Rain and the threat of rain

There has been an increasing chance of rain as the week went on. I have been leaving Hermes inside with the bedroom doors closed so he doesn't get into anything in the bedrooms and he has been fine. The only thing that I can see that is wrong is that he left an indentation on the cushion on the couch from where he was apparently sitting. His rear print looks different than the one I leave when I sit on the couch and I don't leave dog hairs. No harm no foul.

Hermes and the toads video

I took the digital camera out tonight and shot some video of Hermes playing with the toads. I uploaded it to Google video as it is somewhat huge. Video Link



Shorter YouTube version:

Toads don't taste good

So, Hermes was chasing the toads around the yard as he has the past few evenings we have been home. He finds one and he sniffs at it and it usually hops away and he follows it and sniffs it some more and so forth and so on. They usually seek shelter in the brush under the cedar trees and he paws at the ground there and walks around until he flushes them out. After about 10 minutes of following around a toad and flushing it out, Hermes picked it up in his mouth and immediately dropped it. He kept making a smacking sound with his mouth and he drooled a bit and was dripping from his jowls (and had a bit of foam there too, which is typical when we go for a long walk). I got a bit concerned, but he didn't go for any water and he was fine after a few minutes. I know he does get the foamy jowls when we walk, so I wasn't too concerned, but I did google toads and dogs and I found that all toads secrete a bad taste from there skin and but some (especially in Arizona) are toxic. Luckily, it appears that our toads aren't toxic, but taste bad. Hopefully, Hermes will learn his lesson.

A couple of things

On Tuesday, I took Hermes out for his morning walk after my first conference call and dialed into my second via cellphone to listen. When we started down the driveway, I saw a dog coming down the sidewalk in our direction loose. She stopped to check out a woman walking and then headed down to meet Hermes. I took him back to the door and asked Ben to give me a leash and I started to walk them both back the direction from which she came to see if anyone was looking for her. I saw posted on the corner a sign saying "Found....." and describing the little girl pitbull pup that I had, so I hung up on my conference call and called the number. The people live just down the street and had found her the day before. I returned her to them and was talking to the woman and said I could get the microchip scanner from the shelter to see if she had a chip that identified her. I told her I would call her later. I talked the shelter manager to get the phone number of the daytime dog caretaker during the week as no one answers the shelter phone during the week and it just rolls to voicemail. I also asked her if we could take in the stray and put her on stray hold as the neighbor found her to be trying. She said yes. The neighbor called me a bit later to find out what the answers were and I said that if she was being too much trouble, to bring her down to my house. Later on, she did and the little pup and Hermes ran and wrestled in the yard and house. I had given Hermes a knee bone that he had separated into its two pieces and she ate at one and he got jealous. I gave them both treats and he was growling. I told him no and left her alone but kept looking for opportunities to steal her treat. Later in the evening, I took her over to the shelter to go on stray hold.

Over the past few evenings, Hermes has come across some of the toads that live in our little pond in the grass or the rocky area between the cedar trees. He sniffs at them and they hop away and he follows. If they don't move when he sniffs, he paws at the ground. They go into the higher grass and eventually lose him. He finds it amusing. Well, tonight he was playing with 2 earlier and then just now when I took him out, he discovered that there are 5 that hang out in the pond and under the big rock where the water comes out for the fountain. He saw a couple swimming and chased them around and he finally ended up sending them all packing for shelter under the big rock and he kept circling and sniffing at all the cavities that lead down there and sticking his head sideways under the rock trying to get them to come out. He even stuck his head in the cavity where the water stream comes out a few times. It was quite amusing. The toads are back out there now ( I can hear the loud croaking) and I think I will let him go play again.

Hermes rides shotgun

I took Hermes to an adoption days a few months back, well before I was fostering him. I put him in the car and the stuff in the car and he hopped up front to ride shotgun. I had to stop the car, take him out, block the front and then put him in the back. I had some good luck putting him in the back since fostering him but have used a gate to keep him out of the front. Last week when he had KD sleep over, I was taking them back to the shelter and put both of them in the back of the car and went to get my drink in the house. I came back out and KD was still in the back, but Hermes was in the front passenger seat. He rode well that way all the way to the shelter and so this weekend, I put the dropcloth over the seat up front and let him ride shotgun with me. He is very funny. He sits sideways looking at me and leans against the seat and lays his head on the top of the seat next to the headrest. At the end of a long hot day at the shelter, he does that and closes his eyes to nap. He did curl up on the seat a few times, but mostly sits up trying to nap sitting up and leaning back. I took some pics with my cellphone camera and will try to get them onto the computer and post one here.

