Cooler again

We didn't walk on the hot days this week. Wednesday it hit 80 degrees and that's just stupid for this time of year. I had windows open, which is nice, but the dogs just laid around panting from the heat. We have used the window air conditioner unit in the bedroom for the last two nights. A 70 degree day is nice, but 80+ is ridiculous for February.

Today was significantly cooler, however, so TJ and Maya and I got out for three miles late this afternoon. The trails are muddy still, but we mostly walked on the road at the park. The wind had a definite nip to it and it felt good to be out in it.

I saw some green buds on some of the shrubs and undergrowth as we were walking today. Spring is coming.

This is too much coat for 80 degree weather.

Maya was looking towards the edge of the
woods; looking for deer.

TJ can still do five miles easily enough in cool weather, but
when it gets warmer I'll need to limit his walking.

TJ and Maya are an easy pair to walk. They don't get their
leashes tangled up on themselves or each other, they don't
pull (unless deer are spotted), and I don't have much concern
about encountering other people or dogs with them.

Axel's Return

You may remember Axel from back in August. He was a HOWS dog that came in due to a medical issue and then got neutered, and then the former owners agreed to surrender him. I was very glad because I really liked this dog and didn't want to send him back to live on a chain. A home was found and Axel was adopted. I probably should have been a bit pickier about where he went because it didn't really work out. I do have to say that they tried, but someone in the home had to use an inhaler whenever Axel was indoors and Axel wasn't really happy being alone outdoors.

Scarlett went back home today, but
she'll be back to visit again, I'm sure.

So Axel is back and the timing is either very bad or very good.

Scarlett was boarding here and she went home today so our overall number remains at 10. However, I'm going to Kansas on Saturday and need to find a way to make the dogs a little more low maintenance for the time that I'm gone. I teamed up Axel with Lenny, which I think will be good for both of them, and I've installed them in Sparky's former kennel which has been empty for a long time. They have each other for company and play, and I hope they will be content in the kennel and shed at night to reduce the number of household dogs for a while. I plan to leave those two in Sparky's old kennel, a/k/a Rottweiler World. During the day when I'm gone, Max, Theo, and Trooper will be in the dog yard. That just leaves Vince, Jackie, Maya, TJ, and Sparky indoors. Our vacation house sitter come and stay with them during the days because the old dogs need to get out frequently. Clay will be home every night, but he's gone for the better part of 12 hours each day. I think this will work without having to board anyone.

I picked up six bales of straw this afternoon because there's still a lot of mud around and more rain is in the forecast.

Lenny seemed pretty happy about his new friend.

It didn't take them long to start playing.

Axel needed company.

Lenny likes his roommate.

The trail of straw is a walking route that
tends to get muddy and stay that way.

Maya and TJ playing in fresh straw.

Max with his stick.

Very small steps

I had Monday off and did a lot of driving that day. Maya and Lenny accompanied me because Maya always does and Lenny needs to see more of the world, even from inside the van. We met Debbie and one of her dogs up in Culpeper where Debbie brought me a large amount of both canned and dry food that had been donated for foster dogs. I opened the door of the van so Lenny could see outside and he started to pee in the crate even before getting out. I put a leash on him and got him out of the van and he promptly pooped. I put him back in the van and did some clean up but got him out again a little later to at least meet the dog. He was a bit better, but maybe just because he was out of poop.

Today was a beautiful day and I squandered most of it working but this afternoon Lenny and I took a short walk down the road to where Felix lives. Felix is very outgoing and friendly, and he loves me. He was fine meeting Lenny but Lenny was freaked out by the new place and new people so he wasn't really prepared to play.

But, and here's the very small step of improvement, he didn't shit himself today. He let Felix's folks pet him and he finally took a treat from them after seeing Felix eat one of them himself. I want to go again and take Maya along next time. Hopefully Maya and Felix will play and then maybe Lenny will relax enough to join in. He needs a lot of new experiences and needs some of them to be repeated to see if his adaptation skills improve.

