Sweet Serena

I didn't sleep well Saturday night and wasn't feeling great Sunday morning. I knew that the best thing for me would be a walk, but I wasn't up to wrangling two dogs, or even one dog who might be difficult. Normally that would indicate taking Maya alone, but she's got a sore foot right now so I didn't think it would be good for her. I took Serena alone instead and we had a very nice walk that made us both feel better.

The night that Serena came to us from the former owner, she was very scared and rather growly, but you could tell even then that that wasn't the dog she really was or wanted to be. It took her a few days to settle in, but then the real Sweet Serena emerged from the fear and uncertainty. Too often we expect dogs to adapt, adjust, and love us immediately. In fact, so many of them do that we often forget that it's really an unrealistic expectation.

Serena was the perfect dog for the way I was feeling both physically and emotionally today. She's very happy and excited but she doesn't pull and make it difficult on me -- quite the opposite in fact. When there's another dog with us, Serena is always out front, but when it's just the two of us, she's most likely to be walking right next to me with her shoulder pressed against my left hip and her head in my hand. It's the walking lean, combining several things she loves: the walk, the lean, and having my hand on her head.

Serena has what horse people call "a kind eye"
and you can see it very well in these pictures.

At home and about

Here's a few pictures from recent days, mostly from home, but a couple from this morning's walk with Maya and Della.

The girls have been trying out some new sleeping arrangements, mostly prompted by Maya's recent desire to share the Danish girls' bed on my side of the room. If one of them isn't happy, I have to make some re-arrangements before any of us can get to sleep.

I don't have any pics of the conehead labs, but they are recovering and even learning to deal with the cone to some extent. They can both come downstairs with the cones on. Hatchet can go back up, but Hammer requires much assistance. On the other hand, Hammer has mastered eating from a bowl with the cone still on, but Hatchet has a tougher time with that. Hatchet will be getting adopted on Sunday.

R.W. is settling in and becoming more comfortable around the house. I gave him a bath because he had some crusty skin on his back end that seemed to be bothering him. I used a coal tar shampoo which will burn off the old layer, followed by some baby shampoo. He looks and smells much better now and doesn't seem so itchy. He also got a dose of flea and tick preventative. The blood work showed no heartworms but he did test positive for Erlichia. He's going to take the doxy treatment for that and I think I'll start giving him some fish oil capsules with his food as well. His thyroid level was a bit low, so they are running a secondary test on that. He's got a dental appointment scheduled for February 4th. He's 11 years old, but he's a smallish dog (40 pounds) so he should have some good years left yet and we'd like to make them as good as possible.

Tuck and Della on new dog beds in the kitchen.

Della actually tried sleeping in bed on night. She curled up
at the foot of the bed between us just like Gigi used to do.
We did not discourage it and she spent the night there.
By morning, however, she was sprawled across the area
usually occupied by my feet.

This was an arrangement that required me to
intervene. Serena likes to be in the spot where
Della is. Della isn't as picky so I made them switch.

Mob scene at the base of the stairs in the morning.

I wasn't sure how he'd be about the bath, but
he'd clearly had one before and he trusted me
enough at this point to do it.

He did feel better when it was done.

We met Erika and company, and Killian at the park to pick up
some paperwork for the labs. Killian is as big as Della now
but he still did the submissive puppy urination when he met her.

Meanwhile this week - Tuck got adopted

It's been a very busy week with R.W.'s vet appointment, the lab boys getting neutered, and more work meetings than I usually have in the course of a week. But somewhere in between it all, Tuck got himself adopted.

Tucker with his new older brother.

He started out as Tank, but we had recently had a Tank so we were calling him Tank II. That's not a great name so we changed it to Tuck. His new home is calling him Tucker and from what I've heard so far he's doing quite well. He's already learning things, he loves the kids, he met the older male dog in the home without any problem. And Tucker will remain family because he's also Stella's new brother, Stella of the 12 pack of Dane pups that is.

It was a great help and relief to me to get Tuck adopted this week because he's a big dog who needed and demanded a lot of time and attention, all of which has been stretched pretty thin around here this week. He gets neutered next week, after which he and Stella will be spending more time together. This is a great home for him, what he needed, and what I needed too.

Tucker's head is counter height.

He had a shower on his first night.

Tuck is a sweet boy, but he needs some training
and he will be getting a lot of that now.

Labs neutered

Hammer and Hatchet got neutered today. I got them in there this morning and they called before noon saying that they could go any time. I got there after 3:00 p.m. and brought them home. They are pitiful. I've never seen a dog cry and moan and carry on after surgery like these two did all the way home. The experience obviously wasn't pleasant, but mostly they are bemoaning the unfamiliar cones on their heads that seem to make it impossible for them to even move.

I got them home, took the cones off long enough for them to eat, and put them into their crates and put the cones back on. The good news is that Hatchet (long tail) is getting adopted on Saturday!

Hammer on the scale, about 45 pounds

Hatchet went in with a lot more wag and swagger.

Hatchet weighed a little more, about 48 pounds.

Hatchet led the way out, tail in motion,
but both dogs were making sad puppy sounds.

The trauma did not affect their appetites.

R.W. goes to the vet

R.W. had a vet appointment today. It was mostly unremarkable. He's 11 years old and has some arthritis in his joints, but he jumped into the van today on his own and he certainly doesn't seem to have any problems getting around.

Blood was drawn and a fecal sample collected, we'll have results on all that probably sometime tomorrow. He needed a muzzle for the blood draw and he got tired of having his ears, eyes, and mouth examined, but on the whole, he was pretty good. Certainly better than our late Vince was for even very routine things at the vet.

He has made himself quite comfortable in a large crate in
my office. 

The raw red spot on his nose is healing up. He does have some crusty and itchy skin, but no evidence of current active flea infestation. His teeth could use a cleaning, which reminds me that I have an appointment coming up for that myself.

He hopped into the van today on his own.

This may be a better view of his mouth
than the vet was able to get. 

He laid down at my feet, but he was ready to jump up and head out the
door as soon as possible.