Friday

Friday was a beautiful day. Maya and I walked four miles with Gigi early afternoon. Later in the afternoon we did another four miles with Simba.

The beach was very pretty today and the water is a nice
level for a float trip.

Gigi would have been fine with just three miles or less,
but she hung in there and seemed to enjoy it.

It was just Simba's second hike but he was much better today.

He spotted some squirrel action and was
very intrigued, but he stayed on the trail.

1 year, 5 miles, and that damn dog show

Yesterday was Simba's first birthday and today was his first 5 mile hike.

He's very attached to Lily so I purposely separated them and walked him with Maya instead. I don't think he's ever really developed much of a bond with a person. I always tell people that the best thing you can do to develop that bond is to walk with the dog and today I took my own advice. He wasn't the worst dog on a first time walk, in fact we had very little leash problems, but my arms and shoulders got more exercise than usual holding him back and occasionally pulling him forward.

Maya just ignored him as much as possible, but at one point he decided he would rather play than walk. He did best if she stayed out in front. He tended to stick pretty close to her and follow her lead since he had no idea where we were going. It takes a few times for the young ones to realize that the trail's the thing. Where we are going is down the trail. That's really all they need to know.

There's nothing like some exercise to stimulate the appetite. When we got back he ate his dry food with nothing added for the first time. He had finished almost all of it before I gave him some of the Satin Balls for some extra calories and nutrition.

As many of you know, a female German Shepherd won Best in Show at the Westminster dog show yesterday. She's a beautiful girl and I wish her well, but I wish that some miniature breed had won. Breed popularity will drive up demand, and breeders both good and bad will ramp up supply. That's not a good thing for those of us in rescue. Shepherds are not easy dogs. They are great dogs if well bred, well raised, and with a high level of training. Take away even one of those and they can be bad news for the casual dog owner.

Happy Valentine's-Adoption-Birthday

Lots of things to celebrate today. It is Valentine's Day. It is Simba's first birthday. It is the one year anniversary of Jasso's adoption. The first picture, however, is none of those things, it's former foster Daphne and a little Golden Doodle pup named Gus who is visiting her for the week.  Daphne is teaching him manners, and there's nothing better than a female rottie for doing that.

Then, because it's Valentine's Day, we have the obligatory pictures of Maya snuggling with me in bed, and of her snuggling with Trooper. She and Trooper together are just too cute for words.

Today is also Simba's first birthday. He's a sweet boy and he's really doing very well around here. He's quite fond of Lily and he plays with her a lot. She's really just a big, long-haired toy as far as he's concerned. He also plays with Max when Lily is tired of him, and getting Max to play like a normal dog is no small feat. Simba doesn't know that, however, and he just approaches him like he would any other dog and eventually gets Max to play like any other dog. Simba loves his stuffed toys but I have to keep them away from Max, who would shred them in an instant.



















I received a text this evening along with these pictures of Jasso, reminding me that it was a year ago today and he went to his new home. He's still doing well and he now has another senior shepherd companion to hang out with.

What a day!

Sunday was promised to be a lovely Spring day so I had high hopes and great ambitions. After breakfast for us and the dogs, I headed over to the home of Peaceful Passings Senior Animal Rescue, which had a huge box of donated bones and chews that were far oversized for most of their fosters. Anyone involved in rescue receives donations from businesses and individuals, food, crates, collars, medications, etc., and we greatly appreciate them. Sometimes it's stuff we just don't need, but chances are that we know of another organization or individual who can use it. Consequently, things get passed around, sometimes more than once, until they find someone who can put them to good use. That spirit of cooperation is one of the best things about rescue work. We don't always get along as members of the same organization because we all hear the music of a different drummer. We generally get along with dogs better than people, and we often lack interpersonal and organizational skills, but we still have the same broad goal in mind. The other thing that we all have in common is that we operate on a shoestring budget, so when we have stuff to share, we do.

Peaceful Passings also happens to be the adoptive home of one of my former fosters, Patch. He came out to greet me along with 4-5 others when I arrived and instantly recognized me as friend rather than foe. There are a lot of blog posts about Patch, back in October-November of 2013. Here is one that provides an array of pictures that show his progress:  Six Weeks of Patch. Patch's story is one of incredible transformation of a very neglected and very unique dog. And I love the fact that he has taken on a role in rescue work himself, as Vice President of Peaceful Passings, and is very good at it.

