Though we're Strangers til Now

Update on Sandy, the Stray Dog:

After taking her to the vet's office to look for a microchip and not finding any, we decided to keep her, sort of. I still check the lost dog ads but more and more I'm hoping there won't be one. I haven't put a collar on her yet and I still need to take her to the vet for shots but I think she's ours now. I spoke with one of my neighbors and she seems to think the dog was living nearby. She said she saw her when she walked her dogs in another neighborhood. If so, maybe she has two homes now. I wonder. I do know Sandy is very happy living with us. She is always right outside the door: morning, noon, and night. When I walk Buddha, she comes along with us and loves to roll on her back in the grass. She runs and plays with us now too. She gets along fine with Buddha and she has an "understanding" with the cats. The other night I threw down a bunch of popcorn for Buddha. Popcorn is his favorite food and he shared with Sandy. They both were running around the room picking up all the popcorn pieces side by side. 

Always, she runs down the driveway to greet us when we drive up. She is very well behaved when we bring her inside and we've been bringing her inside more and more. Winter is coming fast and she's going to need  protection from the cold. We put a dog bed on the front porch and she sleeps there for now but as it gets colder I expect she'll be spending more time inside. She's been very well behaved every time she comes in. But she's ready to go out whenever I open the door. Sometimes she runs off into the fields and I wonder where she's going. But I know she'll be back. That's how it is with strays. They don't run away when they decide to adopt you. I had a "stray" Dalmatian for ten years.

Sandy is coming to the barn with me now too. The first time she went out there, I was chasing the horses around the arena. She started chasing them too. I yelled at her and she quit and stood over by me. Now, she stands around with the horses but doesn't bother them. Yalla! is very curious of her and Sandy is happy to sniff and be sniffed. 

A few weeks ago, she was barking at one of my other neighbors when he came over to talk to me. I had seen her barking at him at other times too. I thought, "that won't do. She needs to be friends with all my neighbors or they'll call the dog police on us." So, I went over and talked with him and told him her name. He called her over and eventually she warmed up to him and let him pet her. I asked if she was a nuisance and he said no and that clearly she was our new dog. I agreed with him.

The only negative I've come across with her is that she smells doggy. I'm not used to that because although Buddha has bad teeth and bad breath he doesn't smell like a dog. Sandy's coat is very thick and wirey and I've often seen her standing in the rain, enjoying it.

Often, as I drive off, I'll see her sitting in the middle of our long driveway as if to say, "this is my place". And I think to myself, "yes, it is".

Though we're Strangers til Now - song: As the World Falls Down, artist: David Bowie, album: Labyrinth

Ground Control

I went out to feed the horses today and they were just staring at me...

So I decided to let them graze around the barn.

But there's not much to eat, so I took them out to graze. As long as I keep the girls on leads, Scout stays close by. I can call him if he gets too far and he'll come running back to us. He's so funny! 

My weeds have completely gotten away from me. I have a riding lawn mower but it's not running. I guess I need a new one but I can't afford it right now. With all the rains we've had the weeds just grow and grow. I wish my garden would grow as well. I hack at them with a weed cutter until my allergies drive me crazy and I'm ready to scratch out my eyes but it never seems to make any difference. I really need to put my round pen panels up and let the horses graze it all down. They really do like these weeds!

But, what is Yalla! staring at?

Why it's Sandy, laying under the car. She wants to be near me but she never bothers the horses. So after I put the horses away, I took these pictures.

I took her in the house this morning and she just watched while I fed the little dogs, never bothering to go over to their food. at all. She lay in the kitchen when we ate dinner last night too, never even begged at us! 

I love the way she's got her hind legs crossed.

PS- here's an update on Annie's slowly healing ear. I have decided that barb wire cuts are the absolute pits! After six weeks it is looking better but, as you can see, there is still a raw place that drains and scabs and oozes and... It's so hard to photograph. At least I can touch her ear again, if I don't have medicine around!

Ground Control - song: Space Oddity, artist: David Bowie, album: Space Oddity

A Better Future, part 2

Tonight, as I drove up to my house, "dog" must have heard the car. She came running up to meet me. Sweet! I gave her a few pats and we walked up to the door together. Then Einstein ran outside and over to her as I opened the door. I grabbed him by the collar and then reached out to pet her and she flinched like I was going to hit her. Poor baby!

