SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 8 2002

After Daniel's adoption Tipper meets Little Max

     Chocolate Lab, Daniel, had been Tipper's kennel companion since he came to our Happy Home for Strays several weeks ago. Daniel was officially adopted yesterday and went to his new home, which left Tipper without a companion. Today we wanted to try another fairly new arrival, Little Max (who's doing just fine, by the way, after having chewed out a couple of stitches after his neuter surgery a couple of weeks ago), with Tipper to see how these two might get along.

Tipper is too aggressive with Little Max

     We were hoping the introduction between Little Max and Tipper would work out and a good friendship would evolve between the two dogs so that they could become kennel mates. Tipper has a bossy personality--she is an Alpha dog. She gets along better with dogs who are much younger than she, because she sees them (usually) as no threat to her. This is why she got along so well with 18-month-old Daniel. He was big, but he was a pup. Little Max is an adult dog, about three years old, and we were all hoping that Tipper would accept Little Max as her friend.

     The proposed plan to make these two dogs kennel mates just didn't work out. At first, during the introduction between the two in the big play yard, we thought they might get along, even tho Tipper showed Little Max many times that she was the boss. He didn't mind her Top-Dog behavior; he just wanted to be left along to sniff the big yard. They even trotted around together for a while, but Tipper continued towering over Little Max to let him know where his place was in this pack (of two).

     After the introduction in the big play yard we took the two dogs to Tipper's kennel and kept a close watch on them for the next two hours. After a while it became apparent that this would not be a good match, as Tipper couldn't stop bullying Little Max, who seemed to be getting more and more irritated with Tipper, and we could tell he was beginning to consider the consequences of not accepting her as his boss, so we returned Little Max to the kennel he had been sharing with Amber and Melissa. The girls hadn't played very much with him before, but they accepted him back into their pack (of three) and were nice to him.

     It is not always easy to place dogs in compatible pairs, but the inevitable consequence of a mismatch is absolutely unacceptable--a dog fight, which is one of the most horrendous events any civilized human being could ever have to witness, let alone have to try to break up. (Thank God we have never had a dog fight here at Straydog, but Bill and I, both having witnessed and broken up three dog fights between family dogs years ago when our kids were teenagers, are very aware of how important it is to always be totally on top of every dog-related situation and to take great care in the handling of all our dogs to be sure we never do allow a fight to occur. A dog fights is the most horrible, horrible thing you can imagine, and you have to stop it, while at the same time staying a safe distance from it.)

Kalli meets and moves in with Dallas

     Dallas and Kalli were the next to be introduced. Dallas is a seven-year-old Shepherd/Rotty mix, kind of a quiet, couch-potato, mellow fellow, who has never showed much of an interest in playing. He gets along okay with other dogs younger than he is and has on occasion been sort of a "foster parent" for a short while with some of the younger pups we've placed with him.

     Kalli is the new Boxer who joined our Happy Home less than a month ago. (She is the young dog who was starving and very sick with mastitis when she was rescued.) Kalli is around two years old and is a very playful, bouncy, happy-go-lucky young dog. (The mastitis problem has cleared up beautifully.)

     We wanted Kalli to have a companion, so we introduced Kalli to Dallas this morning. All went well. Kalli wanted to play, and Dallas showed a bit of "spark" as he did the sniffy-greeting dance (which is about all the playful action Kalli will ever get out of this fellow). They did get along (showing no aggression toward one another) and were friendly, so after their successful introduction we put the two of them in Dallas's kennel. So far, five hours later, they are remaining friends.

     Kalli is just about completely well now. She will be spayed soon.

Helen and Sweetie

     Helen is getting around just perfectly. She goes to the eye specialist tomorrow, and we're looking forward to finding out just how much she can really see with her eyes. Both Helen and her kennel mate, Sweetie, are recovering beautifully from their spay surgery.

Snowflake

     And for all of you who continue to inquire about little old granny dog, Snowflake, she is just as sweet as ever and continues to be in good health. As before, Snow requires a lot of special care and attention.

