Bath time play time

Rugger has really bonded and he tries
his best to be helpful. If I'm pulling
weeds, he grabs them in his mouth or
paws at the ground to dig them up.

Rugger reeks. I'm not sure where the smell is coming from, if it's his skin or his ears, but he stinks bad again. He's on a steady diet of a limited ingredient food now and he has put on weight and his coat looks good. But he hasn't really grown the undercoat that is typical of shepherds, and he still smells. I bathed him when I first got him but I don't think I've done so since, but Friday was the day.

I didn't manage to get any pictures of him up on the wash
station because it took both hands to keep him up there.

It was certainly warm enough that neither of us much minded the cold well water. I got Rugger up onto my dog wash station and tethered him with a three point restraint. That's generally enough to keep most dogs fairly stationary to facilitate the bath, but not Rugger. He doesn't really mind the water, but he wants to play with it as it comes out of the hose and that makes it difficult to wash the dog. He thinks it's a game. I actually have to put him up when I'm watering the garden because he keeps making a grab for the water and ends up getting into the plants.

I finally managed to get him soaked down and soaped up with the medicated shampoo. Then I just turned him loose for about 10 minutes. While the shampoo was working, Rugger played with the hose and I took pictures.

As I was rinsing him off I discovered a lot of crusty crud on his belly, which tells me that his skin problem isn't resolved yet and we probably need to make another trip to the vet next week.

After the shampoo was applied I turned him loose and let
it work on his skin while he played with the hose.

The maniacal look on his face is just an attempt
to grab the stream of water.

The only other dog I've had who was this crazy about
a stream of water is Summer, now known as Eva.
That dog loves the water.

New Danes

I don't know much about the backstory. They came today as transfers from another rescue group which had taken them in from a breeder/hoarder situation along with a lot of other dogs. They then took in another batch of dogs from a second hoarding situation and needed to make room.

We only had nine dogs so of course I said yes.

Indigo

They are an unusual but good looking pair of dogs. The female is a blue merle, we are calling her Indigo. She's very friendly and seems well adjusted. She's not real big and she seems to be in pretty good shape.

Hunter needs some weight, but that's generally
the easiest problem to fix.

The male is called Hunter. I haven't seen his color and markings before. I guess he's a brindle harlequin. He's a bit suspicious of new things and new people, but he's willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. He allowed me to approach and pet him, fit him with a new collar, and he was the first to explore the new space.

I took the afternoon off to get Sparky's old kennel back in shape for the new guys. I pulled the 3-5' lambsquarters but left the tall grass because they seemed to enjoy laying in it. Cool, fresh water in the tank was a big hit with them both on a hot day. I put up some shade cloth on the west face of the kennel for afternoon shade and put together a canopy to cover about half of the outdoor space.

They both ate dinner and seemed to be enjoying themselves checking out the new digs. They found some bones and a few toys and I'll get some more out to them tomorrow.

Indigo is a pretty girl. I gave her a pretty pink collar.

Hunter may be a bit cautious with new
things and new people, but he's curious
and willing to try.

I brought Obi over to meet the new Danes. He stuck around
to "help" me assemble the canopy and do some clean up.

It's not fancy, but they have several choices of shelters,
elevated beds, a deck, and plenty of shade. The shed is
ventilated with an exhaust fan and I'll put in an outdoor
fan tomorrow to at least move some air around.

They seemed to enjoy the feeling of green vegetation under
their feet, even if a lot of it is weeds.

A Bit of Blue Sky

I don't know if anyone is even bothering to keep track of how many days in a row it has rained now. It managed to rain again today but we saw a rare bit of blue sky late this afternoon before the sun went down.

I went out in the pasture with the dogs for a romp this evening and we were splashing around because there is water standing on the surface. We might actually have a few days without rain coming up and everyone really needs a few dry days to catch up on mowing. Tonight's lineup: Max, Theo, Rugger, Obi, Trooper, and Sparky.

Obi and Theo, heading back up from the bottom
of the pasture.

In short distances Sparky bounces more than he runs, but
this evening he ran flat out for a while anyway.

You can really tell that Obi is still a puppy when he runs.
He's not fully coordinated yet and looks a little goofy.

Sparky didn't run a lot and Obi tried to hang out with him.

Rugger actually beat Theo to the first ball thrown today.

My two fosters: Rugger (left) and Obi (right) with one ear up for some reason.

Obi (rear) and Sparky (front)

It was nice to have Sparky come out with
us today. They had all been inside since
noon and everyone was ready to run.

Theo with two balls in his mouth, and Obi.

Trooper came out with us too, and I was able
to call him away from the front fence.

Trooper

Obi, Rugger, and Theo in the rear

Max (far left) got a ball and then just laid in the shade and destroyed it.
Next from left to right is Trooper, Rugger, and Obi.

Theo

Max

The Golden Hour

I have photographer and artist friends who can explain this much better, but the golden hour is the hour just before the sun sets. I'm not entirely clear on the science of it all, but the angle of the light is low and it seems that the light is shifted to the red end of the spectrum. The resulting effect on shepherd fur is magical.

Rugger is a red and black shepherd and that's a beautiful coat any time of day, but during the golden hour it really comes alive. I haven't adjusted the color on any of these pictures.

Rugger's print