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DOGBLOG
Willie Wumpus Harry Hotspur Pippin Leyla Uinta Calum Jedi Lucy Fur Pepper Katrina Charley WooWoo
Posted 07 Feb 2009 by Neal:Sleep dogs after a busy day...
Posted 1 Dec 2008 by Laura:Festive Pets
Clyde
(who thinks he's a dog)
Leyla
Pippin
Posted 10 Jul 2008 by Neal:Why Willie has such a big carbon footprint...
Posted 24 Apr 2008 by Neal:"Ha, Willie! You can't catch me!"
Posted 25 Mar 2008 by Neal:Took the dogs for a walk today. See Willie's tongue!
Posted 04 Apr 2007 by Neal:Ann and Lucy. Ann is wearing a gardening hat she received as a gift from the Lake Jackson Garden Club in recognition of a talk she presented at a club meeting.
Willie in his favorite chair, next to the TV set.
"What are those things?"
Big rain today! Most of the front yard was flooded.
Another snakey experience this morning. We were both working outside, and late morning your dad discovered a coral snake right in front of the front door, on the porch. First he got the dogs in, then he got his camera, then he discovered that it was dead. Not only was it dead, but it had some ants on it, and it was fairly stiff. Now the thing wasn't there earlier in the morning -- I'm sure I would have seen it when I went out with the doggies after their breakfast. And, considering that it was stiff, I think it had been dead for some hours at least. So how did the body get there? Not under its own power, I think. I suppose it might have burst through from a parallel universe, but that doesn't seem likely. Or maybe some bird carrying a stiff snake dropped it while flying over our house. But most likely is that one of our dear doggies was carrying the thing around and left it there - thank goodness whoever it was didn't bring it inside. It sure wasn't obvious how the snake had died - no obvious bites or smashed places. I hope Lucy hasn't expanded her repertoire of prey to include pouncing on snakes. No one is showing any signs of pain or swelling that I can see.
Today was Beach Cleanup Day at Quintana Beach, and I took the dogs along. We didn't do much cleanup because an energetic bunch of Cub Scouts got there first. But we got our picture taken with the Cub Scouts.
Left. Can you see two dogs in this picture?
Right. Lucy discovers an empty box in the garage.
Update on Gus (the Great Dane that Ann mentioned in the previous post): we haven't seen him since March 6, so apparently Gus' owner has somehow taken care of the situation.Fortunately, our dogs are constrained inside a chain link fence, so their only encounters with Gus were through the fence or on leash during our afternoon walks.
At Bryan Beach. Charley hates water ... Lucy and Willie plunge right in ... Pepper is still baffled by the whole idea.
"Come on, Willie ... stop stalling."
"I like my box lid."
Remember me telling you about the gigantic Great Dane that occasionally wanders the neighborhood? (intact male, of course.) He has been around quite a bit the past few weeks. Today we found out from one of our neighbors (the fellow who has all the livestock and poultry), that the Dane (whose name turns out to be Gus) has killed three small dogs in the past two days. Our neighbor was hunting for him when we left to run errands - he is friends with the guy who owns Gus. He also told us that if we find him we should not try to capture him, because it turns out that Gus won't let anyone, including his owner, put a leash on him.I had always thought that Gus was just an overly large sweetie, but obviously I have been lucky so far not to have set him off. Just yesterday Neal told me that Lucy had run at Gus barking (while Lucy and Willie were out on a walk), and that the big dog acted afraid of her. Now I am wondering if all three of the victims might have been intact males. Two of them were the scruffy dingy chihuahua things that live across from Lizzie. The third one, this morning, was a strange little dog with a skin problem; I'm pretty sure he was male.
I hate to think how Gus' owner plans to destroy him, but I doubt that he will be taking him to a vet for euthanasia, when he can't even get a leash on him. Ah well.
| Roses are red, violets are blue. Harry hates dressup, Willie does too... | Lucy wears socks, but only two... And they're a faded shade of blue. |
Poor Harry has a sore paw!
