Straydog UPDATE posted TUESDAY 1/14/03 at ~10:04 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

TUESDAY JANUARY 14 2003

Good news and not so good news:

Davey came home and is doing fine

     The Good news is that Davey is here with us now, and he is a sweetheart! Guy and I picked him up at the vet clinic this morning. Davey had a good bath yesterday, and his once filthy white fur is shiny and clean and white now, and he smells sooooooo good! [Any photos that Bill may add tonight will have been taken before Davey's bath.] Davey greeted us nicely and rubbed against Guy's legs as Guy walked him around to go potty before the trip home, and we petted him and talked to him so he would feel comfortable with us.

     All went very well, and we walked Davey to the van, which had the side doors already open, with hopes the big fellow would just happily jump into the van for the ride home. But no! As we got right up to the van, Davey stopped and backed up not wanting to get in. I climbed inside and tried to call him to me, and Guy gently lifted his chest, trying to coax Davey to jump in, which brought forth a deep, low, warning sound from Davey, letting us know we'd just better stop right there! It could be the height of the van that troubled Davey, since he had ridden alright with Sara in their car, but whatever his reason was, we had to get him inside, so the vet tech brought us a muzzle, and on went the muzzle, and in went Davey. Once inside, he was immediately alright, and we took the muzzle off.

     The ride home was fine. Davey was not in a crate. He rode "loose" in the back of the van with Guy, and all went very smoothly. Davey seemed to love the ride and all the attention from this nice person who hugged and petted him all the way to his new home here with us.

     Once home we took him to his kennel, and he walked around checking things out, had a nice long drink and looked in his shelter at his hay-filled sleeping quarters. Everything seems to suit him just fine.

     Our house dogs Toby and Blackie were both out in their yard, which shares a common fence with Davey's kennel, and Davey saw Toby and Blackie but showed no interest in them, which is good.

     He ate a good meal and had his medication and has enjoyed watching all the goings-on with his new furry friends in the kennels nearby his. All is well.

More good news:

Dallas is doing better every day

     We received a message from the mom and dad who adopted Dallas saying "Dallas is a Honey Bunny!" and all is fine. Dallas is adjusting to his new home quite well, and he and his dog companion, Maggie, are accepting each other and are becoming friendlier to each other every day.

Some bad news:

Heather has heart worms

     While we were at the clinic to pick up Davey, we also visited with Heather for a few minutes. Heather is the stray we found at the entrance to our driveway yesterday, and she had her checkup and was spayed early this morning. While we were there talking to the doctor, we received the bad news. The results of blood work sent to the lab came back showing Heather has heartworms. This is not very good news at all for this beautiful young dog, but after she recovers completely from the spay surgery and is back on her feet and feeling good and strong, we will begin the heartworm treatment.

Other Bad News is that Millie is bring returned

     Millie also went to her new home last Saturday, three days ago, and the mom called today to say that she was with Millie all weekend and all had gone well. Today the mom called saying that while she was at work for four hours this morning, she had left Millie loose in the house, and when she went home at noon to check on Millie, the mom discovered that Millie had torn up many things in the house and left it in pretty much of a shambles. Then when the mom put Millie outside for a little while, Millie dug out of the secure fenced yard, but luckily Millie showed up at the front door a short while later.

     I explained that training could help Millie with this "separation anxiety," but the mom thinks maybe Millie would like to be outside more, and she can't leave Millie alone in the yard due to her digging out. Even tho the yard has a very secure fence, digging beneath the fence is a big problem. Securing the fence baseline by various methods can stop a dog from digging out, but the mom doesn't want to take any chance of Millie getting out and getting hurt. So Millie is coming back.

Update on puppies, puppies puppies

     Brigitte, Gidget and Justin, the six-month-old pups, are looking better each day. (These are the fellas who had nearly starved to death and had almost no fur due to mange when we rescued them from an abandoned trailer across and up the road from us.) They have fat little tummies now, and their fur is growing back. They are happy, healthy little pups now, and very affectionate.

     Melinda, Bonnie and Blake, the three-month-old puppies, are just as cute as ever, and they will be going to this Saturday Adoption Day at Canine Commissary in Plano this week. We may be going to the Greenville store too, depending on the number of volunteers.

     Chubs and Cassie, the six-week-old Lab puppies are adorable. Chubs is the blind little Chocolate Lab puppy who was going to be euthanized because he cannot see. We adopted his sister, Black Lab, Cassie, from the breeder family so that Chubs would have a friend for the rest of his life. Cassie and Chubs are just fine. Chubs gets around beautifully, and he and his sister have a fun time together, tussling and playing most all day long--when they aren't eating, sleeping or going potty!