Straydog UPDATE posted SUNDAY 10/19/03 at ~8:00 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19 2003

Erin emails to me a phone-in report from Chubs and Cassie's new dad

     I just talked to Charlie (Chubs and Cassie's new dad) asking for an update on Chubs and Cassie. He's "sorry to say" the dogs are staying there, forever!

     "Right now Milo and Chubs are playing tug of war with a toy, in the house, dragging each other around," Charlie said, and he went on to tell me all kinds of new things the pups are doing.

     Chubs swims across the width of the pond, and gets out on the other bank and then wades back in and swims back. Every day the dogs get to run and swim.

     Chubs also knows his way around the house. He can walk from the kitchen, through the laundry room, through the breezeway, which leads to the garage, and then into the workshop. Chubs does this without bumping into anything!

     There is no change in appetite. They're both "little pigs." Sometimes Cassie stops eating to see if everyone else is still eating and to check everything out. Cassie is a little apprehensive when she hears different or strange noises, especially if they are loud noises, but "Chubs is dupe-de-do," said Charlie. "He's not afraid of anything!"

     Cassie and Milo run around the house and pond a lot. Chubs is learning to relax. He'll take naps and not worry about where anyone else is. "He really loves me too," Charlie said. "He walks right next to me all the time, knowing that he won't run into anything if I am near."

     Feeding the horses is a fun time. All the dogs come out to the gate and sit waiting for Charlie to feed the horses and come back. As they approach the gate Charlie tells Chubs, "Eeeeeeeeeeasy", and then when they get to the gate, "HALT." After the first time Chubbie really learned what that meant, and he knows these directions and commands now.

     All five dogs are getting along fine together. At first Summer didn't like that Chubs just bumped right into her. She didn't realize Chubs was blind, so she growled at him when he bumped into her. But now Chubs smells her and doesn't bump her by accident.

     The cats and the dogs get along fine too. Cassie especially likes the inside cat. Chubbie doesn't pay much attention to the cats.

     Chubs is also turning into a good watch dog. When people come over and Chubbie begins to hear their voices, he barks!

     Chubs and Cassie both follow Charlie around all day every day. As Charlie was talking to me on the phone, he said Cassie was sitting on one foot and Chubs was leaning against the other leg.

     Cassie doesn't want to come home to Straydog. When Jana put on her shoes with bells to work with Chubs the other night (as she had worked with these shoes with Chubs at Straydog), Cassie went over to Charlie and backed away from Jana, as if to say, "I want to stay here, please."

     What a difference a forever home makes in a dog's life.

     What a difference forever dogs make in our lives.