Ears up for take off.
Because the Polar Bear rarely allows himself to be seen in such a dirty, undignified state, he is not the most graceful dog. It could also be related to the inordinate amount of treats I lavish on him but that is beside the point. Daisy quickly caught up and PB was forced to take giant strides to try to stay ahead.
Nice form PB. But your ears have lost their aerodynamic shape.
PB quickly returned to the job he was meant to do and regained his noble pose. I too, regained my noble pose after rolling around in the mud in laughter, watching the above chase play out and PB act like a puppy as he so rarely does. Here we have both spied a dog walking on the road. This caused me to be on guard because if PB takes off at Mach 2 which is he wont to do, a) I won't ever see him again and b) he will likely eat the dog. PB was on guard because he was is an LGD.
Do you see what I see?
Meanwhile, although his tongue got in the way at times, Darwin continued HIS job of birdwatching, endless birdwatching...
Could someone put my tongue back please?
And Zyra engaged in some self-flagellation with the toy she stole from Daisy.
I am such a bad dog for stealing someone else's toy...
And Bear imitated a table top. He is looking healthy, bear like and well, plump. He is also looking very happy to be a foster failure!
Feed me Dennis. I am starving...
By the time PB and I got home, he could hardly stagger out to the yard and before I could even unload the car, he looked like this:
He refused to come in and at some point hauled his lazy self over to his new hole and slept there until I went to bed.
In the meantime, his mom had to leave for her first ice hockey practice. The coach was completely unfazed by the fact that I cannot skate, don't know the rules and don't know how to play. He told me to "hit the ice" and rotate in for an hour and a half of scrimmaging. It's amazing how fast you forget that you can't skate when you are trying to avoid getting the puck. I had a great time, and just like crew, knew immediately I love the sport and will avidly pursue it. The women's season is over as that was the last practice but there are innumerable teams, practices and opportunities to play with over the summer so I can prepare for next season and hopefully be an asset to the team rather than an out of control, padded projectile sliding into the boards. And don't wait for the photos of my "playing". They will not be posted!
The long saga of the rescue of the two Anatolian/Akbash dogs that we rescued from the Greek guy last year has finally reached my dreamed of conclusion. Poor Aries and Achilles had been languishing in the Kent Animal Shelter for 7 months while the legal proceedings to remove them permanently from their owner played out. They were *finally* released to rescue this week after being neutered and I was given permission to go pick them up and transport them to eastern WA to their foster home.
After great discussion, worry and stress wondering if Achilles could ever be handled, adopted or even transported, it was to my greatest astonishment and joy to find a calm, quiet, affectionate dog yesterday when Ben and I went to pick them up. I never, ever would have guessed, that Achilles could be the dog we met yesterday. I had brought a muzzle, melatonin, a dog barrier, DAP spray and Ben! - in short everything I could think of to keep him calm and controllable. Because he reacts better to men, I was hoping Ben could help me get a muzzle on him if necessary and handle him getting him in and out of the car. I was speechless to see the change and stuttered and stumbled trying to explain to Ben and Andy, their foster, just how unapproachable and frankly, vicious, Achilles had once been.
In the future, I will video dogs I meet before they have been socialized and rescued because there really are no words to describe the difference in this dog. It brought a tear to my eye to see what a gorgeous dog he is and what a fantastic temperament he now has. Although it is heart breaking to think of them in that shelter for so long, I give them great credit for the work they did with Achilles and the change in him. If I could possibly have kept him, I would have in a heartbeat.
We drove the boys to Yakima where their fabulous foster, Andy and her son, met us. They were kind enough to meet us in Yakima as they live in the Tri-Cities and Ben and I had slept less than 2 hours as we had worked the night before. Andy is a true savior - she already has a farm with all the usual critters as well as 8 dogs of her own. She is responsible for fostering all 12 of the dogs we rescued from the Greek guy, including 9 puppies. This is a huge undertaking of time, money and resources. I am so happy to share the photos below which show the boys in a place they belong, on a farm, together, with other animals and finally, finally a loving home with plenty of food, water and care. It has been a long time coming but worth every moment of stress and grief trying to deal with the shelter, their "owner" and wondering if we would ever find foster or homes for them.