Charley was a bad boy yesterday! I ended up staying home from work, so I had the back door open so the dogs could go out. Unbeknownst to me, the side gate was open - so Charley took himself for a little walk. I think he was gone probably 15-20 minutes before I noticed. As soon as I did I grabbed his leash and cookies and ran over to that park by the bayou, thinking he'd go there since that's where we usually go on walks, but I didn't see him. When I got back home I decided it was dumb to try to walk all over the neighborhood looking for him so I got in the car and headed down the street the other way, towards the train tracks. I hadn't gotten halfway down the block when I met up with him, jogging back towards home. I think he scared himself a little, though - he was so happy to see me he wouldn't even stop to have a cookie on the way into the truck. And then, he was so riled up when we got home that he jumped poor Pepper the foster dog. She was already a little scared of him; now she hides in her crate when he's around.
Well Foster the foster dog is here. We met her at the dog park so she and Charley could get to know each other before she came here, and it's helped immeasurably. Of course she's also not insane, like Sadie was. She and Charley are getting along just great. She's still quite cautious and isn't relaxed enough for them to start playing together, but she really wanted to go play at the dog park so I'm sure she just needs some time. Charley's being a very good sport about the whole thing. He even let her sit on the bed with me and didn't interfere.
She's in her crate with the peanut butter ball now. I thought having a little rest might help her settle in.
Apparently, her previous foster parents found her through a website set up by Lisa Foronda (one of our local news anchors who is very animal-friendly, particularly rescues) after Katrina. They signed up to be hurricane foster parents, and basically just picked her up off a truck from Louisiana. I think she probably went through the Gonzales shelter, because they were sending animals out by the dozens on semis just to get them somewhere else. Anyway, she was already spayed and in very good health, so she almost certainly was someone's dog. I need to get some pictures of her ASAP so I can start posting her on websites. I'm sure someone's looking for her. She is a very nice dog, but obviously very scared and insecure and desperate for attention.
I left the front gate open tonight (after dark) and the dogs escaped. Somewhat surprising, since during the day they stay in the yard even if the gate is open. We didn't realize it at first. Around 7:00 pm, our neighbor down the street appeared at the front door asking us if we were missing our dogs. He's the neighbor with two schipperkes, and he recognized our dogs ... apparently they had decided to visit his skippies. Their house is quite a distance away ... he had driven his pickup truck to our house. Ann immediately jumped in the van and followed the neighbor back to his house, and I followed on foot. I was almost there when I saw Ann backing out of their driveway. She picked me up on the way back. Dogs were safely in the back seat. All is well now, except that I'm the one in the doghouse.
The dogs and I went to Quintana Beach today. I was officially there to take pictures of the Texas Master Naturalists training class, so the dogs found themselves tied to a post while I played paparazzo. After a few minutes of following the class around, I let the dogs off leash for a romp in the surf. As always, they love it. And they even come when they're called!
Hurricane Rita blew through Texas last Saturday, 24 September, early in the morning. We (Ann, Lucy, Willie, Studs Turtle, and I) rode out the storm in Houston with Sarah and Clint. As it happened, the eye of the storm passed well east of Houston, so damage in Houston was minimal.
I blogged our experiences http://survivingrita.blogspot.com/
I gave Willie a haircut today. Not nearly as neat a job as Amiee would have done, but still a vast improvement over the smelly shaggy mop that Willie has been lately.
The dogs are back home, and glad of it. They are rather smelly, so I think there will have to be a dog bath day sometime this week.
Today was the Brazoria County Master Gardeners Plant Sale. Ann worked at the sale all day, and the dogs and I visited the sale at the end of the day. Ann's friend John Alcron made a big fuss over our dogs.
Harry wandered off this morning (he generally sits on the back deck and barks to come in, but today he decided to go exploring). Loren found him up the block. Apparently, he was sitting on the front porch of a house, barking at a couple little girls in the window, who were yelling "Hi, Toto" at him :)
The doggies are enjoying this spring weather. They spend so much time outside watching us and the birds and the neighbor dogs and so on, they are really pooped out by evening. They almost caught a particularly dumb squirrel yesterday, who then sat up in the tree and chattered at them for a while. I think maybe it didn't realize how fast corgis can move when they're motivated.
