Return to Auntie Donna's House.
Quarterdeck
yellow labrador retriever
Wednesday -- 6:41 PM 4/22/2009

Here he is again. His mom got to see him put himself into his crate and hope for some dinner. Of course he didn't get any. It wasn't even noon.

He's having a quiet pleasant stay. After dinner I brought out a bunch of real bones with real meat. He's in the crate working on his. I opened his door but I think he was so busy with the bone he didn't even notice.
Friday -- 12:23 PM 4/24/2009

Boring lazy day. I went out with my dogs for a couple hours this morning and QD was waiting patiently for us when we got home.

The dogs have mostly been lying around, often chewing on their bones. Sometimes a game of tag will break out.

All's well. That's nice.
Sunday -- 2:50 PM 4/26/2009

For some reason at around noon today the dogs decided it was dinnertime. So they've been pestering me ever since. Dunno why, I'm pretty sure it isn't dinnertime yet. I wonder if I forgot to give them their breakfast. No, I don't think so.

Other than that everything's fine.
Monday -- 5:22 PM 4/27/2009

I finally gave in and gave them their dinner early yesterday. About 3:30. So when it got to be actually dinnertime they came to me wondering if I'd feed them. So I gave them each a nice bone. Then they came to me again around 6, thinking maybe I'd give in again. Nope, finally decided to put the foot down.

This morning I went out with my own dogs for a few hours. When we got back there was no dog waiting for us at the front gate. I always worry when the visiting dogs aren't there. So I looked around, and there he was on my bed, with his head on my pillow. Looking quite satisfied with himself.

They started wanting dinner early again today but I pretended not to notice. All's well.
Thursday -- 9:26 PM 4/30/2009

I noticed I'm beginning to see the bottom of QD's feed tub when I feed him. So this morning I measured out what's left and decided he'd run out of food before he runs out of days. So I got some of my own dogs' food to mix with his. Not a problem, but I want to change him over gradually so I can give him half and half until he goes home. That way his tummy won't be upset.

He's being a good boy and having a nice visit. As usual.
Sunday -- 7:18 AM 5/3/2009

Another quiet peaceful night and another good breakfast.

Last night I was refilling his pill dispenser for the coming week and it finally hit me that after a few more days he'll be leaving us, probably for good. His people are moving far away, and someone else will take care of him while his people work. He's gotten to be a member of the family. We'll miss him. Of course we'll get over it.

QD was the first labrador retriever I'd ever met, and he was so nice I started getting interested in the breed. Now I have two labs of my own, and many other lab friends.
Monday -- 5:33 PM 5/4/2009

Starlight was a very bad girl. She's normally so sweet and good I find I can't stay mad at her. Fortunately no harm was done.

After dinner today Mike and his dog Max dropped by for a visit. Max and QD were playing, pretending to fight. Starlight loves a good fight, and always tries to get other dogs to fight. She saw them playing and waded into the fray. She barked and growled and tried to upset them and they ignored her. So far so good.

I guess she was frustrated that she couldn't get them to fight. My sweet Starlight started biting them and snarling. Mostly QD. He got scared and tried to pull away but she wouldn't let go. I called her off and she ignored me. I got scared and tried to pull her off. She still wouldn't let go. She was just biting him where the fur was thick and cushiony, so she didn't hurt him at all. Once I got her off him and put her in the crate he went right back to playing with Max. I looked him over carefully and didn't find any damage.

She stayed in the crate as long as Max was here, then I let her out and everyone was happy.

I just have a hard time believing Starlight would do that. She clearly wasn't really trying to hurt anyone, since she would have done damage if she wanted to. Hmmm.
Tuesday -- 7:50 PM 5/5/2009

Another boring day. I gave them their dinner about 5, and by 6 they were wondering when I'd be feeding them. Silly dogs. They soon got over it.

I bought QD a bag of his own kind of dogfood today, and I last saw the receipt in the car as I was taking it in. I think I remember picking it up, but of course I was carrying several things at the same time, including the contents of the mailbox as I walked past. Oh well, it will turn up.
Friday -- 4:43 PM 5/8/2009

They picked him up this morning. By now they are probably on their way across the country. Unless something unexpected happens we won't ever see him again.











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An earlier visit:



Wednesday -- 5:44 PM 3/25/2009

Poor QD.

He's been here a few days, already he's had two baths. Not whole baths, just his arms and his chin.

He came with some ointment for a yeast infection under his chin. The instructions said put a little on the lesion but I didn't see any lesion. All I was was goopy leftover ointment. Last time he was here I put ointment on every day without really seeing what I was treating. This time I want to see what I'm doing.

So I washed him yesterday afternoon and again today. He's so good about standing patiently in the shower and having his chin soaped and sprayed.

I didn't look very hard after his first cleaning, but I didn't see any lesion. He'll be cleaner next time I look, and then maybe I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing.

He dries much slower than my two dogs. His fur is longer and softer and thicker. I have him locked in the pen for now while he dries. I towelled him off but that still leaves a lot. If I didn't lock him up he'd go out in the yard and find some dirt to rub on. He can't fool old Auntie Donna.
Saturday -- 7:40 PM 3/28/2009

Well, after three baths I still don't see any lesions. His chin is a bit discolored, but it looks like the same sort of discoloration that all light colored dogs get from staining from tears or saliva. I went over to Mike's today to look at his Max's chin, (also a yellow lab) just for a comparison. Since my dogs are black they don't make a very good basis for comparison.

Max has the same discoloration on his chin, but in a smaller area. He doesn't have droopy jowls like QD so he doesn't get as much saliva on his chin, I'd assume. QD does rub his chin sometimes, but not as much as my Beau does. So I dunno. There is a small area on QD's chin that doesn't look quite as healthy as the rest, so I guess I'll just go on putting the goop on that area.

QD's best doggy friend Louie will be arriving Monday. They'll both be happy about that.
Monday -- 9:54 PM 3/30/2009

Louie got here this afternoon and they've been playing. Louie's very interested in the bones scattered all over the house so he's not ready to play with QD all the time like he did last time. He'll get over it.

QD spends a lot of time with the bones too, so it's all OK with him.
Wednesday -- 9:30 AM 4/1/2009

QD's having a wonderful time running and wrestling with his best friend Louie. They frequently crash into things but they haven't done much damage yet.

Sometimes my dogs have to scold them when they crash into them. They aren't usually really mad, but they don't like getting run over.

7:48 PM 4/1/2009

QD's got a bit of diarrhea but he seems to feel fine. I'll keep an eye on him.
Thursday -- 5:18 PM 4/2/2009

QD and Louie are still best friends, having a wonderful time.
Saturday -- 10:16 AM 4/4/2009

Bones.

I got out 4 new rib bones with meat this morning after breakfast. The dogs were so excited they almost couldn't stand it.

I wanted to have Louie in the crate by himself and all the others in the pen. I don't like them to drag their bones all over the house when they are full of meat, but once they get most off the meat off I let them out.

So as I approached the crate to invite Louie in, Beau rushed in. I asked him to come out and as he did Quarterdeck went in. Louie was waiting politely for them to get out of his way. Every time Quarterdeck would come out I'd send Louie in and Quarterdeck would beat him in.

OK then, I'd put QD in the pen with the black dogs first, then put Louie in the crate. Go on in, guys. There, that was easy, now Louie, into the crate, here's your bone. Hey, that's not Louie, that's Quarterdeck. They are both about the same color, so when two black dogs and one yellow dog went into the pen I assumed they were the right ones. Nope.

Oh well, Louie knows the black ones well enough that they can share the pen for eating their bones. I don't want to put all four in because that would make it just a little too crowded.

So QD had his bone all alone and the others shared the pen space. It went just fine. When they had their bones mostly cleaned off Beau opened the gate (I still haven't been able to catch him in the act and see how he does it) and came out. So I opened the crate and let QD out. They all took their bones out, traded bones with the other dogs, and are now happily chomping on bones all over the house. It really doesn't take very much to make a dog happy.

I don't know what to think about QD's chin. It looked much better when I just washed it for a while and didn't put the goop on it. Now that I'm putting goop on it every day it looks, um, goopy. Is that an infection, or just the accumulated goop? Dunno. In a few days his parents will have him back and they can worry about it.
Monday -- 4:33 PM 4/6/2009

Not much happening. We're all fine. QD goes home tomorrow, Louie the next day, and it looks like we'll be without any doggy visitors for a couple of weeks.

Time enough to do the semi-annual flea treatment of the house, and maybe level the yard a little. I don't think I'll be having any serious diggers for a while. Of course, every time I've tried to level the yard in the past the phone has rung and it's Pete's mom asking if her dogs can come for a visit. Sure they can. I like holes in my yard. Well, maybe not, but I do like Petey. He's a sweetie.













An earlier visit:





Wednesday -- 12:56 PM 3/11/2009

He got here yesterday after just a few days with his own family. He fits in here so well I don't have to worry about him.

We had a quiet night and in the morning I left him home alone a couple of hours while I took my dogs to the barn. He doesn't seem bothered at all being home alone.
Friday -- 1:28 PM 3/13/2009

Pretty boring around here, everything's fine.

8:37 PM 3/13/2009

They almost had me fooled. Not quite. A little after 5 they insisted it was past dinnertime. Yes, I had to agree it was past dinnertime, but I'd already fed them. Just to be sure I checked QD's pill dispenser and his Friday dinner pills were gone.

I finally gave them all a nice bone just to shut them up. Actually I had intended to give them bones this evening, just not so early.

QD will be delighted to find his good buddy Louie visiting next month. He'll get here a few days after QD arrives.They are wonderful friends.

I think Starlight took her bone outside and buried it. If so there will be fun tomorrow when one of the others digs it up. She'll make them give it back to her but they won't like it. These dogs are so much fun to watch.
Monday -- 3:12 PM 3/16/2009

Still nothing exciting happening. We're all fine. Don't tell QD he's too big to be a lapdog.
Tuesday -- 9:47 AM 3/17/2009

A little excitement overnight. It was almost 11 and the dogs were supposed to be quiet. All three were outside barking. Not frantic barking, just steady bark, bark, bark. I waited a minute, hoping they'd stop on their own, but they didn't.

Out I went, and calling them in didn't work. They'd come, but they wouldn't stay. I had to go out behind the garage and see what had them so upset. It was a possum on the back fence. It was just sitting there, well out of their reach.

I tried to shoo it away, but that didn't help. It just gave the dogs an excuse to bark even more. Finally I found something long enough to reach him with, and chased him away. He wasn't at all eager to leave but he finally climbed up to the neighbor's back fence and we all went back to bed. The dogs were alert for a while but they stayed quiet.

I haven't seen a possum in over 2 years. QD was here for that one too.













An earlier visit:



Sunday -- 7:59 PM 2/22/2009

QD got here about 5 this evening. Just in time for dinner. He went outside to check on things, came in for his dinner, then noticed all the bones lying around. I got a good deal on a buncha bones last week and the resident and visiting dogs have been feasting.

Since then he's been alternating between napping and chomping on bones.
Monday -- 8:35 AM 2/23/2009

Well.

Someone glued my eyes shut overnight. And made me cough every time I try to breathe. I think it's a cold. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but I suppose I'll do it anyhow.

Fortunately I just have three easy dogs here. They don't need to be supervised or entertained. As long as I can drag myself out to feed them twice a day and give them their various medicines they'll be fine.

I didn't feel very friendly last night so I asked all the dogs not to sleep on my bed. They are so good.
Tuesday -- 11:34 AM 2/24/2009

We're having a quiet day. I'm feeling a lot better today but I'm still just letting the dogs entertain each other. They're pretty good at that.
Wednesday -- 11:42 AM 2/25/2009

They are so good at enetertaining themselves. I'm feeling almost fine today and they have been leaving me alone except for the occasional toy that's brought to me.

For a while after breakfast I could hear them in the other room, crashing and thumping and barking a little. I didn't bother to look, but I could picture them chasing each other around. They never break anything. Anything I ever had that was fragile was broken a long time ago.
Friday -- 2:38 PM 2/27/2009

Well, so much for being all better. I guess I had a relapse. It's so nice that all these dogs are so good. I'm not so sick I can't do the minimum they need. They make sure to remind me when it's dinnertime. They even remind me when it isn't dinnertime, just in case.

6:42 PM 2/27/2009

I guess it was too good to last. They've gradually begun barking more and more. And not stopping until I get up and tell them to stop. Starlight stands on her ledge and looks out the front window. When she sees someone walking a dog she barks, at least a little. The others figure there must be bad guys out there and they start barking. She thinks they probably know something. They continue feeding on each other until I get up. I put them all in the pen for a while.

They didn't understand they were being corrected. They figured if they waited patiently I'd give them a treat. Nope. Back to bed.

I let them out a few minutes ago and now I hear one of them in the backyard barking. I think it's Beau. Maybe he'll stop.

I started on antibiotics this afternoon, so maybe I'll be all better by tomorrow. Or not.

They don't think they're being ignored. They keep bringing me toys to toss for them.
Sunday -- 12:55 PM 3/1/2009

Ever since I complained about the barking they've quieted down. What nice doggies.

I'm feeling a lot better today. I decided to act like a normal person today, and I soon found out I wasn't nearly as well as I thought. Feed the dogs, rest 15 minutes. Shower and shampoo, rest 15 minutes. Go out to the backyard and pick up 4 days worth. Oops, pick up 3/4 of it and rest 20 minutes. Save the rest for later. Empty dishwasher, load it and start it, rest 20 minutes. It takes a long time to get anything done at that rate. I think I'm probably done for the day. Maybe I'll find the energy to take a walk around the block later. And of course feed the dogs later.

I'll be back to all better tomorrow for sure.
Monday -- 3:29 PM 3/2/2009

It's fun watching these three dogs interact. They all know each other well, so there's no fighting, but there's a lot of subtle one-upsmanship (one-upsdogship?) going on under the surface. Since I've been sick I've had lots of time to watch them.

Beau's very polite. He knows how a proper dog should act, and he always follows the rules as he understands them. He's not very sympathetic to anyone who violates the rules. Unless they are his gang, of course.

QD is playful. He likes to break the rules, just to get the others to react. He knows they won't overreact, so he sometimes goes too far. I was afraid he'd pushed Beau too far a few weeks ago, but nothing bad happened.