Freckles

     Freckles, our newest arrival (who is blind and pregnant) is doing okay, tho she continues to walk in circles most of the time. She is a sweet little dog and loves rawhide chew bones. I gave her a big bone yesterday, and she had fun tossing it in the air and then sniffing around to find it. Suddenly she became very protective of her new bone, and after she tossed it, she pounced on it and growled as she "looked" all around with her two front paws on top of her prized possession (warning any would-be thieves not to attempt to steal her bone).

     We have soft sheets in her dog house now, in preparation for the birth of her babies, which may arrive sometime within the next few weeks. (I'm thinking just from looking at her that it could be any day now.)

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9 2002

Helen goes to the eye specialist, along with Julie who was scheduled for her regular checkup

     Today was Julie's scheduled appointment to see the eye specialist in Arlington, Texas for a checkup, and when Helen (the thought-to-be-blind and deaf Great Dane pup) joined our Happy Home for Strays just a little over two weeks ago, I scheduled an appointment for her this morning too. (We wanted to take both dogs together as it's a 90-mile trip one way.)

     We had been told by the person who rescued Helen that Helen was blind and deaf. We know for sure that Helen is deaf, and from the moment she arrived, she did appear to be blind--she doesn't recognize you, and she'll often look in the wrong direction when you're standing right in front of her. What has amazed us from the beginning is that Helen could (and still can) get around so well. She has never bumped into anything here, and she tussles with her little kennel mate, Sweetie, and they chase each other around and around their kennel. Helen never bumps into their shelter or their fence. Little Sweetie figured out Helen's handicap right away, of course, and takes advantage of Helen by hiding around a corner of their shelter as Helen flies by in hot pursuit only to wind up at a loss, after which she has to sniff around till she finds Sweetie. Thus Helen appears to be blind.

     Just recently we became aware that Helen can see light because at night when we turn on the outside light to check on her, if she's out of her shelter, she will look up at the house when the light goes on.

     We've started to figure that the trees in our big dog play yard must look like shadowy blobs to Helen, which would explain how she misses them when she's running around playing, but she can not see her small, 28-pound play mate, Puppy Sweetie, when the two of them chase each other in the big yard. Maybe it's because Sweetie is so low to the ground and moves too fast for Helen to have time to focus in on her little body as Sweetie flies past Helen and zig-zags till Helen loses Sweetie. Helen always does eventually find Sweetie, however, by sniffing all around till she captures Sweetie's scent.

     This morning Bill and I (with Helen and Julie) left at 6:30 a.m. (still totally dark outside) in order to arrive at the specialist's clinic by 8:00, and as we drove along the highway in the dark, Helen sat in the back of the van with me and "looked" out the window turning her head to follow the headlights of the other cars on the road.

Helen's examination

     When we arrived at the clinic, we took Helen in to see the doctor first. By now it was light outside, of course, and the early morning air was still a pleasant temperature, so we left Julie in the van with all the windows open.

     The vet techs came in to do some preliminary tests on Helen's eyes to have those results ready by the time the doctor came in to see Helen. (Helen was very well behaved during the entire visit.)

     Soon Dr. Paulsen came into the room and examined Helen's eyes thoroughly.

     After his examination the doctor said that Helen can see a little bit. He went into lengthy explanation of what the problems were with Helen's eyes. Mainly Helen's semi-blindness is caused by congenital defects. Her cornea surface is flatter than normal, and her globes are smaller than normal, and the doctor said something about how her lenses are not in the proper places and that her irises are also affected. The doctor also said that there are no surgeries or therapies that would help Helen. Her vision is more functional in the left eye, the doctor added, and that since she gets around so well, there is really is nothing to worry about. We agree. And now at least we know nothing can be done for her, and we needed to find this out.

     Bill took Helen outside to walk around while Julie had her routine checkup, which was just fine, and then home we came.

