Gretel goes into town

Today's big event was Gretel's second vet appointment at 1:30pm.  Hansel had to stay at home because of his parvo last week, which made taking her alone easy for me.  I filled the morning hours with a river romp.

I took the dogs on a walk down the river from Hereford Bridge.  Susan joined me at 7:30am.  It was a slow walk and the only big excitement today was startling a mother turkey and her rafter of poults just past the big debris pile.  Luckily Sweetie only saw the big hen and took off after that.  The hen flew off while the poults went clucking into the grass.  The hen surely had her chicks in that area shortly after we were here last week.  The poults were already feathered, but their wings were still too short for flight.  We made sure that we detoured around the debris pile to avoid the turkey family on our way back, hopping over many downed  trees branches.  This tree hopping tired out all the dogs.  When we got back home, all the dogs napped.

I was looking forward to going into town with just Gretel.  I wanted to see how she would take all the sites in by herself She is very calm and cuddly without her brother.  I left the house at noon to drive to Petsmart and fit her for a collar.  She sat in the cart and looked around, totally mesmerized by all the new sights and smells.  The store didn't have too many other people in it, so I couldn't see her react to other dogs and people.

With time to spare, I stopped at Culver's for a sit-down outside meal.  The dining area is now back to normal, with customers filling their own drinks.  I got Gretel a puppy sundae but she showed no interest in it.  She sat under my seat, as close to me as possible, as I quickly ate my meal. I didn't linger.

I got to the Sierra Animal Hospital at 1:20.  Gretel now weighs 11.3kg (24.7lbs).  She was calm with Dr George examining her.  She now has her second set of shots and goes in July for her final vaccines.  Her stool sample from last week came back positive for giardia, which Dr George and I agree most likely came from the breeder's place, but I don't doubt that the big dogs all have it as well since giardia is common here in stagnant water.  Dr G gave me five days worth of anti-parasitic powder to give both pups.  Hansel then comes in on Tuesday for his shots that he didn't get today.

Gretel sat up front on the console, as close to me as safely possible. She looked at me for most of the drive home.  What a sweetheat. When we got home she even followed me on the leash to the backyard, so she is making progress.  She was happy to be with Hansel again.

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