Starlight is much more subtle. She likes to tease the other dogs, always pretending she's doing no such thing. Sometimes her tail gives her away. This afternoon she pretended to be napping, with her bone beside her paw. Beau kept eying the bone, but he was much too polite to snatch it. Then I saw her tail begin to twitch. She was enjoying his discomfort. She got up and went over to him and inspected his bone, all the while staying between him and the one he wanted. When she decided hers was better she turned back and got her bone again and started chewing it. She feels free to take his bone from under his nose. He likes her so she can get away with it.

QD had his own bone, and after chewing it a long time he wandered out of the room and left it behind. Beau waited until he was completely out of the room, then he went and got the bone. When QD returned a few minutes later he looked where he had left his bone but it was gone. After snuffling around a little he noticed the one Beau had abandoned and settled down to chew it.

When I pass out new bones I put all three dogs in the pen and let them start their bones there so the mess from the meat on the bones will be contained. It's a fairly small pen but I don't worry about them squabbling over the bones. They all know how to behave. As soon as most of the meat is off the bones they take them out to finish them. Beau knows how to open the gate to the pen so I don't even have to let them out.
Thursday -- 7:58 AM 3/5/2009

Nothing very interesting happening. Everything's fine.













An earlier visit:





Friday -- 4:15 PM 1/23/2009

He arrived this morning and rushed outside to explore and play with his dog friends.

As soon as his mom left he came in and explained to me that his mom hadn't fed him the whole time he was with her. Sure, QD, I believe you.

He settled back into our routine as if he'd never left. He's been spending a lot of his time with a bone, in between his naps and playtimes.

So far we don't have any other dogs scheduled to stay with us, so it's just me and these three nice dogs. I like that.
Saturday -- 9:30 PM 1/24/2009

Boring. Very boring.
Monday -- 4:35 PM 1/26/2009

Beau's been having problems with his ear, so I have to clean it every day. Good news for Quarterdeck. They all love it when one of the dogs gets medical attention. Afterwards they all get a cookie.
Wednesday -- 6:40 PM 1/28/2009

When I can't find QD I go look in my bedroom. Sure enough, he's on my bed. I don't mind.

Everything's OK here.
Friday -- 6:01 PM 1/30/2009

Not much happening around here these days. QD worries a lot that I may forget to feed him but so far I've remembered every day. Sometimes he tries again a few hours later, thinking maybe I've forgotten that I fed them and maybe I can be persuaded to feed everyone a second time.

I had to leave him in the pen for a few hours this morning when I went out with my dogs and left him home alone. I left the gate unlocked for the gardeners but they didn't come until afternoon. Not a problem, when they arrived I locked us all in for a litle while.

He's funny about snuggling beside me. Right now he's asleep beside me on the couch and I know if I start petting him he'll grumble and get up and leave. My dogs love it when I pet them. Beau likes to lie on his back with his head on my lap while I pet him. But not QD. Strange dog. But nice.
Saturday -- 7:32 PM 1/31/2009

I really need to find my kitchen timer.

I put the sprinkler behind the garage and turned it on. And forgot it. It was at least two hours before I remembered. It was too dark to see how bad it was. At least I didn't leave it all night.

The neighbors came visiting from across the street this afternoon. The mom, two kids, and a dog. All the dogs and kids went outside to play. They had a good time. I saw a three-way tug of war with Beau and QD and the boy. They were all liking it.

The dogs had a rousing game of tag through the jungle.
Sunday -- 4:36 PM 2/1/2009

Quarterdeck's new owie.

He was lying on his side and I noticed what looked like a new thing. It looks a bit like a wart. Dunno, but I'll keep an eye on it. It doesn't seem to bother him.


Monday -- 11:40 AM 2/2/2009

QD's mom says the owie isn't new. Probably not, but I'm pretty sure there's something different about it. The hair around it is more open. I think a bit of hair has fallen out. Maybe not. Maybe I just happened to notice it and it hasn't changed a bit.

This morning he was lying on the floor and he got up and started walking. His right back leg didn't work right the first few steps. It didn't seem to want to straighten out and reach to the floor. After a few hopping steps all was well. I'm not alarmed about it, but I like to note such things in case any questions arise later.

My dogs and I are in the living room and I noticed QD wasn't with us. I found him in the back yard soaking up the warm sunshine. He looked so warm and peaceful I went to get my camera. Of course he saw me walking around and came in.

6:22 PM 2/2/2009

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.


Wednesday -- 1:40 PM 2/4/2009

Boring. Warm. Dogs asleep all over the house. Looks like a good idea. Maybe I should take a nap.

3:38 PM 2/4/2009

Bad dog!

He's been stealing the bone from both other dogs. He doesn't really want it but he's hoping to get a reaction from them. Yesterday he saw Beau lying with it in front of him and he tiptoed up and snatched it. Beau just watched him and sighed.

This afternoon Starlight was actually chewing on it when QD decided to snatch it. I had a hard time believing what I was seeing. He's usually so polite. She was gnawing on one end and he grabbed the other end and snatched it away. I thought he'd regret it. Starlight launched at him, snarling. He backed up a couple feet and invited her to play chase me with him. What's a girl to do when he doesn't even notice she's attacking? She just walked away.

That bone is so popular I'm intending to get a couple more. As soon as I find some. I asked at Ralphs today and the guy says he doesn't know when they'll get more. There's not much left of the first one. It was a real bone, with real meat on it.
Thursday -- 6:14 PM 2/5/2009

No good deed goes unpunished.

It was dark and rainy, so when it got to be about 3 the dogs were all convinced it must be dinnertime. They don't have clocks so they need to use the daylight to tell time. I started by putting them all into a down for a few minutes so they'd stop bothering me, then I relented and fed them. OK, so far so good. And when it got to be really dinnertime they remembered again.

They pestered me so much I finally fed them again. Not as much this time, but enough so they'd stop bugging me. Now they're happy, at least for the moment.

Oh well. They're nice dogs. Not perfect, but nice. Most of the time.
Friday -- 5:36 PM 2/6/2009

I was gonna be gone for quite a few hours this noon and afternoon and there were possible thunderstorms predicted. I know how QD sometimes gets upset at thunderstorms so I decided to leave Beau home with him, just in case. Starlight could come with me.

I was almost ready to leave when I noticed QD thinking about stealing the bone from Beau. Beau's a pretty easy-going dog, but even Beau has his limits. He was beginning to think about getting mad at QD. Hmmm. What to do. So I took the bone away and put it out of everyone's reach. I guess it worked OK. When I got home both dogs were still here and nobody seemed to have been in a fight.

QD gets to go home tomorrow. I'm not gonna tell him until the last minute so he won't worry about it.













An earlier visit:





Tuesday -- 10:28 AM 12/23/2008

Quarterdeck joined the gang today. Pete and Rocky are already here for Christmas, and two more dogs will be joining us tomorrow.

Beau was in the pen with a cone collar on so he wasn't able to greet QD properly. When I am not actually watching him he has to have the collar on, and he bangs it into things and scares himself if he isn't confined.

After all the loose dogs ran and played for a while I took off Beau's collar and let him out to play. He's locked in my bedroom with me now, enjoying his special big bone. It keeps him happy for an hour or more and he forgets to lick his owies on his undercarriage. All the loose dogs are relatively trustworthy, so I can leave them unattended for a while without worrying too much. We'll all be a lot happier when we can get rid of that collar. It will be at least another week, though. Poor doggie.
Wednesday -- 12:33 PM 12/24/2008

So far so good. I'll be leaving the gang home for quite a few hours this afternoon, and it will probably be raining most of the time. So they won't be likely to bother the neighbors.
Thursday -- 8:55 AM 12/25/2008

Christmas morning!

When I was doing breakfasts this morning Rocky was nowhere to be found. That's normal, he often goes outside around breakfast time, then comes in for his a few minutes later. He was soaked when he finally came in. I towelled him off and looked outside. It must be really raining hard out there. Nope, just sprinkling lightly. He probably stood out in it for quite a while.

I had Beau in the bedroom with me overnight so the others were locked out. I didn't want them to be able to mess with his owies, or bother him. So when we came out they needed more petting and hugging and lapsitting than usual.

Then Beau and I went back to the bedroom for another hour of warm compresses for him and a while loose to work on a rawhide bone. Now he's in the pen with the cone collar on and the other dogs are all lying around, tired from their morning romp.

It looks like the rain is letting up, so they'll probably want to play outside soon. They have fun playing inside, but they can run faster and farther outside.

QD was licking a spot on his paw last night but he seems to have forgotten about it this morning. That's good, I don't want to try to deal with two invalid dogs at the same time.

3:39 PM 12/25/2008

They insisted so long I finally gave in and gave them their dinner a bit early. It's dark and gloomy outside, so I understand why they thought it was past dinnertime.

It's also cold and windy and wet. I'm glad Santa brought me a nice warm jacket. I was still happy to be able to come in quckly. I don't let Beau out of my sight so I have to go out with him. He's locked up in the pen now with the collar on him so I can go back to paying attention to all the other dogs. I need to clean my keyboard. Every time I use the "I" key I have to go back again and hit it harder. With Beau locked up I can do that.
Friday-- 9:12 PM 12/26/2008

A nice boring day. Beau's owie is slowly improving, but I'm still keeping him in the collar so he can't lick himself. So I keep him in the bedroom with me at night and lock the others out. QD doesn't mind being locked out since he prefers to sleep in the living room anyway.

Rocky and Pete went home a while ago, so things are quiet again.
Sunday -- 8:46 AM 12/28/2008

Everything's fine.
Monday -- 6:07 PM 12/29/2008

Still fine. Just three dogs here with me, and nothing interesting is happening.
Thursday --5:59 AM 1/1/2009

Happy new year!

Quarterdeck gets nervous about loud or sudden noises, so I was a bit worried about how he'd react to the neighborhood celebrations.

At 11:30 all the dogs were asleep. Mine were in my bedroom and QD on the couch in the living room. I turned on the TV a bit louder than usual so maybe it would drown out some of the noises.

When midnight arrived we began hearing explosions in the distance. QD came into the bedroom and looked around. My dogs were still asleep. He turned and went out, and I heard the dogdoor open. About two minutes later he came back into the bedroom and flopped down on the floor and went to sleep. I guess he figured my dogs knew best.
Saturday -- 1:50 PM 1/3/2009

All's well. Boring, but well.
Sunday -- 4:09 PM 1/4/2009

Well, no good deed goes unpunished, they say.

At the grocery store the other day I noticed some beautiful huge beef bones. Thought about it, and decided I'd have to get one for each dog if I got any, and that was just too much to contemplate. I was there again today and I decided to get just one, and figure out what to do with it when the time came.

So I brought it home, and put it in the pen with Beau. The others watched intently as he worked on it. He had such a good time. After about 15 minutes I made him come out and let Starlight in. The others watched while she worked on it. Then QD had a turn. This is the first time the dogs have forgotten to remind me at dinnertime.

I left QD with the bone and gave the other two dogs their dinner, then I took him out and fed him and let Beau back into the pen. So I guess for the rest of my life I'll be moving them through their turns. I sort of hoped they'd lose interest after a turn or two, but now I don't think it will happen. Oh well.
Monday -- 2:25 PM 1/5/2009

The big bone stayed in the refrigerator overnight, and the dogs kept reminding me about it.

I took my dogs out with me this morning for several hours and left QD home alone. Then I put Beau in the pen for over an hour with the bone. Starlight's in there now, and when she's done I'll let QD have his turn.

I'm trying to find a happy medium between keeping him on his diet and letting him share the wealth. So he gets slightly shorter turns, and my dogs had the first two turns, when there was a lot more meat on the bone.

After he goes home in a few days I'll have a couple of days with no visiting dogs. Maybe I'll get another bone then so each of mine can have one. I'll have to think about it. They are awfully big.
Wednesday -- 3:29 PM 1/7/2009

His dad came for him a while ago. He was so happy.













An earlier visit:



Sunday -- 9:32 AM 11/23/2008

Quarterdeck arrived yesterday afternoon. As usual he seemed glad to be here and the resident dogs were happy to see him.

His mom had a big handfull of medicines and things. Oh well, we can deal with it.

His toes are mostly all better, but his ear is even pinker than when he went home from his last visit. He also has a new owie above and beside his right eye. It doesn't look like it will be a problem but I'll keep an eye on it.

He brought the same medicine he took home two visits ago, including the empty bottle of ear stuff. I'm assuming for the moment that wasn't a mistake, and I'll just use the remaining other medicine.

It's sure nice he'll eat whatever I put in his dogfood. He has three different kinds of pills to take, six total pieces along with each meal. I have to watch to be sure he doesn't accidentally miss any, but if he does he eats it all up when I add a little more dogfood to it.

He remembered this morning how we do our meals. When my alarm rang this morning he rushed into the bedroom to be sure I was up, then he went into his crate. He waited patiently while I gave the two black dogs their breakfast, and while I fixed his food. Then he ate it all up, and waited in his crate for me to come and make sure he'd finished the medicine. He had so I took his dish and he went to get a drink.

It's quite overcast this morning, and it may begin raining tomorrow afternoon or evening. I'll bring in some dry towels and things from the garage today, just in case they may be needed. I suspect they will be needed. Labrador retrievers like to play in water. And dog paws can carry in a lot of mud.
Monday -- 4:51 PM 11/24/2008

Things are quiet and boring. That's good.

I'm not very impressed with the healing (or lack of same) of his ear. It hasn't been very long, but I'm not seeing any improvement. At least his toes look nice.

I've got the place ready for the promised rain. So far there's been a little wind but not a drop of rain. Clouds are beginning to form, so it probably will rain. We'll see.

Rocky and Pete will be joining us on Wednesday, so if there's mud in the yard there will be lots of dogs to track it in. I have a rug by the dogdoor with towels on top. The theory is I can change out the towels as they get wet and the rug won't be too bad. Without the rug on the floor the towels get shoved over on the smooth floor by the first dog that goes past.
Tuesday -- 6:20 PM 11/25/2008

Not much happening. It's gonna rain tonight and tomorrow, they say. We'll see. I think they're right this time.
Wednesday -- 3:21 PM 11/26/2008

Two new dogs arrived this morning. That makes 5.

QD's been acting very uneasy. I figured it couldn't be the weather since I've never noticed him bothered by weather in all the times he's been here. I looked at my records, and I think he's never been here during a storm.

