End of July

How can it be that July is over? It does seem that time goes faster as I get older. Nothing any of us can do about that, but here are some pictures from late-July that I wanted to share before the month is gone.

From a Delvis walk on Saturday, I believe. He probably has to take three steps for every one of hers, and yet somehow they are a well matched pair for walking.

This is a very large wasps' nest hanging about head-height just on the edge of the woods, about five feet, if that, from the edge of the road. I had been walking past this for weeks without being aware of it. A sheriff's deputy driving through the park stopped as we were passing him and told me about it. Since then I've been walking on the other side of the road and can't believe that I had been walking past it for weeks completely unaware of its presence.

I think we are seeing a new Starfish emerge.

The puppies had their first visit from Procter children on Saturday.

They will be eight weeks old on Friday.

Gina and Jericho

The same day that Sherlock got adopted Clay and I drove to a local shelter and brought home two new fosters, Gina and Jericho. They are both German Shepherd Dogs and came from the same shelter, as strays, but they aren't related, weren't together, and there's no connection between them. 

Gina is probably about five years old. She was just spayed on Friday so she's mostly confined to a crate in the kitchen and that suited her just fine. She was very shy and probably wasn't feeling great so a nice quiet crate was what she needed. Starfish is occupying the second kitchen crate right next to her. She is also quite shy still so they two of them make a pretty good pair. The two of them and Candace use the a/c yard to do their business and that is working out well for all three of them. As of Sunday evening, Gina seems to be feeling better and is coming out of her shell. 

Gina

Jericho is a younger dog, more like two years old, and he's quite a live wire. I kept him on a long line even in the dog yard for the first day, not knowing if he was inclined to jump, climb, dig, or make an escape attempt. He stayed in the dog yard without making any effort to get out. He's been fine with all the other dogs too, although my girls think that he's "a bit much." 

He attached himself to me almost immediately so today I dispensed with the long line and even let him out of the dog yard to run around the greater fenced yard when I go out with the other dogs. He hung around with me for a couple hours of boring yard work this afternoon so I don't think he's a serious escape risk. I took Jericho on my Sunday morning walk using an easy walk harness, plus a slip lead. He really wasn't bad on a leash.

Jericho came with the name. It's biblical, but I like it.

Both the new shepherds are good with all the other dogs and they seem to be well socialized with humans as well. Both were fine with being crated—Gina appreciated it, Jericho tolerates it although he vocalizes a bit when he's first confined. Both dogs seem to have house manners too, although it's too early to say how well mannered they are. Both are good looking shepherds but I feel a little sorry for Gina because Jericho is just plain stunning. She is cute, petite, and pretty, but Jericho could stop traffic with his looks. That fiery red fur with the black blanket on his back is gorgeous. Gina coming in with Jericho is a bit like anyone walking into a room at the same time as Henry Cavill. 

Gina is beginning to come around, but amazingly, Starfish started interacting with the other dogs this evening a little bit too. That's a first for her and a very big milestone. I think keeping her in the house and around some other quiet, but normal dogs seems to be helping her. Candace is doing well too. She's eating three good sized meals per day now, moistened dry food mixed with a some canned, and seems to be quite well settled in here now. I'm sure she has gained weight but she'll stay on the three times a day meal plan for another couple of weeks at least.

Sherlock

Sherlock was adopted today. He was a great foster dog and was fun to have around, but now I can finally put the floating solar fountain back in my pond (he loved to pull it out and run around the yard with it) and put the water hyacinths back in my new water fountain (he loved to pull them out and eat them - they were crunchy). 

Millie will miss him, but we picked up a replacement playmate for her today as well. More on that tomorrow. So long, Sherlock. Smell you later. 

 

What Della wants,

Della gets. Obviously. But sometimes I forget. This morning I wanted to take Sherlock the bloodhound on the morning walk because I've really only walked him once on a gentle leader and he's meeting a prospective adopter on Saturday. He gets plenty of exercise playing around the yard, so it's not that, but I wanted to walk him under my control. But Della now knows that the morning walk is part of my routine so she sat stubbornly on the porch refusing to come back in the house, knowing that if she was outside when I left, she'd be going along.

She would not have minded if I brought Sherlock along, but I wasn't feeling up to that, so it was just Della and me. All the attention was on her, and she never objects to that.