A blue-eyed, red-furred view of the world!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

#200

This is post number 200 since we started in July. Blogger says it's #202. But Blogger counts the ones we haven't finished writing yet.

But this should catch us up on current events. Then we can get back to stuff like how smart dogs are!

These pictures are from Tuesday. Denver got 7.8 inches of snow that day. You can click on them to make them bigger. Like, so you can see Lucy watching to see if I find Harvey. Or Oswald. Or whatever.
Tucker in snow
Just another day in Paradise!
Tucker looking at bushes, plus Lucy
Checking for Harvey.
Gremlin walking in snow
Gremlin keeps truckin' along.
snow on patio furniture
It'll melt soon - this is Denver.


Gremlin is a cone-head because she has a big owie on her back right leg. I think she licks where her joints hurt. Then she makes a sore and licks that.

The cone is a pain for everydoggy in the house! (And the H.A. too.) But it's the only way to keep Gremlin from licking all the way down to her bones!

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Paradise - There's not actually a town with this name in Colorado. But there was an Eden! But it isn't really there anymore.

One map shows it at I-25 exit 102. But the Human Assistant is pretty sure that Eden's the last exit going south before you see signs for Pueblo. Which would make it exit 104.

Anyway, Eden, Colorado, is famous for something that's not related to any other Eden-type places.

By the way. If you go all the way to the south end of I-25 you come to the very end of the U.S. As it was in 1848, anyway.

That gets you to Las Cruces. But maybe you want to go a tiny bit farther, into Mesilla. Then you can be happy about the Gadsden Purchase! Today is the 154th anniversary of its signing!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Lucy plays the piano

And Lucy wins, 4-0 ! 1  

Okay, this will have to be quick because the Human Assistant wasted the night reading a novel and arguing with a farm (or whatever) that didn't have his medicine ready.

Lucy went up against the piano and beat it four tries out of four:

  Saturday or Sunday Lucy went crazy. She was licking the piano. The up-and-down wood part that holds the keys from sliding into the human's lap.

Licking and licking and panting real fast. Like she was a frantic maniac. She was licking the shine off the wood. The H.A. thought she was poisoning herself! Getting kinda loony from the 'shine.

But when she stopped she was okay. Stopped panting and acting frantic and stuff. But it earned her a stay in a crate the next time H.A. left the house. (Now he needs to get a sturdier crate that size....)

  Monday Lucy started doing it again. Only it looked like maybe she wanted to get at the keys. So H.A. lifted the lid off the keys. Not good enough!

Lucy tried to get inside the piano with her whole mouth now. As in, grab something with her teeth and try to move it. This wasn't the first time she used this strategy, so it wasn't a huge surprise. Even though it was an unpleasant one.

H.A. got Lucy to stop that. She calmed down. He went in another room to do stuff.

  She did it some more. Some humans never learn!  ​::snort::

So H.A. turned the piano around with its face to the wall. If she can't get to it, she can't scratch it. So he said. And that's pretty much true.

The back of the piano doesn't have fake coloring and shine. So if Lucy chewed on that, no big deal. And she couldn't get to the front of the piano, so she couldn't grab that with her mouth.

  So instead she clawed at the side of the piano. Which has fake coloring and shine. That doesn't look quite as good now as it used to.

So to recap:
➊ De-shine - point Lucy
➋ Gouge - point Lucy
➌ Gouge more - point Lucy
➍ Scratch - point Lucy
A clean sweep, four for four!

These pictures aren't up to H.A.'s usual standards. Address comments to him, not me. Some of them look better if you click to see the larger view.

Lucy at piano, plus Tucker
Tucker:  Hey, Lucy's doing this to the piano!
Lucy licking piano, #1636
Lucy:  There's a smell all over it!
Lucy behind piano
Lucy:  Hey Tucker!  It's back here too!
Tucker behind piano
Tucker:  Where‽‽‽
Lucy licking piano, #1638
Lucy:  Do these things lift off?
Lucy licking piano, #1649
Lucy:  Gotta get in there!
Lucy licking piano, #1650
Lucy:  If you can't get 'em, lick 'em!
Lucy licking piano, #1653
Time for a scratch 'n' slobber sale!


I'm pretty sure Lucy isn't seeing Oswald the rabbit. Maybe Harvey the invisible rabbit.

That's all for now.