All the other dogs who normally stay here are totally casual about rain, and they barely notice thunder and lightning. I assumed QD was the same but now I'm thinking maybe I should pay more attention to him. There's a little more rain expected, and the possibillity of thunder and lightning. I don't know how he'll react.
Thursday -- 9:59 AM 11/27/2008

The weather has calmed down a lot, but he's still feeling a bit uneasy. I left all 5 dogs in charge of the house for about an hour this morning and all was well. I'll be going out for several hours this noon, but the forecast looks good so even if he is afraid of storms there shouldn't be anything for hime to worry about.

He's asleep (and snoring) with his head in my lap as I'm typing this. Makes it hard to use my laptop computer, but I'm used to that sort of thing. Having only one dog on my lap is nice.

His ear looks a little better each day.
Friday -- 8:44 AM 11/28/2008

When I got home from my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday afternoon the dogs were all here waiting for me. It's nice to be cared about, even if it's just because I know how to work the dogfood.

QD has gotten a bit too wise about his antibiotic capsules. At first he was eating them up along with the dogfood they sat on, but gradually he's been leaving them more and more. He's even leaving them behind when I put them with nice canned dogfood.

This morning I stuck each capsule into a meat chunk from the dogfood can, and he ate them up. I wonder how long that will work, probably as long as needed.

He likes the kong on a rope toy that the spaniels brought with them. They hold it by the rope and shake their heads and bonk themselves with it. Dunno why they find that so attractive.

5:57 PM 11/28/2008

I went out to do some shopping today, and the dogs seemed even more excited to see me than usual when I returned. It was still a couple of hours before dinnertime, but they kept going into their crates. Didn't worry about it.

Then an hour or so later I was putting something into my trash can and I noticed that someone had put in some leaves. The only ones who would do that are the lawn guys. They come on alternate Fridays, and today was their day, but whenever there's a holiday during the week they come a day later thatt week. So I left my gate locked and the dogs loose while I was out. I looked and discovered they had tried to open the gate while I was away. No wonder the dogs were upset. I have a padlock on the gate, so even if the dogs hadn't told them to leave they wouldn't have been able to get in.

So now I'm wondering if they'll come back tomorrow. Probably not. They at least cleaned up the front yard, and this time of year the grass grows very slowly so they don't need to come as often as they do.
Sunday -- 8:07 AM 11/30/2008

Wow, it was really foggy this morning. It's clearing up now and sunlight is streaming in through the window.

All 5 dogs are being good, so far. Petey and Rocky will go home tonight and tomorrow and that will leave me with only three dogs for a while.

The gardeners didn't show up yesterday. That's OK.

QD is still eating the medicine I poke into meat chunks from the can of dogfood. All his "regular" pills get eaten if I just put them in his dish, so next week when his antibiotics are gone things will be just a bit easier. His ear continues to improve, slowly.

We don't have any plans for the day, but we'll think of something. We always do.
Monday -- 6:58 PM 12/1/2008

All's well. His ear is looking virtually normal, and his toes are fine. Of course, there's always something.

He's been very nervous today. He'll suddenly turn and look behind himself, then get up and move around. Sometimes he goes out through the dogdoor and stays out for a few minutes. The other dogs don't see anything to be nervous about. There isn't any thunder or other unusual noise that I know of. Dunno what it's about. He's eating well and basically happy, so I won't worry about him for the moment.
Tuesday -- 7:14 PM 12/2/2008

Not much to report. He's asleep with his head in my lap so it's kinda hard to type.

He's still a bit nervous and I don't know why. Most of the time he seems just fine, but then a kid will go past on a skateboard or something, and he starts worrying again.
Thursday -- 2:36 PM 12/4/2008

Same old thing. He'll be going home in a few days. It sure seems empty around here when he's gone but a few days after he leaves we'll have two more visitors. It's all good.
Friday -- 4:35 PM 12/5/2008

All's well. He's finished with his antibiotics so feeding him is a bit easier.
Saturday -- 3:33 PM 12/6/2008

Poor doggies.

It's tough when dinnertime is the most important thing in the world and Auntie Donna won't feed you.

Since we're almost to the shortest day of the year, and it's cloudy, they decided at 3 that it must be way past dinnertime. They bugged me and begged and pleaded, and dashed for their respective feeding places every time I'd move even the tiniest bit.

Then back to me to stare and leap and whine. That won't do. So we all went outside to do a bit of yardwork. When I'd head for the orange tree behind the garage they'd come with me, but then I'd start toward the garage to get another tool and they'd rush into the house.

It took us about 15 minutes to redo the little fence around the orange tree in anticipation of the puppy that will be coming next week. She loves to pick things, and by now I'm sure she's big enough to reach my baby oranges. I didn't do a good enough job, I know. I'll redo it another time.

Meanwhile, I have all three dogs in a down-stay, and they are all watching me intently. It's getting close to dinnertime. They are still watching me, but not as intently, and not as whinily.

OK, I'll post this update, then I'll feed the poor starving dogs.













An earlier visit:



Thursday -- 7:03 PM 10/23/2008

QD got here last night, came in like he'd never left. He went outside with his leash and didn't want to give it back to his mom. That's OK, we planned to use it today, and she wouldn't need it. So I let him keep it until this morning when I went outside and retrieved it.

I don't know where he slept last night, but in the morning when my alarm rang he came bouncing in and met us in the hallway, then put himself into his crate and waited while I fed the two black dogs. He was ready for his breakfast when it arrived, and ate it happily.

I got my stuff together to take the whole gang to the farm and the dog beach. They all knew we were going somewhere exciting so they worried and bounced around for about an hour until Alice arrived with her two dogs. We all piled into her vehicle and off we went.

After a few minutes at the farm we headed for the beach. All the dogs had a wonderful time playing in the sand and sloshing around in the surf. We were at the beach for about 45 minutes, then back to the farm to do our chores.

It was a good tiring day and they were all ready for their dinner when we got home. We'll probably do the same thing next week.
Monday -- 4:43 PM 10/27/2008

Sorry for the delay. The company that hosts my website had a hard drive crash and replaced the drive with my sites on it. Problem is they neglected to tell me where to go to put new information on the site. I finally got them to explain it to me and we are back in business for now.

When QD arrived his mom told me he had a small problem between the toes on his left front paw. I looked at it and it didn't seem serious. A day or two later I looked again and it had gotten larger. It was a damp pink area that lined up exactly with the over-long nail on the next toe. I could tell by watching that the nail was rubbing the area and irritating it.

So I got out my nail grinder and started shortening the nail in question. I couldn't get it nearly as short as it needed to be, since the quick had grown out so far. So I took off as much as I could, exposing the quick so it would get smaller on its own. I've taken off more several times since then, and I've taken off about two thirds of what needs to go. I haven't done his other nails, since they aren't causing an immediate problem.

I'm hoping his parents will be interested in getting their own grinder and learning how to do it themselves. It will take them about 5 minutes a day for a couple of weeks, to get the nails down to where they should be, then a couple of minutes once or twice a week to keep them that way.

I got lazy with my own dogs and now I'm in the process of getting their nails how they should be. Maybe this time I'll remember to keep them done.

We had some excitement Saturday night/Sunday morning. A gang of teenagers decided to break into the yard and opened the gate latch on the outside of the gate, and one of them climbed over the gate to open it from the inside to let the others in. We'll never know what they had in mind, since they made some noise and the dogs heard them. I think Beau and QD were just barking from the excitement, but Starlight is my super watchdog. She scared them away. The fact that there was the sound of two other big dogs barking certainly helped her get them away. The one on the wrong side of the gate made it back over the gate before she got him. Actually, she was staying in the house, barking out through the dogdoor, but I don't think he was really paying attention to that.

It was at least 20 minutes before the police arrived, and they were long gone by then. My only concern is that if they had been quieter they might have gotten the gate open before the dogs noticed, and they would have led all the dogs out through the gate and into the street. So I'm getting a padlock for the gate.
Thursday -- 2:21 PM 10/30/2008

We had a good day at the beach.


8:29 PM 10/30/2008

Well. So much for that good idea.

I had trimmed his long toenail quite a bit, with the idea that walking on the beach would wear down the quick without hurting him. That part worked OK.

The problem was, once he wore down the smooth edged quick the only thing left was the edge of the remaining nail. And it wasn't smooth anymore. So after we'd been home several hours I noticed him licking that paw. And eventually I got around to looking at it. It had been healing so nicely I thought it would be gone by the time his parents came for him. Wrong.

He had rubbed a fairly large area that was pink and damp. So I washed it and put some goop on it and bandaged it. He doesn't like the bandage, and maybe he'll manage to get it off overnight. I'll take it off in the morning and see what we're dealing with. Maybe it wil be all better.
Friday -- 12:59 PM 10/31/2008

He managed to leave his bandage on overnight, and in the mornng I took it off, cleaned it up and put it back on.

I've figured out what has happened over the past week. At first there was just a little irritation from the toenail rubbing on the next toe. Our trip to the beach, with all its running and playing caused more rubbing.

Then I tried shortening the toenail, but because of the long quick in the toe I wasn't able to shorten it enough. Not too surprisingly, rubbing against the smooth edge of a nail is less damaging than rubbing against the side and the end. So when we went to the beach again and ran and played, there was more rubbing, and it caused more irritation.

For now I'll keep it clean and protected, so there won't be any more irritation, and it can begin the healing process. I think the nail will need to be trimmed short in order for the situation to be resolved. I'm not sure why the nail rubs against the next toe, but it does, and that's what's important at the moment.

Other than that, everything's fine.
Saturday -- 7:52 AM 11/1/2008

We made it through Halloween without incident. The gate just inside the front door finally completely fell down yesterday afternoon, so I had them in the pen to keep them safe from the little trick or treaters. They did a good job of barking whenever the doorbell rang, so anybody casing the place knows I have dogs. That's always good. I'll fix the gate today, assuming I can find all the parts I need. If not, there's always the hardware store. It's a nice gate, but the dogs are really hard on it. Especially my dogs. Oh well.

I was awake at 3 this morning and I looked in on QD. He had taken off his bandage. The toe didn't look any worse, maybe a little better. Of course every time he gets a chance to lick it and irritate it by walking around some of the healing gets undone. Doin' my best. He has a shiny new bandage on it now, that should last most of the day at least. By the time it falls off I'll be ready to look at the raw spot and put more antibiotic on it.

I have looked closely at the way their paws are made, and all of them have some claws that run alongside the next toe. So I don't know why this time the rubbing caused a sore spot. Probably there was already a sore spot for some other reason and the rubbing just happened to make it worse. Hmmm.

8:32 PM 11/1/2008

He manages to get his bandage off in about 12 hours. I let him have it off a couple of hours this afternoon while he was napping where I was able to keep an eye on him. As long as he wasn't messing with it or walking on it I didn't mind. After his dinner I put a new one on. It still doesn't look any worse, possibly a bit better.

I fixed the indoor gate again. I think it's stronger now than it's ever been, so maybe it will last a bit longer this time.

Tomorrow morning after breakfast Max the yellow lab will be joining us for the day. QD will be happy to have someone new to play with.
Sunday -- 11:08 AM 11/2/2008

QD's asleep on the green couch. I just heard a thump thump thump sound and looked to see what was causing it. He was fast asleep. and his tail was wagging furiously. Then the tail stopped and his face started twitching. Wiggle wiggle twitch. It would sure be interesting to know what he was dreaming about.

When I got up this morning he had taken off his bandage again. the sore place looked a little better, but now there's a sore place between two other toes.

At first I was feeling guilty about him getting worse while he's here but then I remembered the past two visits when he got better while he was here, so I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad.
Monday -- 9:25 AM 11/3/2008

I've given up on keeping his paw bandaged. At first it was taking him 12 hours to get the bandage off, but he's been getting better at removing it. He can even get it off through a sock. So I left it unbandaged overnight and he didn't mess with it very much.

All I'm doing for it at the moment is keeping it clean and encouraging him to leave it alone. And not taking him running, especially on the beach. The sore place isn't getting any worse. If it could be left undisturbed for a while I'm sure it would be just fine. Problem is I'm not sure how to leave it undisturbed. If he were messing with it a lot I'd put one of those hateful elizabethan collars on him, but so far he's mostly leaving it alone. His people will be picking him up in a few days.

When he brings me a ball and asks me to throw it for him I don't throw it very far. I know he'll do some walking and running around, but I try to keep it to a minimum. I figure if I lock him in the pen he'll walk around less but he'll be bored and more likely to mess with the paw.

10:01 AM 11/3/2008

Well darn.

I just looked at his ear, for the first time in a while. It's gone all pink again. I sent all his ear medicine home with him last time. I did clean it, but it didn't really seem to need cleaning.

The good news is he seems happy and content. Neither his ear nor his paw seem to be bothering him.

I'll be leaving him home alone a few hours today.
Tuesday -- 4:53 PM 11/4/2008

It rained this morning. Almost half an inch.

The dogs stayed in where it was safe and dry. So no mud got tracked in. That's nice.

QD's toes seem to be healing nicely, and his ear is no pinker than it was yesterday. It only seems like a problem when you compare it to his other ear. It doesn't really look very bad.

We'll be running out of dogfood soon, but not before his people pick him up.
Wednesday -- 2:08 PM 11/5/2008

His toes are healing very nicely. His ear's still pink.

I guess he'll be going home tomorrow.
Thursday -- 1:33 PM 11/6/2008

Everything's still fine here. His parents got delayed so he'll be here one more night. I didn't tell him to expect them today so he isn't worried.

I ran the sprinkler in the backyard this morning and he wandered into the rain. That made him think he needed to find a place to roll, so he dug up some nice damp dirt to roll in. I made him quit before he got completely covered with mud. He sure does love to roll when he gets wet. When we went to the beach he'd alternate between sloshing in the water and rolling in the sand.













An earlier visit:



Tuesday -- 10:28 AM 9/23/2008

He's back after a very short trip home.

His toe and his skin are all better. Now he has an ear infection. We'll deal with it.

His playmates Pete and Rocky will be joining us this afternoon. He'll like that.
Wednesday -- 4:30 PM 9/24/2008

This morning I wasn't feeling too well, so after breakfast I went back to bed for a couple of hours. The dogs were all quiet and didn't bother me. I had an afternoon nap on the couch and they didn't bother me at all until 3:45 when they started worrying about dinner. So I got up and gave them their dinner.