People coming to see Helen

     This Wednesday we may have a couple come to look at Helen--possibly to adopt her. We'll keep you posted.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 10 2002

BARKING ALERT: Unauthorized "being" on the Straydog property!

     When this dog barking alarm went off (with all the dogs joining in) at 3:00 this morning, I was sure there was a prowler somewhere on the shelter property. From the sound of this barking alert, whoever was prowling around was very, very close to, or inside of, the front end (the north side) of the shelter fence. I could tell because of the direction all the dogs were looking and jumping at their kennel fences. They were all going crazy!

     I armed myself with the big spotlight and two leashes, figuring the "prowlers" could be a pair of dogs who had dug out of their kennels and were headed toward the big play yard, or maybe there was a stray dog or pup wandering around outside the front gate, or worse yet, maybe there was a human prowler fixing to come in the front gate!

     The portable spot light is really bright, and it can light the place up for miles, it seems. It was sort of a scary feeling as I made my way through the darkness, armed with only the flashlight and two leashes. I slowly walked to the front (north side) of the shelter, shining the light back and forth along the rows of dog kennels to make sure all the fellas were still inside their kennels, not knowing what I'd run into. I finally reached the chain link security gate which is several feet inside the wooden fence that surrounds our shelter, and as I slowly made the sweep of the light over the grassy lawn just inside the wood gate I spotted the prowler: A tiny little bunny! This little baby rabbit was totally ignoring the warning barks from all the dogs as he/she nibbled on the grassy lawn. So it was this tiny little critter that was the cause of all the commotion!

     I walked toward the little rabbit trying to head him toward the wood gate. My plan was to open the gate and shoo the rabbit out. Our early morning employee Tina arrived just then and as she opened the gate the rabbit headed toward it, now fully aware of all the dogs barking, and out he went! The disappearance of that fellow brought about Instant quiet!

     That's about the only excitement of the day.

Other new arrivals are doing fine

     Freckles is doing fine. She loves attention, sweet little blind dog, and we try to visit with her as often as we can throughout the day.

     Helen and her little seeing-eye buddy, Sweetie, are playful as ever.

     Kalli and Dallas are getting along okay. Dallas doesn't play with Kalli but at least they both are friendly with each other.

     Little Max was brushed again today and his long thick fur is very pretty. The "girls" are being nice to him so he is happy.

     All others are fine too.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2002

Still working on next newsletter to mail out ASAP

     Bill and I have had so many interruptions while trying to finish this newsletter we're beginning to wonder if we'll ever get it finished, but we're trying! And Bill's working at his regular job in Houston again this week, and that slows us down also.

The couple who were coming this morning to see Helen canceled

     They may call us again to reschedule the visit for this coming weekend.

Nina comes to visit our shelter

     Nina is a wonderful person! She has been a volunteer "doggie sitter" for quite some time, helping us on our Saturday Adoption Days in Dallas, and during the several occasions she took care of our beautiful Foxhound named Beauty, Nina became very attached to this special dog and finally adopted her, bringing Beauty into Nina's household to become a very important part of their family.

     This afternoon Nina showed me several photos of Beauty lounging around the house on the couch and on the dog beds, and there were several photos of Beauty with Nina's other dog. What a very, pampered house pet Beauty is now!

     [Beauty came to us with several health problems, the major one being a severely infected eye due to some sort of puncture wound. We lost the battle to save the sight in that eye, and Beauty had to have surgery to have the eye removed. After recovering from surgery Beauty was successfully treated for heartworm disease.]

     I never had the opportunity to actually meet Nina until today, and it was wonderful to finally meet her. (Our many special needs dogs have kept me so busy at our shelter for the past year I haven't been able to get away for more than just a few hours at a time.)

     This afternoon Nina came to visit our Happy Home for Strays and I took her on the tour of our shelter. Nina stopped to talk with all the dogs as they excitedly greeted her while we stopped at each kennel. Helen was asleep, so, of course, she didn't even realize there was "action" going on (because she is deaf and didn't wake up), but Nina saw Helen snoozing in her big, sandy scoopy hole beneath the shade of their porch top.

