Yesterday I called in sick because of a painful headache and nausea. I stayed in bed all day with three dogs around me. None moved until Kevin came home at 3:40pm.
Today I felt better and took Eric with me to the shelter to help walk the dogs at 10am. We had five less dogs from last Saturday. The pointer, Boston terrier, red-white pitX, Black LabX and blue pit were gone. We got two new dogs: a red pit whose owner was coming to get her, and a pretty pit-boxer who quickly warmed up to the idea of being on a leash.
We Started out with three dog walkers: Robin, Eric and me. Brittany showed up after our first round to make four. I first met her over a year ago when the local shelter had to take in 40+ dogs from an illegal pitbull breeder. She also fosters for a local rescue. With Brittany now with us, that allowed us to get done in twice the time. And I was glad, as it was only 34F at 10am when we pulled up, and we all thought it was colder when we left two hours later. This was too cold for the pups who were shivering inside, and the younger dogs were warm only because they never stopped running around.
I must remember to bring some treats next time!
Eric was a real champ, following along and walking two dogs. Then he stayed in the warmth of the kitty room and snuggled with the cats there. I took photos and played with the pups. The pups were enjoying the playtime despite the cold.
Robin was there from last week. After walking the first dog she stayed in the backyard while Eric and I did the second round. I walked the older German Shepherd Mix girl, Topaz, the one Scott said didn't like other dogs and who was surrendered for being an escape artist. She seemed so much nicer today, more relaxed than last week. She recognized me, too. But she stayed in her kennel while the five younger pups frolicked in the back yard, running around and just enjoying being pups. "Dog aggressive" said Scott, but I only see that with smaller dogs.
Watching Topaz look so sad in her kennel while the other dogs were outside was not wasted on Eric. "It's so sad to see her so depressed like that." Had it been warmer I would have liked having her play outside, too.
The little blonde aggressive dog had been put down within this week. She didn't even get her ten day quarantine. I hope her death came quick and painlessly.
We stopped at PetSmart on our way home to get Zeke a leash (one made of leather and a metal buckle so that Minnie won't chew the buckle off!) and a few cases of canned food. Tanyia from the Tombstone Small Animal Shelter was there with some of her animals and she recognized me.
"Are you Connie?"
"Yes" I answered, wondering where she knew me from.
"You're the one who takes photos for Peace for Paws! I really like your photos. Thank you so much for all that you do!" Those words really made my day. I thanked her for her endless dedication to her shelter animals as well, as she and Elaine take turns every Saturday helping the animals at the Tombstone shelter.
While there is a professional photographer who donates her time to take great photos of the animals at two shelters, she hadn't been able to break away for that because of other photos to get done for clients. I had been a fill-in. But I've been taking candid shots of animals for over a year now on various Facebook sites of local animal shelters so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that people start recognizing me. I thanked her for her nice words.
We got home by 3pm. It quickly got cold again, with record lows predicted for tonight. I took the dogs out to Hunter Canyon for a quick romp. It was even too cold for target shooters, so it was just all the dogs and I for 15 minutes. Whoever was around shooting earlier brought out a dozen raw eggs. The dogs relished licking the leftover yolk.
We were back at the house by 5pm to welcome our new neighbors in the corner home. Even the new dogs were sniffing the property line--much to our dogs' chagrin--and seeming to like their new 'hood. The tallest of the four dogs is a large friendly dog with catahoula in it. It's also quite a howler, which will please everyone for a square mile around when it howls in the middle of the night.
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