Kennel Helpers, continued ...

11:00 - Noon - "Speed Rounds" - All kennels get a quick check, which includes picking up any new poopers (stools) and hosing more fresh, cool water on the shady areas where the dogs lie to cool down. Keeping the dogs cool in the summer is an all day job!

Ginnie fills small dog hole by sliding sand with her feet.

AFTERNOON

Noon - 12:30 - Employee lunch break.

12:30 - 1:00 - Dog food preparation for light second meal. (The reason for the second meal is to break up the long day giving the dogs another event to look forward to.)

Ginnie's cooking grains and vegetables. Randy's dishing the meal.

Ginnie picks out appropriate pills for appropriate dogs and rolls them in canned food to hide them in their bowls. A few of the dogs can still sniff out the pills, eat the layer of canned food and spit out the pills. We have to watch them closely.

Pill balls in food; Ginnie distributes pills; Ginnie stacks bowls.

1:00 - 1:30 - Forty-five dogs are fed their second and last meal of the day. With two helpers plus myself each feeding a third of the dogs we can accomplish this task in a half hour.

Randy's carrying his stack of bowls; Ginnie sets hers on porch; Ginnie feeding.

Lassie eats top left; Sandy in middle of kennel; Anthony in feeding gate area while Suzie waits; Ginnie's washing the first round of dishes.

1:30 - 2:30 - Kennel rounds for the third time by employees includes filling doggie swimming pools with fresh water, hosing shady areas to keep them cool, picking up poop and petting and hugging the dogs. At 2:30 p.m. employees go home.

[More photos to come]

1:30 - 6:30 - I make my last daily petting/hugging rounds, visiting all the kennels--all 45 dogs.

[More photos to come]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1999 - E-Mail from Red River Humane Society

Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 22:25:08 EDT

From: LOBOGS@aol.com

To: straydog@straydog.org

I am from the Red River Humane Society, and we have not had any luck with adoptions for the last few months. We are trying again this Saturday, but if we do not adopt out 2 Greyhound Mix, 2 Springer Mix and 1 red & white Catahoula, some members of the club think it is time to put them down. They are 4-5 months old, have had their parvo and rabies vaccinations and have been wormed. We have had them at our home, and they are very friendly and healthy. If you have any suggestion for us, please send us an e-mail to LOBOGS@AOL.COM. My husband and I thank you.

Mary & Lou

Both Bill and I became very depressed upon reading the above message after having felt so elated about Jack's adoption. If anyone can do anything, please e-mail Mary and Lou.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1999 - Bishop goes to clinic for x-rays - hip dysplasia

I have been very concerned about Bishop's hips. Watching this sweet little Rottweiler mix fellow walk around and seeing the slight sway of his rear end as he strolls across his yard makes me think that he has a major hip problem. I made an appointment for Bishop to have his hips x-rayed this morning, and today at the Vets Dr. Stephen confirmed my fear. Poor Bishop does have hip dysplasia--very bad. His hips are as bad as Teddy's. I saw the x-rays. Dr. Stephen said to put Bishop on cosequin and the special grain and vegie diet that the others with hip dysplasia are on, which will hopefully delay major surgery, the cost of which is estimated to be $394.55 per hip. If he did have the operation, the surgery would be done on one hip first, then there would be several months of convalescing and the second hip would have to be operated on, and we'd go through the same period of convalescence again. AND several of our other dogs are candidates for this operation--or these operations. So we'll feed Bishop the special diet that all the other fellows with hip problems are on, and I feel confident that he will do as well as the others have done over these last few years.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1999 - Scottie goes to clinic with a cough

Our vet said Scottie has a mild case of bronchitis, but he thinks we should have all 45 dogs vaccinated for what they call "kennel cough." Then in a month they'll all need a booster. As I started to make appointments at the clinic, filling their weekly calender for every morning at 9:00 a.m. (with two dogs per visit), we were into the forth week of booking vet visits when I suddenly realized that if I were to try to take them two at a time (which is my usual procedure), I'd be passing myself on the road making trips back and forth to the clinic for at least two months! The clinic agreed that it would be better for one of the vets to make just two "house calls," one to give them all the original injection and another in a month for the booster.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1999 - Baby Tippy renamed to Baby Annie

Randy had named the newest arrival Baby Tippy, because of the tips of white on her little paws. But since Baby Tippy's name sounds too much like the shepherd mix, Tipper, whose kennel was nearby, every time we called the baby by name, Tipper's ears would go up thinking we were talking to her. So a few days ago we started calling the puppy Baby Annie.

Now since Baby Annie is out of quarantine, we've moved her into the new arrivals kennel recently vacated by Bishop. This kennel is much bigger than the little puppy quarantine kennel Annie had been in, and she is having a fun time running all around her new kennel and playing in her little baby puppy "swimming pool."

This little puppy is adorable. She is a mix/mix and has fuzzy black fur with the stripe of white on her chest and tips of her paws. She is now eight weeks old and weighs about eight pounds and has had her first puppy vaccinations. Annie is beginning to grow and needs to be adopted out soon. We're working on it, and she's available at 903-479-3497. (Click here to see photos of Baby Annie, formerly Babby Tippy.)