Charley had an exciting day today - we went to the Dog Park! He's been alone an awful lot this week with both of us working so much, so I thought he deserved some playtime. With all the rain the park is basically a big mud puddle today, which of course makes it that much more fun. The dog shower wasn't working though, so I had to drive home with a very wet and muddy dog in the front seat :-)
I'm certainly glad that Charley was not seriously injured. It sort of reminded me of Lucy's gash to the throat from last spring. That turned out to be a tear from something, probably some unauthorized place that she put her head. We never did find what it could have been.Lucy and Willie are fine, although they get sort of antsy in this wet weather. Lucy needed to be mopped up many times yesterday, including a couple of passes through the sink. This is definitely mud season, and she seems to attract more mud than Will, even beyond the fact that it shows better on her white paws and tummy. The two of them play together quite a lot now - lots of rolling around wrestling and lots of chasing. They seem to have come to some sort of understanding. They have also divided up my bed. Each has his/her own spot on my bed, which doesn't leave much space for me sometimes. Just as well we've had lots of "two-dog nights" lately - they are quite warm and cozy. Lucy especially shoves right up against me - she's better than a heating pad for sore spots.
Well Charley gave us quite a scare yesterday! He had gotten into the trash and got almost an entire chicken's worth of bones on Sunday (yeah we know, from now on all bones go DIRECTLY to the outside trash can and not into the kitchen trash). Anyway, I came home from work yesterday and fed him; he scarfed it like he always does and went running outside. Came back in about 5 minutes later with his face covered in blood! Fresh, red blood. Of course, my first thought was either that he'd punctured his stomach and was throwing up blood, or that he'd just eaten a squirrel or something. So I ran outside to try to find either a pile of bloody vomit, or a dead critter, but I couldn't find anything in the backyard. After a few minutes, I managed to get up the guts to taste the blood to find out if it contained bile or not. Obviously it didn't, or yall would have heard about this earlier as I called each of you begging for money to pay for surgery.Anyway, we never did find anything that might explain what happened. The only reasonable theory I can come up with is that he must have run headlong into something and injured his mouth somehow - bit his tongue, maybe? - and it only looked like a lot of blood because it was diluted with saliva. He seems to have suffered no ill effects from the chicken bones, though.
Harry and Leyla have found themselves crated when we're gone. They have both been so naughty since we moved into the new house! The last straws (all in just two days) were when one or both of them peed on the carpet, chewed Bridget's new Christmas toys, spread garbage from the laundry room all over the house, spread dirt from the ficus tree on the (light beige) carpet, chewed up a baby bottle and then vomited plastic bottle bits all over, and ate a box of baby rice cereal (cardboard box and all).The last offense was Harry -- he made PlayDo out of water, saliva and rice cereal, which he then smeared all over the couch and throughout his fur. He's got a date with the groomer to get a major haircut to get it all cut out! So today they were crated -- it was so nice to come home from work and not have a mess to clean up! You'd think at 5 and 10 years old they would be better behaved...
It was so warm yesterday that Neal decided to take the doggies to the beach. I couldn't go, as I had just started on a batch of bread. They reported that it was extremely foggy, but otherwise fun. The dogs are spending a lot of time playing and wrestling these days. Their tug of war sessions have caused a number of toys to bite the dust lately. A few nights ago they systematically gutted one of the green snakes (that used to be lizards until Willie ate their legs off last winter). They pulled the tip of the tail off and pulled out all the stuffing and both long dead squeakers.
Lucy and Willie are getting along better lately. They can play without anyone taking offense. Lucy rolls around on her back making little puppy noises, and Willie just loves it. And Lucy has become more assertive about sitting with me on the sofa rather than ostentatiously pouting in the corner. So things are improving. Stuff still happens at Charley's house though; his presence seems to unhinge Lucy and Willie's relationship. I think maybe Willie gets anxious about Charley and he just forgets everything he knows.
The dogs have been very suspicious of boogies in the front yard - I wonder if it has something to do with our across-the-road-neighbors and their Xmas lights. Otherwise, they have been pretty much passed out all day, as I suspect Charley was as well.
Willie had a date with Aimee a couple days ago. She gave him a bath, trim, and combout. He's all nice and spiffy now!
[Editor's note: Aimee Rogers (Clint's sister-in-law) is the groomer at Fritz Carlton.]
