Days Like This

There are some days when things just seem to fall into place. I had a list of errands and projects to do today, most of them dog-related, and they all got done. There's not a lot of days like this.

Four of my stops were photo opportunities, so I will share those.

I was asked to help find a home for this beautiful, young, male German Shepherd Dog named Theo. He's 90+ pounds of extremely well-trained gorgeous hunk of dog. I've got a home in mind for him, but if you are interested, drop me an email. I can't say enough good things about this dog.

 After meeting Theo, feeding Berta's cat, picking up Gambit's cremains from the SPCA, and dropping off my recycling, I went by Old Dominion Animal Hospital, where they were having a dog wash to benefit the Companion Animal Fund (CAF). I didn't have a dog with me, but I stopped by and made a contribution. CAF benefits a lot of local rescue groups by funding spays and neuters, among other things.

 Next I headed out towards Crozet for a second meeting with a dog named Zeus. I had met Zeus at his own home back in the spring. He's extremely protective of his home and his family, overly so. Today, however, he was at the home of a friend who is another VGSR volunteer. Away from his own home and family, Zeus wasn't aggressive towards strangers or protective of the home. I handed him some treats and walked right in. Another stranger to the dog came over and did pretty much the same thing. His behavior reminded me a lot of our late Gypsy. We always had to put Gypsy out when anyone came and having a housesitter was out of the question--she would never have allowed a stranger into the house. But we were able to board Gypsy at a kennel without any problem. When she was away from home she didn't feel as confident and she didn't have the need to play the role of protector. It wasn't her job to protect something that wasn't hers. Seeing Zeus act this way today was encouraging, but I'm still not sure how to go about getting him adopted. He's likely to display that same behavior in any new home unless the owner really works on it or is committed to dealing with it for life as we did with Gypsy.

 I hit two grocery stores and a roadside produce stand on the way home and then got Groot out for another hike. Groot must have known I was working a groove today because he was so much better on the trail than the first time around. He actually acted like he had a clue. He stuck to the trail and kept a good distance in front of me most of the time. There was a lot of fresh horse manure on the trail and he wanted to stop and sample that, but otherwise he kept moving forward. I guess he's young enough that he doesn't yet understand the joys and importance of marking; I don't think he stopped to pee or poop even once during our 5.5 miles.