When I walk the little 'inside' dogs, she comes along too. Then she stands beside me while they wander around in the grass. She is getting better with Buddha and not growling so much anymore. Einstein bugs her because he's still a puppy, but she doesn't seem to mind. I think she really wants to come inside. Probably will, in a few days...Right now, with all the visiting doggie guests- Tobey and Einstein, it's kind of bedlam. It's funny, all summer, it was just me, Buddha, and the cats, Terra and Simba. Nowadays, since summer camp has ended, the house is always full of people coming and going: my two sons, my older son's girlfriend, my younger son's bandmate, my daughter, and my mother, who came in last weekend for her birthday and is on her way to my sister's house, and a cruise.

"Dog" has such a thick topcoat of wirey hair and an undercoat too. I don't think a bath is going to do much. She looks pretty waterproof. I think she needs to go to a groomer for some coat thinning.

We have been tossing around names for the stray dog. So far, it's been:
Charm, Charmed, Lucky Charm or L.C. for short, get it, Elsie?, Kharma, Gladys, and Evelynn. Last night we kind of settled on Alberta, to go with Einstein, my daughter's 'other' dog. Tonight, we are considering Sandy or Sandra Dee from Little Orphan Annie.

What do you think?

I checked the classified ads again tonight. We will probably take her to the vet for a check up and shots in a few days if we still have her.

A Better Future

This morning, as I was walking my mother's dog, Tobey, and my dog, Buddha, I saw a dog laying behind my daughter's car in our driveway. It didn't say a word, just watched us as we went for our morning walk. I thought, "great, another stray dog! But, he IS cute!" My dogs never even noticed him; he was so quiet. I took the dogs back into the house and wondered what to do about him.

As it turned out, this dog just showed up on our driveway the night before. He came up behind my daughter and touched her hand as she was getting out of her car, scaring her. Then she saw what it was and began petting him.

Does anyone know what kind of dog he is? He's the color of a German Shepherd but his coat is very wirey and he has eyebrows and whiskers like a terrier. I was actually surprised at how big he was when he stood up- 45 to 50 pounds. I thought he was smaller than that when I saw him laying there and his cute little face. 

When my daughter got up, she immediately went outside to see if the dog was still there. Of course he was, right where she last saw him, still behind/under her car! She told me the story of how she met him in the dark and then she asked me if she could give him something to eat. I figured this stray wasn't going to leave anyway so I said okay. That's the thing about stray dogs when they adopt people, they don't run away. (I have over 50 pounds of pedigree dry dog food left over from my two German Shorthaired Pointers who died last year.) She fed him and gave him water. We talked to him and he actually left the food and came over to lick each of us. Such a sweetie! Oh, and he is a she! We looked. 

Then, I had to go to work. I called my son a few hours later to tell him about the found stray and he immediately went out to feed her. Go figure! They say never to feed strays. But who are They to tell my children good advice, huh? He was so excited about the new dog but worried too. "I wonder how she got lost?" I was very happy to learn that she was very friendly towards him too. Usually, stray dogs are very scared of men. Still, I had him look on craigslist and the newspaper classifieds for any lost dog ads. He read the ads to me and none matched.

At work, I got to talking to a coworker about the lost dog and he suggested that the dog might have a microchip that would locate the owner. She was collarless but seemed to be in good health. Such a sweetie, how could she not be loved and missed by her previous owners? 

I left work early tonight and we took her to the vet's office. They checked the dog for a microchip. There was none. I took these photos of my daughter and the dog tonight. Looking in the dog book I have, I'm thinking she's an Australian Cattle Dog mixed with something? Terrier, perhaps? German Shepherd too??

The little gray blur on her lap is her friend's dog, a Schnauzer named Einstein, who never sits still. His nickname is "furball". The stray didn't seem to mind him too much but she does growl at Buddha. Of course, Buddha isn't a real dog, anyway. He's half cat. lol. Oh, and the collar is left over from the vet trip. It's Daisy's old collar. The dog didn't want to get in the car first but readily followed us into the car. She was very well behaved at the vet's office too. Unfortunately, the receptionist is the one who checked for the chip so I didn't get any information on age, breed, spayed? pregnant??

I love the next couple of photos. Is this true love or what? 

My dilemma- how hard do we look for the owners? This dog seems to have chosen my daughter. I did drive around looking at mailboxes for lost dog ads too. And my daughter knows the local animal control officer so we can call him tomorrow to see if anyone has reported her missing. We've also pretty much decided if we can find the owners, great, but if we can't, then that's okay too.

A Better Future - song: A Better Future, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen