Adopting, hiking, etc.

Saturday I placed Willy and Zora in new homes.  I had an email about Willy this morning.  They love him and he's doing well.  Zora's new home also wrote.  After I completed the adoption and left on Saturday, Zora pretty much stayed attached to her new mom, more than a bit intimidated by the senior male dog in the home.  But on Sunday the two girl dogs began to play, and the old grumpy guy even tried to join in.  When Zora realizes he's just all talk and has come around to accept her, she will relax around him.  I think that the two girls playing together is the key that will make the whole thing work. 

On Sunday I did a local home visit for a shepherd applicant.  I took Buddy along and ended up leaving him there.  An email this morning sounded like they had a good first night.  They have two very small dogs, one very obnoxious one, but Buddy had lived with a cat before so I had some reason to believe that he wouldn't see them as tasty treats or chew toys.  He was fine with the small dogs when we met yesterday and he seemed to settle down in the new home as if it was his own. 

I'm very happy about the placements and hope that everyone settles in.

Nero and I hit the trails on Sunday morning for a solid, fast-paced, two hour hike.  I'm feeling it today but mostly in a good way.  I need to stretch more.  His face started improving as soon as we got him back on the Cipro.  I'm expecting a call from the vet sometime this week with the results of the culture and then possibly a new antibiotic will be added to the treatment regimen.  His weight is coming along very nicely.  He's gained enough weight that I had to enlarge the harness that I use on him for our hikes. 

Monday afternoon I hitched up Nero and Thora and went for my first tandem dog hike in ages, probably since Emmylou died.  The first 5 minutes were awkward until everyone learned the ropes, literally.  I changed the rigging so that my leash connection could float between the two dogs.  That worked better as it allowed either of them to take the lead or to walk side by side.  Once we all had it figured out, it was Thora out front most of the time. 

She's been a little stir crazy herself lately, so I know the walk did her good and she pulled a lot so I know she got a good amount of exercise even though we only did an hour on the trails.  The two of them should be a good walking pair and I'm going to have them living together again as well.

We occasionally meet a guy on the trail who rides a mountain bike.  I always step off the trail with my dog so he can pass and I can control the dog.  We stopped and talked one day and he met Nero.  We saw him again today and he remembered Nero's name and met Thora in passing.  Tomorrow I'm taking Sparky.