A very doggy day

It's 9:00 p.m. as I am writing this and I still have work to do because today was a very doggy day. 

I got in a good hour's hike with Nero, which I really needed because I have missed the last three days.  He is looking so much better now, at least in terms of his body weight.  He has actually outgrown the harness I've been using on him.  That potato and duck diet is pricey, but it is really working for him.  His face is looking better too.  Thankfully, he gobbles the pills right up along with his food.

This is Roscoe, one of two new shepherds I brought in today.  Both are about three years old.  Roscoe is gorgeous, just a really nice looking dog.  To my eye, he has the best confirmation of any shepherd I've had in quite a while. 

Roscoe and Nero in the adjoining kennel.  Nose to tail, he's a great looking dog, nice line, nice proportions.

This isn't such a great picture in terms of exposure, but it's a great picture of this dog.  The way he carries his ears, his head, his tail, the way he moves, this dog is pretty.  I can't wait to get some pictures of him running in the pasture.  He's a big lunkhead.  He's loud, he's very active, he doesn't have a clue.   

This is Dixie, the female and came along with Roscoe.  Yesterday it was thought that she was pregnant, but like many a young woman's pregnancy scare, it ended with a sigh of relief when she went into heat.  That's not great, because it means it will be a couple weeks before I can get her spayed, but at least she's not pregnant. 

Dixie is petite and very sweet.  I've separated her from Roscoe and I think I'll put her with Spartan and Radley instead.  They are both neutered whereas Roscoe is not, besides, he's a bit of a brute.  I've given Thora the task of sorting him out.

I hiked from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., and then picked up Roscoe and Dixie at the shelter.  I got them home and settled into their kennels, and then had a little bit of work time before heading to the vet in Charlottesville with Spartan and Hannah.

Hannah is the girl I got from Orange this past weekend.  She had her vaccines done today.   The vet thought she must be spayed based on the fact that she has no mammary development to speak of, and she thought she could detect a spay scar.  She looks like a spayed female and we are going on that assumption.  She tested negative for heartworm, but like so many of them these days, was positive for Lyme.  At least that is relatively cheap and easy to treat.  She's a little nervous and high strung, but is so happy to be back home in her crate in my office. 

Spartan also tested positive for Lyme, so I came home with doxycycline for both him and Hannah.  His ears looked cleaned but his skin shows signs of a long term infection.  The baths have definitely helped, but they did a skin scraping to run a test to see what he's got going on. He was very good at the vet, sweet and very easy to handle. 

It's after 10:00 p.m. now and I'm not sure if I'll finish my work or just go to bed.  First I'm going out to dope up Roscoe who is howling his fool head off.