He's being a real gentleman about having his ears treated twice a day.
Thursday -- 4:24 PM 9/25/2008

He's still being nice about the ear treatments, but he wishes I wouldn't do it so much. The ear looks pretty good, though.

The days have started getting shorter. That's probably why the dogs are so insistant in the afternoon. It's really quite funny. Starting a little after 3 they begin keeping a close eye on me, and if I get up and go somewhere they are right with me. By about 3:30 they begin getting closer. Instead of being scattered all over the house and yard they are all within about 10 feet of me. And about 3 or 4 minutes before 4 they all start climbing into my lap. Since I had my laptop computer on my lap this time I found all the dogs a problem. They managed to push several buttons on it and start it doing all sorts of things I didn't intend.

Once I got out from under them they all went to their places and waited patiently for me to get their dinner to them. Now that they have finished eating they are again spread out through the house. They can relax about me until 6:40 tomorrow morning.
Friday -- 4:24 PM 9/26/2008

This morning as I was doing QD's ear my back went sproing. Hmmm. Fortunately I had done Beau's ears first, and the dogs had all been fed. I was able to finish his ear and hobble over to the couch and sit down.

So I can move, and walk around, as long as I do it slowly and carefully. I get up every now and then and move around. I even seem to be a bit better now. We'll see how I am in the morning.

I didn't have any problem doing doggy dinners this afternoon, but I didn't do my morning or afternoon poopy pickup. When I finally get to it I'll wish I hadn't put it off so long.

When it's time to do his ear tonight I'll be more careful not to hurt myself. I may not do as good a job as I usually do. His ear looks much better.
Sunday -- 9:48 AM 9/28/2008

QD's ear looks just fine to me. I go ahead and treat it twice a day because I'm supposed to for the next few days.

I'm wondering if he's possibly getting a little too much of his thyroid medicine. The changes are very subtle, and I could well be imagining them.

I think he's lost a little weight. I think that's good. He looks better to me. I haven't weighed him so it could be my imagination.

Sometimes when all the dogs are lying around and resting or napping he's the only one whose breathing I can hear.

Once in a while he seems restless. He'll suddenly get up and hurry out the dogdoor, then wander around aimlessly in the yard for a few minutes. Then he'll come in and walk around like he doesn't feel content.

So if the changes are real and not my imagination I don't think they are anything to worry about. I just want my observatons noted in case it seems relevant. Something to mention to the vet next time he has an appointment.

3:57 PM 9/28/2008

These poor dogs have to put up with so much.

Since the days are getting shorter and it's a dreary cool day, dinnertime obviously must be earlier than 4. But I just couldn't understand what they were trying to tell me. I'm so dumb.

Starting about 3 they were fixated on convincing me it was dinnertime. Rocky howled at me, Petey kept coming and telling me how hungry he was. Starlight tried to sit on my lap. Beau went into the crate beside me and slammed his hand on the floor. Again and again. QD kept coming and asking if it was time yet.

I gave in a little before 4. I understand that I'm teaching them to bug me until they get fed. I really should do something to stop them. But they think it's so important.

Now they are happy and fed, and they won't have to worry until breakfast time. The problem is I think they are beginning to believe that they won't get fed until they badger me. That isn't good.
Tuesday -- 10:46 AM 9/30/2008

Rocky and Pete went home last night, so things are unusually quiet for now.

QD patiently allowed me to do his ear this morning. It looks fine to me, but I do what I'm told so I go on treating it.

QD gets to stay home alone this afternoon and be a good watchdog for a few hours.
Wednesday -- 4:53 PM 10/1/2008

Record heat. Fortunately my house is in the coolest area around, and it only got up to about 90 in the house. With a few fans it was quite bearable. Supposed to be cooler tomorrow. The dogs haven't complained at all, but the level of the water bowls is going down a lot faster than usual.

I think it's getting close to the 10 days QD's ear is supposed to be treated. It looks fine to me, so I don't know if I should just stop treating it, or continue until they come to get him. One option that was suggested was that I could take him to his vet for a checkup, but I'd rather not have to do that. In an emergency, of course, but I don't think this is that.

It has been so light and hot the past couple of afternoons the dogs haven't reminded me about dinnertime. I'm glad to be able to show them I can feed them without having to be nagged. Dunno if they really notice it though.
Friday -- 8:47 PM 10/3/2008

Not much happening around here. The heat wave is over and now they are talking about maybe it will even rain a little bit. I'll believe it when I see it.

This morning there was dew on the grass and QD had a good time rolling in the grass and getting damp, then rolling in the dust and getting mud all over himself. Getting it on his face is the most fun of all.
Saturday -- 8:11 PM 10/4/2008

Pete and Rocky came back today. They seem to spend almost as much time here as QD. That's OK, they are all nice dogs.
Sunday -- 7:23 PM 10/5/2008

I seem to have run out of one of the kinds of ear medicine. It was getting harder and harder to squeeze out of the little bottle, so I took off the nozzle and I was able to drip some out for a while. Then this morning as I was doing the ear I just got a small drop. It was strange, when I shake it I feel something moving around in there, so I thought there was a bunch left. Dunno what's in there if it's not the medicine.

Good thing his people will come for him in a couple of days. I may still be able to get a little bit more to drip out if I try really hard.
Monday -- 10:48 AM 10/6/2008

I'm still able to get more of his ear medicine out of the little bottle. Some of it had crystalized and there was a tiny ball of crystal, as well as some small scattered granules. It turns out I can rub them between my thumb and finger and they turn back into something that looks like the original stuff.

Poor puppy QD. He really hates having his ear done, but he loves the treats that he knows come after. So he reminds me to do his ear, hurries into the pen with me when I'm ready, then he decides he wants out. I'm as gentle as I know how to be, but I've noticed that his ear is always a brighter pink when I'm done so the stuff must irritate it.

The other dogs all think it's fine, since they get dog treats too.

I guess tomorrow's the day he gets picked up. And the next day the other two dogs will probably go home, leaving me with only my own two dogs for a while.
Tuesday -- 12:36 PM 10/7/2008

He's gone home. It seems strange. He was happy to see his dad and went out to the car.













An earlier visit:



Saturday -- 12:41 PM 9/13/2008

He came back last night. He has a new skin condition that needs frequent bathing. Supposedly twice a week, but I'll see how it goes. If it's too much trouble I may just do it once a week. It probably won't be too much trouble. He's an easy dog to work with.

There's a strange situation when he and his mom are in the house. He isn't sure who's in charge of him, and neither are we. He barks for no good reason and I tell him to stop but he doesn't. Or his mom tells him to stop and he doesn't. I'm reluctant to thump her dog with her watching, and she probably feels the same. He's got us figured out. As soon as she leaves he quiets right down.

I think I'll thump him next time he needs it while mom's watching, and then he'll remember to listen to me.

He seemed a bit tired when he arrived, and just wanted to rest and watch the goings-on. That's OK. His mom probably took him for a run.

We don't have any other dogs visiting at the moment, and we don't even have any scheduled. It will be nice to have a quiet visit for a change. Of course someone could call this afternoon and bring a gang of dogs tomorrow. We'll just wait and see.
Sunday -- 3:02 PM 9/14/2008

So I figured today would be a good time to give our boy his bath.

I called him into the bathroom and he came in and headed for the bathtub. I never asked him to go to the bathtub, and I never even used the word bath. But he seemed to know.

I didn't want to use the bathtub though, so I asked him to go into the shower. OK, no problem. I wetted him and started soaping. So far so good. I tried to turn him around so I could soap up the back half. Nope, he absolutely didn't want to turn around and face the back corner of the shower. I could force him around but it would just take a moment for him to get turned around the way he wanted to face.

I finally figured out that I would have to get in the shower with him. That worked much better. I just washed the back half of the dog, mostly. The front half got some washing, but not a good job. I did a good job on his hands though.

When he was finished I asked him to shake himself off and come out. He did, but after he got out he shook much better. He loved his toweling off. When he was mostly dry I opened the bathroom door and let him out. I stayed to deal with the wet towels. When I came out to see how he was doing he wasn't in the house. I looked out the window and saw him rolling and rubbing in the dust. He got himself thouroughly muddy before he was ready to come in.

It's funny, when I give my pony a bath she does the same thing. I think it's cute, fortunately.

So he got himself covered with mud and then he wanted to play with Starlight. She didn't think that sounded like a good idea. So there's a wet, muddy dog lying in my living room. Having a nice nap.

I know from experience the mud's only on the outside, and it will magically go away and he'll be a nice clean yellow dog soon. Where do you suppose all the mud goes?
Monday -- 8:44 PM 9/15/2008

It was a boring day.

About 3PM the dogs tried to convince me it was dinnertime. I managed to hold out until 3:40. They would all have starved if I had made them wait until 4.

It must be bedtime. They're all asleep.
Tuesday -- 8:55 PM 9/16/2008

Not much happening. QD likes to lie just inside the front door and look out the screen and watch the world go by. Whenever anything interesting goes past he tells Beau to come and bark. So Beau gets in trouble again.

QD has learned to assume I'll go out occasionally and usually take my two dogs with me. He's so easy with that he doesn't even bother to get up when we leave or come home. Unless it's mealtime, of course.
Wednesday -- 2:51 PM 9/17/2008

Not much happening. QD's still the only visiting dog, so things are quiet around here.

It's been several days since he had his last antibiotic so today I gave him some yogurt. He liked it. I gave my dogs some too and they all liked it. I'll give them some more tomorrow.

His toe and his skin thing both look pretty good.
Thursday -- 3:15 PM 9/18/2008

I gave him another bath today. I was a little smarter this time and I put him in the indoor pen for a while after I toweled him off.

His toe still has a bit of healing to do, and I noticed a bump under the skin while I was washing him. Of course that bump may have been there for a long time and I just never noticed it. I'll show it to his mom when she comes to get him.

It's 45 minutes before we are supposed to think about dinner, and already all the dogs are keeping a close eye on me. Beau's in the crate beside me. peeking over the arm of the couch, hoping I'll take pity on him. QD's lying on the floor about 10 feet from me, watching me intently. Starlight's almost to the front door, but she's watching just as hard as the rest. If they're trying to make me feel insecure, it's working. I'll probably give in and feed them before 4. And tomorrow they'll be even more motivated to stare me down. Oh well.

I've noticed when I scoop out a cup of dogfood from QD's bag I often scrape the bottom. I need to do some measuring to see if we'll have enough to hold us until he gets picked up. If I have to get him more dogfood I'd rather do it at my convenience, not in a hurry.
Friday -- 7:42 PM 9/19/2008

Not much to tell. He's still a good dog and we all like him.
Sunday -- 7:28 AM 9/21/2008

Everything's fine.

11:38 AM 9/21/2008

When I looked at his toe this morning it looked wonderful. If I didn't know there was anything wrong with it I wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with it. I suppose it still has a bit of final healing to do, but at last things are looking great.

His skin thing looks pretty nice, too. There's still no hair there, but of course it takes a while for hair to grow.

I bought a honeydew melon yesterday, and I had half of it yesterday and the rest this morning. He watched my dogs get more and more excited as they watched me eating, and he assumed there must be something good coming. I gave Beau half the rind and cut the other half into several smaller pieces. Starlight and QD each got a small piece and I put the other small pieces on the ground between them. I figured whoever wanted them the most would get them. I was surprised to see QD gather up several of the pieces so he could eat without worrying about Starlight getting any.

So this morning I gave QD his small piece and scattered the other smaller ones in a larger area. He didn't think to look for them so this time Starlight got a bigger share.













An earlier visit:



Monday -- 1:34 PM 9/8/2008

He returned yesterday morning. He's our only visitor at the moment, so things are quiet.

Poor QD. I woke up 40 minutes before the alarm went off, and I never feed the dogs early. I figure if I did that they'd just start being hungry even earlier.

So he went into his crate and waited patiently for about 40 minutes. I told him not to bother but he didn't believe me.
Tuesday -- 7:20 AM 9/9/2008

Not much to report. Everything's fine.
Wednesday -- 1:11 PM 9/10/2008

His toe seems to be finally healing nicely. It's about time. I sure hope it lasts.

He's getting very easy to deal with. Since he's the only visitor for the moment I don't have to worry about his interactions with all the other dogs. He and my dogs get along beautifully, and they all know how to behave.

Even meals are easier. I don't have to lock him into his crate for meals. I just send him and he goes, and stays there until I invite him out. Meanwhile my dogs are standing in the other room by their dishes until they are finished. Nobody tries to eat anybody elses food, and they all get their own medicine.

He almost always eats all the pills I put in his food. Once in a while he drops one on the floor but if I put it back in his dish with a little food he eats it all up. He's so good.

He'll be going back to his people tomorrow. And then back here soon.













An earlier visit:



Friday -- 7:10 PM 8/22/2008

He got here a short time ago. His mom showed me the healing owie between his toes and told me he shouldn't be allowed to dig. At all. Right, I told her. Either he has to stay in the pen all the time, or he will dig.

We went out to the yard and he demonstrated my point by immediately starting to dig.

We decided I'll use my own judgement. So I'll let him do some digging, just because there's almost no way to stop him. And I'll closely watch his sore to be sure it isn't getting worse.

After his mom left I took him in the bathroom and asked him to go into the shower. OK, no problem. I washed his front feet and dried them off. Then I let him into the rest of the house to get together with the rest of the gang.

He and the puppy started romping almost immediately, and they've been running in and out, and digging, and rolling in the dust. What a nice time they are having.

When they're done I'll take another look at his paw. I sure hope he hasn't hurt it. If things don't work out here he'll have to go back to stay at the vet's until he's completely healed. He wouldn't like that very much

It's almost getting dark, and they always seem to settle down about the time it gets dark. So far he and the puppy, Makena, are spending all their time together.

8:07 PM 8/22/2008

It's dark now. I brought him in and washed his hands again. This is gonna be easy. He just walks right into the shower for me and holds up his hands for me to wash and dry. They look fine, so far.

Then I took him to wait in a crate for about an hour until I'm ready to lock the puppy in for the night. I hope when she's not there to ask him to go outside and play he'll be ready to sleep quietly for the night. We'll see how it goes.