     I'm so glad that Nina came to see us. She likes our Happy Home for Strays and what we're doing to help so many dogs and pups, and she was happy to meet all the furry fellas at our shelter. I think she probably would have taken two more of these happy-go-lucky dogs home with her if she didn't have two dogs at home already.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12 2002

Kalli to be spayed today, and Jed and Max have their stitches removed

     This will be another busy day at the vets with Kalli, Jed and Little Max. The trip shouldn't take too long tho, just to have stitches removed from Jed and Little Max, and to drop off Kalli to be spayed.

Helen and Sweetie at playtime in the park

     At 6:00 every evening I go outside [there are no employees after 5:30 p.m.] to take Julie her meal and insulin. After Julie and her kennel mate, Jed, are cared for, the next fellas on my list to take care of are Helen and Sweetie for their final playtime in the park. Helen is a big pup (nearly 100 pounds), and she needs lots of room to really run!

     What is so interesting is the way Sweetie looks after (or takes care of) her big friend now. The last few evenings when I've taken Helen and her seeing-eye buddy, Little Sweetie, to the park for their playtime, I noticed how differently Sweetie reacts toward Helen when Helen can't find her. (Sweetie used to take off running away from Helen to play and sniff around on her own, but now she is concerned about Helen not being able to find her.)

     Once I get the two pups to the play yard and unleash them, Helen instantly tries to find Sweetie to start playing. Although Sweetie is always right beside Helen as I unleash the two, Helen is so excited about playing in the big yard she takes off running to try and find her little friend in her world of light and shadows. Helen runs, then stops and turns and sniffs and takes off in another direction doing the same thing the same thing over and over again until she finally meets up with Sweetie.)

Sweetie stays by her friend

     Recently Sweetie has noticed that Helen can't find her, and instead of Sweetie going her own way to play and sniff, little Sweetie immediately races after her friend to catch up to her, and Sweetie runs right along beside Helen (as if to say "I'm here, I'm here!) until Helen senses that she's there, and then the tussling begins! It's really beautiful to watch how Sweetie "takes care" of her big, gentle Giant best friend.

     We originally thought that Sweetie would grow to become a big dog, maybe reaching 70 pounds, or so. But during the last visit to the vet clinic with her, the doctor said he thinks she won't get much bigger, and will probably stay near the 30 pounds that she is at right now. Helen, on the other hand, will continue to grow a bit more!

     WE HAVE MANY WONDERFUL DOGS FOR ADOPTION. If you are looking for a special furry friend, please see our Dogs for Adoption Page.

     And all of the dogs and pups mentioned in our daily updates are always available for adoption too!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13 2002

EARLY MORNING UPDATE

Kalli is doing fine; Julie goes for all day glucose curve

     Sorry I didn't get yesterday's late update on last night. I couldn't get online to send my email to Bill due to an overload of people online through our Internet Service Provider, I guess.

     This morning I had Julie at the vet clinic at 6:00 a.m. for the first of her many blood tests, which will be taken every two hours, until 4:00 p.m., so the doctor can check her blood sugar level throughout the day. We need to do these glucose curves periodically to keep a close check on the amount of insulin we give Julie to control her blood-sugar level because of her diabetes.

     I'll pick Julie up at 4:00 today, and I'll pick up Kalli then too. Kalli had her spay surgery yesterday and stayed the day at the clinic resting quietly. She is doing just fine the doctor said.

Little Freckles hasn't had her babies yet [as of this early morning update]

     I just came in from visiting with Freckles, the small, blind, pregnant dog who was brought to our shelter Sunday before last. It is so sad to see her walking around and around in the little "protective circles" she makes for herself. It's really heartbreaking to see her do this. She sometimes makes bigger circle-walks, and occasionally she will walk cautiously to us in a fairly straight line, but most often we find her pacing in the little circles.

