Straydog UPDATE posted FRIDAY 6/6/03 at ~10:17 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

FRIDAY JUNE 6 2003

Bad news about Lassie's blood test results

     Dr. Morton says that the blood test indicates a pancreatic tumor. Lassie has very low blood sugar, and we are to give her some honey at the end of each day. Other than that we are to just watch her closely and see how things progress. We'll also be looking into possible diet changes to enhance Lassie's chances of survival. Dr. Morton said that if it is indeed a pancreatic tumor, she has only about a year. (At least Pat has been spared this bad news.)

Tinkerbell and Megan go to the park for their second outing

     Today it was sunny and nice outside, so I got some photos of these two in the big play yard, which I'll post here as soon as possible. These two pups had a great time running around, playing with toys, and they even had a tuggy battle with one of the rope toys. They'll both be going to Adoption Day (along with several other puppies) tomorrow at the PetsMart store on Central Expressway at Parker Road in Plano, Texas.

Everything has pretty much gone according to routine today

     My children and I along with volunteer, Shannon Schwartz, are splitting up Pat's indoor duties (along with visiting with the dogs as much as possible right now), and we can't believe how much she had to do every day and how much she actually did do every day.

     Our kennel crew/caregiving team members, lead by our General Manager, Guy Lucas, are doing a wonderful job outside with the dogs. They are all doing their best to follow all the methods and procedures that Pat had put into place over the years, and I'm sure they all miss hearing Pat's voice over the walkie-talkie system reminding them of things like not leaving any kibbles that might have dropped on the ground after feeding times, which tiny pieces of food could (and have) caused minor "altercations" between kennel mates. All of our team members seem to be extra conscientious about everything they do, and I thank them very, very much.

Our newsletter is on press

     Not only is my former employer, Merrill Corporation, donating the printing, but a mail house in Dallas, Mail Max, is going to do the mailing for us, which will save us a lot of time stuffing, licking, sticking and stamping, and we thank both companies for helping us out.

How am I doing?

     I've been getting a lot of calls and messages asking me this question, and I appreciate very much everyone's concern. I still can't believe all this has happened and that Pat is gone, but I am keeping so busy trying to continue her work that usually I don't have time to think about what has happened. When I happen to be left alone in the house, I may kind of lose it for a few moments, but then someone comes in or calls and I'm back to work.