Doggies were very bored today, so I decided to take them for a walk in the park downtown. Got downtown, and all was chaos. There was some sort of cookout thing going on at the main shelter at the park, with charcoal grills, cars, trailers, tents, and people everywhere. On top of that, the Union Pacific was replacing ties in their tracks where the RR runs through downtown; they had several streets blocked, and dozens of guys in orange vests directing traffic to the one-and-only unobstructed crossing (UPRR has been working on this project for months, but I guess Saturday afternoon was the only time they could shut down train traffic). Anyway, dogs and I managed to bypass most of this mess, and wound up going for a walk around the little league ball fields. Doggies enjoyed it (they got to say hello to two ladies who were doing laundry), but they probably would have enjoyed the cookout a lot more.
Our next door neighbor dog, Lizzie, has now graduated from taking empty plastic pots to carrying off pots with plants in them. It's very frustrating. She's just a year old, so as we all well know, she is nowhere near through being destructive. Her problem is just that she's very lonely and bored. But I don't want to complain to her people, because I suspect that if they did anything at all, they would just get rid of her rather than build her a fenced dog run. I think they would have done better to get another hound (which they evidently had before) rather than a people centered lab. We may need to fence the rest of our yard.
Gorgeous day here in Texas yesterday -- temperature in the 60s, cloudless sky. Ann, doggies, and I drove over to Bay City ... The doggies enjoyed it: French Fries for lunch, then a long walk. But poor Willie still hasn't recovered -- all that exercise, plus he missed his afternoon nap.
Willie is feeling a bit under the weather. His tummy seems to be jammed up with something, probably acorns, or possibly honey locust pods. Our oak trees are producing a lot of acorns, which we hear on the roof - ping, ping, ping - all the time, and they're all over the front yard. If he doesn't get straightened out by Monday, I will probably have to take him to his doctor.We took the dogs to the beach yesterday morning. The Gulf was quite rough (very strong wind from the southeast), and they were a little intimidated by the waves, but they had their usual good time. They got very interested in chasing the little sandpipers, which flew up quite satisfactorily. There were a bunch of pelicans, riding the winds single file like they do. When Willie looked into the wind, his ears stood up (that strong wind), so we could see what he would look like as a corgi.
Yesterday at work I saw a Boston terrier who had been attacked by a deer. The folks live in Sandy (nine blocks closer to the mountains than us) and apparently had four bucks in their backyard. And the dog, being a terrier, decided to play with them. He had a ragged laceration on his hip that I speculate was caused by antlers. He did fine with surgery. It reminded me of Harry trying to get the horse in Hooper to play terrier games!
The other night when I was talking to [Laura] on the phone, I said I thought I saw a possible skunk out back. It turned out to be some wandering black and white cat prowling around the edges of our mown lawn. We still haven't seen an actual alive armadillo (the Texas state mammal, along with the longhorn), but we have found typical armadillo dig traces in our back yard. They poke in with their snouts, which are conical sort of like an ice cream cone, producing a characteristic hole. I think that when the dogs act somewhat spooked at night in our yard, that maybe they are seeing/hearing something outside the fence like armadillos or skunks or possums or some such. I imagine that an armadillo would be one of those worrying critters that get dogs upset. Last night when we were going to bed the barred owls were creating a ruckus right outside our window. Of course, we never see them. I do hope that they aren't relying in some way on the trees we hope to get removed this winter.
We took the doggies to the beach yesterday morning, and as usual they had a great time. We have started going to a different beach. This one is used mostly by fishermen, and we can just drive down the sand above the water line and park wherever we want. When we got there yesterday there was no one else in sight, although a carload of fishers came soon after us, but they parked so far on down the beach that we could barely see them. So the doggies got to run loose. There were some good waves too, what with this persistent wind from the southeast. That's why it's so hot - the Gulf water is still in the upper 80's, because it didn't get stirred down by any hurricanes at this end of the Gulf this year.
Willie escaped today too. He usually runs between from the front gate to the car (and back) without escaping, but occasionally he gets sidetracked and runs next door to see Bob (male dachshund) and Lacie (very overweigth female black lab). So had to chase him down and herd him back home.One of these days I'll post pix of Bob, Lacie, and Lizzie. Lizzie is another neighborhood black lab; she runs loose, and comes over to see us during the day when her people are at work. Ann thinks Lizzie has claimed us as her honorary grandma and grandpa. She and Willie get along fine (sniffing each other through the fence) but Lucy spoils the whole thing by incessant yapping.
We got home from grocery shopping today and found Leyla in the front yard, the gate open, and Harry missing. I was very panicked for 45 minutes, but we got a call from someone a few blocks away who found him. Apparently both dogs were running together, and they tried to catch Leyla but couldn't get her, but Harry ran right up onto their front porch to invite himself in. Bad dogs!