Felix tried his best, but he also didn't push Lenny.

Lenny found a bed on the porch and it became
his safe spot. He didn't move from it willingly,
but at least he let Paul and Jan touch him.

Happy Husky Day - a year with TJ

When I opened Facebook this morning I was greeted with a Facebook memory, the picture on the left was the first picture I had seen of TJ. This picture was posted by one of the HOWS Project volunteers announcing that we had agreed to take him in as a foster. TJ had been surrendered to them unexpectedly and they took him on the spot, not knowing where he was going. He came here, obviously, and he never left.

This was the first picture I saw of the famous
TJ smile. It was taken in a small car with four
women who had freed him from the chain.

My first impression of TJ was that he was in pretty good shape, and compared to a lot of dogs kept on chains he was, but on closer inspection he was rather thin, his coat was ragged, and he was lacking muscle tone. Good food and exercise sorted out all of that and otherwise he's been healthy as a horse, particularly for a 12, going on 13, year old dog. He's put on some good solid muscle weight and he's grown an incredibly thick, long, and luxurious coat.

This was TJ when he first arrived at our house.
He was looking a little rough.

His new coat grew in darker and much thicker.

We celebrated TJ's anniversary by doing what he likes best - hiking. It was cloudy, foggy, and chilly starting out. I was wearing shorts, but was actually wishing I had worn some gloves and I pulled up the hood on my sweatshirt occasionally. We went five miles for the first time in a while and by the time we finished the sun was out and it was turning into a beautiful day. Happy Husky Day.

He's a handsome dog, and look at that tail!

Indoor days

Although it was unseasonably warm at the end of the week, it's been wet and rainy, and now it's turned colder again. Consequently, more dogs are spending more time indoors.

Lenny is still firmly attached to Maya. I was hoping that his growing confidence on the trails and around the house would carry over in new situations, but I took him to meet someone new today and his shit himself again. On the plus side, he  had no problem with the cat.




























I've mentioned before that Gigi's death has left a vacant spot in our bed at night that no other dog has stepped up to fill. We actually managed to get Sparky to take the spot one night and he was great, but he didn't repeat the next night.

He didn't eat this morning and spent all day in his crate with no interest in going outside. I finally got him down and out in the evening and offered his food again. He still didn't want to eat it, but he changed his mind when I added a generous ladle full of the turkey and noodle soup I made in the crockpot today. I'm going to try to get him to take the spot in bed again tonight.

I did get Maya and Lenny out for a short two mile walk on Friday. It was sort of raining, but not that much. We just walked the roadways through the park mostly, but we did follow part of the new disc golf trail too.





































































With a number of senior dogs around here, we always have some on medications. I have generally been using canned food to get the dogs to gobble up the pills and that usually works pretty well. I always liked the convenience of pill pockets, but the number of them that I need on a daily basis makes them cost prohibitive. I've seen recipes for homemade pill pockets and the rainy weather gave me a great opportunity to try them.

The recipes vary a bit, but most called for 2 parts flour, 1 part peanut butter, and 1 part milk (or water). I used water because I don't always have milk and I don't have to worry about the milk's expiration date. It mixes into a dough that works very well for encapsulating pills. The dogs down them in one gulp so I don't think anyone has missed a dose since I started using them and they are easier than dealing with canned food all the time. For the batch I made today I used two cups of flour, one cup of peanut butter, and one cup of water. Mix with a spoon and then I just worked it with my hands. Very easy and this should last me a couple weeks.

And here's just a few pictures of dogs lounging around, mostly in the bedroom.

From back to front, is Theo, Max, Trooper, Maya, and TJ.

Vince and Sparky in their usual positions over
on my side of the room.

Former foster Scarlett is staying with us again.
She usually stays in a crate in the office at night.
She's an easy houseguest and very well-mannered.

Maya doesn't hesitate to get up on the bed, but she gets down
when it's time to sleep.