Kelly in Kansas

Molly is setting in quite nicely. We haven't had any inside accidents so I'm not sure what the folks who returned her after 5 weeks were doing or not doing. Yesterday when I woke up the first time at 5am, I took her out immediately since I didn't know how she would do first thing in the morning. This morning, I had to wake her up at 8:30am and she spent several minutes outside yawning and stretching before needing to go.

She is indeed a cutie and just the right size. She's still working on eating although she tore through one of the chew bones (dentabone) last night before I knew it. She had trouble at first because she doesn't seem to know to hold onto it with her front paws while she is chewing but she eventually began to figure that out a bit with some help. I want her to rely primarily on dry food since it's better nutrition and easier to manage - esp. now that the Science Diet small bags are resealable - a nice addition since we last bought dog food last year.

She did quite well in her traveling bag - esp. with the lambswool liner on the bottom so that is a good sign for future travel. Shadow used to fight it until the last year or two so her starting out not fighting it is good. I'm also sure it helps that she is only about 2/3 of Shadow's size and, therefore, might.

Molly is learning that she gets petted for awhile when she sits down with me to read and/or do computer stuff (like now) but then she needs to just settle in. She's had fun running the yard and even seems to stay with me as I walk around the house outside the fence. But I know as she feels more secure that may change but it sure is nice to have a dog that doesn't take off at the slightest opportunity.

Today we'll figure out if she can handle mowing while I figure out a way to keep her further away so she doesn't get hurt. I bought a stake and non-chewable chain just for that purpose. As she gets more secure, I can leave her inside the fence when I mow outside it in the back but she'll most likely need to stake when we're inside the fence and out front. We'll find out this afternoon when it warms up a bit.

Several tornadoes went just south of us so there are man people in the area not having a good day.

Labels: dog, dog adoption, housetraining, Molly, rescue dogs, tornadoes

OK, the rain and flooding is getting a bit much. We are truly saturated. And I guess I am losing more dirt - except for the weeds - at the farm.

On Tuesday, I headed to OK thinking there was a new dog there but their guidelines were a bit more complicated and she wasn't available until this morning and I couldn't go down there this morning. Plus, it's a long way to go if the dog isn't there. I will see if she is still online later today and maybe check that there were just lots of calls and no one actually came. I understand that the animal control facilities, esp. the high kill shelters, have no choice but to take the first-come, first-serve. I am learning a great deal about how rescue works and at least I'm trying to rescue a pup.

The good news is that there are obviously lots of eyeballs on Petfinder.

And don't forget the end of the semester grading that's also swamping me. . .

Labels: adoptions, dog, Petfinder, rain, rescue dogs

Here's one of the last pictures I have of Shadow - he's "out west" with me on our way to Montana. I always thought of him as my little guy and he was always a little trooper about traveling - as long as he was with me, he was happy and content. This also kept him out of the August Kansas heat. And, he was able to ride in the new more comfortable vehicle.

One of the min pin pups went home today. You could tell the young woman adopting them really thought about both of them but could only take one. The other one should go quickly.

Another volunteer said the poodle pup that had been there briefly last week was 8 weeks old and very small. So, someone is looking out for me since it would have killed me not to be able to take it (and it's too soon given my traveling this month).

I worked outside and was finishing the big stuff just as the Disaster Relief truck came by to pick up on the roadside right-of-way. I had just read in the morning paper that they were doing another pick-up but didn't realize it would be today. I pushed the limits of my Black and Decker alligator and did get the biggest parts of some of the downed trees in the back. The biggest problem is the drainage issue is only worse and not better given how much the tractors, etc., behind us pushed dirt into our drainage trench. Will have to get that fixed soon even though the city is working on the drainage further down. Too bad we didn't realize the damage the men were doing at the time - but then there's probably no way unless we stayed home from work to watch over them to make sure they didn't push so much dirt off their property and onto ours. It reminded me of when the lot next to me was empty and a different group of tractors and equipment pushed down all the trees - including about 20 on my property - the big red flag in the middle of the trees signaling the property line didn't mean a thing to them - 6 tractors on one little house lot and they just went to town.

I took some pictures at the humane society but forgot the online access passwords to actually post them so will have to email Aaron for them or send them to his email depending on when I hear back from him about one picture of a dog they think might be eligible for a particular rescue group.

I'm tired - and glad I did the outside work first - it looks like winter outside again after it being spring weather again this morning. I do like the variety that others complain about. Last March I was in a Residence Inn at Michigan State so I'm enjoying this part of March I'm spending around here.

I have some work for tomorrow that I have thankfully have plenty of time to do tonight.

Another winter storm is approaching so I posted a message on ANGEL to students to tell them we'll just have to see how it all turns out tomorrow to know whether we have class or not but not to risk their lives to get there. It's not supposed to be as much ice this time so it may be fine. I would like to finish grading their tests.

Labels: damage, humane society, ice storm, photos, rescue dogs, Shadow, trees, winter storm