The corgis are so funny in the water up to their shoulders! Who would have thought they would like the ocean.
Wow, when did all this new stuff appear on the website? I've never seen the DogBlog before. I guess I need to check things out more often.
Our neighbor lab Lizzie has been pilfering things from our garage and driveway area. She carries them off to her favorite chewing spot and works them over. This morning she came around with a shoe we didn't recognize, and when Neal asked her for it she gave it to him. So he put it in Lizzie's family's mailbox -- hopefully she got that one from her own house.We heard coyotes howling in the night last week. I wonder if a local pair has some pups that are starting to hunt. I hadn't heard coyotes before this, but it would explain why there don't seem to be many cats wandering around the neighborhood. I hope all those assorted rat-dogs have somewhere safe to sleep at night.
We did have a nice morning at the beach on Thursday, with strong rollers and surf. I knew that the water level was up, because one of my Master Gardener friends lives on a tidal bayou and part of her yard was under water. So we went to Quintana hoping to see what we had missed the first time Ivan was in the Gulf. The dogs loved the surf, as usual, even though they were getting tossed around. It's amazing how they have taken to playing in the Gulf. And how much they hate being hosed off when we get home. Strange!
Doggies are using their flipflop, which allows them to run out and bark more often. They love it.
I installed a doggie flipflop door in the front door. This being a brick house with a fenced front yard, the obvious place for the flipflop door would be in the front storm door. But there is no storm door, so I bought one from Home Depot. Then I discovered that I'd have to rebuild the door frame to make to new storm door fit. Then I had to caulk and paint the new door frame, preferably the same color we're going to use on the rest of the exterior trim. Except that we still hadn't decided what color that would be. Back to Home Depot again, this time with Ann, to select a paint color (we settled on something green called "Pacific Pines"). Today, after working on this stupid project for three days, I finally got the door frame painted and the door installed. Lucy started using it immediately, but Willie took a few hours to figure it out. But now that they both know how to use it, they've been running in and out like crazy dogs all evening.
We took the dogs to the beach yesterday morning, and they had a great time. There were no other people there, so we took them off leash. They did chase the birds a bit, but they have gotten pretty good about staying close to us, and they come right away when we call. There were some big scary gulls swooping around making noise, so that might be why they didn't take more interest in the getting up close to the birds. And of course Lucy's main interest in birds is their poops.As I sit here at my computer I notice two dogs wandering around in our back wild area, paying particular attention to the bathtub that someone once used to water stock. One dog must have been in it, since it shook off pretty vigorously. I can't see them well enough to tell if one is the neighborhood bad boy. He is a big, miscellaneous hound who is always wandering. He loves to come past our front yard and get the silly corgis to chase him back and forth along the fence, which is annoying, because it sounds just like you would expect with two corgis and a hound. He had quite a fling with our next door neighbor lab Lizzy (who is now about 9-10 months old). I was quite worried about her, but last week Neal discovered that Lizzy had a healing incision on her tummy, so I imagine all has been taken care of.
By the time we left this morning, Charley seemed to have figured out that he and Clint were going to be hanging out today. He was cuddled up to Clint on the sofa, and looked very cute.
How is Harry doing without his lifelong buddy? I suppose in some ways, Calum hasn't been part of Harry's daily life for some time.Willie had his urine tested a week ago, and it was fine. Lucy is still overweight, although she has lost a little bit since July. I may have to give up on the dental blocks, although I do think her teeth look better. Willie's behavior has been much better, now I wonder if I should give Lucy some of those good-boy pills. The dogs will be glad when it cools off enough so that they can go along on shopping trips and errands.
We took the dogs to the beach this morning. We got there before 9, and there was no one else on the beach when we arrived. So we let the dogs off leash for awhile, until some other folks arrived. They had fun, and didn't get too far away. Even off leash they took themselves into the surf up to tummy depth, so they really are turning into beach bunnies. By the time we got back to the car Lucy was limping on her right rear again, but she seems ok now. I think they'll have a quiet afternoon now.
