Dog Washing

We got 9 new dogs at the kennel today. I was on stand-by as a hauler just in case there were more dogs or someone had something come up last minute. I still wanted to be a part of this day in some capacity, so I decided to go and help wash to hounds. As many times as I have helped haul the dogs, I never participated in the washing. I have observed and heard the stories about the tick pulling and the de-fleaing, but never actually had my hands in doing this.

Heather Simon and I partnered up and we grabbed out first victim, errr... uh... spa goer... White and black boy, his name escapes me at the moment. Anyways, we lifted him up into the tub got him situated and ready for the scrub down. This big boy was so easy to wash, we did 2 sessions with the flea and tick shampoo and then did a wash with the shampoo for white coats. I cleaned his ears out, he was in good shape... until... I found the family of ticks living in between his toes. Through the whole wash, we picked them off as we came to them, nothing too crazy... his toes were another story... I think I pulled about 20 ticks of this guy and gave up. We had him in that tub for about 20 -30 minutes and there was no way I could get all of them with him standing. Lifted him out of the tub and passed him over to Ginny. To get him in a position to where we could get all of his hitch hikers off of him, I lifted him off of the ground and placed him in Ginny's lap. He wasn't too sure about this until he had 4 of us all around him, some of us searched while other put ointment on his hot spots. He decided that this was the treatment for him and started to close his eyes while Ginny continued to hold him in her lap, he loved every monute of it. Probably the sweetest thing I have ever seen, I think Eda got some good pitures of this, so keep a look out... Oh, and this boy id definitely not small dog tolerant, there was a Jack Russel mix that he was way to interested in...

We then washed a sweet little brindle girl who slipped in the tub, she wound up on her side and decided that this was the position she would stay in for the remainder of her treatment. She seemed to be very tolerant of everything, not too many ticks and fleas on this girl.

In all, it was an interesting experience for me, very different from the Birmingham thing we did this summer. I did come home and look at all Blue's feet to see if there were any ticks hiding anywhere, not that I expected to find any, but honestly, I think we pulled over 100 ticks off these 9 dogs. They are happy and rested and ready to be loved on by anyone and everyone!

Tummy ache...

I was up all night because Blue had a bit of a tummy ache, this has followed him into this morning. I wonder if his stomach is disagreeing with the tripe he ate yesterday morning or if he has the doggy stomach flu. I now have about 8 new spots to clean throughout the apartment, either in my bedroom on in the living room. This morning, his rear end was a faucet. While the whole thing was going on last night, I was in that state of being awake and being conscious. Well, my conscious knew he was sick and that I needed to get up and do something about it, but the sleepy side of me decided to use the sounds effects and turn the whole situation into a House episode. So, while Blue was getting sick all over the apartment, I was snug in my bed, diagnosing him with each and every hack and splat. I finally came to a realized that my pup needed some attention and evidently one of those times he was not able to make it out of bed in time, sheets are in the washer!

Blue hates being sick, I hate seeing him sick. It was about this time last year he fancied cat toys and started downing those. I am always reminded of this anytime he becomes sick, but now know when to be worried about something that may be a blockage (the smell). My short day at work today will probably now be shorter than planned. No food for him for at least a day (this is really both of our decision as I offered him a treat and he looked at me as if I was crazy). I figure he will be fine, I just hope the water works are done from both ends...

How did your Friday start?

Count the dogs...

Last night we had a get together, we had 6 people and 10 greyhounds. I love parties where there are more dogs than humans. To this day, it still amazes me that we can get that many dogs together and never ever have any sort of altercation of any kind. We get a growl every now and then (even from Lucy... explained later) but nothing the dogs can't work out on their own with very watchful parents.




This is Blue, Haylee, Lindsay and Pax in the kitchen. Kim had a bag of croutons that the dogs thought may be for them, of course they weren't. Pax is the other handsome blue boy. We have mixed Blue and him up at a point or 2...



