Awake prematurely. I now had the chance with an early sunrise walk. I hadn't walked the dogs all week at dawn and I knew they'd appreciate getting out early. The sunrise wasn't spectacular, but it was a means to get the dogs exercised before the heat came back. We have been under a heat advisory all week with temperatures in the 90s. It gets hot by late morning. It was 53F-60F between 5am-6am.
We only walked two miles, then rested by the shrinking stock pond that has dried up so much, the water isn't deep enough for Minnie to swim in anymore. The water now gets to her belly and she can still cool down and drink, but it's no longer the life of the party. Water-logged sticks now line the bottom. As I predicted, the pond will be gone by the end of the month. I sure hope we get those "heavy, intense rains this weekend as forecasted, but even that forecast keeps minimizing precipitation as this weekend nears.
The big event for today was a 2:15pm appointment for both pups at Sierra Animal Hospital. I won't be taking either dog outside the yard until both are fully vaccinated and have undergone snake avoidance training this fall. I gave both pups a shower for no other reason but to make them both smell like lemongrass for their exam. The water rinsed out brown for quite a while.
So, because of this mid-afternoon appointment, I wanted to walk the dogs by the river early since I knew I couldn't make it in the afternoon. I asked Susan if she would want to join me at 10am by the Hereford bridge. She's always such a busy woman and doesn't always join me for the early walks, but today she did.
We walked south in the water. We made it to the old beaver dam and continued as far south as we could before the water got too deep. This is the last remaining swimming area for Minnie, but we managed 1.3 miles before turning around. The river here is very silty and our feet were sinking in the soft ground. We were both afraid of getting our shoes sucked off.
We went overland on our return hike to bypass the silty bottom, took a wide wash back to the river, and resumed our walk back to our cars. The 2.6 miles took us just over two hours. A young man was in the water near the bridge drinking vodka and erecting stone statues. It was now 84F
I was back home by 12:30. I had to leave at 1:30 to make it to the vet office in time. And what do the pups do? They prance around in the kiddie pool and then wrestle in the dried grass! All that bathing earlier was for naught. I'm glad both dogs are comfortable in water, but this behavior was counter-productive. Even Dr George, who came into the exam room immediately smitten by the pups ("I want a GSD puppy!"), mentioned their grassy look, despite having brushed off as much of the grass as possible before leaving the house. And then putting leashes on them was a disaster. Both pups whined loudly and creating a ruckus. I will need to do more leash training with them before the next vet visit on June 17th.
I was seen on time and taken immediately to a private exam room. I never came in close contact with another patient. I wore my N95 mask as did the employees. Kevin made a surprise appearance but wasn't allowed into the room with me. I love his concern for the pups. Both pups calmed down once they realized that they were not in danger. They welcomed Dr. George with kisses. Dr. George is one of two DVMs that I prefer treating my dogs. (The other one is DR Moffett) Dr. G put Sammy down three years ago with great gentleness and empathy, which muffled my own grief at his loss.
Dr. G took Gretel and then Hansi into a separate exam room. By now both dogs were calm.
Both pups got a good bill of health from Dr. G. Hansi weighs 21.6 pounds and Gretel weighs 18 pounds. Both are fit and lean "and try to keep them that way!" said Dr. George. Once they go hiking with me, they will maintain a lean physique, much like Sadie has all her life. But getting to Sadie's level of maturity will take years. I am ready for the challenge.
I left the clinic shortly after 3pm. I drove straight home. A mobile home was ablaze south of town, creating a plume of dark smoke and the smell of burning wood as I drove south on SR92. This sight and smell are such a scary sensation this time of year, when everything is hot and dry. Firefighters had already gotten the fire under control, but rumors on a local Facebook page said a dog was lost in the fire.
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