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1  mr_ed:  No doubt they were playing a Twelve-Tone Series, as mentioned in "New Horizons in Music Appreciation: Beethoven's Symphony No. 5," on the album Report from Hoople, for example.

In this brilliant comedic bit, Grammy winner Peter Schickele (Very Full Professor of musicolology and musical pathology at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople) and Robert Dennis give running "play by play" commentary on the symphony while it's performed.

Appropriately, this is broadcast over USND at H's radio station WOOF (not to be confused with the apparently-real WOOF AM and FM stations in Alabama).

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Lucy the ghost tracker

We have lots of pictures! But we  ​::ahem::  ​haven't been getting them posted. These are from last Friday.

Awhile back Lucy was looking for something under the patio. I never saw it.

Since then, she's been looking in these bushes. I've looked a couple of times and I never see what she's so interested in!

I'd think she was trying to fool me. But she does it whether I pay attention or not.

Lucy looking back from bushes
Lucy:  Hey Tucker!  It's back!
Tucker looking up, plus Lucy
Tucker:  Dog give me strength!
Lucy and Tucker looking in bushes
Lucy:  Do you think it's Oswald?
Tucker backing out of bushes, plus Lucy
Tucker:  I think it's your imagination!
Lucy looking at bushes
Lucy:  Is not!
Gremlin coming up hill, plus Lucy
Gremlin:  Give up, Lucy!
Gremlin in kitchen
Gremlin:  Arguing in the snow - sheesh!
Lucy sure is interested in those bushes!

A couple of times she even went into the doggy den to look from behind.

In fact, she even got me to go in the darned place!

It's too low for me. My tail got snagged.

And I still didn't see anything!

Next time ... pictures of Lucy taking this invisible Oswald thing too far!

If the MaxFund shelter had been open today, I think she would've found her furry backside back behind bars!

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Monday, December 24, 2007

Beware of lolchristmas

Cats can't be trusted with the idea of Santa!

humbug lolcat lolcat sleeps with bat


-- "moar funny pictures" frm icanhascheezburger

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More Tucker-Too

MaxFund's Tucker in evening shadow
Why, yes ... I am a wolf!
The Human Assistant only got a couple of good photos of the other Tucker.

But one that's fairly nice looks a lot like the one he already used.

So this is what he has left. Not enough to fill up a whole blog.

No more info on Paco Bell. I mean, Perro Blanco.

The Human Assistant tried to get to the Denver Shelter on Saturday. But a couple of things made him late.

He got there right at 5:00 p.m. Their closing time.

They probably closed a minute and a half early because of the holiday weekend. Closed Sundays, too.

But two people on SIBERNET said those were fly bites on his ears. H.A. hit himself in the forehead and said they were most likely right.

I'll post more about him as soon as H.A. figures out how to contact the shelter during their regular hours.

♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟

♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♖ ♘ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙




As for Lucy, she's okay. I have to poke H.A. in the behind to get him to finish up a dogster page for her. And write a new blurb for MaxFund. Then they can make her page more interesting.

And get her out of here faster. Although she doesn't bother me. She's kinda funny sometimes. I'll write about her again soon.

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

More Perro Blanco

The white Sibe at the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter came off their website sometime Thursday evening. Which is odd because they were only open for about another hour after the Human Assistant left there. Hopefully the young 'un went to a nice home!

There's a notice on craigslist that's pretty close in description and in the right area. But H.A. double checked, and a few details don't match.

white Sibe photo #1581 Anyway.

H.A. said he didn't want to waste these pictures.

(Plus, we have a medical question.)

The shelter's visiting area has three cubicles.

All that's in them is a bench attached to the wall.

This cubicle only has half a bench.

H.A.'s not very observant.

There's a sign on the cubicle door that says, DO NOT USE THIS AREA

Is Perro Blanco pretending to look for the sign?

Is he a ham for the camera?  ​Hmmpf!  ​It's a good thing that the H.A. didn't fall for this trick!

white Sibe photo #1582 white Sibe photo #1583
white Sibe photo #1584 white Sibe photo #1585


So here's the medical question. What are these wounds on the backs of Perro Blanco's ears? Click on the photos to get bigger views.

The same thing is on both ears in the same place. It doesn't go all the way to the edge of them. Maybe Perro's ears are furrier out there. Mine aren't. But H.A. says my ears are a little bit thicker at the edge. Maybe his are too.

