MONDAY DECEMBER 25 2000 Juan and Lisa work all day Christmas

Thanks to Juan and Lisa, who volunteered to work today, I was able to spend time with our children, who arrived about eleven this morning and stayed till about three this afternoon. Our other two employees were off today but will work New Year's Day, and Juan and Lisa will be off that holiday. (Once again, the routine for our 50+ dogs is the same every day of the year.)

TUESDAY DECEMBER 26 2000 Gas leak in the valve of our propane tank; Lisa decides to go back to school this coming semester

Juan smelled the gas leak while working in the kennels this morning. I called our propane gas supplier, and they sent a man out who fixed the leak--no charge to us, thank goodness!

The next bit of unwanted news was that Lisa has decided to take some classes at our local community college starting in a couple of weeks, so now we'll have to alter her schedule, which I'm working on now. (Maybe working on Christmas day in cold, wet weather made her decide she wants to do something else in life besides help to care for shelter dogs. This is not an easy job even in nice weather.)

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 27 2000 Lisa quits Straydog to go to school full time; and Tony the Pony escapes!

Lisa has decided to take a full schedule of classes and has given her two-weeks' notice. I put an ad in the local paper for a replacement kennel team member.

We also got a call from a man who found a big white dog with our vet clinic tags on his collar. It was none other than Tony the Pony, who somehow had gotten out of his yard. (See homepages from last summer covering Tony's earlier rescues and adoption.) When I told the man (who'd rescued) Tony where the owners live, he said that was only a block away from where he lived and he would take Tony back home.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 28 2000 Sleet-snow blankets Straydog Shelter

FRIDAY DECEMBER 29 2000 Molly Dog isn't feeling well

Beautiful, big, fluffy white, eight-year-old Molly is one of our many super happy dogs. She is bouncy and playful, has a sparkle in her eyes, a cute mischievous look about her face, and her long, fluffy white tail is always up and wagging happily. She has always been a happy dog

Today, however, we could all tell that Molly was not feeling well. She whined when we pet her lower back and her always happily wagging tail was drooping. Poor little Max, Molly's best buddy and kennel companion, knew something was wrong with his very best friend too, because instead of playing their usual chase-each-other-around game, she was snippy and irritable with the fellow.

By 8:00 this morning Molly and I were at the vets. The doctor took x-rays and the results showed that she has arthritis in her spine at the beginning of her tail. The doctor said that Molly may have gotten her tail bumped hard when playing with Max, which is probably why her rump and tail hurt now. The x-rays also showed that Molly has an enlarged spleen, which is not very good news, but all the blood work that the doctor did showed that her vital organs are okay. Now the doctor is sending a blood sample to Texas A&M to have further tests done. We'll know those results in 10 days.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 30 2000 Dog Adoption Day at TWO locations--Canine Commissary and PETsMART

Unfortunately it was a very slow day at both locations, and no dogs or pups were adopted. One family took a strong interest in Tommy Tootles, and they'll be back next Saturday to get another look at him. We are all hoping the family will adopt Tommy Tootles. He's such a great little dog!

Quite frankly the pathetic problem of homeless dogs (and cats) often greatly depresses those of us who work every day to give at least some of them a decent life--especially since the overpopulation problem could be solved so easily through spay and neuter.

Coming home from our Dog Adoption Day in Dallas this evening we saw two different litters of puppies playing in the fields just a few miles up the road from our shelter. These puppies will most likely never see a veterinarian, and the ones who survive for a while will probably not receive even minimal care. The situation is so sad. But we will never give up.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 31 2000 We're in a blizzard! Katie's coming in for the night

Look at these photos of the blizzard we're in the middle of:

Because Katie's feet are so furry, ice had caked up on the hairs between her toes, which I noticed when I went in to see her during last rounds, and I quickly made the decision to bring her inside the house for the night. ... Happy New Year, everyone.