The last couple of days in pictures

 

There are some big boulders on one of the trails we walk. Bailey is quite happy to jump up on them and give me a pose, Rin Tin Tin style. 

Della wading into the knee-deep water in Sparky's Watering Hole. Bailey hasn't shown any inclination to get in the water yet.

Patch Brewery, where Clay is general manager, had an employee appreciation party Monday night. Bailey and I attended. I was carrying a lot of treats and passed them out to people to give to her. She did very well, even with people in costumes. Sudden applause freaked her out, as did an artificial pumpkin sitting on a table, but mostly she was pretty chill with it all.

Gus was there too, of course, and Bailey was fine with Gus. He discovered that I had a good supply of treats and became very interested in me for a while.

This is Dodger, who spent most of the day up in the office with the rest of us. He played with Bailey.

Dodger approached me on his own today. We made good progress.

I started the day with a bit of a sore throat, and later had some stomach upset so I took a little time out on the bed where I was quickly joined by my baby girl. 

Della joined us too, and she didn't say anything, but is giving a Bailey a rather disapproving and judgmental look. Maybe the look was for me, now that I think about it.

But there were no problems and Bailey is back in her crate in the kitchen next to Dodger for the night.

And finally, here are two pictures of Sherlock in his new home. He's settling in nicely. They have a couple of things to work on, but who doesn't?

Sherlock performing a perfectly beautiful play bow for Filly.

Hound dog happiness.

A one-way trip for Sherlock

Sherlock was adopted today and he has moved to New York. Clay and I drove up to a small town called Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, just south of Harrisburg. The trip was about 3.5 or more like 4 hours, and his adopter had about the same length of trip coming from the north. She knew someone from Harrisburg who told her about a nice dog park in this town that isn't heavily used. It seemed like a great meeting place.

The adopter has a 10 year old female Great Dane who had to approve the adoption, and apparently she isn't always great when meeting new dogs. Sherlock can be a bit much himself when he meets a new dog, so neither of  us knew how this was likely to go, but we agreed that an unrestrained (off-leash) meeting on neutral ground, with no other dogs around, would maximize the chance of success. When we left home it was sunny and we were headed for another day in the 80s. The weather in Pennsylvania wasn't quite the same. It was cloudy with spotty rain, and the temperature was much cooler. It turned out to be ideal conditions, however, because the dog yard was deserted on Sunday afternoon. 

We arrived first, it was raining lightly, and Sherlock had the opportunity to explore the space on his own. With time to kill I even fitted the gentle leader on him and we did some nice leash walking around the park just to prove to myself that he could still do it. The adopter arrived and she came in alone at first to meet Sherlock. She loved him, of course, and he was very sweet. She went back to her van and got her girl out. Sherlock did his crazy excited bark/bay thing as they approached. This old girl is pretty much blind but not deaf so she certainly knew he was there. The whole neighborhood knew he was there.

We had talked about how to do it and agreed that just letting them meet, free of restraint, and work it out between themselves was the best way to proceed. That's exactly what we did, although both dogs were trailing a leash so we'd have something to grab if we needed to intervene. The Dane (Filly) ran first to sniff a well used fire hydrant, allowing Sherlock to run up to her. They met, sniffed, circled, danced a little, but there was no problem. She's rather dominant and had her big neck and head over the back of his neck, but he was cool about it. He dipped to get out from under her, turned around, and did a play bow. She established herself and he was happy to accept her on her own terms.

The timing was perfect because as we were finishing up some other people and other dogs were arriving. We exited to dog park to avoid meeting anyone and loaded up Sherlock and Filly for their journey back to New York. I was elated and felt like I could fly home. It was a long time coming but I think it's the perfect home for him – an experienced and serious dog person who was looking for a bloodhound and knew what she was getting. Well worth the wait and well worth the trip.

I got a text from the adopter not long after we got home saying that they were also home and had a good trip. The final picture below is Sherlock in his new home.

Sherlock has found a new home.

We should be very happy for Sherlock.

Good night, Sherlock.

A busy and beautiful day

 I think that the days when I get the most done are the days when I have more than I could possibly accomplish. If I only have one or two things that really need doing, I procrastinate, drag them out, and often never really complete the task. On a day with too many things to do, the only thing to do is to get started and stick with it. That's what I did today, with a "to do" list on my phone, from which I derived great satisfaction as I checked off each accomplishment.

None of it was earth shaking, just basic "adulting" activities, taking care of business. And I'm still procrastinating larger, more important things, in favor of smaller tasks to give me a sense of accomplishment. All of this meant that I really didn't have much dog time today, but I took everyone out for a run in the pasture for about an hour late this afternoon.

Maya and Elvis brought Bailey into their hunt club this afternoon.

Paisley

Maya

Candice wants to go out to the pasture with all the other dogs now.

Dodger follows Sherlock around, so I don't see much of him out there.

Sherlock is well camouflaged in the tall, dry grass.

Dodger's black color stands out, but he's not real tall and can be hard to find at a glance.

Sherlock loves it out there and Dodger loves to follow Sherlock.

Dodger and Candice encountered one another out there today and played a bit.

Candice ran more than Della did out there today.

Elvis and Maya always hunt together.

I mapped the trails in the pasture today.

Maya, Elvis, and Bailey

This is what I encountered when I went to bed last night.

Della does not ordinarily sleep in our bed, but Elvis does.

Last night they both did for much of the night.