Maya and Della

Maya and Della and I went for a hike on the trails today. I had hardly moved out of my desk chair all week and was really needing it. Della was really needing it too and has been giving me looks questioning my worthiness as a dog person of late, and rightly so. Maya is a bit more forgiving these days, as long as I don't go without her, of course. At nine years old Maya isn't so insistent on going for walks like she used to be. Mostly she wants me upstairs at my desk so she can take her place on the bed at my feet. If I spend too much time downstairs, cooking or whatever, she comes down to get me and complains about my absence from the desk chair. 

A couple people have asked about Maya lately as she hasn't appeared in my blog as often as she once did. That may be true, but Maya is fine and she's still my little girl and she's rarely more than an arms length away from me. Even if I never posted another picture of Maya, I expect she would always hold the record for most blog appearances. Della may hope to challenge that record some day, but she's got a long way to go. Maya has mellowed in some respects, but she still sits closest to me during the day and sleeps closest to me at night. 

I'm just really lucky and very grateful that both girls get along. They don't play together much, unless Serena is also involved, but they coexist peacefully. I'll take it. 

They actually make a pretty good team on the trails.

Everything Della knows she learned from Maya. 

Della's eyes have a nuclear intensity. 

Her right eye in particular, has soul searching powers.

Maya and I have a bond that has developed over many adventures and a few

misadventures. She accepts the fact that we run a halfway house for wayward 

canines and she does her part to help out, usually. But she has always been fully 

prepared to remind me she's my number one that her own needs must be met.

The girls sniff out important stuff on our walks and spend some time studying it.

Then one or both of them pisses on it and we move on.

The walking lean with head in my hand has always been Serena's move

but Della did it today. Took me by surprise. 

The river is running high and fast with all the recent rains.

We spotted some deer today but no one went crazy. 

Della really alerts to other people and dogs, but Maya knows they are not our concern.

3.3 miles today.

Room to Run

Four Great Danes may seem like a lot indoors, and sometimes it is, but outdoors there is plenty of room for everyone. I didn't make it out for a walk today, but we did get in some pasture time.

This is Serena's idea of playing ball. She runs with it, and tosses it around by herself.

The balls on a rope are perfect for her.

Here's all four Danes, (left to right): Rajah, Della, Serena, and Reina

Raj has really opened up in the past day or so.

 His tail is up and he had a great time in the pasture this afternoon.

Reina is a few days behind Raj, and I don't think she came from the same type of loving home.

She is learning to trust us but isn't quite there yet. 

Having Raj as a foster at the same time is good for Reina.

Reina is a pretty girl.

Della isn't crazy about the invasion of Danes who occupy the crates intended for her and Serena.

But that's just at night anyway. We all hung out together in the office today while I was working.

Raj is a dark merle and he has very little hair on his belly and the insides of his legs.

He needs to put on about 20 pounds too. I hope he'll grow some more fur as well.

Della and Raj, with Reina on the right.

Serena, Raj, Della

Raj is underweight, but he's also just a very slender dog.

Della was wanting to run today and Serena wasn't in the mood.

Raj was more than willing and the two of them had a good chase around the pasture.

Raj made Della happy today and that makes me happy.

Raj has legs even longer than Della's so he made a worthy adversary in the chase.

Go dog, go!

Raj is the tallest of the Danes we have now; Della is the shortest.

Raj was good for running, but he didn't do the horseplay that Della and Serena love.

Growing up shepherd

We've had a full day of sunshine and no new dogs today! Beautiful day but I was stuck at my desk for most all of it. No complaints though, it was a productive day. The new Danes hung out with Everest in Daneland. Although I put three fresh bales of dry straw out there, somehow the new girl, Reina, still managed to get her long legs and belly coated in mud while Raj and the snow white Everest stayed relatively clean. Reina has met everyone around here now and seems fine. Della's nose is a bit out of joint, but I'll take her out for a walk tomorrow and try to smooth her ruffled feathers. 

Because I have no new pictures today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some of a former foster, the pretty little shepherd girl we called Samantha. She is now called Taiga. She was adopted last fall to former adopters and she has been keeping their lives interesting. Any female shepherd is more than likely going to prove difficult and Sam was a very shepherdy little girl. The adopters did some research and found that she comes from working dog lines, which certainly seems consistent with both her looks and personality. 

The pictures show that Taiga has filled out and grown into an absolutely beautiful shepherd girl. The updates they've shared with me confirmed that she went to the right home too. They love the dog and have committed to giving her both the love and the training that she will need. She won't be an easy dog, well, maybe in a few years, but they had it easy with Koa, their other (male) shepherd, so they were due for a bit of a challenge and I'm sure they are up for it. 

I was very lucky that these folks came along looking for another dog when I had Sam because she could have been a very tough placement and might well have been returned a time or two by well meaning but unprepared adopters. 

This was Sam on one of our first walks.

This was shortly after her adoption, going after the biggest stick she could find.

Here she is going after the source of the sticks.

She has grown into a real beauty.

That intense look tells you everything about this girl.

Great Danes: new and newest

Raj was a very scared boy when I brought him home Saturday evening. I thought he would need a few days to decompress and come out of his shell. I'm happy to report that I was wrong once again. He took to Clay very quickly and spent the evening sitting with him in the front room. He was soon interacting with the other dogs and even tried engaging Serena in play. It's not our usual procedure, but he spent the night in the bedroom. His house manners seem to be very good. 

He just had me for company during the day on Monday, but he adjusted to that and he almost got Serena to play. He didn't immediately recognize Clay when he got home from work, but as soon as he got close enough for a sniff he was very happy to see him. None of our dogs have had any issues with him. 

Raj was such an easy new foster that the universe felt we needed more of a challenge, so another Dane entered the radar on Sunday and arrived here on Monday. She's a three year old female, name is still to be determined. Her background is sketchy but she narrowly avoided being shot in a former "home" so I wasn't about to turn her away. 

She's now the scared one and Raj is full of himself and very anxious to meet her. I think our 40 days and nights of rain are finally over, so I plan to put them both out in Daneland tomorrow to get acquainted and hopefully play. 

Raj's preferred water source is running water directly from the tap. 

All the toilet drinkers in our house may have to up their game around this guy.

He slept on the smallest bed in the bedroom last night, while Arby was on a big one.

Raj tried his best to get Serena to play with him and if they had been outdoors, she might have done so.

This is the newest Dane, three year old female, still unnamed.

She's solid black except for a splash of white on her chest and white feet.

Erika made "the sound" and provoked an inquisitive head tilt from her.

I took her to Daneland at first and introduced her to Everest.

I gave her a dose of Frontline based on the raw looking skin on her back end.

Poor Everest wanted to play with her immediately.

Maybe tomorrow.

She's a good looking girl. I've got her in a crate in the kitchen for tonight and

gave her a good dose of trazadone to help her relax.

Tomorrow will be the start of her new life.