Penelope's Penultimate Pasture Play

Monday is Penelope's sailing day. I'm glad; it's time, but we will miss her. She's a lot of dog and her absence will be felt. Sunday was another wet day with late afternoon storms, but we got out to the pasture in the morning for a good romp and I plan to do so again on Monday before she goes to her new home. The little guy is Jess of course, and the big shepherd is Theo. The fourth dog, in between sizes, is beautiful Bella.

Another play date

A couple days ago Jess and I went down the road to visit Felix. Felix was up for a romp as he always is and he was great with the puppy. Jess had more stamina in the heat, however. Felix is older, wiser, bigger, and he's a black dog.  He's smart enough to moderate his playing in the heat, Jess is not.

They both enjoyed it and I got a lot of cute pictures of Jess. That pup is adorable. His stitches will come out the middle of next week and then he'll go to his new home as soon as we can arrange it. It's always fun to have a puppy for a little while, but I'm happy to let someone else do the real work of raising and training it.

Bella's vet visit

On the drive in

Bella and I had a vet visit today, with the fabulous Allison Kramer, DVM, recently named as best veterinarian in the Charlottesville area, at Old Dominion Animal Hospital, which was also named as favorite vet clinic in the area. The Daily Progress runs a contest each year in which people can vote for their favorite whatever in a wide variety of categories. Dr. Kramer and Old Dominion Animal Hospital are my favorites and I was happy to see them win the honors.

Bella wasn't impressed by their awards, but she was really good, and they were very good with her. She was scared and had her tail tucked, but she wasn't particularly anxious. Her ears, eyes, and nose were working overtime, taking it all in, but she was remarkably calm and she looked relaxed even if she wasn't. Her exam was fine and her fecal test was negative. Everything else was done before she arrived, except being spayed, but we have that scheduled for next Tuesday.

In the exam room, ears, eyes, and nose
on full alert.

Bella was wonderful in the car. She laid down in the back without being crated, didn't push her way up front, didn't make a sound, and didn't get sick. This is the girl who arrived by plane, so she is accustomed to travel. Dr. Kramer thought that a year and a half was a reasonable estimate of her age based on her teeth, and that's what I had been thinking as well, based on her behavior and how she plays with the puppy. She had some gunk in her ears that I need to treat, but otherwise she seems very healthy. Her weight was up to just over 60 pounds.

Bella has been a great puppy sitter, and she is staying with him in his kennel or the dog yard, without climbing, jumping, or otherwise trying to get out. If Jess is with her, I've even taken her to and from the house to the dog yard or kennel without a leash. She's a good girl, very sweet, and those eyes! When you shine a flashlight at a brown eyed dog at night their eyes appear to be green. With Bella, her blue eyes appear bright red at night. It could be scary if you didn't know it was her. The only bad thing she's done is to take a shoe and chew the laces off of them. She hasn't damaged any shoes, but I need to replace about 4 or 5 pairs of laces.

In the lobby, awaiting result on the fecal test.

On the drive home

Washing the Big Boys

Another hot day, another good day for a dog wash.

First up was Theo. His coat isn't as long as some, but it's still a double coat and he was beginning to blow out the undercoat. That makes for extra mess in the house so I took the hose and Dawn to him, along with a rubber brush and worked out a lot of loose hair. Later, after he had dried in the dog yard I used my rake and got even more off of him. Theo was good about the bath, stood nicely for me, and was very patient, at least until I tried to wash out his ears.

These pictures give a pretty good view of the wash station. It's nothing fancy, built from old fencing, and not built particularly well. It's very functional, however, and a real back saver. When I'm not washing dogs on it, it holds my canoe up off the ground.

The next "volunteer" was Trooper. Trooper was definitely needing the bath for hair removal if nothing else. I got a lot of hair off of him while wet, but will be getting even more over the next couple days as I brush him. Trooper hopped up onto the platform for me and stood there like he was almost enjoying it. I didn't even back away when he did the big shake, the cold water felt good today.





Finally, I did Max. He was reluctant to jump up onto the platform for me but after a couple tries he finally did so. I didn't get any pictures of him during the bathing process; these were taken after the final rinse when we were pretty much done. I should have taken a picture of him after he dried. Max is a beauty and his coat showed the most improvement from the bath.

Revolving Door

Penelope and Jess both have new homes that have been chosen for them. They should be heading off on their new life adventures sometime in the next week or so.


































Of course, an empty bed never has a chance to get cold around here. There's two coming in to take their place.

One is a young Great Dane pup, under a year, who may have a medical problem. She's coming through Green Dogs. The other is this guy, Prince. He's on hold until early August, so I have a chance to get these others moved out. Prince is said to be a cross between a Great Dane and a German Shepherd. He's definitely part shepherd, but I'm a little skeptical on the Dane part. There's definitely some hound in there. He's a big sweet guy, fun and friendly, should be a good one to have around. Prince is five years old, neutered, but not house trained.