Sunday Sun Day

We saw the sun for most of Sunday and it was a very welcome sight.

RW has been wanting to go out to the yard on his
own. I let him go offleash Sunday morning, but I
walked with him to make sure he stayed in the fence.

He made a pass around the perimeter, but made no effort to
go through the fence. He just wanted to explore and mark.

I wish I was a sculptor. 

Sisters

The Danish girls do love to run and play.
Notice the red tinge to the tree against the blue sky?
That's the maple tree budding out already.

The Hopper exhibit was interesting and it included a few
re-creations of the scenes from the paintings. Quite well done.

Clay and I drove to Richmond later Sunday morning. We hit the Costco for their senior dog food and then took in the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. We were there early enough to spend some time browsing the regular collection too and we quite enjoyed it. It's our second visit to the VMFA but won't be the last. Also we discovered that the Virginia Historical Society has a museum next door. The United Daughters of the Confederacy is also nearby but it was shut up tight. The building looks like a mausoleum, which is probably an apt metaphor for the organization. I've got to think, and hope, that it's an organization that won't exist when its current membership passes on.

This is a new and recently dedicated statue in front of VMFA.
Called "Rumors of War", it features a black man astride a
horse in the manner of the confederate monuments on nearby
Monument Avenue in Richmond.

This is the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Ironically,
the only people we saw there were two black woman checking
out the ornate brass doors and the corner stone.

After our cultural excursions, we hit a couple
of breweries in Richmond.

We got back home for plenty of time in the pasture under
the sunny skies. This is Theo (with ball) and Max.

Serena and Kami

Theo the Great, with his ball.

Della and Serena

Everyone hung together more than usual.
Left to right: Kami, Max, Hammer, Serena, and Della.

Max's tail looking particularly fine in the afternoon light.

Theo, with the rest of the pack in the
lower corner of the pasture.

Della and Kami

Tuck, in silhouette. 

I was riding the mower and got it stuck.
Serena and Hammer came over to offer
suggestions. I got Clay and the other mower
and we pulled it out.

Della, Kami, Max

Theo and Serena coming over to see what Della has found.
It was probably deer poop or rabbit poop.

Tuck in the light.

Hammer. I really like this guy. He's become his own dog
since being separated from his brother. 
It was the right thing to do.

I'm so glad that Theo has accepted the
big red balls in place of tennis balls.

Kami

Theo (walking away), Tuck (in back), Hammer and Kami, and Della on the right.

Kami and Hammer Meet the Public

I took Kami and Hammer to an adoption event on Saturday with Promises Animal Rescue up in northern Virginia. Kami is with Promises, but it's Hammer, with Green Dogs, who may have found a home that day.

It was the first public outing at an adoption event for both dogs. Both dogs were good, but it really highlighted the differences between shepherds and labs, or maybe between males and females. Hammer was sweet, friendly, and really worked the crowd. He loved all the people and all the attention. He would go up to people and sit down in front of them. He was fine with the other dogs that were present, but it's the people he focused on.

Kami is a young, energetic, female shepherd. She was fine with all the people but what she really wanted was to play with every dog she saw. She was basically fine with them all, but she barked, and after a quick sniff she wanted to jump on them and wrestle like she does with Hammer when they are home, outdoors, and off leash. Instead, she was in public, inside a store, and on-leash, so her barking and usual play style were not really welcome or appropriate.

We learned that Hammer really likes children, and that Kami can catch a ball in her mouth, every time.

A group of Girl Scouts donated several large bags on
dog toys, treats, and supplies. Hammer proceeded to examine
them all, although he didn't really pull anything out.

He got his head into each bag and rummaged around.

I managed to get Kami cleaned up pretty well.
Just the day before she looked like she had
been dipped in mud.

Kami was very skilled at catching a ball that was tossed to
her. Hammer just let it bounce off his nose.

Kami was also very gentle taking treats.

After examining all the bags, Hammer
seemed to settle on the one he wanted.

He laid on it to claim as his.

One really nice thing that happened for me was a visit from a former adopter. Back in May of 2012, I had three white fluffy puppies. The mother was a golden/lab mix and the father was a Great Pyrenees. They were adorable, click here to see for yourself. One of them was adopted by a friend and fellow volunteer (we were both with VGSR at the time). They named her Sadie and she has grown into this big, beautiful dog. She looks very much like a Pyr except she was a flat coat of wavy fur.

Here are a couple pictures of the puppies:

And here's a couple to show what a big beautiful dog she grew to be.

Just some pictures

Serena executing the head-in-hand walking lean.

It was quite windy out there today.

I took Dobby out to the front yard on a long line.