Always Something New

Life is never anything if not interesting. Even when I'm not riding, there's always something to talk about!

On Wednesday night, I brought home another foster dog, Sadie. Sadie belongs to a fellow choir member who is spending the summer in France. She is an Airedale and a very nice dog. I now have an even six-pack of dogs living here.

Sadie

 

It didn't take Sadie long to pick up on the routine. The walk was easy enough. On the first morning, I used her leash for a while, then let her off. I haven't bothered with it since. She knows what to do. It only took her a day and a half to figure out the dog door.

Unfortunately, Jazz is less than thrilled with the new addition. Her first reaction was to posture and growl. I had to stop her from attacking Sadie right off. I think while I was gone with Hoss at the vet, Jazz did attack Sadie and put a couple of marks in her. When I went to leave my room a few days later, Jazz and Sadie got in to a knock down drag out fight in my bedroom doorway. I couldn't do a darned thing to stop it, other than to yell at them. They separated after a pretty tense thirty seconds or so, and I put both of them on the floor. Since that fight, I haven't had any real trouble with them, so I think they've settled their differences.

Sadie has also had to learn to wait her turn for her food bowl. Having been an only dog, she thinks the first bowl should be for her. Around here, the first bowl is Roxy's, then Ash, Mac, Tanner, and Jazz. Everybody has their own spot to eat. I decided to slip Sadie in after Ash and before Mac, because that was the easiest way to get her a spot. Well, she wanted to dive in to Ash's bowl, which was not making Ash happy. I quickly bent down to correct Sadie and prevent a fight. Just my luck, there was a dining room table in the way, and I whacked my head just about as hard as I could on the corner of the chair back. It left me with a mark and a swelling right where my hat band sits. It's like a constant very low grade headache.

When I arrived home with Hoss from the vet's, I immediately noticed Mac was hopping around carrying a hind leg. A quick glance told me there was no swelling or bleeding, so I decided I'd wait and see how he did for a couple of days.

A couple of days later, Mac's still hopping. There's still no swelling. I did find a red scratch on the outside toe. It was pretty clear to me it was the toe causing the problem. When I touched it, he'd cry, and one morning when I accidentally rolled over on it in bed, he screeched like he was gonna die.

So I finally broke down and took him to the vet. There's only so much three-legged lame I can take before I involve a professional. Mac also has the worst problem with internal parasites I've ever seen in a dog, so it was a good opportunity to address that, too.

The vet took a look at the affected toe, and decided it was a scratch, and Mac is a drama queen. Two days he's been hopping around, crying and whining, telling me he can't make it up the stairs or through the dog door. I expect he'll be better in a few days, but he's gonna milk it for as much sympathy as he can get.

The morning after Sadie arrived, Figaro, our little black cat, darted out the front door, very much in a snit over the new dog. I was gone much of the rest of the day, so wasn't real concerned that I didn't see him. When I called the cats to come in for the night and he didn't show up, though, I was a little worried. Tiger came in, but there was no sign of Figaro. I left the pet door open for the night so he could come in and went off to bed.

By morning there was still no sign of Figaro. The weather was getting very warm. My thermometer was reading in the low 100s at midday. I had a little bit of work and needed to pick up hay and supplies to build a chicken yard, so I was in and out all day. Usually on particularly hot days the cats will spend their day in the air conditioned comfort of the house. Tiger was in, but Figaro wasn't.

Figaro (left) and Tiger reunite

By the time Figaro had been missing for three full days, I'd pretty much given up hope that he'd reappear. I decided I'd leave the pet door open one more night before I gave up altogether. I was home late after taking hypochondriac Mac to the vet, and the sun was setting when I put out the dogs' dinners. I walked into the living room to wait for the dogs to finish eating and was looking out the window when lo and behold, there was Figaro! He was over by Hoss's corral, headed toward the horse trailer. I quickly closed the pet door so none of the dogs could follow me outside, and went out to retrieve the cat.

I'm pretty surprised Figaro reappeared. He's set a record for the number of days a cat has gone without being seen here and returned. I scooped him up and brought him inside, leaving the pet door closed. I wasn't about to risk letting him back out again!

I think Figaro will figure out Sadie isn't a threat. The worst she does is sniff the cats, which is less than Jazz does. Jazz licks them. I'm hoping by morning Figaro will have come to terms with the addition of an extra dog to the ranch. At least I know he's secure for now!

My little "visitor"

Before I could pick up hay, I had to clean out the hay storage area.  So before our morning walk, I lifted up the hay pallet to clean up.  And curled up snugly in the hay, a little rattlesnake!  He made no effort to move when I lifted his cover.  I wasn't able to bring myself to kill it, so I picked it up with a manure fork and tossed him into the open space across the street.  I hope his flying lesson makes him think twice about coming back!

Hoss is in that corral, and he's not happy about it. He's starting to show signs of disgruntlement with his confinement. Of course, the anti-inflammatories are making him feel better, so he thinks he should be able to go out and run around in the pasture. I'm afraid it's gonna be a long six weeks!

First summer storm coming in from the east