(Maybe Perro Blanco's are thicker there, too! ::big Husky grin::)

So H.A.'s thinking frostbite. If anydoggy or their humans have an idea, please let us know!

white Sibe's ear wounds one of white Sibe's ear wounds


The wounds look like they're healing. The skin isn't open. I wonder how long something like this takes to heal? Perro got picked up December 8. I wonder how long he was out wandering around?

Here are the temperatures for the month before Perro was found. For anyone who's interested. They're from Accuweather.

Date High Low
   
November    
10 72° 47°
11 69° 38°
12 52° 34°
13 70° 35°
14 41° 18°
15 65° 19°
16 68° 40°
   
17 58° 37°
18 68° 41°
19 76° 49°
20 53° 27°
21 27°   8°
22 29°   8°
23 24° 14°
   
24 41° 14°
25 56° 22°
26 43° 20°
27 65° 21°
28 36° 17°
29 46° 15°
30 30° 12°
   
December    
1 38° 19°
2 44° 17°
3 62° 23°
4 72° 42°
5 51° 27°
6 52° 34°
7 39° 27°
   
Found    
8 28°   6°


So that's it for now. Everydoggy keep your ears warm! We had snow on Friday! We're sending it east!

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Perro Blanco and Tucker-Too

Okay, well, this wasn't what I planned to post next, either.

And I can't take very long because the Human Assistant is t.i.r.e.d. Even though he got up late. (Fed us late, of course.) Didn't do anything all day. Went off visitng other dogs.  ​Hmpf!

First he went to the city pound to see a white Sibe. He thought he'd post it on SIBERNET. Or maybe see if MaxFund would take it. Like they did Sequoia.

But he wanted more information than the shelter had on their website.

Certainly the dog could never come here! He was picked up as a stray, a young male. Some punk kid lost his turf? Looking to take over my turf? Not gonna happen!

H.A. says he's a nice dog. (So what?) And he took pictures he wants to post. (So what?) Next time. But here's one of them so you can see "perro blanco." (Which isn't the dog's name. It's just Spanish for "dog, white.")

white Sibe at Denver pound Keeshond Tucker at MaxFund
white Sibe at Denver
Municipal Animal Shelter
Keeshond-Tucker
at MaxFund


Then H.A. went to see a MaxFund dog the volunteers were talking about.  ​Tucker!  ​Can you imagine the nerve?

Oh, dear! Tucker-Too is missing his beautiful curled-up tail! All Spitz doggies should have a furry, curled-up tail! It's part of our charm!

H.A. says Tucker-Too is nice, too. And 6 years old. That doesn't matter! No other male dogs here! And no more dogs!

(In case the H.A. has forgotten, Lucy is still here! And yes, she's still doing fine. Matts on her Spaniel ears that he's working on. Then she should be groomed.  ​Heh.  ​Better her than me!)

Okay, that's it for now. More pictures next time of perro blanco or Tucker-Too. Or both. Maybe we'll get back to my stuff!

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Happy Husky home for the holidays!

This is better than what I thought I'd tell about tonight. So here ya go!

dog Sequoia and her new dad Sequoia scrounging in her new home
Sequoia
and her new dad
Sequoia
snarfing up a treat!


Sequoia's new parents sent a few pictures to MaxFund. And some notes on what she's been doing.

She "runs like a gazelle" in the snow in her big new back yard! She play bows to her humans. And when they make a move at her, she happily gallops off.

Indoors Sequoia lies on their feet when they're all just hanging out. And she has a big fleece-covered bed! They probably got this at Petsmart, where she also got to pick out toys for herself.

That second picture has a tennis ball that sure looks new! We'll see how Siberian she is by how clean the ball stays, huh? ::big Husky grin:: If she's a Sibrador puppy, that ball's gonna get awfully muddy in the next month!

Sequoia's mom says she's finishing off a pig ear in that picture. It also looks like she has new bowls and a new food vault and a new pink elephant squeaky toy! What a lucky pup!

Now taking bets! How long will the squeaky toy last? Will Sequoia chew her way into the kibble container? How many pig ears will she be able to charm them out of in one day?

Keep having fun, you three!

-- photos by Sequoia's new family

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Payton, Sequoia, Zena


MaxFund dog Payton MaxFund dog Sequoia MaxFund dog Zena
Payton
ADOPTED!
Sequoia
ADOPTED!
Zena
ADOPTED!


  ✔  Payton had been on trial adoption. His humans went to MaxFund last Thursday and made it permanent!

  ✔  Sequoia was busy late last week!  ​She was adopted, returned ("Doesn't get along with other dogs") and adopted again!

Whew!

Now she's an only dog. She has an 8-foot fence and humans who are experienced with Husky mixes. Her new mom runs 5 miles a day. Well, that's a start...!

  ✔  Zena did some moving around too!  ​She had been in the MaxFund office where all the visitors could see her. But nothing happened!  ​So about a week ago she went into a foster home.

Then over this last weekend she got adopted!  This wasn't a fast foster failure. Some entirely different humans got her. What a lucky dog to finally have people interested in her!

Speaking of lucky....

It's a good thing I have this blog! The Human Assistant went to the shelter on Monday and again spent some time with Caesar, the big Akita.

Gave him a Milk-Bone from the house!  ​Tossed his stuffed Santa. Played grab-paw with him. Scratched his fur and got his face washed.

Then he said to a MaxFund person, "I sure wish I could take Caesar!"

They said, "You can!"

H.A. said, "Huh uhh, he's an Akita and doesn't get along with other dogs."

They said, "Caesar's an Akita that gets along with other dogs!

"Except maybe Tucker. Caesar likes girl dogs and submissive dogs."

So he says, "Tucker's not aggressive, but he's not exactly submissive either. Maybe I could bring Tucker here and trade him for Caesar!"

And they wisely pointed out, "No, because then Tucker wouldn't have help with his blog."

Whew!

Not that H.A. would seriously trade me for another dog. I mean, I'm a Siberian Husky! He wouldn't want an Akita, would he?

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

THE Christmastime home video

What makes a good holiday home video?

Nice trees?  ​Lots of pretty decorations?

George W. Bush family, maybe in 1987 Camera time with your family?

With your mom and the grown-up kids home to visit?

Your busy dad who has the weight of the world on his shoulders?

Playing on the floor with a Christmas decoration?  ​Running through the house with your sister?

Playing in the snow?  ​Your sister with snow on her face?

Ignoring a command?

Making your dad look silly when you run off?  ​One of his buddies making a dumb joke?  ​People he knows from work acting stiff for the camera?

Nice background music, not blaring?

Check out this home video!  ​It's 7 minutes and 19 seconds long.  ​So it will take a while to completely load.

Yes, the starting image while it's sitting here is strange. You can see what it really is around 3:37 to 3:43 into the video.



Or you can see it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shxz48hEFJ8.

Maybe you want to see it bigger.  ​Maybe the second time around so you can see more: http://www.youtube.com/v/Shxz48hEFJ8  ​(The quality isn't quite as good when it's bigger.)

You can also go to a page that has the video and the script.  ​Or download the video yourself.  ​(48 MB!)

Happy home-video howlidays for hounds!

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-- thanks to itchmo for spotting the video!
-- photo from Wikipedia

Friday, December 14, 2007

Things not what they seem

Blogster tried to say this was blog #200.

Nuh-uh. Couldn't be. It was counting the posts that got posted and the posts that didn't get posted.

I made the Human Assistant erase the drafts. So now this is #190. Unfortunately, #100 is now #99.  

Ceremonial South Pole Geographic South Pole Roald Amundsen in Antarctica Turning now from draft blogs to draft dogs... some anniversaries!

Happy 96th of Amundsen reaching the South Pole!

It looked like he was going to explore the North Pole but he changed his mind.

It looked like Scott would make the South Pole and back, but he didn't.

Happy 49th of the Soviets reaching the South Pole of Inaccessibility!

It might seem hard to get to the real South Pole, but it's even harder to get to the SPoI.

Treshnikov's expedition also went to the South Geomagnetic Pole.

It might seem like this is the same as the South Magnetic Pole, but it's not.

Also ... happy 2nd of the Spanish Transantarctic Expedition reaching a slightly different SPoI.

Whew!

By the way, that first picture (see again) is a fake South Pole!

It's not completely fake. It's the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

You can get your picture taken there.

It might be a more convincing view than at the real South Pole.

Anyway.

We shoulda posted this earlier.

So everydoggy could spend the day celebrating!

But hopefully the humans will hand out treats anyway.

Happy expeditioning!

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-- all photos from Wikipedia

On, you huskies!

Thanks to everydoggy who left comments lately! Okay, and humans too.  ​::big Husky grin::

(And Sheri - the Human Assistant apologizes for not answering your email! He forgets things. Then he remembers them and forgets them again.)