I had intended to put him in the pen but he insisted on going into "his" crate. OK, whatever makes him happy is fine with me.
Saturday -- 9:21 AM 8/23/2008

We had a quiet night. People have a hard time believing me when I tell them how quiet it gets here at night. Dogs are pack animals, and when the leader of the pack goes to sleep the whole pack goes to sleep. And I'm the leader.

The puppy sleeps in her crate and all the others get to decide for themselves. I had 4 in my bedroom, not including QD. I was awake around 4AM and I went to check on the ones who slept elsewhere. Starlight was on the chair next to the puppy's crate and QD was on the floor on the other side of the crate. They all seemed happy.

At 7 my alarm went off. The dogs in my room dashed out, eager for their breakfast. The dogs outside rushed in to make sure I got up and fed them. The puppy started barking.

So I put them all in their appointed places and got started feeding them. They all have different food and many have medicine in their food, so I have to be slow and deliberate in feeding them. It wouldn't be a good idea to give them someone else's medicine.

Rocky had gone outside when the alarm went off but I knew he'd show up for breakfast. And he did. After they were all fed I opened their gates and let them out as soon as they were finished. Rocky didn't eat his so I took it away and let him out. Then it was time to count the dogs. Seven. All accounted for.

Then we all went outside for poopy patrol. They are all finished and I've got it all picked up by 7:20. It takes a long time to get the whole gang ready for the day when there are so many.

Rocky decided he wanted his breakfast after all, so he ate it.

Then it's playtime. They romp and wrestle and chase each other until they collapse in a heap. And of course the puppy takes a long time to get tired. After a while she's the only one active.

Things are very quiet at the moment. Soon I'll go outside and they will all come with me. Then they will be ready to come into the house and be relatively quiet for most of the day. I'll wash QD's paws and hope they can stay clean for a while.
Sunday -- 7:20 AM 8/24/2008

Another quiet night, now the day has begun and there's lots of running and wrestling and rolling in the dirt.

I'm not sure where QD sleeps. All I know for sure is it isn't in the bedroom. He comes in occasionally to check on us, then goes back out again.

Rocky and Pete went home last night so QD and Makena the pup are spendng more time together. They have a good time.

5:46 PM 8/24/2008

We haven't done anything interesting today. QD's been playing with the puppy off and on, and I washed his owie paw once so far today. No change to it. It seems to be healing very slowly, but at least it seems to be healing.

We've had dinner, and it's beginning to cool of, so I expect playtime to break out soon. Once that's done I'll wash his paw again and we'll be done for the day.
Monday -- 12:33 PM 8/25/2008

Everything's fine. I left the visiting dogs home for a couple of hours this morning and they were happy when we returned.

QD sure does like to lie and roll and dig in the dust. And romp with the puppy. He's a sweet dog.

8:15 PM 8/25/2008

No matter how much he plays in the dirt his owie on his paw seems to stay clean and healthy. He's learning to expect what I'm doing and he cooperates nicely as I wash and dry his paw and inspect the toes.

He limps once in a while, seeming to favor the other front foot or leg. It usually stops after just a few steps.

I was going out for a few minutes and I put the puppy in her crate. QD figured maybe I was gonna give them another dinner so he went into his crate and didn't come out. Well, he did eventually come out, but he's still hoping maybe he'll be able to score a second dinner.
Tuesday -- 8:42 AM 8/26/2008

Nothing much happening. QD seems content and happy. His toe looks pretty much the same from day to day.

I'll be leaving him in charge this afternoon for a few hours with all the other visitors in crates where they'll be safe. He gets to run loose because he doesn't get into trouble.

6:29 PM 8/26/2008

He took good care of the place while my dogs and I were gone. After playtime and dinner we had more playtime. Makena has worn out her welcome with most of the other dogs so she plays with QD a lot. When QD gets tired and lies flat on his side she sometimes sits on him. He seems to like it.

We're expecting Bosley the yellow lab to join us tomorrow. He's nice.
Wednesday -- 1:52 PM 8/27/2008

Not much to report. Everything's pretty much the same.

Thursday -- 6:33 PM 8/28/2008

Everything was as usual in the morning, and in the afternoon Bosley joined us. Bosley and QD look a lot alike. Both big handsome yellow labs. Bosley's darker, Quarterdeck's fuzzier.

The yellow labs have a good time playing. Their only problem is Makena the lab pup who keeps getting into the middle of their games. They tolerate her pretty well but they wish she'd go away. I'll be putting her in her crate frequently so they can play without her help.
Friday -- 12:19 PM 8/29/2008

Quarterdeck's happy, spending his time playing with his many doggy friends and napping. He has enough friends that there's always somebody to play with, and if he doesn't feel like playing they can go play with someone else.

I've been watching his toe heal. There's a whitish-yellow part between the healed and the black unhealed, and for a while the yellow area was getting smaller. Now the black part seems to be getting smaller, as the edge of it turns yellow. So the yellow is now staying the same size but moving over a bit. At this rate the black will be gone in a few days and a few days later the yellow will be gone. Nature's so amazing sometimes.
Saturday -- 9:04 AM 8/30/2008

Not much change since my last update. Everything's fine.

3:44 PM 8/30/2008

He's been having fun with Makena.

An hour ago I caught him bending his arm so he could lick the bottom of his paw. I thought he might have done it some damage but he doesn't seem to have. After I spoke to him about it he stopped and hasn't messed with it since. I washed it off and took some more pictures of it. I wish it would heal faster but at least it's still healing.

He's been limping on the left front this afternoon. It started when he woke up from his nap and it got better as he moved around but it never completely went away. I'll have to talk to his people to see what if anything they want me to do about it.
7:41 AM 8/31/2008 -- Sunday morning.

The yellow boys were having fun with me this morning. They know I'm not very smart when I wake up, so they thought it would be fun to play a twins game with me. So instead of heading for their crates as soon as the alarm rang they milled around and tried to go into each others crates, and tried to go both into the same crate, then both into the other crate. I finally had to sort them out and take them by the collars and put them into their own crates.

Cute, guys. Don't do it again.

Maybe they thought the other guy's breakfast looked better than their own.

Quarterdeck's limping much less today than yesterday. Probably played too hard yesterday. I'll encourage him to be less active today. Dunno how well that will work.

7:07 PM 8/31/2008

He's been limping all day, but just a little. He's voluntarily limiting his active play, probably because it's warm and humid today. He's done a fair amount of tugging with the puppy, and he's so much stronger than she is he doesn't have to work very hard.
Monday -- 12:56 PM 9/1/2008

His limping is gone. That's nice. He's being a good dog, which means there's nothing to report. <
Tuesday -- 10:44 AM 9/2/2008

Well, I guess I can't trust anyone. In the morning after breakfast I put the pup and the pug into pens and left the grownup yellow boys in charge. When my dogs and I got home we discovered the pillow that had been on the green couch was scattered all over the floor, with much of its stuffing out.

The yellow boys didn't know anything about how that could have happened. Yea, right. Probably the pup got out of the crate and did the damage, then locked herself back in.

I have too much stuff, and the dogs are gradually solving that for me. I've thrown away a dog bed and a couch cushion this week. If we can just make it through tomorrow most of these dogs will be gone and we'll be back to normal.
Wednesday -- 10:40 AM 9/3/2008

Not much happening. I managed to put the stuffing back into the dog bed that I thought was ruined. It probably won't last much longer, but for now it's good.

His toe is healing so slowly I sometimes wonder if it's healing at all. but I can compare various pictures I've taken in the past couple weeks, and it definitely seems better. At this rate it sure will take a long time. The good news is it doesn't seem to bother him. And he's not limping at all today.

His friend Bosley will be going home this afternoon, and tonight the pug and the pup will go home. Things will be really quiet around here. I'm starting to clean up the residue from all the fun games they've been playing, and the carpet guy comes next week to clean. I may even fill in the holes in the yard. QD doesn't dig deep ones like some of them do. He just likes to dig enough to put new fresh dirt on top for better rolling and rubbing.













An earlier visit:



Saturday -- 12:52 PM 6/28/2008

He's back. So far so good.
Monday -- 11:51 PM 6/30/2008

Still good.
Wednesday -- 7/2/2008

His mom came for him last night. He'll be back in a couple weeks.













An earlier visit:



Tuesday -- 6/17/2008

He arrived this morning for a one week stay. He found his friends Rocky and Pete here, and all the dogs were working on rawhide bones. He was happy to join them.

It's amazingly peaceful and quiet here with 5 dogs in residence. Two more dogs should arrive tomorrow morning and it will probably not be so quiet after that. We'll see.
Thursday -- 7:51 AM 6/19/2008

It's amazingly peaceful here, considering there are 7 dogs living here at the moment. They are all getting along well. The warm weather probably helps, since they do a lot of lying around and sleeping.

I have enough good sleeping places that nobody has to settle for second best.

Oops, I just disturbed QD's nap. Sorry. I noticed that there were 6 dogs helping me write my report and QD wasn't one of them. I went looking. He was asleep on the floor mattress in the bedroom and I woke him up when I peeked in. He got up and joined us in the living room.

I've formed a habit of counting the dogs frequently, and when it doesn't come out to the right number I go looking. So far everybody's been OK, but you never know.
Friday -- 8:40 PM 6/20/2008

All's well here. It's been quite warm but nothing we can't handle.
Saturday -- 7:05 PM 6/21/2008

The heatwave continues. There's a lot of lying around going on, and the water bowls get emptied at an amazing rate. Everybody's fine, though, and once it gets a little cooler in the evening the games begin.

They say tomorrow will be the last hot day, but they've been predicting one more day for a while now.

I guess Lexa and Mozart will be going home tomorrow. It's been a much easier several days than I expected, but it will be even easier after they leave.
Sunday -- 8:37 PM 6/22/2008

The heat's finally supposed to be going away. I haven't noticed it yet. THe dogs don't seem to be suffering from it, fortunately. They are a little quieter than usual, and they drink more water, but the seem happy.

Two dogs got picked up today. Quarterdeck will be leaving in a few days.
Monday -- 6:30 PM 6/23/2008

It's a little cooler today. The five remaining dogs are mostly still lying around but the playing is getting more frequent.

Quarterdeck's dad called a while ago. He'll be picking him up tomorrow morning.
Tuesday -- 9:43 AM 6/24/2008

We got up, had breakfast, and discovered the heat wave has finally broken. The dogs all took advantage of the coolth and ran and romped.

By the time QD's dad came for him he had finished playing and was ready to relax.

He'll probably be back in a few days, depending on his people's work schedule.













An earlier visit:



Wednesday -- 6/4/2008

Quarterdeck's here for a day or two this time. When he got here Lexa was here with her mom for a short visit. Now Lexa's gone but tomorrow we expect Max to join us. And my friend Wes is planning to spend the weekend with us unless the east coast storms mess up his travel plans. Wes called to warn me he may not be able to make it, or may be delayed. We'll see. we won't worry about it.













An earlier visit:



Thursday -- 8:59 PM 5/22/2008

QD's back again for a couple of weeks.

His mom came in with him and it was nice to see him playing with the resident dogs and not worrying about his mom leaving him behind.

When she left he watched her go, then went back to having a good time.

Since then he's been mostly resting up for bedtime.
Friday -- 11:35 AM 5/23/2008

When my alarm went off this morning QD put himself into his crate all by himself. He's so smart, he knows where the breakfast is served. I gave him some of my own dogfood with his pills in it. I immediately heard a clunk and looked to see a pill on the floor beside the food dish. I put it back into the dish and this time he ate it.

The thing on his back leg was red and irritated looking this morning, but when I got home around 10:30 it looked much better.

I stopped at the pet shop to get his kind of dogfood. I was instructed to get a certain brand, senior style, low calorie type. I discovered it also comes in large breed, small breed and medium breed. So I looked all over the shelves for large breed, senior, lowcal. I was able to find small senior low and large senior notlow, among all the other combinations. The one combination I was looking for eluded me. So I made an executive decision. I got large breed, senior, not low calorie. That will have to do for now.

5:25 PM 5/23/2008

The dogs have a special way of knowing when it's dinnertime. It clearly has to do with the amount of daylight. It's very overcast today, and it was a bit after 2 when they started thinking it must surely be dinnertime by now. I managed to ignore them until around 3. They were all convinced they were about to starve. Poor things.

I finally gave in and gave them half their dinner. At first they didn't think that was good enough, but soon they forgot about their hungry tummies and went back to worrying about hteir naps. And at 5 they were so happy to get another dinner. It was a small dinner, and there were lots of pills in some of their dishes, but it was OK.

Now that they've had two dinners they are all settled down for another nap.

5:52 PM 5/23/2008

My neighbor brought us a big hunk of watermelon. Beau and Starlight watched so eagerly while I ate it that QD figured there must be something in it for them. Sure enough, when I was finished I cut a few small pieces off the rind and gave the main part to Beau. Starlight and QD each got a small piece. I thought QD would know what to do with it since he had seemed so eager, but he had no clue. He watched while the black labs gobbled their pieces and started in on his own. He decided it was pretty good, thanks.

Beau saw me holding some small peices and he asked if he could have them. He'd rather have them pre-sliced I guess. He left his big piece for the smaller ones. And while he was busy Starlight sneaked in and made off with his big piece. Poor Beau. I took it away from her and broke off some for Beau. QD wasn't at all sure he wanted any more after he finished his small piece, but as soon as they were all handed out he decided he wanted more. Too bad QD. You'll get more next time.
Saturday -- 5:01 PM 5/24/2008

We've had a mostly quiet day. This afternoon we had a sudden blustery wind that opened the front door and slammed the back door. The dogs figured we had burglars but they couldn't find them. It was windy for a few minutes then quieted down again.

Boring is good.
Monday -- 12:12 PM 5/26/2008

Still boring. Too bad none of QD's more active playmates are here this time. He has so much fun with them. Beau and Starlight play with him, but not nearly as much as some of the others.

He doesn't think of himself as a visitor here, he thinks this is his other home. That's nice.

His chin was itchy yesterday so I used one if his medicated pads on it. Dunno if that helped or maybe he just got finished messing with it. It doesn't seem to be bothering him now.
Wednesday -- 11:46 AM 5/28/2008

Nothing interesting happening. He's being a good boy and having a nice quiet time.
Thursday -- 6:41 PM 5/29/2008

Things got a little more interesting for QD today. Max came to stay with us for a few days.

