A Darling Dog

This evening, shortly before dark, I was out walking my dog Griffin. We were out by the main road which runs at the end of our street, when all of a sudden a dog came charging up to us, trailing a leash behind her. She was very excited, but using her freedom in a dangerous way, running out into the road. Luckily there was no traffic just then, but I was worried about this dog's safety. The dog, a Husky (a breed know for being escape artists), would not come to me, but she was interested in my dog, so I hoped I could get her to follow us away from the main road, and I quickly walked Griffin back to our street and turned in there. She did follow us up, even running ahead of us. She had a LOT of energy! But she still would not come to me when I called her.

I got back to my house and put Griffin inside and grabbed a dog biscuit. Back outside, after following the lost dog around my yard for a while, I finally was able to tempt her with the biscuit to come close enough for me to get a hold on her leash. I brought her inside, much to the horror of several of my cats who saw her. She had tags (one of which read "I'm a lover, not a biter"), and I saw that her name was Darling. And she lived up to her name, too, being a very sweet dog once she calmed down from the excitement of her wild escapade. I tried calling her humans, but there was no answer. Here is a photo of her- you can see she is a beauty!

I kept her separated from my animals, in the cat boarding room, at first.  But it was clear that she and Griffin wanted to play with each other, so after a while I opened the door, and here's what happened:

This was the first time I've seen Griffin play with another dog, and it was clear he had a wonderful time!

After their play session I was able to reach Darling's humans, and she was picked up and taken home where she belongs.  A happy ending was had by all. 

Animals Singing 'Deck The Halls'

If this sweet video doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will.  ENJOY!!

I Push And Pull...

In my life, I push and I pull, but only with myself.  That is what I see, when I look at this old doodle of mine which I recently found in one of my notebooks...

Here's.... ??... Griffin!

My dear old dog Lucy, who was with me for 12 or 13 years, recently died.  She had not been feeling well for some time, and the vet felt it was time to let her be free of her old body.  I agreed.  And so she left.  But she left a hole in my life.  While I am more of a 'cat person', it was the first time in almost 30 years that I'd been without a dog in my house, and it just felt wrong.  So I began looking at the photos of the dogs waiting for adoption at my local animal shelter.  There was one fellow in particular who captured my attention.  Yesterday I went and met him, and today he came home.  Right now, he is here as a foster care dog, until I'm sure he is OK with my cats.  He's been here about 4 hours so far, and he's doing OK, though he has barked at the cats a couple of times.  I'm not ready to let him be around the kitties unsupervised yet, but I think they will all work it out...  

He had been at the shelter for about 3 weeks.  They said he was clearly scared and depressed when he first arrived, but had been doing better recently.  He seemed friendly with all the shelter workers who approached him while I was there.   His behavior has been pretty mellow, but I think he's still subdued because of the trauma he's been through.  He was found as a stray, so I don't know anything about his past history before he got to the shelter.  They estimate his age is somewhere around a year and a half.  The shelter has been calling him Duncan, but I think I'm going to name him Dougal, after a childhood friend of mine.  I also was contemplating the names Bailey, Emmet, and Bob.  UPDATE:  After 12 hours together, I find that 'Dougal' does not seem to fit him.  I'm now leaning towards the name Griffin.  We'll see if that one sticks...

He's tuckered out from his big day, coming home to yet another strange new place.  He found his way to the dog bed within an hour of his arrival, and settled in for a nap.  That's when I got these first photos of him.  I think he's adorable.  He looks to me as if he might be some sort of Wheaton Terrier mix.  What do you think?   UPDATE:  My friend MaLu pointed out, after seeing his photos, that he looks like an Irish Wolfhound.   After studying photos of that breed (which I was not familiar with), I have to agree.  So I think he is part Irish Wolfhound, and part Mystery!

And when he finally fell asleep, he was in this position, using his paws as pillows.

Gavin & Sylvester

I had two very sweet kitties boarding with me over the Thanksgiving holiday, and I got some photos of them while they were here.  The orange and white fellow is 15 year old Gavin, and the grey and white one is enormous 12 year old Sylvester.  He would roll around on the floor purring and purring.