What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[Erica]

Speaking of small furry critters...

Mom set up a humane live mouse trap last night. This morning, Delta said "hey, there's something in there!" but we were heading out to a consult so I told Mom when we got back home. Mom said she'd just checked and it was empty. Haha.

Took her back there and showed how sure Delta was that there was something in it, in that he would snuffle the side, wag his tail, go still, tilt his head, then scootch to the other side and repeat. Mom looked again and went "oh, maybe there is something in there." There were two somethings in there, she found, when she released them in the woods by the graveyard. Betcha Delta knew there were two little friends from the get-go!



Delta supervised the whole operation, minus the release.

[Shalista]

Delta is gorgeous O.o

[ZaraD]

Year Delta is beautiful. Poodles are my favorite breed to groom every single one IV met of all sizes have had beutiful temperaments and there's something special about them.

[Nettle]

Good job you knew - always believe the dog

[Erica]

Thanks y'all. He gets attention anywhere we go, even people stopping their cars to admire him on quiet roads.

He let us know there was a third mouse in the trap this morning, and last night at 1am told me there was probably a loose critter in my closet. Didn't want to deal with it at 1am so we moved out to the living room to sleep and today the trap's in the closet. Delta is very good at his new job.

[JudyN]

I walked past a friend's house this morning and, as is often the case, she was standing on the grass verge outside the house with her very old lab, S, lying in the sun, which is about as much a walk as she can manage now. When she moved, S was really struggling, she looked quite deformed and extremely uncomfortable. My friend said she'll often wake in the night, screaming, staring blankly at the wall, which she thinks isn't out of pain but fear brought on by her senility - and she's started doing that in the day too.

She used to like to spend a lot of time in the garden but now she doesn't really want to do that.

My friend had hoped to give her one last summer but is now wondering when the right time to say goodbye is. I felt like saying 'Now! Today!' but had to restrict myself to comments like 'Oh, the poor thing looks very uncomfortable' and 'They do say a day too soon is better than a day too late'

[Nettle]

So very difficult, JudyN, but you did the right thing. Let's hope she takes the dog to the vet, who can say what you want to but know you shouldn't.

[Erica]

Keeping your friend and her dog in my thoughts, Judy. It's a hard decision to make but it sounds like the time might have come.

I should never be trusted with dates and organization. Just realized that our final KPA workshop is the same weekend as my brother's wedding...Gosh this is gonna be a nightmare.

Turns out I goofed it and the workshop is actually two weeks later! Thank goodness! They had updated the webpage I'd bookmarked to show next year's workshop dates instead of this year's, but I'd previously written it down in my planner on a page I don't look at very often. Then a colleague asked about KPA and I went looking and noticed that hey, I'd already clicked the link for next year's Virginia workshop...and hey, those look like the dates I've been looking at, but they say 2018 instead of 2017...then checked the planner and everything is hunkey dorey!

I still shouldn't be trusted with dates and organization.

[JudyN]

That's good news, Erica!

In the meantime, my plans for tomorrow are scuppered - DS2 is camping at a small music festival organised by the company he works for, and we were going to go over for the day tomorrow. But when OH gave him a lift there today, he found it's right next to a field of llamas. I know how Jasper reacted to an alpaca at a country fair a few years back and it wasn't pretty. What with everything else going on, the music, the smell of barbecues, lots of people... his frustration levels would just build until he had a meltdown, and the sight of J having a full-on meltdown is enough to give a small child (of which there will be many) a lifelong fear of dogs. Not to say that it's extremely embarrassing

[Nettle]

Something that sucks is better than something that spits!

Sorry - haven't had my coffee yet......

Another tough decision, JudyN, but again you made the right call.

Erica, that is serendipity! And we all have problems with dates sometimes.

[JudyN]

OH had to collect DS2 from the festival yesterday as he was feeling ill DS2 thinks he must have had a dodgy sausage as he didn't drink any more than anyone else, but he is a bit of a lightweight (compared to his GF ) so I have my doubts. GF, being a party animal, came back today with the leftover food... Last year they hadn't taken any food and ended up scrounging off everyone else so this year they decided to make up for it - but they WAY overestimated and of course, the cool bag it was stored in was no longer cool by the time it got back here

So I have just cooked up 12 burgers, a whole pack of bacon, and about 24 large sausages to cut up into dog treats, which should keep Jasper going (or more to the point coming back) for months on end.

