Indoor time

We went to bed at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night because there was
nothing better to do. We will be fast asleep (hopefully) long
before the new year arrives Monday night.

I don't know how much rain we got today. I don't even look at the rain gauge anymore. Whatever fell either ran off if it was able or is standing in puddles on the surface. Nothing soaked in. It was more than enough to bring back all the mud. Instead of a rain gauge, there needs to be a mud gauge. I sink about four inches into the ground with every step I take, that's a pretty good indicator of the level of mud.

Sparky doesn't go outside very often and when he does he
doesn't get muddy. I wish he'd share that secret with the shepherds.

Dogs have been stuck indoors and we are all bored. They would probably say that I'm a bit cranky. That would actually be a pretty generous assessment.

Angel has escaped her crate twice now so I gave
up on it. She's also broken through the gate at
the kitchen doorway. She is still uncertain about
things but she has decided she needs to be with
me at all times and at all costs.

We've gotten a couple of these big corner bolster beds at
Costco, but when I went today they were out of them.
Serena hurt her leg the other day, so a day or two of layabout
isn't a bad thing for her right now.

Maya sprawling up on the pillow next to me.

Mela really likes Angel, and Coco. She's trying
to figure out what to do with Serena.

TJ, sleeping husky

I did some cooking Monday evening, and shared
some kitchen time with the new shepherds.
That's Angel in back and Mela up front.

Mela tasting Serena, trying to determine what
she is. Serena is being really tolerant and good
with the puppy, even inviting her to play, but
Mela isn't quite sure about her yet.

Angel laying next to the gate she broken through earlier today.
I got a replacement at Lowe's because I need it to keep Theo,
Max, and Diesel in the kitchen at night. I won't try confining
Angel any more, although she happily laid in her crate next
to me in the office today while I was working. When I went
to town in the afternoon, I left her in the AC yard outside.

Mela picked the spot in the kitchen where she would be
most in my way. I had to move her from there twice.

That's Serena and Coco playing in the far rear
corner. Mela is observing.

Coco is accustomed to playing with large dogs now, so
playing with Mela has required some adjustment.

Angel has figured out that I'm the key to everything around here and she
wants to be with me all the time. She's not entirely comfortable with all
the dogs yet. She's a bit defensive still, but everyone is giving her time and space.

Surprise Shepherds

Mela coming out of the shelter.

My first look at Angel coming out.

Clay loves surprises, and he loves shepherds. And I didn't get him anything for Christmas, so today I brought home not one, but two surprise shepherds.

Both were owner surrenders to a local shelter that was already full. I had heard about Angel yesterday and was planning to bring her home, but then Mela showed up too, and I wasn't about to leave a five month old GSD puppy in a shelter.

Angel is the gray one, actually sable I suppose. She will be six years old at the end of January. She is petite and still looks and acts very much like a puppy. She's been an "outside" dog but she came indoors here and ran up the stairs like an old pro. She also used a crate without difficulty this afternoon. She is said to be good with kids, cats, and dogs, but all I can vouch for personally is that she's good with dogs.

The puppy's name is Mela. Is that a name from some book or movie I know nothing about? Seems like an odd, make up name to me, but I doubt that I'll have her long enough to worry about the name. Her former owner paid a ridiculous amount of money for the dog and then took her to a shelter because he didn't have time for her. She's cute, sweet, friendly, but I think today is the first time she's met and played with other dogs. Mela seemed unsure about the stairs, both going up and coming down, but she saw Coco, Angel, and Maya do it and she wasn't about to be left behind.

Angel meeting Maya. Maya lets them know that she's in
charge, but she's fine with new fosters coming in.

Angel initiating play with Mela.

Catching Up: Old guys walk; Young ones romp; Xmas; Four dog hike; Rainy day; Barkbox; Serena's first sit

Stick with me here, this is a wide ranging post covering several days and several subjects -- none of it earth-shattering, but all worthy of a few pics.

Back before Christmas we actually had a string of about four or five days without rain. Although the ground was still saturated, the standing water was almost gone and the mud was finally beginning to dry up. One such day I took Maya out on a hike with the old guys, Trooper and TJ. We did three miles, which is pretty good for the old men, and most of it was on the trails in the woods, avoiding muddy areas as much as possible.