At nap time, everyone got all snuggled up on the couch and we had dogs on dogs, laying all over the couch, see if you cant count the number of dogs in the picture. Also, notice that there is not a human shown sitting anywhere on the couch... We know our place! Actually, at this point we were all playing Wii...

Starting at the top left of the couch, we have the beauty queen Bella, Haylee has head head in the crook of her sisters back leg, Lindsay has her head on Haylee's butt, Blue is laying on Lindsay's butt, Rosie and Blue are butt to butt. Lastly, Remi is on the floor with the leopard blanket over her.

As I mentioned, we were playing Wii after we had finished dinner and had some wine, I should have taken some photos of the humans playing Wii, actually video would have been a bit more fun. I would have had to edit the bad words out of the video though... Patti :)






For the last 2 photos, I have the sisters. Haylee being the constant. From what Kim and Guy tell us, Haylee has to be constantly touching one of her sister while sleeping or laying down, actually, Haylee can be seen laying on any greyhound in her pen, I think Heather has a picture on her blog showing Haylee and Seka laying together. Anyways, I had to put both of these in because I wasn't sure which I liked more.
















Not pictured in any of these photos, but present at the party were Bella #2, Lucy(fer), and Sugar. We sure do love our dogs, don't we?!

The thing about Lucy not growling, Ms. Patti swears up and down that her dog does not growl, however, she growled at me twice this night and Chris once, granted I was trying to grab her from going out the door, Chris was just on the couch with her. This is a dog who barks at nothing, no wait, she sees ghosts! haha Nothing but love for you Patti! :)

The good the bad the happy the sad...

Let us go in order shall we, I know it has been a LOOOONG time since I posted something, but I have not really had time to sit down and put thoughts on computer screen...
The good:
I am here and alive! :) The dog is good and healthy, kinda... (see 'The Bad') I have developed a wonderful group of friends, the price of gas is going down, the nation was obviously ready for 'change' and the writer of Family Guy was just given a $100 million from FOX... have I mentioned I love this show?
The Bad:
Well, as some of you know, Blue and I went down to the lure coursing event about 2 weeks ago. Blue took 2nd in the singles run, he tied with Seka. Great outing for both dogs, seeing as how it was Blue's first entry and Seka's second (I believe). Well, the second day we ran both dogs to certify them in opens. Blue yelped around the first turn. As the lure continued around the course, Blue was not running at full speed, but still giving chase. I knew he was hurt, but I just kinda stood there, dumbfounded... Thankfully someone yelled to shut down the lure (I may have yelled, who knows). Ran out to him hoping for a torn pad or some small injury that wouldn't take too long to heal. Checked all the pads out and nothing. Getting him to walk was a chore and that is when I dreaded it was something like a muscle. As we walked on, his left shoulder started to swell. I am told it is his monkey muscle that was strained/torn. He has been more couch ridden than normal, but he is enjoying the cold compresses and massages. I find it hard to keep him from romping around the apartment in the morning as he usually does and he obviously has more energy now that he is not getting his 2 mile walks. Muscle is still pretty spongy, but I am calling the vet tomorrow, not sure how long it should take for this sort of injury to heal completely...
The happy:
Brought 3 beautiful hounds back in my Jeep from Perry, chariots brought back 7 in all. I had Candy Cane, Bonny and Jean Grey. I affectionately called my Jeep the stripper hauler because, well come on, how much more stripper sounding names can you get? ha-ha I tell you what, if Jean Grey (Gayla) is there too long, I may strongly consider snatching her up. Never has a hound made me laugh so hard. When someone new would walk up to the run, she would give out this roo that made her sound like either a blood hound or a beagle, it was hilarious. My Blue is pretty vocal, but he gets on my nerves sometimes, this kind of vocal was just stinking funny and cute!
The Sad:
Again, something else some of you know, I lost my grandfather the Thursday before Blue ran. We first found that he had lung cancer about 2 - 3 months ago. When they biopsied the lump, his lung collapsed and was in the hospital for a short time. At the beginning of October, then weekend of the 5K, he came down with pneumonia and went back into the hospital. I traveled down there not knowing how bad things were going to be. They drained the lung and he was allowed to go home. From the time he knew about the cancer, he did not want to go through the treatment. He had watched relatives and friends suffer through the treatments and did not want to be subjected to this. He went very peacefully the morning he passed. Mamaw (cajun for grandma) went to wake him that morning to give him his meds. He opened his eyes for a short time, then closed them again. She left him for a while. Once hopice got there to bathe him, he had passed. At the visitation, everyone wore white t-shirts and jeans, papaw's (cajun for grandpa) favorite outfit.
This sums up my October and some of November...