That liquid is about a quart of vegetable
oil, a dozen eggs, with shells, and two
packages of gelatin mixed in the blender.

Messy, but yummy.
Feed raw, do not cook it.

On my way back home I made a detour to a grocery store to pick up supplies to make a batch of Satin Balls for my two underweight fosters, Lily and Simba. Mixing them up is a messy business but it's very easy and a proven way to put weight onto dogs. Lily eats well and would probably gain weight just eating the 8 cups per day of dry food that she's been getting. Simba seems to be a picky eater and doesn't devour his food the way he needs to. Both dogs liked the Satin Balls, however, and it encouraged Simba is eat more of his dry food along with the tasty meat mixture. I varied the recipe a bit this time based on ingredients that I had and those that I could find at Food Lion on Sunday morning, but the dogs didn't seem to mind.

Lily the beautiful

Such a beautiful day demanded a romp in the pasture. I went out with Theo, Max, Simba, Lily, Vince, and Gigi. The warm day was also perfect for refilling all the water tanks with fresh water. Theo played ball. Simba ran with him but rarely got a ball. Even Max sort of joined in the game. Lily explored the pasture mostly, but she stuck around and occasionally picked up a ball although she din't really see what all the fuss was about. It was warm enough that the dogs sought out the fresh water and shade fairly often. Having been living on a balcony, Simba lacks the muscle development that a young male shepherd should have. His youthful energy compensated for that to a large extent, but he needs this kind of exercise as well as food to grow.

Simba

A good time was had by all.

Max with a ball in his mouth.

Simba

Vince doesn't play ball, but he kept an eye on everyone and
marked a lot of stuff in the pasture.

Max, Simba, and Lily

The bees were active in the warm weather.

Water break: Theo, Simba, and Lily

Vince and Max

Lily is so beautiful.

Gigi enjoys getting out to stretch her legs on a nice day.

This picture sums up how Max plays with the others.
He's out there with them, he's got a ball, but he's
moving in a different direction.

Here are a group of pictures of Simba and Lily, after all, they are the two who are up for adoption.

This is a great picture of Lily and Simba together.

Simba sure has the classic German Shepherd look.

After the romp, Samantha came outside,
thinking that with all the activity going on
it must surely be dinner time.

Trooper on the trail.

After the romp, I loaded up Trooper and Maya and we went for a hike at Pleasant Grove. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather. We saw a lot of people, but we managed to avoid any close encounters over the course of our three mile walk.

About mid-afternoon Clay and I headed to town for a trip to Costco, dinner, and a movie. We saw "Hidden Figures" and I can really recommend it. Best of all, when we finally got home we found no damage, no destruction, no havoc in the house. Maya had been a good girl.

I'm a liar

I said I was going to take a break from fostering. I said I was certainly going to take a break from fostering shepherds. I said I wasn't going to take in any more after Abby got adopted. I lied.

Abby wasn't even gone yet when I took in Lily the Saint Bernard. I was still planning to stick with my no-new-shepherds vow, however, until this guy came along. His name is Simba. With those dark, raccoon-like circles around his eyes, I think a better name for him would be Rocket, from the raccoon character in "Guardians of the Galaxy." I think I'll leave the naming to an adopter, however, and I don't think it should take very long to find one for this boy.

Getting checked out by Trooper. 

He came out of northern Virginia where he had been seized by Animal Control from owners who were keeping him on the balcony of an apartment building. Apparently neighbors complained and an ACO (animal control officer) visited and found that they didn't have food for the dog. Food was provided but they immediately reverted to keeping the dog on the balcony so they lost the dog.

He's just about a year old. His one year birthday is coming up on Valentine's Day next week. He's sweet, friendly, and playful; good with dogs and people. At least they didn't ruin him while they had him.

Simba is already neutered and fully vaccinated, thanks to the shelter. He's ready to go when he finds the right home.

Meeting Theo

He was fine with all the dogs he met around here. He wants to play and Lily is the closest to him in age. They didn't play much outdoors in the dog yard, but as soon as I brought them inside and provided an audience, they went at it, with occasional supervision from Maya and Theo as you can see in the videos.

So these two dogs made a liar out of me, but I don't think anyone really believed me when I said I was taking a break anyway. Still, I am going to cut back a bit. Maybe. We will see.

Playing with Lily

This will be good for both of them, hopefully
resulting in two tired dogs tonight.