Obviously it is important to have a forum where questions like this can be asked - and answered!

Minky: Mr. Ed, is using the "y" word kind of like using the "b" word?

Kelsey Ann: Why does your human put up with the MaxFund people?

Well, K.A., it's because...
  • Most MaxFund people are like Minky's (and Benny's and Moey's and Tippy's) mom ... nice;

  • H.A. is occasionally a doodoo-head himself; and

  • Like they say, "It's about the animals."
There aren't many people at MaxFund that he'd like to give negative reinforcement to. And he's only been volunteering there for a year and a bit. And he is only a volunteer.

They listen to him about the same as I do. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. He's trying to take it less personally. If it's part of the breed, whaddaya gonna do?

Not to mention, the ones who ignore him are actually his friends!
mr_ed:  Minky, here's a human male's viewpoint.

Calling another human the b-word can get you fired, sued, and written up on the bathroom wall. Calling a dog the y-word can get your ankle chewed off.

The emergency room is cheaper, and they give you pain medicine.

Plus the chicks really dig it when you say you were injured doing a HALO jump from a Huey into Uzbekistan without a 'chute (which you gave to the embedded female journalist) while advising Special Forces on security matters.

So I'd say they're completely different.
Speaking of different:

Bell UH-1P Iroquois helicopter, the Huey Kaman HH-43B Huskie helicopter
"Huey"
(HU-1/UH-1 Iroquois)
Huskie
(HH-43 Huskie)


If you click on the Huskie to make it bigger, you can see it says "Rescue." The Air Force also used the four-legged kind for rescue, like in Greenland. There's neat stuff like that in the book, Soldiers & Sled Dogs; A History of Military Dog Mushing by Charles L. Dean.

Now, how is vital info like that going to get out there without a blog? H.A. says he'll keep helping me. Wooooo!

Also, this just in. Sequoia finally has a pretty good application. MaxFund called H.A. to let him know she'll probably be trial-adopted this afternoon!

WoooooHooooo!

Wasn't that nice of them to call?  

That's all for now!

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Ringo & Sequoia, pt. III

dogs Ringo and Sequoia playing There wasn't going to be a Part 3.

The Human Assistant was very unhappy that he stayed up so late last night doing Part 2.

Of course it's his own fault for typing so slowly!

And for forgetting to tell me this important bit.

Ringo hadn't woooed for his new dad.

This is important to humans. They love to hear us talk!

Except when they're on the phone or watching TV or lying down with a migraine or something.

Which is why it's good for Siberian Huskies to have plenty of buddies in the house! A bunch all making noise at the same time can make humans feed them, take them for walks ... all kinds of stuff!

Timber never woooed in the year that she was here with H.A. But I do, so I get bonus points. Which are handy sometimes! Like when I ate all of Gremlin's supper last night!

Anyway. While they were meeting last Friday, Sequoia started woooing about something or another. And Ringo joined in. And Rick enjoyed that!

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It's been snowing for the past few days. Off and on. By "days" I mean daytime and also nighttime.

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The sun was out today so H.A. had to shovel the porch and sidewalk.  ​  ​Which he doesn't like very much.

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼


Minky, I'm sorry if your mom was embarrassed in class! It's good that she has you so she can prove she didn't mean to be mean!

It's also good for people with small dogs to know how certain other kinds of dogs see them! Like … oh, Greyhounds, for example!  ​

Okay. That's all for now. Gotta beg for some treats!

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Ringo & Sequoia, pt. II

Okay, so I said that Sequoia had an exciting day last Friday. Also that Ringo's dad was interested in her.



The first exciting thing was that one of the MaxFund volunteers combed Sequoia out. And she needed it! Not just because she was still blowing some coat on her haunches.

The rest of her coat was full of dead hair, too. Even though you couldn't really see it. Now she probably needs a Siberian Husky annual bath. But not at the shelter. They don't do 'em in the winter because they don't have dryers there.

The next exciting thing was that Ringo came by and the Human Assistant got a few pictures. They look pretty boring. Except that one of the sheets in Ringo's file says that he hates dogs, hates cats, and hates kids.

If he hated dogs, I would have known it! He and I spent some time in this same yard before he was adopted. (The red and white in these pictures is Ringo, not me.)



There's another picture back in the Part I of this story.

