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Max the yellow lab
6:30 AM 5/30/2008
Max arrived yesterday evening after his agility class. We thought he and Quarterdeck knew each other but it took them a few minutes to make friends.
Max was limping a bit after his dad left, but in the little I've seen him walk this morning I haven't seen it.
About 11 last night he went outside to bark so he spent the rest of the night in the pen. Not a sound out of him the rest of the night.
Sunday -- 6:41 AM 6/1/2008
The first two nights he was here he barked at about 9PM and I popped him into the pen for the night. Then the third night, last night, I didn't hear him so I left him loose until about midnight. I heard a couple of barks, so I got up and was gonna lock him in. But where was he? I found him lying in the pen, on the nice dogbed in there. I guess he thought it was a good place to spend the night. So I shut the gate and went back to bed.
He's being a good boy, not causing any problems.
Yesterday afternoon I wanted to water my back yard, and I know he loves to kill sprinklers. I told him to stay away and turned it on. He stayed in the house a minute or two, then he very casually wandered out and headed for the back of the yard. I called him back and he was good about coming in.
A couple of minutes later he again began quietly heading for the back, and again he came in when I told him to. And then I just watched as he sneaked out again and quietly walked to the back. He vanished behind the garage. I turned off the sprinkler and called him. He came when called, and he was strangely wet. He rolled in the dirt on the way back to me, then he shook off the mud. Into the pen he went until I was finished watering. By then he was clean and dry.
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An earlier visit:
Max and sassy
Thursday -- 11:45 AM 8/16/2007
These two dogs arrived a while ago and were happy to meet all the others. Sassy spends most of her time exploring and Max is interacting with all the other dogs. He's getting along fine with all of them.
They ran and romped for a while but now they've settled down to mostly resting.
4:29 PM 8/16/2007
Well.
Managing seven dogs is interesting.
Bosley's dad phoned and said he was on his way. He'd be here between 4 and 4:30. OK, I'd send Bosley home, then I could feed the remaining six.
But they were too smart for me. At exactly 4 o'clock they began reminding me. Dinnertime. Dinnertime. Dinnertime Please. OK, so I opened gates and Petey and Rocky went into their pens. Bosley went into his crate. Max and Sassy were milling around not quite sure what was expected. So I took Beau and Starlight into their room and fed them and shut the door. Came back and fixed Bosley's dinner and gave it to him. And the doorbell rang. Bosley's dad. So we waited a few minutes while Bosley finished his dinner and he went out happily with his dad.
That gave me an extra crate and I sent Max into it. I prepared Pete and Rocky's dinners and fed them, then fixed Sassy's medicine and gave it to her in the kitchen. While she was eating it I fixed Max's dinner and gave it to him. Then I gave Sassy the rest of her dinner.
Then back to my own dogs to give Beau his medicine and give them each one more bite of dogfood. Then out to see if everyone else was done. Stop and think. Has everyone been fed? Has everyone had the right medicine? Is everyone finished? OK, time to turn everyone loose.
After a few days of this many dogs it seems so amazingly easy when they all go home and I just have to deal with my own dogs.
Friday -- 7:05 AM 8/17/2007
Max didn't want to sleep last night. He was in charge of keeping all the bad guys away. After 9 at night I strongly discourage barking, and after 10 I forbid it. So around 10 I put him in the pen so we could all sleep.
At 6:30 when I let him out he was happy and ready to play with the gang.
After breakfast he wanted to play with Rocky. I don't understand the attraction. He'd rather play with Rocky than any other dog. Problem is Rocky's an old guy and not very playful.
Max kept badgering Rocky so I put Rocky in the pen for safekeeping. After an hour or so I'll let Rocky out and see how it goes. I may have to put Max in the pen for a while. Probably not.
4:37 PM 8/17/2007
Rocky asked me to let him out after just a few minutes, and Max was able to leave him alone, so that turned out well.
Max has been having a glorious time. Even though Rocky won't play with him Pete and Starlight will. He and Pete have been tussling and running and growling and barking. But all in fun, fortunately.