Weekend at the shelter

Hermes and I spent most of the weekend at the shelter. Saturday was my monthly Petco Lakeline adoption day and since Ben was at a friend's party, I was solo. I was just going to take Hermes and do the noon - 3pm time, but I got a call from the shelter president on Friday and she wanted to take Hermes to a photo shoot for the cover of the next Austin Pet Directory. I went to the shelter and Amber had gotten out of her run and into Elvis's and was being kept inside. Since she got passed over for the photo shoot, I took her to my adoption day. She was very sweet and did fine. After Hermes was done with his photo shoot, she dropped him back by Petco for me and he and Amber seemed to be getting along, though Hermes black undercoat hairs were standing up, so she took Amber back to the shelter and Hermes and I hung out. I got the canvas drop cloth that I use to cover the seats in the car and put it on the floor and Hermes got tired and laid on it. My officemate came to visit with Hermes and Hermes was well behaved.

On Sunday, I took Hermes to be at the shelter and brought my work to do. I put him out with KD in their outdoor run. He had a couple of visitors who were interested and met with him in the meet and greet run. None of them put in an application. There was someone who called on Saturday to ask about Hermes and was supposed to come in from Killeen to visit him on Sunday, but I never saw them. I took Hermes in the office later in the day and he was being pretty well behaved, but some people came in and wanted to visit with Lacey and she came through the office and Hermes growled and barked at her. They wanted to visit with Amber also and that went fine. Hermes and Amber just sniffed at each other and behaved nicely together. It was a long hot day at the shelter, but no real progress on finding Hermes a home.

Sawing logs

Did I mention that Hermes snores? I keep my computer power brick in the bedroom and come in here to work and Hermes hangs out on his dog bed against the wall at the foot of my bed. In the evening, when I usually work from 9-11 or whatever, he goes to sleep and I hear him snoring. I woke up at 2am last night and I heard him snoring. It is not just a one time thing, the dog is sawing logs.

Definitely some boredom issues

I have started leaving Hermes outside for the day while I go to work. I haven't had any marking in the house since those initial couple of days when he was here and getting used to the house and perhaps smelling the old foster dogs. In the backyard, he has gotten into a little mischief by chewing up a frisbee, the bottom of one of his water dishes and some other stuff laying in the yard. I gave him some toys today to see if he will play with them and not get into other things. That was one of the reasons I brought home KD on Friday was to see how this would be, but I didn't end up having time to leave them home together and see how that goes.

Hermes is like Bubby in that he will follow me around the house and be in the room where I and will lay down on a dog bed. He wants to be with me, but he is still nervous about being approached. If I am sitting down, he will come over and if I don't approach him with a hand on top of the head, but instead put my hand down and start petting the side of his head or his neck, he is fine. If I stand over him and come over his head, he will stay away. He is doing better on his walks. We take about 3 a day, 1 in the morning and a couple at night. In the morning, he hasn't been fearful and just stopped and tried to turn around anywhere anymore. He is more confident when walking by fences with dogs barking though he still looks concerned. I have made some more attempts at running with him. I have seen him run in the backyard and he has a really nice stride when he gets going. He is quite fast. I take him on the retractable leash and after he does all his business and has marked a few places, I start a slow jog and he stays a bit behind me. If he gets in front, then he keeps looking back and is worried that I am running after him. If he is behind, he stays pretty close and doesn't stop too often. I tried to pickup the pace and he didn't lag behind anymore, but he never got his stride going, he just trotted a bit more. He isn't the ideal running dog, but he does come along.

