Nothing to say

Saturday with Rex and Ricco

A senior and well-loved Ricco

On Saturday morning I took Rex to meet a man who has adopted two shepherds from me in the past. Hannibal passed away, but he still has Ricco who needs a friend. Rex will become his friend sometime in the next couple of weeks. This will put this adopter into my personal hall of fame consisting of folks who have adopted two, three, or more dogs from me. The guy's house isn't ever going to make the cover of Better Homes & Gardens, but it's a dog-friendly house, and the dogs are his children; he would do anything for them and that is what counts. I love adopting to repeat customers.

Maya came along for the ride and she insisted on hitting a couple breweries on our way home. I bought her a new harness at Bass Pro Shops and when we got home I took her out for a five miler along with TJ and Trooper.

I'm making progress on the fosters. Now I have to start working on Carly.

We were at the Center of the Universe brewery
when it opened so there wasn't much crowd.
That suited Maya and I just fine.

I'm a sucker for any dog who puts her paw on
me like Maya is here. Gigi did it once at an
adoption event and she got adopted on the spot,
by me.

Sunday's forecast doesn't sound very good for hiking so I knew we needed to go today.
TJ, Maya, and Trooper all enjoyed it.

Maya's new harness

Now that it's cooler, Trooper handled five miles without any trouble.

The color change happened very suddenly this week.
Today the ground was covered with red and yellow leaves.

Quite a day

The day started early and with a bit of chaos. The dogs were up early, but the sun was not. I let them out to the AC yard next to the house, but I told them that no one was going to the dog yard and no one was getting fed until the sun came up. That left me with some time to kill so I decided to cook while waiting for the sunrise. I finished a pan of breakfast muffins and a beef stir fry about the time the sun came up.

I often need to remind myself that not everyone has a houseful
of dogs like we do. There's six shown here and there were four
more that were still upstairs at the time.

We may not be "normal," but that's not really something
I ever aspired to anyway.

Carly

Theo

After getting everyone out, fed, and moved to appropriate day time locations I got my work day started. The day started out quite chilly, but the sun made it a pretty fall day and I should have gone out for a hike or two, but I didn't. I did, however, take Theo, Max, and Carly out to the pasture for a good romp and a session of ball playing with Theo. Carly didn't have a lot of interest in the ball, which is just as well, because Theo could out run her. She had a great time running around, though, and she needed some exercise and stimulation. The leash walk I did with her a few days ago left me with a shoulder that is still sore, so I think her exercise will be pasture runs until I get a better harness for walking her.

Max doesn't play ball the way Theo does, but he wants and needs to get at least one ball. He did manage to grab one ball I had thrown for Theo, after which Theo body slammed him and pretty much rolled Max over. Max was surprised, perhaps stunned, but not upset and he never dropped the ball. After that Max sort of went off by himself to destroy the tennis ball. I wish I had been able to get a picture or video of that one. Ball playing is a full contact sport for Theo.

L to R: Max, Carly, Theo

Theo and Carly cooling in the shade.

Carly's new pink collar matches her tongue.

Friday evening I took Sherman to his new home. That's always a rather bittersweet moment. He was our first English Bulldog foster and I really liked him. But he's gone to a great new home where he will have more attention and everything he could ever want. The dog to human ratio in his new home is 1 to 1, instead of 6 to 1 like it is around here. I love that sweet little face of his, though, and we will miss him around here.

Vet visits

I tried to start work early on Thursday because I had two different vet visits scheduled for the day, which meant a lot of time driving and a lot of time away from work.

Sherman sitting with me in the reception area
of the vet's office. He has a very serious look on
his face, but it was quick and painless.

The bulldog, Sherman, had an appointment back with the vet who did his neuter to get stitches removed. That was quick and easy. He walked into the reception area and headed over to the scale and immediately sat down on it. That's something I would struggle with later in the day, but he acted like it was just part of a very familiar routine. Sherman had gained about 2.5 pounds since the time he was neutered, about three weeks ago.

After that we stopped by Clay's mother's house to meet her cat. The cat is very friendly and social and met us at the door, not really knowing that I had a dog with me. They were nose to nose before either realized the other was there. Sherman was surprised and wanted to sniff the cat, but that's all he did and after he had given her a good sniff, he just ignored her and went about his business.

This is the face he made when I told him he
had gained 2.5 pounds.

Meeting the cat. Very good dog.

Sherman licking his lips after a treat.

I am quite fond of this dog, but am happy that he should
be going to his new home soon.

I got home in time to knock out a couple hours of work before heading back to town with Maya and Theo for their annual vet visits. They are both very healthy, but it was time for annual exams, heartworm tests, and a couple vaccines. I also needed to get meds to treat Theo and Sparky for tapeworms I've seen in their stools. And I brought home a vial and urine collection tray to hopefully get a urine sample from Vince sometime soon. He's been urinating in the house when I'm gone and that's very out of character for Vince so it concerns me. But, he's so terrible at the vet that we are going to try everything possible to avoid going in there.

The visit for Maya and Theo was pretty uneventful, as I had expected, other than Theo's ears needing cleaning and treatment.

Maya was pretty nervous at the vet's office this
afternoon for her annual exam. She just needed a
vaccine or two and a blood test. 

Theo had his annual checkup today too. He and Maya are
both in good shape. Theo wasn't really scared at all, until
they cleaned out his ears.

Maya stuck very close to me. You can see her here with her
leg laid across my foot to maintain contact.

Maya was happy when it was over.

When Theo came back into the exam room after getting his
ears cleaned out, he tried to hide behind me.