We thought Max and QD knew each other, but when they saw each other they didn't seem to be meeting friends. I looked over my records, and decided they didn't know each other.

No problem, it just took them a few minutes to get acquainted. Max is very insistant about wanting to play, and play now. QD isn't sure that's how it should be, but he'll go along with it.

Beau is limping since yesterday, and Max just looked like he was limping too, on a front foot or leg. QD seems fine, though.

I'm hoping Beau didn't tear the ACL in his other knee. He had surgery on the right one about 3 years ago and it wasn't fun. I'll give it a day or two before I get too worried about it. He seems a bit better today than yesterday.

Dunno what's wrong with Max, maybe it's just one of those temporary things. I hope so.

They ran around for a while but now they are all having a nap.
Friday -- 12:30 PM 5/30/2008

QD and Max haven't been playing as much as I expected.

QD's getting lots of rest, and having a good time with his big hunk of wood. It was a branch of a tree I cut down years ago and I've kept it around to help block my gate open occasionally. QD carries it around and chews it, and occasionally drops it with a mighty thump.

2:19 PM 5/30/2008

He's gone home now. See ya soon, QD.













An earlier visit:



Monday -- 6:27 PM 4/7/2008

Dirty but happy.

I had 5 dogs in the pen when QD arrived, and soon after his parents left they were all quieted down so I let them out. They rushed him, and he said hello and they all said hello.

They romped and barked and romped some more. QD had a nice liedown in the mud. Petey and QD ran and chased each other and had a wonderful time. Louie is pestering QD a little, but if he gets too pushy QD tells him off and he stops.

I watered the yard a few hours ago, and there's lots of nice wet dirt to roll in, and QD thinks that's a fine thing to do. Louie finds that faascinating.

I have QD's dinner all ready for him. The others all had their dinner a couple of hours ago. If he ever quits playing I'll give him his dinner. Oh, here he is now. If he stays in I'll feed him but I think he's about to lead the whole gang out again.

6:58 PM 4/7/2008

Well, he's had his dinner and another playtime. He and Louie think humping is a fun game. Taking turns, then running around, then back to humping again.

His mom doesn't want him to play too rough, and I'm not sure where to draw the line. Nobody's making him play rough. I put Louie in the pen a while ago so QD could play more quietly and QD went over to the pen and cried for me to let Louie out.

For a while he was playing you can't hump me with Rocky, too. Dogs are such strange people. Starlight hopes they'll fight, and keeps trying to encourage them, but it's all in good fun. Too bad, Starlight. She loves it when other dogs fight. As long as they don't mess with her.
Tuesday -- 1:01 PM 4/8/2008

Louie's tired. So is Quarterdeck. That's nice. they both wore themselves out yesterday.

I left the four visiting dogs home for a few hours this morning and they were just fine, greeted me happily when I got home and went back to their napping.

I'll be leaving them again soon, and I'm sure they'll be fine again. They're nice dogs.

8:43 PM 4/8/2008

When I got home this afternoon they greeted me happily then went back to napping, then dinner, then playtime.

Yesterday QD and Louie's humping game was active and rough. Today it's much more subdued. One humps the other for a minute or two, then they change off. I guess they wore themselves out yesterday.

Petey watched all the humping and decided to join in, so while Louie was humping QD, Petey jumped on Louie. That didn't go over well. Louie went after Pete with both guns blazing. He grabbed the fur on Petey's side and didn't let go until Pete was well and truly scared. Petey sat in my lap for a while (unhurt) and The big boys went back to their game. Starlight was disappointed that it didn't turn into a real fight.

Now they are all lying around waiting for bedtime.
Wednesday -- 9:25 AM 4/9/2008

I don't know where QD sleeps. The rest of us go into the bedroom and he doesn't come with us. That's OK, they can sleep wherever they want.

About 6:30 he came in to see if we ever intended to get up and Louie got up and they went out to play.

I don't understand the attraction, but they are happy keeping to themselves and playing their gentle humping game. They aren't bothering anyone or hurting anything so I just ignore it.

He seems to be happy and healthy and having a good visit.

4:47 PM 4/9/2008

We've had our dinner and it's cool out so the dogs are beginning to romp. Louie and QD are still best friends, almost totally ignoring everyone else. QD won't know what to do when Louie goes home on Sunday.
Thursday -- 12:59 PM 4/10/2008

No problems. QD seems to be having a nice time, enjoying the company of all the dogs, especially Louie.
Friday -- 8:52 AM 4/11/2008

Busy happy morning.

I'm surrounded by happy dogs, romping and wrestling and napping.

QD and Louie's games are gradually morphing from humping games to more normal wrestling. They love to play I can bite your leg before you can bite mine.

I still don't know where QD sleeps. When the rest of us go into the bedroom for the night he doesn't come with us.

I was warned that he could play too hard and start limping. So far it hasn't happened. He runs and romps and plays for hours, and seems to be thriving with it.

He's so nice.

5:51 PM 4/11/2008

They just finished their dinner and now it's playtime. QD and Louie are still best playmates, rolling and tumbling and having such a good time.
Sunday -- 7:39 AM 4/13/2008

Everything's still happy here. Quarterdeck and Louie are a bit quieter today since it's already heating up. Same as yesterday. The heat wave is supposed to be over by tomorrow.

Louie's supposed to go home tonight. Poor QD will have to go back to playing with his other friends. They aren't as much fun as Louie, but I suppose they're better than no friends at all.

QD's eating with good appetite, sleeping quietly, never complaining. It's all good. As soon as it gets near mealtime he puts himself into his crate and looks at me like I've forgotten what time it is. He's so cute. As soon as I admit it's mealtime Petey joins him in the crate and Louie usually does too. I have to send them both out so QD can have his meal alone.

With this many dogs here I need to be very careful to have them quietly in pens so I can figure out their meals and meds without rushing. Everyone gets different food, and several have their own medicine. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to get them mixed up. They are used to going into the pens and waiting patiently for their food. Any who aren't due for a meal get a couple of cookies.
Monday -- 4:24 PM 4/14/2008

It's a bit cooler today. Still warm though.

Louie went home last night and QD doesn't seem to miss him. I guess he had enough playing to last him a while. He's paying more attention to the other dogs now and seems quite content.

A few days ago Louie was sneezing, then Beau started sneezing and Louie stopped. Then Starlight started and Beau stopped. Now QD seems to have started and Starlight's stopping.

None of them sneeze a whole lot, but it's enough to be noticable. I suppose next it will be Pete and Rocky.

Pete and Rocky are supposed to go home tomorrow and it will be down to just QD and the dogs that live here. And soon after, QD will go home too.
Tuesday -- 8:51 PM 4/15/2008

Rocky and Pete went home a while ago, so it's getting very quiet around here.

A month or so ago I decided it was probably time to fill all the holes in the yard, since the dogs didn't seem to be doing any digging. Good thing I didn't actually level the yard and put in a nice lawn. Petey and QD have had a good time digging. I guess I won't spend the time and money right now.

QD has been doing some sneezing today. I don't know what it's about, but whatever it is seems to last just about a day and then be gone. So by the time they come to pick him up he'll be all better.

I'm not sure when they're coming for him. I think it's sometime tomorrow. Then I can put back all the things the dogs have rearranged. It looks like I'll have almost two weeks of no dogs. Except my own, of course.
Wednesday -- 2:35 PM 4/16/2008

Well, now I don't know what to think. I was warned that if he played too hard he'd start limping and I should be careful for him. Now that all his playmates are gone and he's just lying around he seems to be limping a little. Maybe it's the lack of exercise.

Early this afternoon I noticed him walking a bit stiffly, in his back end, so I started keeping an eye on him. He went out in the yard and lay down in the warm sunshine. When he'd been there quite a long time I went out and walked around in the yard. He got up and started walking around, and didn't want to put any weight on his (I think) left back leg for a few steps. After moving around a bit it seemed all better.

I'm glad his people are coming for him soon.

9:04 PM 4/16/2008

He's favoring that back left leg for a minute when he gets up, then it warms up and seems fine. And he's still sneezing occasionally.

He isn't as animated as he was before his playmates went home. I think he probably wore himself out with them.

I thought his people were coming for him today but I haven't heard from them yet. I think I'll go to bed.
Thursday -- 8:28 PM 4/17/2008

There was a bit of a miscommunication. They came for him today, not yesterday. That's OK.

He's still sneezing once in a while. He was happy to see his people when they came for him.

Now that all the dogs have gone home I'll have my cleaning guy come on Saturday and clean the carpet and some of the furniture. We'll be all ready when the next dog comes to stay with us next week.













An earlier visit:



Tuesday -- 6:34 PM 7/24/2007

Here's this nice big yellow labrador retriever again.

His dad took him to the door and he was eager to come in and see his friends again.

Besides Beau and Starlight we have a little poodle here called Rusty. And the day after tomorrow Lexa and Mozart will be joining us. That will be a lot of dogs.

The three big dogs are playing rough and the little poodle is trying not to get run over. So far so good.
Wednesday -- 2:14 PM 7/25/2007

Not much to report. He's doing fine and seems happy. A little dog named Summer came by for a visit this morning and he liked her a lot. He's been having a happy time in Starlight's nice hole under the bushes. He moves the dirt around and gets it just right, then he lies in it and feels pleased with himself.

I'm not sure where he slept last night. All I know for sure is he wasn't in the bedroom with the rest of us. There are lots of other good places to sleep, and he probably enjoyed the solitude. He came in to check on us and see if we were ever gonna get up about 6:45. So we got up.

7:15 PM 7/25/2007

He's had his dinner and his medicine, and he's having fun playing with the other dogs.

This afternoon he couldn't understand why my dogs were so eager for my orange peels, but if they said they were wonderful they were probably worth trying. Wrong. As he had suspected they weren't very good. So he guarded his piece for a while but didn't ask for more. Eventually he wandered off and the other dogs got it. I don't understand it either.

I had a TV dinner and let my dogs lick the tray clean. Then he played with it until it began to splinter and I took it away from him. I threw it for him several times, but his teeth are so sharp and so quick I have a problem playing without getting hurt.
Thursday -- 8:13 AM 7/26/2007

There's a houseful of dogs now, but it's still peaceful and friendly. QD knows everyone here from before, except Rusty, so he feels like he's among friends.

Lexa and Mozart joined us early this morning, and Alice's car is parked in front of my house. I guess Travis will be picking up the car and the dogs in a few days.

I had the inner front gate open for a while this morning so QD could reach the leashes that were there. He carried one around for a while, and when I finally took it away from him he got the other one. He couldn't get anyone to take him for a walk, poor dog.

He's eatiing well, having fun playing with all the other dogs, and really enjoying working on Starlight's hole to China. I still don't know where he sleeps at night, but he doesn't get into any trouble so I won't worry about it.

8:21 PM 7/26/2007

What a fun day we've had!

QD has had so many playmates he's almost completely worn himself out. He and Beau are well matched at tug of war, and he and little Rusty have been playing tag.

Now that it's getting to be bedtime things are quieting down.
Friday -- 9:24 AM 7/27/2007

Such a fun morning!

After breakfast QD found a chunk of rope to play with. He shook it to death, then he tried to find someone to tug it with him.

Beau was willing for a while, and I played with him for a minute. Then he tried Starlight. While he was waving it in her face she plopped herself on her side on the floor and grabbed it. He dragged her to the corner and then he had to stop.

After that Starlight and QD started running. They'd run out the back door then in through the dog door, then zoom out through the back door again. I love to watch labrador retrievers run. They are so beautiful.

The fun seems to be over for now. They say it will be a hot day, so it will probably be naptime for a few hours.

5:45 PM 7/27/2007

Oh the joys of feeding multiple dogs.

With 6 dogs in residence I have to be very careful in feeding them all. Many of them have special diets, and medicine added to their food. And they all want the other guy's food.

So as usual I put two of them in crates, one in the pen, one in the kitchen and my two in the spare bedroom. And I started feeding them, as usual. First I gave my dogs their first part of their dinner. Then I came out and fed Rusty in the kitchen.

Then I fixed three bowls of food for the remaining three. And as I came out of the kitchen I noticed that Lexa had come out of her crate. No problem, I hadn't latched it, just assumed she'd stay put. It's OK if one is loose, since everyone else is confined.

So I had my three bowls of dogfood and had to put Lexa back into the crate. She didn't want to go in because her food wasn't in there yet. So I put all three bowls down so I could take one and put it in the crate for her.

Well, the top of that crate has things piled on it, so there's no flat surface to put dogdishes on. Somehow Quarterdeck's dish got tipped sideways, and before it had a chance to spill I pushed it up against the wall. So far so good. Besides his kibbles there were four small pills there. And I really didn't want them to be spilled where I might not be able to recover them. Hmmm. Couldn't just take the dish away from the wall as most or all the stuff would fall out.

Meanwhile, Lexa was getting quite impatient for her dinner. She could see it but I wouldn't give it to her. Just wait, Lexa, it's coming. I should explain, there's a tapestry hanging against the wall that the dish was against. So I put my hand behind it to see if I could support the food in the dish while tipping it. Nope.

So I looked at all the things piled on the crate. Magazines! I reached for a magazine and put it behind the tapestry. That made it stiff enough that I could carefully tip the whole thing enough to make the dish level and get it away from the wall without spilling. I set it down more safely and gave Lexa her food.

Then I looked to see how many pills were in the dish. Couldn't see any. So I gave Mozart the food he was waiting for so patiently, then slowly poured QD's dinner from one bowl to another. Yes, all his pills were there so I gave him the dish. By then all the other dogs were complaining that they were still locked in. And I still had to give Beau his medicine and both my dogs the rest of their food.

So I gave Beau and Starlight the last of their dinner and started letting everyone out. QD still had a pill in his dish so I put it in his mouth and it didn't come out. Now they are all loose and all I have left to do is give Rusty his shot.

And you thought I lead a boring life.
Saturday -- 7:19 AM 7/28/2007

We made it through another night and another breakfast. Both were relatively uneventful.

Now there are about 4 big dogs wrestling and milling around in the living room, with Starlight watching from the couch and Rusty outside by himself. Oops, nevermind, here he is again.

The house is beginning to resemble a disaster area. Somehow, with this many dogs messing things up I can't seem to get motivated to do any cleaning. In a couple days 3 of the dogs will be going home and I'll steam into action. Maybe.

