Fence is up; barking sound is down

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2000 - Tipper visits Bishop

9:30 a.m. - With Nickie going to her fantastic new home yesterday (and all went very well per her new mommy's phone call early this morning) Bishop, formerly Nickie's kennel companion here, is now a single doggie in a big kennel, and he needs a new friend.

We decided we'd "borrow" Tipper (whose kennel companion is Tommy) and introduce her to Bishop. If these two fellas get along, then Tip could spend the mornings in Bishop's kennel to play with him, and then Tip would go back to her kennel, which she shares with Tommy, for the afternoons and evenings. This would give Bishop a new friend to keep him company for at least part of the day.

We took both dogs to the big play yard for the introduction. Well, Bishop was friendly enough, but Tipper didn't seem to care much for Bishop. Not wanting to force the situation we decided we'd try again tomorrow.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2000 -Big Day !- Bobby's E-Collar and big green bandage come off, and the stitches are removed from his leg, AND Sweet little Pokey is finally out of his two week quarantine time!!

What a great day! It's so wonderful that Bobby can have the big green bandage removed from his leg and have the stitches taken out from his knee operation. Now the big E-Collar can come off too! And we no longer have to worry about his leg getting wet. We are as happy as he is to have these things off! Plus having Pokey finally out of quarantine makes this a very special day.

Now that Pokey's quarantine time is over (and he did not come down with any health problems) we moved him to his bigger kennel this morning. This makes us all happy! Randy will now disinfect the quarantine kennel to be ready for the next new arrival(s), should we need it (and we always do).

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2000 - Forget the Tipper with Bishop idea. She let us know that she does not like the fellow at all

Today's session with Tipper and Bishop in the big play yard didn't go well at all. She immediately tried to become very aggressive with him, so we took her back to her kennel. Tomorrow we'll try sweet quiet year old Briar with Bishop. Briar and her brother Bobby and Mommy have been kennel neighbors with Bishop for some time, and little Briar has been "making eyes" at Bishop so we know they like each other. This should work out.

Tipper would make a great pet, but we feel it will have to be in a home with no other dogs. She does get along with her kennel companion, Tommy, but that is because he is such a meek fellow, and he lets Tipper be the boss.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2000 - Fence men finish the two strips of wood fence--our sound barrier! Thank you for your help!

This afternoon the fence men finished the week long construction of the two long strips of 6' high, sound-barrier wood fence and we Thank All of You who gave donations so that Straydog Inc. could construct this fence.

What a tremendous relief to have this much of our security fence done now! One long strip of fence runs along the front of the kennels, which will block a great deal of the the sound of the dogs from the Angry Neighbor, and the second strip runs along the east side of the kennels blocking the dogs' view of the goings on along the side road and beyond. The less they see there, the less there will be to bark at, which should make for fewer complaints from the Angry Neighbor! As more "fence" funds come in, hopefully, we will be able to keep on fencing a section at a time until the whole perimeter of our shelter is completely fenced in.

We thank you so very, very much for making this possible.

Briar and Bishop are introduced in the big play yard

This morning we introduced little Briar to her neighbor, Bishop, in the big play yard. They do get along just fine. Briar is a bit shy with Bishop but her tail was wagging happily as they followed each other around the big play yard. Bishop also walked over to Briar and gave her a few doggie kisses so we know all is well. Now Bishop will have a new doggie friend. This makes us all very happy.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2000- Coming next Sunday, March 12, 2000: Addoption Day #2 at Petco in Plano. Call 903-479-3497 for details.

As always, complete financial records are available upon request.

Dog food, veterinary expenses and kennel crew wages have been running over $1,800 per week, and we are quite often literally paying this week's expenses with this week's donations. We, Pat and Bill Arnold, receive no remuneration whatsoever for any work we do for our no-kill shelter, which includes managing it. (Bill pays our bills from his salary from his regular job in Dallas.)

We continue to thank those who continue to write us such encouraging letters and e-mail messages letting us know that you believe in what we are doing at Straydog (our Happy Home for Strays) as we continue to provide a decent life (as long as may be necessary) for each of our now 49 rescued dogs!

Please take a look at some of our newsletters (click on links at end of page) and see the original article in The Dallas Morning News --on the Internet at "dallasnews.com/archives" (search for Pat Arnold on March 13, 1997).

We rely on donations to keep our shelter going. If you believe in us and in what we are doing, please help us with a contribution to THE ARNOLD STRAY DOG FUND at the following address:

Straydog Inc.
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, TX 75147

STRAYDOG - THE ARNOLD FAMILY'S HAPPY HOME FOR STRAYS

We are a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Non-Profit Corporation, which means your contributions are tax deductible.