This and that

The leg is seeming fine now. Baxter has been very well behaved even though he hasn't been getting a lot of exercise. He has been laying around when he isn't allowed to go anywhere. He did find a phone jack splitter on the ground in my room and chew it up, but that's all he has gotten into this week. My sister in law came over with her 2 dogs to meet Baxter because I am going to dog sit and the meeting went fine. Her dog Curly was a bit protective of me and didn't want Baxter coming over to me, but I made a point of petting him in front of her and then petting her and taking a treat away from her and giving it to him. Baxter just kept trying to induce the 2 dogs into playing but didn't get far with it. I think things will be ok if I have the 3 dogs at once, but Curly may get a bit testy.

I took Baxter to the shelter this afternoon so that he could spend a little time outside with Karma. While I was there, I pumped the excess water out of the courtyard. Monica talked to me about taking either Payton or Oryo into temporary foster. Payton could use a break from the stress of the shelter and Oryo is being a pain with the other dogs and needs some "home" experience which he seems to have never had. It is a tough call, but I will take one of them home next week. Still pondering it.

Baxter's back home

The leg is doing much better. I have to keep him off it because if I let him go around too much, he starts to show just a hint of a limp. He still has a few more days of Rimadyl and then I will start slowly reintroducing walks.

Injured leg

Baxter hurt his leg running down a flight of stairs last week. I was at a friends on Wed evening and he was upstairs. I called him to come down and he came running down the stairs, turned at the landing and came on down and then he was holding up one leg. I was a bit concerned. He limped his way to his bed and home and aside from jumping on the guest bed to nap when he wasn't supposed to, he was pretty subdued. I let him out back in the morning to go to the bathroom, but that was about it for him. He was still limping but no visible trauma. I took him to the vet Thurs. morning and the doc said it is most likely just a sprain and to give him Rimadyl for 2 weeks and keep him pretty quiet. He is hanging in his crate at the shelter now since I had a busy weekend.

Not so brave now

Wed. Baxter and I went walking after work. We headed out and we walked past the hedge between my neighbor and her neighbor where there is a electric power meter that often smells like cat and sometimes has a cat on it. Baxter turned at the hedge and headed right over there. He put his nose almost right up there and there was a cat laying there. It hissed loudly at him but didn't move. He stood there staring at it and after 10-15 seconds, it hissed again and took a swipe at him. He jumped back and yelped. I got a hold of his head and took a look and didn't see any scratches or blood, but he was not interested in going right back to hassle that cat. That cat put him in his place but good. It has been rainy and so we haven't been back by that spot, so I don't know if Baxter will dash right over there again or not, we will see later when the rain is supposed to stop.

Cassie in the house

Cassie is back with me as I mentioned before. She is doing very well, doesn't seem to limp noticably and can go for a walk without any problem. In fact, she really loves to go for a walk. She is still dog reactive, so I have to avoid fences where I know there are dogs on the other side that will bark at her. She is surprisingly strong. The new rubber tubing leash I got from my mom is really springy but she will stretch it quite a bit. She saw a frog this morning as we went for an early morning walk and true to doggie form, she followed it around for a minute, but then she got bored. I already miss the fact that Baxter almost never poops when he goes on a walk. Cassie does. I forgot a bag yesterday when we went to go get the mail and she did her business right there in the neighbor's yard at the mailboxes. I had to come back and get it. Oh well, she is a good girl.

Dogs and frogs

If you have been a reader here for a while, you remember Hermes and the frogs/toads and the video of him trying to play with them. Baxter has been chasing geckos in and around the house of late and this morning as we went for our morning walk in the dark, he came across a frog on the sidewalk and started sniffing it and then followed it around the grass and was pawing in its direction to get it to play. After watching in amusement for a couple of minutes, I decided it was time to move on and he grudgingly came along.

A few minutes later during the walk, it was getting a little lighter outside and we were walking down the sidewalk and Baxter slowed a bit to walk alongside me. I noticed a man getting in his car on the other side of the street and I couldn't help but wonder if Baxter was being protective of me or was pulling closer to me for his own protection.

2 weeks at the shelter

Baxter is going to be going to stay at the shelter in mid September through beginning of October as I will be dog sitting Cassie and she is not dog friendly. I have been thinking about introducing the 2 of them and trying to set my role as pack leader in place to try to get her to be more tolerant, but since this is just a 2 week thing, I will not upset the apple cart and not risk any injury. Baxter does fine at the shelter and Stephan will be making a nice donation to the shelter to cover boarding costs, so it is a win-win.