Craiglist post

Dog friend of mine shared this with me, made me smile...

I have three dogs, one is 130+ lbs, he's a komondor, loves to play, will
Pick up the brush when/if I drop it and give it back to me. He has a ghost
We call Boo.. He likes to carry Boo around. Great with kids, protective over
His family.
A female weimaraner that is 60+, very pretty, shiny coat, blue in color. Can
Be protective, but is generally outgoing. Can put a treat on her nose then
Usually catch it. Sometimes the big dog grabs it before she gets it though.
A 5lb yorkie, he's 10 years old, and cranky. Pees in the house if he's
Upset, and will occasionally leave other "gifts" for you. Things that upset
Him are, not sleeping in, rain, other dogs, other cats, not giving him
Enough attention, anything new in the house, when I'm upset, when I leave
And don't take him, and a few other things. But he does dance for a treat
And catch mice and will do agility courses.

My dogs are all neutered/spayed and current on their vaccinations. They get
Fed holistic food, it seems expensive but is really only $1/day for all
Them. That's less than a bottle of soda.

My dogs are not up for adoption.
-I have moved 6 times in my life, including college and a divorce, they
Always come with. We've lived here for 4 years, and if we move, they'll go
With.

-I have two kids, I still have my dogs. They were here before the kids, and
I took the time to teach them to be gentle to kids, even tiny babies.

-My little dog doesn't like kids that much, he likes them when they're
Sleeping. So I trained my kids to leave him alone.

-I don't have a job, haven't for the last three years, my job has been being
A mother. I still have my dogs. I just don't buy other things I don't need.

-I have a 130 lb dog who needs to be groomed... I brush him twice a week, it
Takes less than 5 minutes a day. I don't feel bad for people who say they
"don't have the time" to groom a shih tzu. It doesn't take that long.

-My dogs shed, but so do I, so I think we're even.

-I've had dogs my whole life, and have never "suddenly" acquired a strange
Allergic reaction to them, nor know anyone who has, and I know a lot of
People with dogs.

-My dogs do not destroy my house, because I don't let them. I have two
Breeds that are commonly referred to as strong willed and destructive. I
Simply have rules and make the dogs listen. They do not eat until I tell
Them they can. This makes me the pack leader. I do not share my couch or bed
With the big dogs, I will not fight over where I get to sit.

-I do not have to lock my dogs out of the kitchen when we eat. I simply
Taught them they're not allowed. A flyswatter being smacked on the table has
A lot of power in a dogs eyes, used with the word "out" it's amazing.

-I have two cats, and a leather living room set. The cats are not declawed.
I simply give them other things to scratch that are acceptable. They enjoy
Them.

-I have three dogs and two cats. Sometimes they get fed up with each other.
I still have them all. I just remind them this is my house, and separate
Them from each other for an hour then everything is okay.

-I have an old dog, and I got a new dog. I did not get rid of the old dog
Because he didn't like the new dog.

-An end note to all the dogs who have spent the best 3-10 years of their
Lives in the only home they've known to be replaced by a child, other pet,
Move, new job, etc. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine your heartache of being
Disowned by your parent who loved you for years.

