w w w . S t r a y d o g. o r g U p d a t e
POSTED EVERY DAY AT NOON CENTRAL TIME U.S.A.
Straydog Inc., The Late Pat Arnold's Happy Home for Strays, a No-Kill Dog Shelter
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147 * (903) 479-3497 * EMAIL: straydog@straydog.org

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

FRIDAY JUNE 4 2004

NOON UPDATE

Erin reports ...

Thelma has been picked up and is now at Pat Seward's home

     Volunteer Pat Seward called me (Erin) last night saying she had sweet Thelma in the front seat of her car and was driving back home.

     I called Pat back at 9:00 p.m. when I finished teaching, and Thelma was racing around Pat's large yard, chasing June Bugs, resting in the grass and "There she goes again," Pat would say, watching beautiful Thelma run full speed! "She's drop-dead gorgeous," Pat said. "I'm concerned, though, that Thelma may have a bladder infection," Pat said. "I'll check her in the morning and see if I can't get a urine sample up to our vet right away."

     We are to talk this morning and see if Pat wants to keep Thelma until Saturday Adoption Day, or if I should bring Thelma back to the shelter today! Pat may have an email coming this morning with more stories about Thelma's visit with the Sewards last night too!

 

Bill reports ...

We just got Pat Seward's email a little after eleven o'clock

From: Pat Seward
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 12:09:08 EDT
Subject: Thelma's Night at the Sewards
To: straydog@straydog.org

Hi, Bill - Erin asked that I write up a note about Thelma's experience at our home.  What a wonderful, sweet dog Thelma is.  By the way, I captured some of her urine this morning and did not see any blood, and it looked fine.  Maybe young pups like to try to urinate a lot.  Thanks for all the hard work you do.   
 
Here's what happened last night and so far this morning
 
Russell (Thelma's adopter) and I agreed to meet at the PetsMart in McKinney in order for him to return Thelma to Straydog.  Thelma rode in my lap all the way back to my home in Frisco.  We have three dogs ourselves, so we introduced them one at a time to Thelma in the front yard.  All my dogs liked the little black fuzzy pup, but Bella, my Great Pyrenees liked her the most and is the most curious about Thelma.  You know, when we have dogs up at PetsMart on Adoption Days, it's hard to tell what kind of a personality they have because of the stress of the 90-minute ride from Straydog's facility, people passing by with their barking dogs in the store, and many other distractions.  But last evening when we put Thelma in our backyard (by herself), you should have seen the way she transformed into a happy puppy without a care in the world.  She tore off running around and around with a squeaky zebra toy and was having the time of her life.  Watching her playing and chasing butterflies and bugs, you couldn't help but get that warm fuzzy feeling because she was so happy and content, but on the other hand there was a sad feeling because you wished all dogs could have a life like the one Thelma was experiencing at the moment.  After seeing her in our backyard, I was thankful that Russell realized that having Thelma in an apartment was not the right choice for her, keeping her always on a leash when going outside, with her not being able to run full speed in a yard.  Thelma has such a wonderful disposition and is so sweet and wants to be wherever you are (she sat underneath my vanity this morning and "helped" me put on my makeup). After having Thelma as a house guest last night, trust me when I say she will adapt very quickly in any loving home and will bring untold joy to the family who adopts her. 

We've found a new groomer who'll groom a dog for $15, and she's doing a good job on initial haircuts

     As the weather gets hotter, we're getting the long-haired dogs short haircuts first and then we'll get to grooming the shorter-haired dogs.

Jasmine, after her haircut

Jesse, after his summer haircut

Our caregiver, Bobby, took four of Angie's pups home to foster

     After just a couple of days (and nights) with the little, squealy cuties, Bobby's wife made him bring the pups to Straydog, where we'll care for them till they're adopted. Even people who work with dogs all the time often have no idea how much work a litter of puppies can be and how much sleep is lost caring for them--especially when separated from their mother at less than seven weeks old.

The first two come out of the travel crate.

I promised more photos in yesterday's update, and with the help of Juana's 16-year-old son, Roberto, we got 31 new photos processed

     Roberto's a very fast learner and is already more computer literate than I, so he picked up on the photo processing program really quickly. I processed the first four or five photos as I showed Roberto how the program works, and he did the rest, and here are some of them:

Fritz, just home from the groomer

Click here to see more just processed photos