted him out to the back of my van.  (It made me feel old but I was grateful for the help.)  Even after we got home he didn't want to leave the van, but after getting everyone else settled and fed, I finally convinced Bo to stumble to the house.  He's still resting on the back porch but will come up to the office at bed time. 

I made dinner, wrote this blog post, and it's now after 9:00 p.m.  I'm sure glad I didn't have to work today on top of everything else.