Lazy days of summer?

Maddie is settling in.

I still need to keep the leash on her outdoors in
order to get a hold of her when it's time to come in.

I've been busy around here.  Just home maintenance stuff mostly, and work, but it makes me wonder how I ever had time for all the dog business.  Then I realize that I didn't.  A lot of other things got neglected or deferred.  I still believe that saving a dog is more important than mowing grass, but it was time to bring back a little balance.  Anyway, dogs are still in the center of everything around here and I'm getting concerned about leaving them for our trip to NYC at the end of next week.  Here's a few pics from the last couple of days taken in between everything else.

Maddie has been exploring Playstation K9. She
hangs out in a dusty hole under one of the A-frames.

Maddie and Horse.  The food bowl in the center is where
Maya eats.  Trooper eats up top.  Maddie eats on the ground
level platform.  Horse eats on a raised feeder in the shed.

This platform was one of my best ideas.  Actually it was several of them combined.

Sparky running in the pasture in the evening.  I
can't believe I'm still mowing this much in August.

Sparky runs and then cools off in the water.

Cold, fresh water feels and tastes good.

This is a fuzzy picture because I just stepped out my door and snapped it before anyone moved.
It shows four dogs, or three dogs and a horse, on the top level of Playstation K9.
Trooper always had this place to himself, and he generally still does, but he shares nicely.
This was the first time I've seen Horse and Maddie up there.

Trooper at the vet

Sitting behind my seat on the drive to town

Few people get a close up look at Trooper

Zachary is probably our dog with the most medical issues, but fortunately he's also the easiest to treat.  He's easy with the vet and cooperative at home with stuff like pills and eye drops.  At the other end of the ease-of-treatment spectrum is Trooper, but thankfully he's always been healthy and hasn't required much.  Yesterday was Trooper's annual check up, however, so off we went.

He's over it before it even starts.

Suspicious Trooper

I put a muzzle on him before we even left the van and it stayed on until I got him back in.  Maybe it's just because he knew that his usual bark and lunge move wasn't an option but I think he was better than he has been in prior vet visits.

He tested negative for everything, and as usual the bordatella vaccine in the nose was the worst part of the experience.  When we got back home I took him out to the pasture along with Gigi and Vince as a reward for not being a butthead.  He did his usual thing, chasing cars along the road from inside the fence, but that behavior isn't going to rub off on Vince or Gigi.

Relieved and relaxed, leaving the vet

"Thanks, Dad, let's go home."

Back in his natural habitat

Keeping us safe from intruders, trucks, and birds

Just dogs

Patton, a/k/a "the Horse"

My girlfriend, Gigi

L to R:  Horse, Maya, Gigi, Vince

Maya and the Horse are always together
out in the pasture.

Vince  loves to get out and run in the pasture.
He doesn't play with the others, but he stays nearby.

After the first group was done
I brought Sparky out for some
one-on-one mowing time.

Après-mow: We went back to Sparky's lodge and I worked some more on his deck.

Sparky's deck

Sunday was a day that we have no right to expect in August.  It was clear, low humidity, temps starting in the low 70s and only going to the low 80s.  There was a cool breeze in the morning, from the north, moderating the rising temperature.  I fed the dogs, put a steak on the grill for my own breakfast, and then went up to Lowe's to buy lumber for Sparky's deck.

This is the deck space, "before."

I had it pretty much in place by noon.  I had laid out the kennel with the 8'x12' deck in mind so I didn't have to cut anything.  I just put the support boards in place and then laid out the 8' deck boards.  Most of the time involved trenching and leveling the support boards and then squaring up the first deck board on the end.  After that I just laid them down and put in enough screws to hold things in place.  Another hundred or so screws will be required, but not today.

Very simple construction, but the layout,
trenching, leveling, and squaring up took
more time than actually laying the boards.

I called it quits shortly after noon, took a shower and headed to Richmond to see the Flying Squirrels (yes, that's their name, I kid you not), play baseball.  I like to do that at least once a year and today was the perfect day.  I had a couple beers, ate a hotdog, pretzel, and peanuts, and then headed home at the bottom of the 7th inning.