Then not-so-good thing #1 happened. Some MaxFund people came wandering by. They stopped to watch. Did they say, "Oh ... My ... Dog!  ​Ringo is getting along with Sequoia!"

No. They said, "Oh ... My ... Dog!  ​That man is starving Ringo!"

Not literally, out loud. They did take H.A. aside and ask whether the guy would feed Ringo more. And they brought out crummy shelter food for him to take home. It was embarrassing for the ol' H.A. He wants MaxFund to think Rick is good for Ringo.

Ringo is kinda small anyway. And he was probably getting enough food for a couch potato. The thing is, his dad is a long-distance runner. Ringo gets in 2 or 3 hours (not miles, hours) of running at a time.

Maybe not every day, I don't know. But Rick runs ultramarathons and trains hard! Which is why he wanted a Siberian in the first place. What other breed has the stamina?

Anyway. A couple of times on-leash Ringo and Sequoia acted like they might want to fight. But that got broken up fast. The second time was when everydoggy was leaving the exercise yard. It happened behind the H.A., so he didn't exactly see it.

Then not-so-good thing #2 happened. But you have to keep it a secret! Nobody at MaxFund must know!

The H.A. was holding Sequoia's leash down low to keep her close. He accidentally unclipped it. She was off like a flash! It was Friday evening rush hour and getting dark. Busy streets were only two blocks south and two blocks west. Not fast, but busy.

H.A. and Rick traded leashes. H.A. held onto Ringo while Rick went after Sequoia.

  Name: Sequoia Rick
  Breed:   Siberian Husky   Ultrarunner
  Physical Advantage:   Speed   Endurance
  Mental Edge:   This is fun!   Rush-​hour traffic!
  WINNER:


So. All's swell that ends swell, right? Not so fast! There's still not-so-good thing #3.

When H.A. walked Sequoia into the shelter, there were a couple of spots of blood near her right eye. A vet tech cleaned them off with an alcohol wipe and said it was probably okay. A small poke or tear under the eye.

The next day there was drainage from her eye. She probably got bopped by either a paw or a jaw in their end-​of-​visit scuffle. There was much less drainage the day after that. I guess H.A. will want to go check on her again.

But wait! There are still not-so-good things #s 4 and 5!

H.A. put Sequoia back in her kennel. Then he had a disagreement with one of the MaxFund people who do adoptions.

No, the shelter would not adopt another animal into Ringo's home. He has a history of aggression. Like it says right here in his file, "hates dogs, hates cats, hates kids."

No, it doesn't matter that he gets along with dogs in the yard. It's in his home where he's aggressive.

H.A. didn't agree. For one thing, Ringo was surely calmer with all that exercise. But he didn't want to argue too much.

Sequoia had an injury. And she was a puppy. Ringo didn't seem to want to play with her. Maybe he'd be like me and get really annoyed with her.

So that was #4. And #5 was, MaxFund didn't really like Rick as an adopter. The only reason he got an animal at all was that they wanted Ringo out of the shelter. Ringo was a hard-​to-​adopt dog. (The aggression in the file plus an orthopedic problem plus being probably 6 years old.)

This really hit the H.A. He was plugging for Rick. They'd had a couple of long talks and had emailed a few times. What was the problem? The MaxFund person wouldn't tell him.

This was not a good evening.

Sequoia was injured, probably while H.A. was holding her. He let her loose. In the shelter's view he was probably wrong to let Ringo meet other dogs. His judgment of Ringo may be off.

His judgment of Rick apparently was off. Compared to MaxFund's, anyway. Rick confirmed this by not feeding Ringo enough.

H.A. had misled Rick into thinking he could adopt another dog. It looked like he'd tried to go around MaxFund's decisions. And Ringo wouldn't have a buddy while Rick was away during the day. Not from MaxFund, anyway.

Oh, by the way. Rick had been out of town recently. For four days Ringo stayed with friends who have a Jack Russell Terrier. They said there had been no problems. (But Ringo wasn't on his home turf....)

The Human Assistant was pretty darned depressed over the weekend. It's a good thing he remembered to feed us! Of course, I reminded him. But sometimes he says he can't tell what I want.

"Want to go out?" No, feed me!

Anyway. Like I said before, Ringo is a happy, happy boy. He obviously loves his new home and his new dad. And he was happy to see H.A. again, too.

Which is fine by me. As long as H.A. doesn't bring another dog home! Or stay out past my suppertime.

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