Poor Calum. And poor you. He was such a very special little guy. Remember him in his crate quacking under the bleachers at the 4-H dog show when you first got him? And I remember him having sillies on our sofa on weekends. And him coming into the living room dragging a piece of paper bigger than he was. How proud of himself he was when he invented his paper trading thing. We certainly won't ever forget Calum. Love, Mom
We euthanized Calum tonight (Tuesday). His cognitive dysfunction got so much worse this summer -- getting lost in the house, accidents, sometimes it seemed like he didn't even recognize us. Last night he was stumbling and I decided it was time. I've been preparing for this all summer but it was still so hard. L
I thought we were having another expensive medical emergency with Lucy Sunday evening, but all is well again. She did something to her right rear which resulted in not being able to jump up on chairs and sofas. In fact she was very reluctant to even walk. But she didn't whimper, and she didn't hold her leg the way she did when she blew out her knee. And by today she seems completely all better, thank goodness.
Each time we have said goodbye to Calum this last year I have wondered if I would see him again. It's so hard to know when to let go. I often think it's probably just as well we don't have euthanasia for people. That last few weeks of Patti's life, when I was going in to the Westgate office every few days in tears, Dianna (the tech, remember her?) helped me. She said not to struggle with it, that when it was time I would know. Although, since Patti was herself right up until the end, that advice may have been easier to apply than in Calum's case. He really isn't the same tough little man he was. In his prime he was a wonderful, very special dog.
Neal and I tried to take the dogs to the beach this morning, but when we got about halfway there we got into a downpour, so we turned around. It might have been ok, since these storms that blow up from the Gulf don't usually last long, but I didn't like the idea of choosing between standing on the boardwalk in the lightning or crawling under it with whatever happened to be there today. (There are signs along the boardwalk about watching for snakes, and I understand that the snakes of the dunes are rattlers.)
We took the dogs to the beach yesterday. There were a lot of shells for a change - mostly moon snails and oyster drills. I gathered them all up - I am planning to put a dry branch(es) in a big glass jug in the living room, and I think a mix of sand and shells would work well in the jug. Lucy actually went swimming at the beach. She got perturbed when Neal went out into the water and wanted to go along, so we let her. She was fine until the waves lifted her and she couldn't touch bottom. But she didn't panic - she just turned around and paddled back until she got her feet under her. She is turning into a water dog of sorts. Willie is less adventurous. He'll wade quite happily, but he doesn't seem to want waves hitting him.
Poor Willie has crystals in his urine, which is also pretty high pH, and also protein level is high. His blood work seems normal, according to the vet. He is now home, with an antibiotic (Clavamox) and prescription canned food. In three weeks time he can switch to a dry prescription food, probably the same thing Harry is on.He is obviously not feeling good, - all he has done this afternoon is lie around. I suspect that he didn't pee much at the Fritz Carlton,which is probably what got him into this mess. They had a really hard time getting enough urine to test at the clinic - Mary the tech said they put him in an empty cage (with the idea that they could collect whatever urine appeared on the floor), but she ended up crawling around with a small syringe getting what little she could. I think the problem is that he is really well housetrained -- he needs grass. It reminds me of my friend Gretel's collie, who went with them to Okinawa on a ship and couldn't pee until she was on land again. Poor Willie.
Meantime, Lucy is feeling vastly better with her new drug - limp is pretty much gone and she is much more cheerful.
Damn this computer -- I can't stand it. Moe later. Love, Mom
We got home in fine shape, except for Willie. When we went to pick him up at Fritz, he was still in the grooming room with Amiee. After she finished with him, I took him outside, and he immediately peed the biggest pee he's ever made, but then he seemed OK. On the way back to Houston, we stopped at a nursery (the one on 11th St. that that sells herbs) and I took both dogs for a walk while Ann shopped for herbs. Both dogs peed and pooped some more. After we got back to Brazoria, Willie tried to do something, and started whining (I think he was trying to poop; Ann thinks he was trying to pee). Whatever it was, over the next hour or so he continued to try to do it, but it was obviously very painful. We ended up taking him to the vet's office, but the vet herself wasn't available, so they're keeping him overnight. I guess we'll have a report from the vet tomorrow, and I'll let you-all know what happened.Meanwhile, Lucy is enjoying being an only dog!
We brought Leyla home today, and so far she's being really good with Bridget. She sniffed all of Bridget's laundry, and watched me change her diaper. Right now Bridget is in her bassinet/playpen combo and Leyla can watch her through the mesh. And Harry's feeling better now that he has someone to boss around (Leyla).
