Excerpts from Pat's Daily Dog Log . . .

MONDAY OCTOBER 2 2000 Kennel Team Member is a no-show/no-call

I cannot describe how terribly frustrating it is when an employee is scheduled to work and does not report to work, and worse yet, does not even call to let me know whether she or he will be coming to work late or not at all! This is what happened again today!

And when this does happen, I have to leave the huge pile of Straydog office work, a lot of which has to do with fund raising to keep our shelter running, and go outside to cover for the no-show employee. Taking me away from my fund-raising work brings on a tremendous amount of stress, because without funding we're in deep trouble.

It's another "Pepto Bismol" morning for me

So once again I had to rearrange my whole day at the last minute to cover for the no-show employee. It wouldn't be so bad if Bill and I weren't the only people working on fund-raising. Operating expenses are high and continue to rise with every rescued stray we take in, and this office work has to be done.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 3 2000 Interviews begin for new doggie helper

Anticipating the probability that there might soon be the need to hire another kennel helper (hopefully a dependable person) I began the time-consuming process of interviewing two new people today.

Both interviews went very well, so now, if we should need a replacement, we've got two candidates to choose from.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 4 2000 Would you believe yet another early morning "no-show"?!

Geesh! At 4:30 this morning I was busy with the office work when I decided to look out our trailer window toward the office to see if the office lights were on, which I do every morning at this time to be sure that our early morning feeder is here preparing the dogs' first meal of the day. No lights were on yet. Maybe she's just running a little late, I was hoping, and I went back to my work.

A few minutes later I heard the dogs barking, so I figured this was the feeder finally showing up. I continued on with my paper work.

At 5:15 I noticed it was much too quiet around the kennels so I looked out to check the office again. No lights, which meant no employee and no phone call to tell me what the heck was going on!

Geesh! This means that I had suddenly become the early morning feeder. (This is a job I'm very familiar with, of course, since I did all the jobs (except for Bill's help on weekends) at our Happy Home for Strays for four years until we first hired a full-time employee in 1997 when we were up to 24 dogs--half the size we are now.)

I'll be calling one of the new candidates this morning to start work right away. Where'd I put the Pepto?!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 5 2000 Weather report says cool weather headed our way

This is great news to hear. With the temperatures soon dropping into the 40s and 30s at night, it's time to order hay for all the dog houses. I placed the order for 12 bales of the fluffy stuff (a total of $42), and they should be delivered this afternoon. The dogs are going to love this!

At 1:00 this afternoon the hay was delivered, and the nice delivery men stacked it neatly in the barn. Now we're all ready to put hay in the dog houses tomorrow,just in time for cold weather on Saturday.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 2000 Klaus comes for his first day of work, and it's "hay day" for the doggies

Klaus had been one of the people interviewed for the kennel helper position vacated by the Wednesday no-show, and he began his first day of work at our Happy Home for Strays this morning. We were all glad to see him arrive and gave him a warm welcome.

It's "hay day" on a rainy day at our Happy Home

Oh Boy! Fresh hay! The dogs all love hay, and it looked like we'd be getting the fresh hay in the dog houses just in time. The morning was cold and rainy--perfect snuggle-in-the-hay-type weather for the dogs, including little puppy Terri. (See photos of Terri in last week's edition.) After the dogs were fed their early morning meal and the first round of kennel cleaning was complete, the rain began coming down. Randy, Juan and Klaus suited up in their rain gear preparing for a soggy-doggy day.

Cold, rainy weather doesn't stop the work around here

Unless there is lightening or a torrential downpour, the outside dog walking and daily kennel work goes on, every single day of the year.

We work outside with the dogs in rain, snow, sleet, and (worst of all) 110-degree heat. So, while Randy took care of walking the dogs from seven till noon in the cold rain, Juan and Klaus did the haying of the dog houses. A big tarp covered the bales of hay in the wheel barrel to keep the hay dry as Juan and Klaus went from kennel to kennel filling the houses.

Work was halted once for only five minutes due to a short downpour. Then as the rain let up a bit, dog walks and dog house haying continued. By noon the soggy-dogs were done with their fun playtime in the park and all were snuggled in their nice warm hay-filled houses, and soggy Lisa, Randy, Juan and Klaus went into the office for their short lunch period.

Late afternoon ...

SATURDAY OCTOBER 6 2000 Doggie Adoption Day at PETsMART; Sara is adopted!

What a lucky day for Sara. A wonderful young couple came to our adoption day looking for a special companion for their young male dog. They saw our little Shepherd mix, Sara, and seemed to instantly fall in love her.

Susan and I left PETsMART to make the home visit with Sara at 2:30 this afternoon, and all turned out great. For a few minutes we couldn't figure out if Sara was making a yipping sound due to the uneasiness of being in a new situation or because she perhaps didn't like the new dog. (Their fellow reminded me of our Spunky--a happy-to-lucky dog who loves to play.)

As soon as we took off the two dogs' leashes, they were off and running playfully all around the living room. Then we went with the couple while they walked the dogs to the big park near them. It was a good visit and the dogs got along great.

Jake is going to be sad without his little companion, Sara. Now I'm trying to figure out who we can have Jake kennel with at our Happy Home. He needs a doggie friend until he finds his perfect home.

By 5:30 p.m. we were home from our adoption day, and Randy and Juan helped us get the traveling dogs (minus one--Sara) settled in their kennels. Lisa was just finishing up with the afternoon dog rounds, and Bill had already arrived with the station wagon full of dog food, which he and Randy (mostly Randy) had carried into the trailer from the car. (Click here for a few photos Bill took of some of the dogs with Lisa and Randy while waiting for Pat and Juan and the dogs to arrive from Dallas this chilly, gray afternoon.)

It's been a cold, drizzly day, and after all the other dogs "welcomed" us back, all 50 of the fellas were soon snuggled in their hay-filled houses for the night.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 7 2000 Jake gets another doggie companion

Sweet, lovable Jake misses his kennel mate, Sara, who was adopted yesterday. Cindy, the three year old black Lab, who recently joined our Happy Home, was the likely candidate to become Jake's new buddy. Cindy is sharing a kennel with Duke, but since Duke needs to be fairly quiet during his recovery from the heartworm treatment, playful Cindy could be moved in with Jake and we'd move little Terri puppy in with Duke.

The moves all went beautifully and all the dogs are happy again.

More preparation for upcoming cold, windy weather

When Juan finishes adding hay to all the dog houses, the fronts will be placed on the big shelters, which protect their dog houses from the cold, windy, rainy winter weather. There's a whole lot of work going on today, and everyone is busy, as always.

All is great at Sara's new home

10:00 a.m. - I just spoke with Sara's new mom, and Sara is settling in nicely. The dogs have been playing non-stop, she said, and they've been out for two nice walks already this morning.

If any of you would like to volunteer your dog-caring services to help us out during our Saturday Petsmart Adoption Days, we'd love to hear from you. Please call me at (903) 479-3497 (or email me at straydog@straydog.org) if you are able to help. Thank you, Pat.

We continue to thank all of you for your financial and moral support, which has made it possible for us to save the lives of these wonderful dogs, give them the care they need and adopt many of them into good, loving homes.