It will really seem quiet with just my dogs and Quarterdeck here. But it won't last. It never does.

We don't have any plans for today. It looks like it will soon heat up, so they are getting in as much playing as they can in anticipation of their long day's nap.

8:22 PM 7/28/2007

Not much happening. In the cool of the morning and evening they all romp and play. Then they sleep the day away and sleep the night away. Not a bad life.
Sunday -- 7:55 PM 7/29/2007

All the other visiting dogs went home today. It's much quieter here now. They've had their dinner and they are all just lying around waiting for something interesting to happen.
Monday -- 7:32 AM 7/30/2007

Wow what a difference there is between six dogs and three dogs. It seems so easy and quiet. Feeding them this morning just took about 4 minutes. And picking up their leavings in the yard was equally simple.

Summer and her mom will be visiting for a doggy playtime soon.

I'm beginning to get the messes cleaned up. Now that things are staying where I put them it's easier.

5:18 PM 7/30/2007

Our little friend Summer came for playtime and I took some nice pictures of them.


Tuesday -- 10:45 PM 7/31/2007

Boring. Very boring. Everything's fine here.
Wednesday -- 8:40 PM 8/1/2007

QD and I went for a nice walk this morning. Then in the afternoon we left him home alone for a couple of hours. He waited patiently. He's so good.

His little friend Summer will be coming tomorrow for an overnight, and about the time Summer goes home Lexa and Mozart will come for the weekend.

I guess our peace and quiet are about over.
Thursday -- 3:51 PM 8/2/2007

Summer's here. Quarterdeck likes her a lot. So does Beau. Starlight's a little tired of her, but she likes her too.

Starlight put herself into a crate where she figured nobody would bother her. Summer went in there too. Starlight growled and Summer didn't seem to understand. So I made Summer get out and I shut the door. Starlight knew it wasn't latched but Summer didn't, so Starlight was safe until she decided to come out.

While Beau and QD were tugging on a rope Summer was running around them and barking. Eventually they put down the rope and lay down. She ran circles and figure eights around them until they started grabbing at her. She thought that was wonderful. She egged them on to chase her more and more, and eventually Beau got too rough with her. Yike! And both big boy dogs stopped in their tracks. She was ready to have a time out, so they all had a lie down. The boys are so good with puppies and small dogs. They play as hard as they are invited to play, and if anybody says yike they all stop immediately.
Friday -- 8:09 AM 8/3/2007

We've had another quiet peaceful night. I picked up all the outdoor toys this morning and now we wait for the yard guy to come.

Summer the puppy is having a nice visit. QD really likes her and he'll be sorry to see her go home later this morning. But two more friends will be arriving this afternoon and staying for the weekend so he'll have plenty of playmates.

8:01 PM 8/3/2007

Summer went home and Lexa and Mozart arrived. And I ran the sprinkler this afternoon.

QD wasn't much interested in the sprinkler the first time Starlight showed it to him, but now he loves it.

He stands above it and gets soaked, then he rolls in the dust or mud, then back to the sprinkler again. Then into the house to shake or roll.

So it's a bit damp here now. I don't mind much, he and Starlight have so much fun.
Saturday -- 4:39 PM 8/4/2007

Another day is coming to an end. I left all the dogs home for about an hour this morning when I went to visit a neighbor. Other than that we've all been here all day, and nothing interesting has happened.

They just finished their dinner and I imagine they'll head outside for some running and playing soon.

All 5 dogs are getting along well. They share the toys and don't squabble about anything.
Sunday -- 10:55 AM 8/5/2007

Boring is good. All the dogs here (Beau, Starlight, Lexa, Mozart, Quarterdeck) have figured out their favorite sleeping place, and their best playmates, and nobody has to squabble about anything.

Lexa sleeps on my bed, Mozart on the couch, Quarterdeck usually sleeps on the floor in my bedroom. As long as we have the stability of all the same dogs in residence everything remains pleasant.

Lexa and Mozart will be going home today, so everything will change slightly. But not much.

6:20 PM 8/5/2007

All the other visitors have gone home now, so things will be peaceful and quiet here for a while.
Monday -- 10:34 AM 8/6/2007

It was so quiet here that this morning I slept late and even forgot that Summer and her mom were coming for a playdate. That's OK, we were here when they arrived and I let them in.

QD was playing with the log Mozart had been dragging in. Now it's QD's turn to keep dragging it in I guess. It looks too big for a dog to carry or have fun chewing on, but they seem to enjoy it. They are leaving sawdust and wood chips all over the house. I'm expecting to put it outside permanently after QD goes home. I could throw it away, but I sometimes use it to prop the gate open.

According to my schedule book today is QD's last full day here. He's been here so long it's as if he belongs here and it won't seem right when he goes. He'll be glad to have his very own family back, so he can be "the dog" not just one of the dogs. I'm not sure when they'll come for him, that part doesn't seem to be in the book. They need to call first since I normally go out a couple times on Tuesdays. We'll work it out. We always do.
Tuesday -- 10:09 AM 8/7/2007

Another quiet night, then my two dogs and I went out for a couple of hours. QD was waiting patiently for us. I checked the answering machine to see if his people had called yet, but there was a problem. Starlight had evidently unplugged it last night when she looked out the front window. So if anybody phoned I'll never know about it.

I've plugged it back in.

We'll be here for several hours and then QD will get to be in charge again for a few hours if he's still here.

5:19 PM 8/7/2007

When we got home there was a message from QD's people. They will be arriving rather late tonight. They'll call when they get in. Unless their flight's seriously delayed they'll get him tonight. Otherwise I guess he can wait until tomorrow.

I won't start getting his things ready to go so he won't start worrying and waiting for them. He can be surprised when they come for him.













An earlier visit:





Quarterdeck's the first Labrador Retriever I ever met. I liked him so much I went on to be a volunteer for lab rescue and wound up adopting two labs from lab rescue.

He'll be staying with us for a couple of weeks, beginning Friday evening.
Friday -- 7:36 PM 9/15/2006

He arrived a few minutes ago, and ran happily out to the backyard to run and frolic. Beau and Starlight were delighted to see him.

He didn't want his people to leave without him, but he managed to forget about them the minute they were gone. He found a squeeky toy and invited Starlight to play with him. All three of them romped and crashed in my livingroom and I was about to send them all outside when they decided to settle down on their own.

He'll wear himelf out by bedtime so we can all get a good night's sleep.
Saturday -- 7:13 AM 9/16/2006

When I opened my bedroom door last night he went right in and made himelf comfortable on my floor mattress. But when I went to bed he left and spent the night quietly in the living room. Wherever he wants to sleep is fine with me.

At seven my alarm rang and he joined in the usual happy breakfast dance. He has several pills to take at breakfast time, and I was told he'll be happy to take them with a dab of peanut butter. Being lazier than the average bear I decided to just drop them in his dogfood and see what happened. Anything that was still there when the dogfood was gone could still be put in peanut butter. But it was all gone. OK, That was easy.

After breakfast he was trying to get Starlight to chase him, and she wasn't quite ready. So he picked up a nylabone to tempt her. Hey, on second thought maybe he should just stop and have a chew on it. Then she wanted to play and he didn't. They finally got it worked out and ran and wrestled, and Beau joined in.

After a few minutes of play they wandered outside and all is now quiet.

In a few minutes Roxy will arrive and the running and playing will start up again.

8:52 AM 9/16/2006

Roxy's here, and poor Quarterdeck doesn't know what to make of her.

He approached her in friendship and she told him off. OK, no problem, he'd just leave her alone. But then she approached him and asked him to chase her. They did two happy laps around the yard, and when he caught up to her she told him off again. So he came in and sat with me.

At first I thought she had taken an instant dislike to him but I decided she liked him and the telling off was her way of playing. I don't blame him for not wanting to play when she's like that. It scares me too. Now he doesn't want to play with her. They'll work it out, they always do. And she's just here for the day. I have to go out to lunch today and I'll leave her in a pen so there won't be any problem while I'm gone.

2:43 PM 9/16/2006

When I went out to lunch I left Roxy in a crate, inside the big pen. I didn't want them to do any fence fighting while I was away, and get mad at each other.

Since I've been home it's been completely peaceful. Mostly they are all napping, but when they do interact it's friendly.

5:15 PM 9/16/2006

Pete and Rocky arrived a little while ago. Roxy's still here so it's pretty active at the moment. It's cool out and they've had their dinner, so there's nothing left to do but run and play.
Sunday -- 7:33 AM 9/17/2006

After Roxy left last night things got somewhat quieter. There was still a lot or running and playing until bedtime. Fortunately all the dogs here understand about bedtime. After Petey tried and failed to get Starlight to play with him everyone bedded down for the night.

Then at 7 AM my alarm rang and everyone sprang into action. By 7:15 they'd all been fed and cookied and medicated and outed. They ran and played for just a few minutes. Quarterdeck isn't accustomed to all this happiness. He seems to like having so many playmates. He joined in when they all piled on Beau and rolled him over and snuffled him. Beau loved the attention.

We don't have any plans for the day. Maybe we'll all just have a nice nap. We'll have to wait and see.

9:06 AM 9/17/2006

He had a good time playing with Petey and Starlight this morning.



5:49 PM 9/17/2006

It's been a quiet pleasant day. In between naps and meals there's been lots of wrestling and tug-of-warring.

After dinner we all went out in the yard where it was cool. They wandered around and explored. Petey and Quarterdeck dug holes side by side but the dirt from one was going into the other so neither made much progress. So they decided to cooperate in one better hole.

Petey worked on the depth and Q.D. kept making it wider and undoing Petey's work. Eventually it got big enough that they had to call in Starlight to help. Her specialty is pulling out roots. Once she had the root taken care of they made it just a bit bigger and it undermined the lawn chair which fell into the hole. They decided it was good enough then so they had a 4-way tug of war with Pete's kong on a rope.

As I'm writing this there are four dogs running circles around the livingroom/diningroom/kitchen. All of them are chasing all the others. There, it just wound down. Rocky and I were watching and everyone else was running.

Betcha we'll all sleep well tonight.
Monday morning -- 7:47 AM 9/18/2006

Dogs dogs everywhere. Nice ones.

We had a good night and all the dogs did a good job with breakfast and medicines. And after-breakfast cookies. One of QD's pills was on the floor beside his empty dish so I put it in his mouth and it didn't come out.

Quarterdeck and Starlight chased each other and played tug with their favorite rope dog toy right after breakfast.

Rocky and Pete brought some beautiful rawhide chews for sharing and they are all working on them now.

4:56 PM 9/18/2006

It's been a boring day so far. I like that kind. Both big boy labs finished their rawhides promptly but all the smaller ones took their time and eventually lost interest. When there was just one chew remaining Pete and Starlight and QD all wanted it, and they were all playing by the rules. Dog rules that is. If the one who had it kept it that was fine. And he could even set it down but he couldn't walk away from it or it was fair game. I decided to take it away while they were all still friends.

It's been warm so the dogs mostly slept the day away.

Now that they've had their dinner and it's getting a bit cooler the activity level is increasing. I'll probably go out and sit with them and watch them run and play. They think it's more fun when someone watches.

6:17 PM 9/18/2006

Well, Quarterdeck had an educational evening.

He learned that digging while lying on his side isn't nearly as efficient as digging while standing. But it's more fun. And digging while lying on his back only works when he's deep in the hole. And even then it doesn't work very well.

Also, digging while lying on his chest causes a buildup of loose dirt that gets in the way of his digging. And he learned that if you drop a slobbery squeeky ball in a deep hole, by the time you dig it out it's too muddy to be fun anymore.

The other thing he learned is that even though Petey and Starlight can run much faster than he can, if he waits in the right place he can head them off at the pass which is even more fun than running with them.

He's the only one here who can hold the soccer ball in his mouth. If I let some air out of it the others probably could too.

I may have to give him a bath before his people come for him. We'll see.
Tuesday -- 1:02 PM 9/19/2006

I normally take Beau and Starlight with me Tuesday mornings and leave all the visiting dogs home. That's what we did today. My dogs wore themselves out at the barn and on the trail with the horses. Pete, Rocky, and Quarterdeck took care of the place while we were gone. They did a good job. Everything was as it was supposed to be when we returned.

Pete and QD have been doing some romping together, but it's warm so that's probably about it for the day. By evening it will be cooler and my dogs will be rested up from their morning adventure so more dog play will happen.

6:33 PM 9/19/2006

After dinner he went outside to play and most of the other dogs stayed in the house. We began hearing a crunching sound from outside but none of the dogs with me seemed alarmed. They usually are the first to know when someone's doing something bad.

I went out to see what was up. Last week the gardeners had detached my 99 cent sprinkler from the hose and I hadn't yet put it back. They probably wanted to get a drink from the hose and I hadn't yet needed to use it.

Quarterdeck was happily lying in the yard chewing on the sprinkler. Hmmm. I went to him and told him that isn't a toy and took it from him. I looked at the damage that had already been done and gave it back to him. I guessed it was a toy after all. There's no way he could tell that the plastic sprinkler among all the toys wasn't one of them. On second thought I took it away from him, thinking he might hurt himself with it, or leave sharp pieces lying around.

A while later all the dogs started running and playing, A few minutes ago a whole gang of them came crashing in, and QD had the soccer ball. He dared me to try to take it from him. No thanks. He's so quick with those teeth that's one game I don't care to play. Petey played with him a little bit, but since it can't be taken from QD and Petey can't hold it even if he gets it, Pete soon gave up. Quarterdeck's playing with it all by himself now.
Wednesday -- 7:29 AM 9/20/2006

Well, this morning started earlier than usual.

Around 6 I remembered something I wanted to check on the computer, so I got up, told the dogs to go back to sleep since it wasn't really morning. Fired up the computer, checked my email and spam, remembered something else I had to check, and eventually got around to doing whatever it was I originally got up to do.

The longer I stayed up the more dogs I had to help me. Finally they were all with me, and they thought maybe it was breakfast time. I assured them it wasn't.

So I went back to bed to wait for the 7AM alarm to ring. All five dogs joined me and had to greet me and each other. Eventually I got tired of all the happiness and sent them away.

Then I started hearing crunching sounds coming from the living room. Sounds I didn't recognize. Got up to check. Quarterdeck was playing with a plastic TV dinner dish. My first thought was that he had retrieved it from the trash, but then I remembered I had let the dogs take turns licking it clean last night, and I gave it to Beau to finish. I didn't remember finally putting it in the trash.