After I talked to you on the phone, I went out to the tub garden to fertilize the tomatoes. I took my watering can to mix the liquid fertilizer in. I noticed that there was some water and a bunch of leaves etc in the can, which I dumped out. Then I measured in the fertilizer granules and filled the can up with water. As the water level got to the top, I saw a froggy face break through the foam. So I quick poured the stuff on the tomatoes and put some fresh water in. Out came a particularly handsome green tree frog. I sprayed him with the hose before he hopped away - I hope I didn't poison him with the fertilizer. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my office when the sound of foraging guinea hens got loud enough to notice even though the windows were closed. It turned out they were coming along the side of the house and fanned out into the back yard very near the house. They are so goofy looking they're cool. Last evening we sat out front and watched the ducks in the bur oak. I'm glad that they are using trees other than the semi-dead locust for their hang-out, since I really do want to get the locust taken down. And I've been seeing a rabbit. According to my mammal guide it seems likely that it is a swamp rabbit. But distinguishing it from the regular cottontail comes down to the exact length of the ears and the presence of reddish blotches on the tops of its paws - I think I don't need to know that badly.
We're expecting Charley to come this afternoon. Sarah will be working long hours this week and Clint will be out of town all week. So Charley is going to do Camp Grandma. Lucy had her molar pulled this week. Apart from her face swelling, making her look something like a bull terrier on one side, she seems to have handled it well. Apparently she really likes the kennel person at this clinic. I was concerned that she would be upset at being dropped off there for the second time in a week, but your dad said she was so busy wiggling for the kennel lady, she barely noticed he was leaving her. Love, Mom
Leyla was playing with a squeaky toy today and managed to vary the pitch and timing just right to play "and the government shall be upon his shoulder" from the Messiah!
Leyla and I are cover girls! The March issue of "Veterinary Forum" that has the article I wrote about volunteering with RAVS came out this week. I mailed you a copy. -- Love, Laura
I saw a beagle/corgi mix today (named Einstein). He was very cute -- corgi body and fur, longish Lucy-style legs, beagle tail, corgi nose, floppy ears. His people recently adopted him (age 3) from the shelter -- it always amazes me what cute, sweet, terrific dogs end up at the shelter.
Hi, you probably saw on the Weather Channel that we got dumped on with snow. We got about 12-16" inches here in Sandy, but other areas got over 2 feet. A tree knocked a power line onto the roof of Central Valley, where it caused a fire on the roof and knocked out the power. It happened Thursday night, so Friday morning they had to close the hospital. It will be at least Monday before the power is back. The hospitalized patients went to Southeast, and the boarding animals were farmed out all over. We took three boarding dogs at East, two of whom went home today (Saturday). The third boarding dog came home with me for the weekend because there won't be anyone at East on Sunday. The dog belongs to a good client of mine -- she's a fat Golden named Magic. Leyla and Calum and Harry don't care at all when I bring home strange animals -- they just made friends with her. -- Love, Laura
Hi, Leyla and Calum ate the contents of the genealogy folder that you copied for me. Can you copy the stuff again for me? Sorry... Thanks.
New dog Willie is adjusting well. He's fine with housetraining, but he's very active and needs a lot of attention. Ann thinks the previous owners just used housetraining as an excuse when they decided they couldn't deal with such an active puppy. Willie and Lucy get along fine: Lucy has made it clear that she's the boss, and he seems to accept that.
Today, we acquired our new dog, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi named William, aka Silly Willie. After Piper died, we decided that we wanted another Corgi, but we both agreed that it would be better to rescue an unwanted Corgi rather than buy one from a breeder (Lucy was a rescue, and she's turned out to be wonderful family member). So we told Laura to be on the lookout for an unwanted Corgi (unfortunately, vet clinics inherit a lot of unwanted pets). Just before we left for Texas, Willie appeared on the scene. He came from a family that apparently didn't know how to housetrain a dog. We first met him at Laura's clinic when we were on our way out of town heading toward Texas. He's about five months old, mostly black with some tan and white, with a 5-inch tail and flop-down ears. He definitely lives up to his nickname "Silly Willie." We're delighted with him, although Lucy is sort of bent out of shape now that she's not the only dog.
