And then there was one

I took Killian back to his home on Tuesday and also moved out Woody and Ted to other foster homes. I'll be having my shoulder surgery less than a week after we get back so I'm hoping that they will find adopters or even new foster homes while we're away. We have no house sitter this time, that's a first, but we have video surveillance of the house and property while we're away. 

The departure of Woody, Ted, and Killian left us with only one dog – Bailey. We'll drop her off where she's staying on our way to the airport today but I wanted to keep her last night for a couple of reasons. First, because she's my baby girl, and second, to get a feel for what it will be like to have only one dog. It's been thirty years since I only had one dog although I realize it's the norm for many if not most dog owners. 

It was also the first time that Bailey has been without canine companions, but her primary focus has always been on me so she didn't seem particularly distraught. We even left her home alone yesterday evening and returned to find that she was waiting for us but had done nothing wrong. It was very different from leaving Maya home when she was this age and returning to find the many ways that she had of expressing her displeasure. Bailey also seems undisturbed by our packing, although so much stuff has been moving out of this house in recent weeks that she probably thinks that's normal behavior for us now anyway.

The only obvious change happened when we went to bed last night. Bailey normally starts out sleeping on a dog bed and then climbs into bed with us sometime during the night. Last night she hopped up and got in bed when we did. 

We're off to France for a week to celebrate my retirement. This is the day my first Social Security payment is due to hit the bank account, if president Musk and his minions haven't screwed it up. 

Killian and company

We've had Killian for the past several days while his family has been out of town. Killian is a more laid back, mellow version of his mother, Della. He's as sweet as he can be and the worse thing you can say about him is that he's often in the way. 

Killian has always had bedroom privileges around here and he now gets Della's big bed. Bailey isn't upset by that in the least and she usually hops up in bed with us at some point during the night anyway. 

New adventures for Candace

Candace continues to amaze and surprise me. She has already outlived several dogs around here who were very much younger. We are going out of town next week so Candace needed at least temporary new digs for the time we are away. There's not a lot of people who will take in a senior dog with some incontinence issues, but Candace seems to have a guardian angel looking out for her.

Many years ago I had a foster dog with Animal Connections named Harry. He was a good sized dog, sort of looked like a wolfhound mix as I recall. He had a long, wiry coat, and long legs. He had three good legs but walked with a limp on the fourth. He used to make me crazy because in spite of the limp he could outrun me and he could even jump over what was then a low fence from the dog yard into the pasture. Harry found a home as a result of a chance meeting at the Vegetarian Festival many years ago. That same home later took in another senior dog from me, Sam. I could be no more in awe of these folks if they actually walked on water. They follow my blog and actually reached out to ask if Candace would need a new home. 

I took Candace to their home this morning. She was nervous getting into the van but once we arrived she started walking around their yard and exploring their property with interest. After I left they introduced her to their three other dogs and then everyone went on a walk together. Candace then made herself at home and settled in for a nice nap. I know she'll be safe and well-cared for while we are away and if everything is still good when we get back we all expect the arrangement to become permanent. 

Visiting Danes

I only had 17 blog posts in the month of March. That's a very light month, but there's been a lot of non-dog stuff going on. Today was the first day of my retirement but I still put in few hours of work (as a contractor now), and had a lot of other stuff going on so I didn't get out for a walk even though the weather was perfect for it. 

We've had two visiting Great Danes since last Wednesday, Madelyn and Quinnlyn, and Killian came on Sunday so our pack weight more than doubled recently. It was short-lived however, because the two girls went back home today. Killian (one of Della's boys) is with us until next Monday. He's the sweetest giant puppy and it's been very nice to have some canine giants around once again. Here's some recent pictures of the big dogs and some others too.

Maddie and Quinnie were initially scheduled to come several weeks ago, but this was much better timing because the weather has been beautiful since they've been here. They stayed out in Daneland and got lots of pasture time as well.

This is Woody at an adoption event last Sunday. Ted was there too but I didn't get any pictures of him somehow.

Both girls got a lot of exercise and were great to have around but they were very happy to see their person come back for them today. I bet they did some power napping when they got home.

Killian has been great to have around. He has full bedroom privileges and Bailey was gracious enough to let him have the big bed. He enjoyed a nice roll in the grass while Bailey and Woody ran around.

Notice all the cut grass in the pasture? That's one of the things that's been keeping me busy. I did another mowing session this evening with Woody as supervisor.

Paisley joins the dogs of March

This is a post I never wanted to write, but I've always shared the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of dog rescue and this is one of the bad. I had Paisley euthanized on Friday afternoon, after a heavy dose of sedation the night before and again three hours before our appointment, and yet again one hour before it was done. All of that was only enough to bring her to a nearly normal state, which should give a good idea of the amount of stress and anxiety this dog was experiencing day to day.

I took Paisley in as a foster in May, 2022, to evaluate whether or not she was adoptable. I started out optimistic but that soon turned to being realistic and knowing that she was not adoptable. Still, we kept her and tried to manage her as best we could, much like we had done with Max. Paisley had absolutely no social skills with other dogs and her only interaction with others was to run by them and bite them on the butt. When she did this with Maya and Della, both those girls tried to teach her a lesson but she never really learned. Elvis was her most frequent victim. She put bite wounds on several of our dogs and sustained quite a few herself as retaliatory gestures. Lately her behavior towards humans was becoming problematic as well, mostly because you could never tell what was going to trigger her. 

It was a very long time before I could touch her and was never able to touch her collar. We're leaving, it wouldn't have been responsible to place her with anyone else, so there was really no choice. I should have done it three years ago, but we gave her almost three more years. I hope she'll draw a better lot the next time around, a long life with a loving family right from the start. But this time around, Paisley has joined the Dogs of March. 

A day all about Bailey

I can see how it might be possible to think that all days are all about Bailey, but she would beg to differ. Today, however, was indeed all about Bailey and I don't think she would dispute that, or complain about it either. 

The first couple of pictures are from a hike with Bailey, just a short one, about 2.4 miles. The main event for the day was Bailey's first real vet visit. She had previously been microchipped and vaccinated at Green Dogs, and had a couple of things done when she was spayed, but this was the first time I had actually taken her to a vet for a routine annual visit. She weighed in at 68 pounds which seems perfect on her. She was fine with other dogs in the waiting area and most importantly she was good with the vet. A generous supply of really good treats certainly helped make it a good experience. This vet visit was doubly important because this is the vet who can complete the health certificate that she will need to travel to France later this summer. Bailey got her vaccines updated, a general health check, and blood drawn for the heartworm test. It all went smoothly for everyone.

This evening was her first Out and About class, which was a group outing with about a dozen other dogs and their people at River View park in Charlottesville. We walked, did some other activities, and generally coexisted in a group environment out in public for about an hour. Again, she did very well.

After class we picked up some carry out food and had dinner at Decipher with a beer. Bailey had what I have to assume was her first fortune cookie. It said something positive about knowledge and learning, very appropriate for the day.