Many more screws are needed yet, but it's usable.

Maddie is doing well.  She is still shy with me outside but is much better indoors.  She's not playing with the other dogs yet, but I don't think that's far off.  In fact, I saw her interacting and playing with them outdoors this evening.  Maya is being a big sister to her.  Who would have thought?

Sparky probably preferred laying in the dirt,
and that's still available, but this will be good
during the muddy seasons.

Sparky hangs out on this elevated platform mostly.

He enjoyed the activity and the company today.

Déjà vu

Upon arrival home:  Maddie has a full tail,
it's just tucked tightly underneath her.

She's a little shepherd mix girl, thin, shy, very scared of people.  Sound familiar?  This one's name is Maddie, rather than Maya, and I hope she will come around faster than Maya did.

Inside, top of the stairs, looking
bright and alert.

She met Zachary as soon as we walked in the door.

I picked her up Saturday morning.  She was scared, but I took her leash and we walked a bit.  I walked and she sort of followed.  I kept wrapping more and more of the leash around my hand so she had to be closer.  Eventually we stopped and sat down.  She was close enough that I could scratch her butt.  Most dogs like that and she clearly didn't want me near her head just yet.  Eventually I maneuvered the two of us until she was between my legs although still facing away from me.  I reached for her head to pet and scratch her there and she was ok with that.  After a bit of that, I scooped her up and just carried her to the van.  She scooted right into the open crate and we headed for home.

Meeting Zach, Cabell, and Bremo

She was better on the leash when we got home but I put a second one on her just to make sure.  We came in and started meeting the pack.  She's much more at ease with new dogs than with new people, even the nine dogs she met here, all bigger than her, with no proper introductions.  My pack is good about that and hopefully they will help her adjust quickly.  I need to get this girl pretty well socialized pretty quickly before we go to New York.

Meeting Trooper and Vince

Meeting Trooper, Maya, Gigi, and Vince

An encounter with Maya on the stairs

I think, I hope, she'll come around pretty soon with the help of the other dogs.  She's not nearly as spooky as Maya was when she first came here.  She seems to know that she has to trust someone and since I'm the only one around now, it's going to be me.  She will let me approach and touch her, but I'm keeping a leash on her, even in the house.  She's hanging out in a crate in my office today, along with Vince and Maya.


She had some dog yard time with several of the others later this afternoon.  Maya ran interference with the Horse when he tried to play rough with her.  She eventually settled into a shady spot and just observed, which isn't a bad thing.

Meeting Toquima and the horse

Maddie with Bremo and his pear.
He usually growls at any dog who comes near his pear, but he gave her a pass today.

Weekly vet visit

Cabell and Gigi on the way to the vet.  I've taken the crates out
of the van because I've been hauling more lumber than dogs.

Gigi tries to dig in her heels but
the smooth floor betrays her.

Because of the number of dogs we've got, and their ages, not a lot of weeks go by without a vet visit.  Friday's visit was just routine for Cabell and Gigi, getting annual exams, tests, and vaccines.  Gigi had just come inside and settled down on the bed, she was not interested in going and she made that clear both when leaving the house, leaving the van, and leaving the exam room for the treatment area.  Fortunately, she's all passive resistence and is otherwise cooperative.

Cabell trying to hide under the exam table.  He's not scared
of the vet, mostly he was hiding from the camera.

Gigi is not a kisser, but she licked my face
as we were waiting.

Cabell loves the women at the vet's office and will let them do anything and go with them willingly.  He was more anxious than usual in the exam room, however, probably because I had the camera out and kept pointing it at him.  He must believe that every picture steals a small bit of his soul, but if that's the case, his soul is pretty much intact because pictures of Cabell are few and far between, especially good ones.

Cabell is focused on the vet and ignoring me and the camera.

She's just a pretty girl.

Both dogs tested negative for everything.  One of Gigi's ears is gunky and I need to remember to clean and treat it.  Cabell is in remarkably good health for a 13 year old large breed dog.

On the way home, at last.