     She definitely needs a dog friend for a playmate, but putting a dog with her for a companion at this time isn't a good idea since she will be having her babies soon. She recently growled a few times at her neighbors, Helen and Sweetie, when they bumped the adjoining fence as the two pups were tussling around, and I think, because Freckles cannot see, she is acting in a protective "motherly" manner due to the imminent birth of her puppies. What will be perfect for Freckles, tho, is to have one of her pups remain with her, until the day Freckles is adopted. This will give her a perfect puppy companion! And it won't be long before she has her babies to keep her happy.

Plans so far for Saturday Adoption Day

     Tomorrow for Saturday Adoption Day will will be at Canine Commissary at Lower Greenville in Dallas.

     If we have enough dog sitting volunteers, we will be taking new arrival Sheltie, Little Max, eight-month-old Black Lab, Amber, and small Shepherd mix, Melissa. If we have more volunteers, more dogs will be able to make the trip.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE

Freckles is having her babies at the "maternity ward" at our vet clinic!

     Late this morning, during the hecticness of Mowing Day, Freckles went into labor.

     I'd noticed that Freckles had been acting just a little bit unusual for the last two days, so I've kept a really close watch on her. (Her kennel is right beside our house.) Today was mowing day, and we didn't want Freckles to become alarmed by the lawn man, Mike, when Mike went in to trim the grassy area in Freckles' kennel, so Guy went in to hold Freckles close to him to keep her calm. I was watching out the window and almost took a picture of how happy Freckles appeared to be as she was lying beside Guy with her head on his lap as he pet her.

     Suddenly Guy called to me saying he thought Freckles was in labor. Randy and I went to check on her, and she definitely appeared to be about to have her first baby. Because of the birth defect that caused her to be born blind, I worried about Freckles possibly having other problems inside her body that may cause difficulty with the delivery of her babies, and I didn't want to take the chance of Freckles having a difficult birth over the weekend when the clinic would be closed, so I called the doctor.

     He wanted me to bring her right in. The birth of the pups was coming sooner than he'd expected, and he wanted to take x-rays to see how many pups she had. Within minutes we had Freckles in the traveling crate, and I arrived at the clinic 20 minutes later.

     The x-ray showed four, possibly five, babies and the doctor was concerned because the pups were so big, and he was worried about the first little puppy, who seemed to be struggling to be born. He suggested I leave Freckles in their care and told me to call back later to see how she was doing, and he immediately began to tend to Freckles.

     Since we were so short-handed, again, at the shelter I was needed to help out, so I left Freckles, hoping she'd have her little pups with no problems.

Freckles delivered four puppies--with one more yet to come

     When I called the clinic later, the doctor said that Freckles had had four puppies so far and that one of them was having trouble breathing so they were giving the pup oxygen. The other three babies appeared to be fine, and Freckles was being a wonderful mother. The doctor added that all the vet techs were in the "birthing room" (as they called it now, because of Freckles he said) to be on hand if Freckles needed any help. Thank goodness Dr. Morton was right there too!

"Baby Sunshine" doesn't make it

     When I called again, I was given the sad news that the baby who had been having trouble breathing, little "Baby Sunshine" (as I've named her), did not make it. The baby's lungs just weren't strong enough the doctor said. [When Pat told me (Bill) this on the phone, she began to cry, and then I began to cry, and we didn't speak for a few moments. ... ]

     The doctor reported that the other three seemed to be healthy little kids, and he suggested I come for Freckles and her three babies at 4:00 when I was scheduled to come to pick up Julie (after her full day of blood tests to check her blood sugar level) and Kalli (who was ready to come home from yesterday's spay surgery). Maybe, the doctor added, the fifth little tyke will be born by then.

The whole bunch of doggies and newborn pups come home

     By 4:00 I was at the clinic, and I saw the proud, happy mommy and her three little babies. The fifth pup just wasn't ready to be born yet the doctor said, adding that sometimes it takes a while, and he felt I could watch over her better during the weekend and to call him if there were any problems.

     Julie was also ready to come home, and we have to make another adjustment in her insulin.

     Kalli is doing beautifully from her spay surgery and home she came too.