When Nickie the pug manages to get Pete to chase her Max is usually waiting in the wings to head her off at the pass. She thinks that's fine. She lands in my lap with a thump.
Nickie has been following Sassy around but Sassy just ignores her.
Before dinner I locked all the dogs in the house so I could run the sprinkler behind the garage. Then after dinner I opened the back door to turn the water off. The faucet is 5 feet from the back door and the sprinkler was behind the garage. But Max managed to get himself wet before I had the water turned off.
It's been a warm day but I'm having a problem leaving the front door open for ventilation. With this many dogs here there's usually one ready to bark at something in the front. So I leave it open for a while, then I close it for a while. I should probably have a little talk with the barky ones.
Saturday -- 7:26 AM 8/18/2007
We made it through another quiet night and peaceful breakfast. Max had to keep being a watchdog and alerting us to all the scary things in the neighborhood, so he spent the night in the pen again.
After breakfast there was a lot of running and playing but it seems to be over for now.
Nickie's trying to get Pete to play with her but he's ignoring her.
6:51 PM 8/18/2007
We've had dinner and playtime. New it's time to rest a bit, and then there will be one more playtime before bed.
There's a lot of activity in the neighborhood. Kids playing, firemen at the fire station across the street shouting instructions to each other. Horns honking. The kind of things dogs use as an excuse to bark. And when one barks they all seem to think they should bark. Except Sassy, of course.
Sunday -- 9:26 AM 8/19/2007
It's been a typical morning.
After all the dogs had their breakfast we went outside and the dogs rushed around and played and explored.
We came in and some rested and others wanted to play.
Max and Nickie wanted to play with Petey. Pete wanted to play with Beau. Beau wanted to play with the kong on a rope by himself. Then Max wanted to play with Rocky but Rocky wanted to be left alone. Eventually the ones who wanted to play found others who would play with them, and in a little while they were done playing and ready to rest or watch for interesting things through the front door or window.
As it warms up things will probably be quiet for much of the day.
6:07 PM 8/19/2007
Max's dad came this afternoon just in time for the agility class, so he picked up Max and I took Starlight and Beau and we all headed to class. After class they came back and we visited for a while. Then he left with Max and Sassy and I fed the remaining 5 dogs. They were afraid I'd forgotten.
Nickie will be spending one more night with us. So tomorrow we expect all the remaining visiting dogs to go home and leave us to ourselves for a while. Won't that be strange!
An earlier visit:
Wednesday -- 12:08 PM 7/13/2005
Max and Sassy arrived a couple of hours ago. Max went outside and started playing with all the dogs and Sassy (She's in her teens) found a place on the couch where she could rest and watch.
Max isn't used to thinking of himself as a small dog, but there are at least 3 dogs here bigger than he is.
After a while they all came inside and now everyone's resting. When it gets cool this evening things will probably liven up a bit.
10:20 PM 7/13/2005
Max has been running and playing and having a good time. Sassy spent much of the day out on the driveway. I don't know if she was enjoying herself or staying there to be out of the way of all the commotion. When I invited her in she came in and settled quite happily on the couch.
They both enjoyed their dinner.
Thursday -- 2:01 PM 7/14/2005
They've been having a pretty good time. Max has been running and playing with the youngsters, and Sassy's been hanging out and watching.
I've discovered that 8 dogs is definitely too many. It doesn't leave me time to give each one the individual attention it needs, and there aren't enough 'best' places for everyone to have one, and with that many voices I can't tell by listening what they are up to. They seem to encourage each other to misbehave, too. So from now on I'll be better about enforcing my 6 dog limit.
Alice was here this morning and we were playing cards. The dogs were scuffling and barking and just generally being nuisances. So I decided that the next one to bark or growl would be stuck in a pen or crate.
Silence descended. I guess they could read my body language better than I gave them credit for. Eventually I did have to take some action, but it was a long time.
Alice and I gave kennel Cough vaccines to Max and my dogs and her dog. That oughta hold them for a while.
Now that it's the heat of the day they are mostly napping.
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