Slumber Party

KD came to visit last night. I decided that Hermes was getting into mischief because he didn't have anyone paying him any attention at times and then he would get into some trouble. I asked Monica if I could bring KD home. KD and Hermes share an outside run at the shelter when he is there. I figured they already get along well and are familiar with each other and might play. They got along just great. I took them out for a walk a while after she arrived and it was like flying a 2 line kite. I put a old comforter that I purchased from Goodwill, for just such a thing, onto the floor as a dog bed for KD. Unfortunately, she must have slept in the bed at a previous owner's house, because she kept hopping in bed. The dogs played musical beds back and forth between the 2 dog beds, mostly Hermes taking over the bed he wanted and KD just going to the other. The slumber party was a pretty good success and they are getting along fine. They play together some and lay down in separate corners some. The worst part of the experience is that KD had diarrhea. She seemed to be trying to get outside to have it since it was only in the living room on the stained concrete floor by the back door. A little cleaning and a breakfast of white rice and it was taken care of. The dogs seem to be napping now which is little wonder since they didn't settle down until past 3am and they were up before 7am. I should grab a nap too, but I am not sleepy now, maybe later.

Do you have anymore foam stuffed things I can eat

Well, Hermes has been getting a bit bored at home with just Ben there and Ben mostly focused on playing WOW and the other day he ate the corner of the big flat dog bed that he lays on in the family room. Ben caught Hermes doing it and made him come stay in the computer room. The next day, Hermes must have been bored because he chewed up the little round dog bed he sleeps on in my bedroom. It was a mess of foam pieces and cloth and had to be tossed out. His personality profile from the shelter did say eats towels (which are his bedding in his inside run at the shelter), so it isnt' a big surprise. I was ignoring him the other night working on the computer and he took one of my slippers and started running around the house with it. I caught up with him and he dropped it and ran away. I put my slippers in the back of my closet and closed the door, but yesterday the cleaning people were at the house and left my closet door open and Hermes gnawed on one of my slippers. It isn't a total loss, just a bit messed up around the top edge. So, it seems he needs something to keep him busy when we aren't paying attention to him. I went out and played ball in the backyard with him last night and he ran around like a mad man and then played ball and ran around like a mad man. I knew he was done when he hopped into the pond and had some water. I am curious as to whether he would be more occupied if there were another dog to play with. I am going to see about bringing KD home from the shelter tonight. They share an outdoor run when Hermes is at the shelter and so I want to see how the dynamic plays out at the house. I need to call the shelter tonight and see about a sleepover for KD.

Running of the hounds, umh, no

Well, we tried running again the past couple of days and I gotta tell you, foxhounds may run well after a fox, but Hermes isn't a foxhound. He is too nervous that you are coming after him or he is lagging behind sniffing at something. We have been taking a lot of long walks and I have been keeping at the running tries.

Not so much for the running

Well, I have tried a little bit the last 2 days and I am not giving up yet, but Hermes doesn't seem to be a good running partner. 1 issue is his nervousness. If I don't start right alongside him (if he is ahead of me at the end of the leash), then he thinks I am after him and I have to work to get right beside him. Another issue is that he likes to just stop. He is all hound. He has those amazing jowls and he must be pulling in all sorts of smells and he will just stop suddenly. I have some experience with this, but he takes it to another level. The third issues is another nervousness thing. He will stop and then refuse to go the way we are going. I have to coax him and pull him. That doesn't make for ideal running. As with everything, it is something to be learned, so I need to just keep at it. Guess I have gotten spoiled by Sandy and Bubby.

Another dog, another mini blind

A bit of separation anxiety I think today. Ben and I went out for an appointment and were gone for a bit over an hour, maybe 1.5 and when we got back, I discovered that Hermes had "marked" the foot high wall in the front hallway and when cleaning it up, I discovered that the small mini-blinds in the thin window next to the door was pulled up and very mangled. A few of the blind blades had been chewed up. I don't remember it being like that. I am certain that Hermes got antsy and chewed the blinds and pulled the strings. I am not too upset about the blinds, it shouldn't be too pricey to replace. I am pretty unhappy about the marking in the house. Hermes marked near that spot the other day when I left the house. I know he is house trained and he does great at night, but he hasn't done that well with me leaving him. Dana had given me some information about training for separation anxiety when we had problems with Bubby and I think it is time to bring it out and put it to use.