Some mighty fast rearranging goes on for Freckles and the babies

     After getting Julie and Kalli settled in their kennels, our caregivers, Rhonda, Brooke and Angel--and I--had to do some fast rearranging of the kennels inside the house. Freckles and her kids could take over Snowflake's very big kitchen kennel, and Snow could use her back-up kennel. (Snow is very flexible!)

     So now it is 8:00 p.m. and Freckles is curled up in the big kennel in the kitchen, sound asleep on her soft blankets with her babies snuggled up close to her tummy. It's amazing to watch this small blind mother dog gently nudge her newborn babies up close to her tummy so she can nurse them, and when she wants to change positions she is very careful as she moves around.

     What a good mommy!

     As most of you know, we're not in the habit of having mother dogs give birth to their puppies at Straydog. In fact this is the first litter born here. As you also know, we are constantly preaching and will continue to constantly preach spay and neuter--conception control--to stop poor dogs like Freckles from becoming pregnant. But Lucy and Louie and their two chocolate brothers are tiny dogs now with very special needs, and when we made the commitment to provide a home for their blind mother,Freckles, two weeks ago, we made the same commitment to her babies: a home and good care until they are adopted.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14 2002

Freckles gets settled in

     I didn't get to bed until after 8:00 last night because of having to take the time to "block off" the area around the kitchen kennel where Freckles will be staying with her babies for a while. The house dogs, Toby and Blackie, are very friendly fellows and have always welcomed every dog who has been in the house recovering from something. We placed recovery kennels in the kitchen and living room (and bedroom) for various dogs over the past year.

     Toby often sleeps right beside the "recovery kennels" to keep the recovering dogs company. But Freckles is different. Because she is blind, she can't see Toby and Blackie when they pass by her kennel in the kitchen to go outside or when they just pass the kennel on their way to or from the living room, and Freckles doesn't know that they cannot get near her babies, so she becomes frightened, especially now that she is a mother, and at first when Toby or Blackie would pass by, Freckles would jump up growling her deep "keep away" growl in their direction.

     This new little mother dog doesn't need any stress in her life right now, so to give sightless Freckles peace of mind, I blocked off her kennel with chairs and boxes and anything else I could find to keep Toby and Blackie from getting too close to her kennel. This house looks like a cyclone has blown through! But Freckles is relaxed and content now, and this is really all that matters.

Doctor's instructions when I picked up Freckles and her family

     When I went to pick up Freckles and her babies from the clinic yesterday afternoon, the doctor told me Freckles would probably have her last baby sometime in the late afternoon, or night, and he was right!

     Yesterday evening while I was blocking off her kennel, I kept a close eye on Freckles, and I could tell she seemed concerned about the arrival of the last puppy. (I was also very concerned!) I carried Freckles outside to go potty at 8:00, and when I put her in her outside kennel, she began circling nervously, most likely worrying about having left her babies for the first time, but I petted her a lot to calm her down, and she finally took care of her business, and I carried her right back in to her family. Freckles is afraid of leashes, even soft cloth leashes, so we continue to carry her for now. We will work on leash training later.

     Throughout the night every time I heard a puppy squeal, I rushed to the kitchen and turned on the light to see if Freckles needed help, hoping that the last little puppy had been born, but no pup. What I did learn is that every time Freckles changes positions as she cares for her family, the puppies squeal their displeasure at having lost their "food supply" temporarily, till Mom gets settled down again. It was about 10:30 when I made the last Freckles check, and from then until 2:00 a.m. all was quiet.

Freckles had her last baby sometime in the night

     At two a.m. when I got up, the first thing I did, of course, when I came to the kitchen, was to check on Freckles, and there was the new arrival, another little white puppy! Whew! Born with no problems, thank goodness! Now we have two white pups, and two brown fellows. [There are many, many pictures of Freckles and her little ones to come, but Bill's working in Houston, and I can't find the paper Bill wrote out for me showing me how to load the photos on our website for Bill to pull off, process and use here, so there may be some delays in photos.]