After the walk, I took some of the other dogs out to the pasture for a run. I threw the ball for Theo several times, but mostly I rode around on the mower to get the dogs to run with me for exercise. It's really good exercise for Diesel because the follows the mower everywhere, biting at any of the tires or the rubber discharge cover.

Diesel has a thing for the mower.

Nice picture of Max

Theo, Serena, and Max

Christmas came and went. Clay's mother lives in Charlottesville and that's where we go. His brother, Hugh, came in from New York for several days. Maya went into town with us both Christmas eve and again the next day.

Hugh came out to the house with me on
Christmas day to meet Sweet Serena.

I went back to work the day after Christmas, which I found difficult since I had been off most of the time since Thanksgiving. On Thursday I was needing a break and headed out on the trails with four dogs: Maya, Serena, Coco, and Diesel. They all walk pretty well, none of them really pull very much, but four dogs is a lot. It makes for a lot of leash handling and dog wrangling, trying to keep everyone moving with a minimum of leash entanglement.

I held two leashes in each hand for the most part, so I had few photo opportunities and never got a picture of them facing me. We all got a good amount of exercise in the three miles that we walked, and that's really what it's all about.

The mud holes in the yard were almost dry and the ground was no longer sloshing when I walked on it, so of course it rained again on Friday. I had nine dogs in the house all day while I was working.

Coco and Theo

Sparky stays upstairs most of the time.
If he comes down it means he needs
to go outside and/or wants to eat.

Coco and Diesel in front, Theo in the back.

We moved the giant Dane crate up to my office, so there's
three beds in the kitchen now. Coco, Theo, Serena.

Trooper spent most of the day on our bed in
the bedroom upstairs.

Maya, under my desk at my work computer.

TJ is not a cuddly dog, but he always positions himself next
to me when I'm at the computer working.

Great Danes are mostly legs.

Wherever Coco is, that's where the action is. She's so small
we call her "the wee one" but she will take on three or more
of the big dogs at once when they play.

One day in the week before Christmas, I received a BarkBox. I don't know who sent it, but thank you. For those of you not familiar with Bark Box, they ship a box with a variety of dog toys, treats, and games. Lots of people have monthly subscriptions to the service and get something new for their dogs each month. This box was perfect for the rainy day. The toys went to Smokey, one of them so far, I'm saving the other right now. There were also a couple packages of treats.

Theo and Maya. Maya learned to hustle treats
at bars without sitting, just using her facial
expressions, usually while standing with her
front paws up on the bar, so she's a pro.

 I don't use treats in our house normally. With 8-10 dogs around most of the time, passing out treats can turn into a feeding frenzy. But I had a need and a use for one package of treats from the Bark Box yesterday - teaching Serena to sit.

Theo and TJ, Serena and Maya on far left and right, respectively.

I don't ask a lot of our personal dogs except to get along and to walk without pulling too hard on a leash. I'm embarrassed to say that although I've had Serena for a few months now, the girl still didn't know a basic "sit" command. Clyde picked it up from another dog at feeding time and he developed a very quick and good sit when he realized it was a condition precedent to getting fed. I feed Serena separately from other dogs so she never really learned it but I was determined to use one of those packages of treats to teach her.

There was a pack of dogs gathered around, Serena, Theo, TJ, Maya, Max, and Diesel. Although I rarely ask them to do it, all but Serena knew how to sit and would do so for the rare treat I was offering. Some were better than others, some were jumpier and mouthier than others, and I eventually had to banish TJ for starting shit with another dog. Serena saw them all sitting and getting treats but didn't seem to get the idea.

What finally worked was holding the treat over her head and backing her into a corner or onto a dog bed where she would naturally sit. We did it a few times and I think she was finally getting the idea. That bag of treats was empty so I declared victory and gave it a rest.

I was very pleased then to discover that she retained the lesson when I went to feed Serena Saturday morning. We were in the shed, I was holding her food dish over her head and had to back her up a bit, but I think the sit came to her easily.

Serena getting her treat after being backed into a corner.

I think this was the moment the light bulb came on in her
head and she finally understood what I wanted in exchange.