Bev

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of
some influence, try orderin' a dog around.

Zoomies...

I am going to talk about letting blue off his leash to run in a somewhat enclosed area, thought I would put that out there right now, so don't get mad at me!

Met my new neighbor Rachel and her dog Hank. Hank was found in a dumpster, no bigger than the palm of your hand. Hank was very close to death, but he was nursed back to health and is now quite the little guy! Hank is a mutt, definitely has some beagle and some chow in him, not sure what else... Size wise, he is about the size of a beagle. Anyways, we were out one morning, Hank is very good off the leash and he was jumping at Blue and running away, well Blue went after him and came to the end of the leash. He turned to me and looked back at Hank running away. I thought, you know, Blue can barely stand it when I leave the room, I know he isn't going to run away. So I let him off the leash and the games began. Blue did a damn fine job of coursing Hank. Now, Hank is used to playing with big dogs but not ones who can turn on a dime like he can. Blue was always on his heels and Hank could not get away. It was quite a sight and I knew Blue was having a good time, Hank really wasn't too sure what to think... Needless to say, I think I am going to use these times to get Blue ready for some real coursing on the field this fall.

Now a little story about how this dog forgets nothing! I walk Blue on the same field where we let them run, one morning, about a week ago, Blue came across a chicken bone. He picked it up in his mouth, I yelled at him and he dropped it immediately. Tonight, I let him off the leash and he headed away from me, got a bit further than I would like so I followed him. The entire time, his head was about an inch from the ground. I said to Rachel, "There was a chicken bone over there about a week ago, he is going to find it." She said, "Yeah right..." It wasn't a minute later and he had the bone in his mouth, he looked straight at me after he got it. I jogged towards him, he dropped it and I tossed it into the bushes. The dog never ceases to amaze me!

Ok, now you can yell at me for having him off leash... :)

Gasoline...

So, I take Blue out for a walk today and see that I am a little below a quarter of a tank and know that I am driving to Dahlonega and probably Calhoun, so we are off on our venture for gas. There are about 4 stations within a .5 mile radius of my place, they have all been out for about 2 weeks. Make it all the way to 285, traveling south on Roswell Rd, nothing. Jump on 285 west get off on Riverside Dr. There is a Shell station at this exit and I hope for the best. Evidently, shortly before I arrived, a gas tanker dumped its load there and the lines started, I became a part of it. Well, low fuel light comes on after sitting in line for about 5 minutes, I turn the engine off and sit there for about 25 minutes. I finally get to my gas pump, probably 45 minutes into this ordeal. $50 limit, this gets me about 3/4 of a tank of gas unfortunately, but hey, better than running out of gas! Days like this when I hate having my gas guzzling Jeep...
I had a nice conversation with a guy from New York, saw Blue and spoke about the Afgan Hound his buddy had growing up, the guy next to me had a French Mastiff (rather large fellow who I thought was going to strangle the gas station attendant, he wanted $60 in gas and the guy jokingly questioned his ability to read... I thought it was funny). In all, from the beginning of our wak to when we finally got home to eat, 2.5 hours. I bought a bananna at the gas station for a snack for Blue and I, I broke off a piece of this, put it in front of his face and he gave me this, are you kidding me look. Blue does not like banannas I guess...
Ran in the Corporate Challenge yesterday, 5K through what I guess is a little bit of downtown ATL. The starting line was there by the Olympic rings, ran north of that past GSU and made a block. I think I did pretty good, the times have not yet been posted, but I think I made it in under 30 minutes. As I was running away from the starting line, knowing that is also the finish line, most of the run was down hill. I wasn't a mile into the race and I was thinking about the run UP the hill, that is always the killer! Needless to say, I think I will be good and ready for the hound 5K, I am excited for it!
Well, I am going to finish up this episode of Family Guy, it is the one where Brian violates Sea Breeze, Mr Pewterschmidt's prize winning greyhound... good stuff I tell you, good stuff