So QD got to play with it and crumple it to bits while the rest of us tried to get that last drop of sleep. Just a couple more minutes until the alarm. But wait. No alarm. How can that be? At about 10 after 7 I gave up on the alarm and got up and fed the poor starving doggies.

After doggy breakfast I looked at my cellphone which I use as my alarm clock. It seemed to be properly set. Hmmm. Then I remembered yesterday. We were out riding and one of Alice's dogs had found a lovely mudhole to wallow in. I have a camera phone, but I really don't know how to use it. So I fumbled and tried, and I actually got one picture of him that probably isn't very good but I can't figure out how to get it out of the phone to see it on a decent sized screen. But anyhow, I remember thinking that in my fumblings I seemed to have turned off the sound to the phone. Was gonna check on it later but I forgot. Yes, I had turned off all the sound, including the alarm. It's fixed now, in case anybody wants to call me.

I took away QD's new toy as he was beginning to shred it and leave pieces all around. He got out a rope tug toy to play with. He's a happy dog.

6:34 PM 9/20/2006

This afternoon I took my dogs with me to visit my parents and the three visiting dogs stayed and did their usual good job of taking care of the place.

The only thing I worry about when leaving these three together is the possible sound effects. When a fire truck comes out of the station nearby Rocky has to howl back to it. That's not a problem. He howls sweetly. The problem is that Pete feels the need to join in, and his howl is definitely not sweet. In fact it brings Quarterdeck running to join in the excitement. He doesn't howl, though. He barks.

Without all that help Rocky would soon stop. But with it I think he can go on a very long time. I've thought about just letting it go on to see how long it would be, but I don't want the neighbors to hate me too much. So I stop them fairly soon.

Everyone's happy and healthy. So far so good.

In the morning I'll be taking my two dogs to the barn after breakfast. As usual on a Thursday morning.
Thursday -- 3:47 PM 9/21/2006

We had some excitement last night, almost. I was watching the local news and they broke in to show the cops chasing a guy on a motorcycle. He went all around the South Bay, first going down Pacific Coast Highway, about 2, maybe 3 miles away. I thought I could hear helicopters in the distance, but I wasn't sure. Then he circled around again and headed down Hawthorne. As he got closer and closer I tried to remember if all my doors were locked. I first smiled as I imagined him leaping off the motorcycle, hopping over my back fence, and finding himself in the yard with 5 dogs. Then I decided it probably wouldn't be much fun and someone would get hurt, so I decided to tell the dogs to stay in the house.

But he went right on past without stopping to say hello. At first I could barely hear the rumble of helicopters in the distance, and they got louder and louder until they were very loud indeed. They almost drowned out the sound of the sirens. Then it all faded away as they went past. Eventually he just stopped and waited to be arrested.

I took my dogs to the barn this morning, as usual, and left the visiting dogs in charge. As usual they did a good job.

I took a quick trip to the vet's office this afternoon to pick up some medicine for Beau. While I was gone a delivery guy came to drop off a package. He wasn't allowed to leave it without my signature, so he left a note and will come back tomorrow. I imagine the 5 dogs made a racket for him.

Quarterdeck has completely assimilated into the pack, so it's all very easy. They all like each other and play together nicely. On Saturday we'll have a change in the pack as Paris the yellow labby girl arrives and the brittany spaniels go home.
Friday -- 7:59 AM 9/22/2006

Another uneventful night. They all enjoyed their breakfast and after-breakfast cookie. Then they went outside to play. I'm in my office so I can't see what's happening at the moment but I hear crashings and thumpings and an occasional QD bark. It sounds like something plastic is being dragged around. Probably a dog dish. I think I'll go peek...

I'm glad I went to look. QD had two dog dishes out on the paved area outside the back door and he was having a wonderful time with them. Sliding them around, turning them over, and taking big bites out of one of them. So I took them away from him. There's a reason I buy most of my supplies at the 99 cent store. I have lotsa dog dishes. One less now. (fewer, for you language purists reading this)

Now they are all back in the house and I hear more thumping and barking and growling. The happy kind of growling though, the kind they do when they are having a tug of war.

Last night I looked out the window just as it was getting dark and I saw Pete and QD running around in big circles, side by side. They were holding a tug rope, one at each end. I don't know how many laps they did before I noticed them but they did about 3 laps while I was watching.

I think QD's probably getting a bit more exercise here than he does when he's at home. He seems to be losing weight, and while trim is good, and he's almost as trim as he should be, I don't want him to lose weight too fast. So I'm feeding him a bit more than his parents give him. He probably doesn't get as many treats here as he's used to, also. He's looking and feeling very good. I don't have an easy way to weigh him.

7:36 PM 9/22/2006

Another happy but uneventful day is ending. I bought a new 99 cent sprinkler today but I haven't tried it out yet. Probably tomorrow. I don't know if QD likes to play in water. He's a lab so he probably will.
Saturday -- 1:58 PM 9/23/2006

Quarterdeck gave us all a bit of a scare this morning. He's on anti-seizure medicine, so I suppose seizures shouldn't be much of a surprise.

It was just before time to get up, and the dogs were wandering in and out of the bedroom. Beau was asleep on the foot of my bed. Quarterdeck tried to get on the bed but the seizure was starting so he was halfway up and shaking. Beau didn't understand what was happening, thought he was being attacked, so he defended himself. Snarled and lunged at poor QD who went back down on the floor. QD thrashed agound a little before I got to him and held him through the rest of it. A minute or two later when he was done I noticed a spot of blood on his ear. Dunno if he whacked himself on the bed or of Beau did it to him.

At any rate, when he was done he said he was fine, what's for breakfast. So we had breakfast a few minutes early and after that everything was fine.

Alice stopped by with Lexa and Mozart. That made 8 dogs, which was too many. But her two stayed outside the inner gate so they didn't mingle with the pack. Pete and Rocky were supposed to go home shortly after Paris arrived but their family asked if they could stay a bit longer. So I have 6 dogs today now that Alice and her two are gone. Pete and Rocky will be leaving soon.

In the morning when it was nice and cool there was the usual running and playing. Now it's warm so it's naptime.

7:19 PM 9/23/2006

I turned on the new sprinkler this evening. Starlight thought it was great fun and ran into it and started playing. QD and Paris started to join her in her fun but they noticed it was RAINING there so they stopped and backed away. Starlight was having so much fun QD finally decided to join her. And then he rolled around in the dust to dry off a bit before playing in the water again.



Eventually I brought them in and towelled them off. They are in pens now for a few minutes to dry off just a bit more before running loose in the house.
Sunday -- 10:57 AM 9/24/2006

For some unknown reason Quarterdeck was clean and dry and soft this morning. I thought I might have to give him a bath, but so far we're getting away with all the dirty playing.

We don't have any plans for the day. Sally may drop in with Chena this afternoon, I may go to the store, Or maybe we'll all just have a nice nap. Not gonna worry about it.

We have a total of four dogs here at the moment. Two visiting yellow labs, and two resident black labs. Peaceful and quiet.

7:49 PM 9/24/2006

Sally and Chena came by for a short visit and Chena played with the other dogs while Sally and I had a nice chat.

Paris went home, so now it's just me and three labs.

When I went for my evening walk I decided not to take both my dogs with me so I wouldn't have to leave Quarterdeck home all alone. Starlight and I walked and Beau stayed home with QD.

When the cars smashed into each other very close to where we were walking Starlight was much more scared than I would have expected. She tried to drag me away, and when we had walked a half block the firetrucks and ambulances arrived so we turned around and headed back so we could go past the scary stuff again. She didn't like it, but I insisted. Then we stopped and talked to some dog lovers that lived near the intersection. They told us that accidents there are a weekly event.

We stayed and talked to them for 15 minutes or so, while Starlight gradually relaxed. I didn't want her to go home scared because she'd remember the outdoors as a scary place if we did that. It was fully dark by the time we got home, and we were both wearing dark clothes. I like to wear white when it's dark so those people will be able to see me. And I have white shirts for the dogs to wear, too.
Monday - 2:55 PM 9/25/2006

I admit it. I'm no fun at all. When I set out the sprinkler today I locked Starlight and QD in the pen. I even left them in for a while after I was finished watering and there was standing water in the yard. Beau and I took the opportunity to have the gate open and move things in and out, including the trash cans for tomorrow's pickup, I don't like to have the gate open while dogs are visiting. They had a nice nap and weren't even mad at me.

This morning Starlight and I went for a walk in the same place we walked last night when Starlight was so scared by the car crash. She was quite nervous when we passed the accident site, but she went by without complaining. When we walked past again on the way back she was still a little nervous but not as much. She still thinks walking is a good thing, but she keeps a close eye on the passing cars. That isn't all bad. I'll bring Beau with us this evening past the same place, and after that I won't worry about it any more.

This evening will be the first time we leave QD home alone. I'm assuming he won't be bothered by it. We'll leave him home alone again tomorrow morning when we go to the barn.

7:19 PM 9/25/2006

Everything's peaceful and quiet. QD didn't complain very much when I took both the other dogs for our evening walk, so we won't worry about him in the morning when I take them to the barn and leave him home alone.

My friend in Finland is doing his final preparations for his visit. I'll be picking him up at the airport Wednesday afternoon. I don't know how the dogs will feel about having him sleeping in the guestroom. They think it's their dining room. I guess they'll be able to share if they have to. It's only for a week. And they'll like him. He must be a dog lover, he has four dogs in Finland.
Tuesday -- 11:58 AM 9/26/2006

He waited patiently for us to return from the barn, and he was glad to see us. Everything's going well and not much is happening. So there's not much to write. That's OK.

6:37 PM 9/26/2006

He's comfortable here now and he knows how much he can get away with. A while ago he wanted to play and nobody seemed interested. Starlight was lying next to me on the couch with a nylabone hanging out of her mouth. QD walked up to her and quietly took it from her. She didn't know what to make of that, and while she was deciding whether she should be mad he took the bone across the room to where there was a ball. He put down the bone and picked up the ball, brought it to her and dropped it in front of her.

So she got up and played with him.
Wednesday morning -- 9:20 AM 9/27/2006

I have lots of things to do before my guest from Finland arrives this afternoon. So I took some pictures of the dogs. Starlight and QD were playing quietly in the living room.


8:38 PM 9/27/2006

I've been ignoring the dogs most of the day, but they seem to be taking it well. I went visiting this afternoon, then came back long enough to feed them and play with them a bit before heading to the airport to meet my friend Lucien. I left the dogs home and Lucien and I had a tour of the area and a short walk on the beach.

Since Lucien will be using the room I keep the dogfood in I filled the dogs'breakfast dishes this evening so I wouldn't have to bother him in the morning. They thought I was getting ready to feed them and they didn't intend to remind me they'd already had their dinner. But when I put their breakfast dishes in the kitchen where they couldn't reach them they soon forgot about them.

On second thought, QD just went over to look at his breakfast and whine. He quieted right down when I told him to, but he'll probably be worrying about it all night.
Thursday -- 8:36 AM 9/28/2006

The dogs are not used to having company spend the night. They forgot Lucien was here, so they had to bark and carry on when he woke up in the morning and came out of his room.

Everything's fine with the dogs, and everyone's happy. Quarterdeck finally got the breakfast that was waiting for him. Now he can start worrying about his dinner. But Lucien will be in Denver the next two nights so the doggy meals will be back to normal for a couple of days until he returns on Saturday. The dogs will know what to expect by then, so everything will go smoothly.

5:48 PM 9/28/2006

It's been another quiet day for the dogs. Lucien and I went out and did a little shopping this morning and I took him back to the airport, then I spent the rest of the day at home doing nothing much. I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight, then in the morning I'll take my own dogs to the barn and QD can stay home alone for a while. I think I may pick up some more dogfood for QD while I'm out. His supply seems to be running low faster than the time is passing. I should measure out his remaining meals to be sure. Better to do it now than when he's completely out.
Friday -- 2:56 PM 9/29/2006

My dogs and I went to the barn this morning, and they had a chance to run and play for a while until Alice and her two dog friends arrived. We all decided it would be more fun to go out to breakfast than ride, so we did that instead. The dogs actually didn't agree on that being more fun, but they didn't have a vote.

I counted out QD's meals last night, and sure enough he didn't have quite enough to last the whole visit. So I went to the local pet shop and found some dogfood that's almost but not exactly the same as he usually gets. I'll give him half new and half old until they come for him and he'll never know the difference.

Tomorrow will be a fairly busy day for me, but quiet for QD. I'll be taking my dogs visiting for a couple of hours in the morning, leaving QD home alone, and in the afternoon I'll go pick up my friend Lucien again, this time from his side trip to Denver. After that he'll be staying here about a week before he goes home to Finland.
Saturday -- 9:51 PM 9/30/2006

I wasn't home much today but the dogs got along just fine.

This evening there was a lot of barking and carrying on in the backyard and I went out to see what it was all about. It was a possum! First one I've ever seen here, and the dogs weren't at all happy about it.

Lucien went in to get his camera, and the possum waited on the back fence long enough to have his picture taken.
Sunday morning -- 7:14 AM 10/1/2006

When the alarm went off at 7 this morning it was still a bit dark. I guess it's gonna be winter soon. The dogs were surprised when it rang. Usually they are waiting impatiently.

Assuming everything goes as expected this will be Quarterdeck's last day with us. He's been here long enough he seems like one of the family. It will seem empty without him. He's so nice. But he'll be happy to have his own people back.

10:20 PM 10/1/2006

I assume QD's gone home by now. I left him at Alice's house where his parents were supposed to pick him up when they got settled in after their trip.

Alice lives very near where they live, so it's a short trip for them to get him.

We went to her house in her little car. Her dog Lexa, Quarterdeck, and Alice, Lucien and I all piled into the corvair. I didn't try to bring QD's dogfood tub, and the bag of dogfood I bought for him. I didn't think they'd fit but they would have so I wish I'd taken them. Now I have to give them to Alice next time I see her, or give them directly to QD's people when I see them soon.

I put the receipt for the dogfood I bought with his things, but I realized later I could just keep it and feed it to my own dogs if that's what they want. I'll let them decide.

In case they're wondering, he didn't have dinner or his medicine before I left him.







Jordan and Christopher