Help! I've fallen and I can't get up.
He refused to come in and at some point hauled his lazy self over to his new hole and slept there until I went to bed.
Does anyone have an AED?
In the meantime, his mom had to leave for her first ice hockey practice. The coach was completely unfazed by the fact that I cannot skate, don't know the rules and don't know how to play. He told me to "hit the ice" and rotate in for an hour and a half of scrimmaging. It's amazing how fast you forget that you can't skate when you are trying to avoid getting the puck. I had a great time, and just like crew, knew immediately I love the sport and will avidly pursue it. The women's season is over as that was the last practice but there are innumerable teams, practices and opportunities to play with over the summer so I can prepare for next season and hopefully be an asset to the team rather than an out of control, padded projectile sliding into the boards. And don't wait for the photos of my "playing". They will not be posted!
The long saga of the rescue of the two Anatolian/Akbash dogs that we rescued from the Greek guy last year has finally reached my dreamed of conclusion. Poor Aries and Achilles had been languishing in the Kent Animal Shelter for 7 months while the legal proceedings to remove them permanently from their owner played out. They were *finally* released to rescue this week after being neutered and I was given permission to go pick them up and transport them to eastern WA to their foster home.
After great discussion, worry and stress wondering if Achilles could ever be handled, adopted or even transported, it was to my greatest astonishment and joy to find a calm, quiet, affectionate dog yesterday when Ben and I went to pick them up. I never, ever would have guessed, that Achilles could be the dog we met yesterday. I had brought a muzzle, melatonin, a dog barrier, DAP spray and Ben! - in short everything I could think of to keep him calm and controllable. Because he reacts better to men, I was hoping Ben could help me get a muzzle on him if necessary and handle him getting him in and out of the car. I was speechless to see the change and stuttered and stumbled trying to explain to Ben and Andy, their foster, just how unapproachable and frankly, vicious, Achilles had once been.
In the future, I will video dogs I meet before they have been socialized and rescued because there really are no words to describe the difference in this dog. It brought a tear to my eye to see what a gorgeous dog he is and what a fantastic temperament he now has. Although it is heart breaking to think of them in that shelter for so long, I give them great credit for the work they did with Achilles and the change in him. If I could possibly have kept him, I would have in a heartbeat.
We drove the boys to Yakima where their fabulous foster, Andy and her son, met us. They were kind enough to meet us in Yakima as they live in the Tri-Cities and Ben and I had slept less than 2 hours as we had worked the night before. Andy is a true savior - she already has a farm with all the usual critters as well as 8 dogs of her own. She is responsible for fostering all 12 of the dogs we rescued from the Greek guy, including 9 puppies. This is a huge undertaking of time, money and resources. I am so happy to share the photos below which show the boys in a place they belong, on a farm, together, with other animals and finally, finally a loving home with plenty of food, water and care. It has been a long time coming but worth every moment of stress and grief trying to deal with the shelter, their "owner" and wondering if we would ever find foster or homes for them.
Ben and I exchanging the dogs with Andy.
Achilles is the white one and Aries is the brown one on the left.
Achilles is extremely thin but Andy has that covered!
Aries is much healthier and has the beautiful Anatolian mask.
Our fervent hope is that the dogs are adopted together, to a large farm or ranch where they can work and live as they were meant to. They have been chained to a tree on a 6' chain for their entire lives. No dog was meant to live like that, let alone an LGD. In the meantime, they are living the good life with Andy and her family.
Last but not least, a clear sign Dexter has fully recovered: ineptly stalking the birds at my bird feeder.
Last but not least, a clear sign Dexter has fully recovered: ineptly stalking the birds at my bird feeder.
Mine, mine, mine!
1 comment:
Bear says he's being unjustly accused! He's just growing his winter coat!
LOL - it's diet time for Bear. I blame Orijen. They changed formulas last fall.
I'm going to pop him in for a weigh in just to see how things really are.
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