Straydog UPDATE posted TUESDAY 2/11/03 at ~9:21 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 11 2003

Pixie goes on her home visit

      This was Basenji mix Pixie's Big Day. She went on her home visit to meet her (hopefully) two new dog friends (one of whom looks just like Pixie) and two cats. All of us were praying that things would go perfectly for her chance to be adopted by this wonderful couple, Margaret (who had come to our shelter Saturday to see Pixie and Muffin) and her husband.

      Guy and I planned to leave about 7:30 this morning, and while I gathered up a small sample of Pixie's food and Pixie's health form from our vet, Guy took out a pretty red harness, leash and a new red collar with Pixie's tag on it. Guy brushed Pixie with a damp towel to try and get some of the sand off her pretty fur and then put her in the traveling crate in the dog van, and we were off. It took about two hours to get to Allen, Texas (due to a lot of traffic).

The introduction of the dogs

      A good way to introduce new dogs to each other is to walk them together. Guy took Pixie on her leash, Margaret had her "look alike" black and white fellow, Buddy, on his leash, and I took the adorable, tiny, jumpy little dog on his leash. We walked them along the front sidewalk together. All went just great. The dogs had a chance to sniff each other in neutral territory, the jumpy excited little fellow calmed down a bit, and Pixie and Buddy got along beautifully. It was amazing how these two dogs look so much alike!

      Next we took the dogs to the couple's back yard, enclosed by a secure privacy fence. There's a beautiful swimming pool, which Pixie will LOVE, as she loves to play in water. Pixie walked all around the yard to check things out while her new dog friends followed her, checking her out. All went just fine!

Next was the cat test

      After Pixie passed the back yard test, we took the dogs inside the house for Pixie to meet the two family cats. One big cat was sitting on a living room chair watching the dogs as they came into the room. Pixie saw the cat from several feet away, but totally ignored it. Guy and I walked to the cat chair and called Pixie to come to us, and again she totally ignored the cat. We all felt comfortable to let Pix off her leash to wander around with the other dogs, and when Buddy went running upstairs, Pixie immediately followed along with the tiny fellow (I can't remember his name) bringing up the rear. The second cat was hiding beneath a bed (I think), but Pixie wasn't even interested in trying to sniff the cat out.

      Pixie was having a good time investigating her new home, and once downstairs again we all agreed that Pixie would fit into the family household just perfectly. While the mom and I went over Pixie's health records, I noticed one of the black and white fellas give a sniffy kiss to the family cat, who was still sitting on the chair. I thought, how cute, thinking it was Buddy kissing his cat friend, but when I looked down at the dog I was petting (thinking all the while I had been petting Pixie), I realized that I was petting Buddy and the dog who had just kissed the cat was Pixie!

      This is so wonderful for Pixie. She will be sooooooooo happy with her new family! She has a wonderful new mom and dad, new doggie friends, and she gets along with the cats. And now she even has a big-people-size swimming pool for splashing around fun! How perfect a life she will have!

      Guy and I left Pixie with her new family and made the long drive back to the shelter. As soon as I arrived, I checked messages and then called our vet to see how Betsy and Davey were doing.

Davey is doing better

      Dr. Morton told me that he had increased the dosage of one of the medications for Davey and had seen improvement in him this morning. He also started the big fellow on two more medications and said if Davey's diarrhea problem continues to improve, Davey will be able to come home tomorrow. This medication may, however, be just a short-term fix for Davey, the doctor added. This medication is not a cure for Davey. It's controlling a problem, and when the problem gets worse again, we will have to up the dosage. This is all we can do for Davey in addition to trying to get him to eat more whole cereal grains and vegetables. Other than Davey's severe diarrhea (which is getting better), he is full of life.

Betsy is doing okay too

      Dr. Morton said Betsy is recovering well from the second surgery, and this time he has a brace on her leg. Of course it's too soon for her to come home. We'll take it one day at a time to see how well she can get around, Dr. Morton said, and hopefully by this Friday, or next Monday, she will be able to come home.