     The doctor called at 6:00 this morning to see how Freckles was doing, and I gave him the good news: the last puppy arrived and he/she appears to be just fine. The doctor was relieved too, and then he told me he'd be out for the day, so he was glad all was okay here. I wished him a happy day and assured him all was fine here--which I never should have done!

The day begins to go sour

     At 8:00 this morning I was rushing around trying to get the adoption folders in order for the five dogs scheduled to go for Adoption Day: Dobie, Millie, Melissa, Amber and new arrival, Little Max. While I was sitting at the desk, I heard the little throaty sound coming from one of the house dogs, indicating he/she was about to throw up. It was Snowflake, and she did throw up. She hadn't eaten her breakfast this morning, and that (along with the getting sick to her stomach) indicated she was not feeling well. I picked her up and took her outside for a little while, came in, changed her bedding and gave her a natural tummy relaxer.

     By 8:30 Guy was here ready to harness up the dogs going to Adoption Day, and he came in for all the five small bags containing the harnesses, leashes and collars for these five fellows. A few minutes later Guy radioed me in a panicked voice to come quick, Dobie was bleeding profusely from the mouth. Dobie and his buddy and kennel mate, Millie, were so excited about going to our adoption day that when Tina went in their kennel to harness both dogs for the trip, Millie playfully pounced on Dobie, and somehow Dobie ended up bleeding like crazy!

     Blood was everywhere and someone seemed to think there was a puncture wound to the roof of his mouth, while someone else thought he had bit off a piece of his tongue! We poured water into his mouth trying to clear the blood away to find the "hole," but we couldn't see any puncture wound anywhere!

     This was terrible. Dobie was supposed to go to Adoption Day, all the other dogs were in the van waiting, and Guy (Assistant Kennel Manager and Adoption Day Driver) was being held up because of trying to help Dobie. So I sent Guy on his way, minus one dog, and I ran to the house to call our vet, and, of course, I couldn't reach him! I had told him all was fine here, have a nice day!

     I called another vet (in the yellow pages), whose office was about a 35-minute drive away, and they said they'd be glad to see us right away. Employee Bobby drove us in his car while I sat in the back seat with Dobie, who was bleeding so badly I had to take off my shirt-jacket and hold it loosely around his mouth. I tried feeling the roof of his mouth and his gums and teeth to see if I could apply pressure to any open wound, but I couldn't find any spot where the blood was coming from. (I know this sounds gross, but blood was literally pouring out of his mouth!)

     Five minutes before we arrived at the clinic, the bleeding stopped! When we went in to see the doctor, she could not find any open wound in his mouth either. I said that maybe with a flashlight she could see the better, so to make me feel better the doctor got a flashlight and looked with that too, but none of us could see a wound. She said Millie must have punctured a soft pallet [I think she said it was called] but that it was healed now because the bleeding had stopped. The doctor assured me there was nothing at all to worry about. Dobie was fine.

No Charge for this emergency visit!

     I went to the front desk to pay the bill, probably $65.00, I thought, due to the "emergency" visit, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing when the receptionist said there was "No Charge for the doctor's services." This vet also has emergency after hours service, which was very good news to hear for possible future emergencies.

     So home we came, Dobie missing his chances at Adoption Day, but at least he is okay!

Report from Dallas: No dogs adopted

     No dogs adopted again today. Geesh! We go through such a hassle to try hard to find them good homes and nothing, over and over again. It gets to be depressing. ... I forgot we did adopt out Daniel, the chocolate lab, last Saturday, so maybe we're making some progress.

Just another very busy day!

     Tomorrow a couple is (or says they will be) coming to see Helen.

     Freckles and her babies are just fine.

     Snowflake is resting comfortably. She will probably feel better tomorrow.

     It's time for me to give Julie her insulin, then take Helen and her pal, Sweetie, to the park for their last playtime of the day, and then I'm going to bed to get some rest to be ready for whatever tomorrow brings.