I know bacon's not great for dogs, and some of the burgers were 'caramelised onion' burgers but I'm assuming that as he will only get small bits now and then this isn't a problem. As he's so big and eats so much overall I'm inclined to think I can get away with giving him the odd bit of unsuitable food without worrying.

[Nettle]

Great bit of recycling there. And no, it won't do him any harm in those sort of quantities, and he will feel really spoiled (in a nice way)!

[DianeLDL]

Hi all,

We are back at our house in Maine. It's been a tough trip. Several days, Sandy wouldn't eat anything.

And, I flee twice when taking him out, which really freaked him. Our first night in Oklahoma, the side door for the dog area was quite heavy. Well, it was evening, OH had gone to bed (we are on the road at 4am).

I opened the door, I let Sandy in, then somehow I fell, and my right ankle got caught with the door slamming on it. My foot was still outside. I'm lying there, and extremely upset and in pain, and yelling, hoping someone would help. So, Sandy thinking he's protecting me, was on top of me. Finally, I was able to use my arm to push the door out somehow to extricate my foot.

The next day, was horrible. We heard that the highway going through Missouri was stop & go. So, we figured we would stop at the rest stop which I'm grateful was a welcome center with a desk and people working there. OH & I used the facilities, and I said I would take Sandy to potty. (OH had injured his foot on the treadmill so he was having difficulty walking. At least itwas his left foot since only he can drive the cargo van.)

Well, I have Sandy on leash, cane and umbrella in other hand. (I was raining and Sandy hates rain. Well, I took about three steps and fell, this time on both knees. I started yelling for OH who was already trying to get in the van. So, once again, Sandy was standing on top of me and barking like crazy. Actually, that's what got OH's attention. Well, as OH got to me, these threee young men offered to help me. OH might have been a bit gruff, but the way Sandy was protecting me, we thought he might try to bite anyone who dared to try to touch me. I finally got up, gave the umbrella to OH, and told Sandy he's going to get wet!

As I said, it was good it was a welcome center with a first aid kit, so I got gauze to clean, a one time use of antibiotic ointment, and several bandaids. Both knees were bleeding like crazy.

And, then we ended up on the highway with very much stopped traffic for an hour. Turned out that there had been a car on fire, and we all had to get into one lane. I pray the people made it out, as when we passed it, it didn't look like a car and was just burnt metal. By the way, for you Americans, it was 4th of July.

Anwway, it's no wonder Sandy didn't do as well as usual. Several days, I had to hand feed him. But, he's doing well now that we are back in our house, and they finally mowed today. Sandy was having to jump through the grass.

By the way, I just received a notice from Photobucket. My photos here are through that site. The notice said that they will no longer allow free access to posing photos on 3rd party sites unless I pay $399 a year. I won't be paying that. This is the only site where I've used Photobucket. I'll try flicker, but if anyone has any other ideas for posting photos here, please let me know.

So, I'm assuming, my photos of Sandy will disappear. So, know it's not me, but the greedy Photobucket people.

Need to take Sandy out and get to bed. I'll change my profle to reflect Maine another time. We are on US eastern time now at least until near the end of August, when we repeat the trip back to Albuquerque (hopefully without the falling, and OH is having his foot looked at here). Then, around Sept, 14 we are going to San Francisco Bay Area where ny parents are, and where my son, dil, and 3 grandchildren are flying in from Israel. So, this is too hectic, and I'm sure it's affecting Sandy as it's affecting us. (He even tried licking OH's swollen left foot so he knows something isn't right.

I'll check to see if any other ideas on adding Sandy's photo as well as how everyone is doing.

I briefly caught that Erica's brother is getting married. Congratulations. And, if I missed anything, I'll try to catch up best I can.

Diane

[JudyN]

I hope your and OH's lower limbs heal up soon, Diane, and that Sandy gets over his stressful experiences.

I use Flickr now and haven't had any problems with it.

[Nettle]

Diane, best wishes from me too for you & OH's speedy recovery. Glad Sandy is eating again.