Nuthin' 'bout nuthin'

Not much has happened. Life goes on as life goes on. Two walks a day with a random longer walk thrown in for good measure. Our weather is warming—finally!—so we're spending more of our evenings on the deck. Lucy's past fear of firecrackers has subsided for the time being (I dread the start up for her sake), so she wants to be on the deck with us. It's wonderful. She gargoyles; I'll try to capture a picture. She lies at the edge and hangs her head over to survey her kingdom. Very cute. But when the firecrackers start up, she hides in the basement and doesn't join us for the rest of the summer. This will be the one benefit of her slow hearing loss—she won't mind this firecracker season any longer. She still hears out of one ear, so this summer still might be frightening for her.

We started re-finishing the deck railings yesterday. We removed all the horizontal 2X's for stripping and restaining at a later date. The uprights and main rail were stripped yesterday. Because I'm so terrified of heights, the deck is a little unsettling for me as there are no guard rails. I wouldn't let Lucy out there. I don't want her to lie at the edge and then slip when she gets up. Her feet aren't as "grip-y" anymore and they occasionally slip out from under her. I don't want to go there. She was a bit miffed as we were working out there but she could only keep us in sight by lying by the screen door. It's a dog's life. She would have added to the confusion of electrical cords, hose, tools, belt sander, flower pots, deck furniture and us tripping over each other.

Dogs, dogs and more dogs

Life has been really busy. Lots of dogs. We had two different visits from Molly. Here's a picture of the young girl after a bath. Walking with her and Lucy elicited many comments from people: Is that her (Lucy's) puppy? Are they related? They look like two bookends!

Lucy initiated some play with Molly, but usually it was the other way around. Lucy would stand still while Molly ran around her. Periodically Lucy would lunge and Molly thought that was fantastic. Lucy was very tolerant of the puppy antics. There was, however, a fair amount of consistent warning growls which Molly chose to ignore for the most part. Molly would nip at Lucy's lips, her tail, jump in her face, run at her while Lucy was sleeping... It wasn't until Lucy nipped that Molly understood she'd overstepped her bounds.

Molly wasn't completely housebroken at the time she was with us, so we had to watch her carefully. Two mishaps occurred and that ended her freedom. Luckily she seemed happy with access from the kitchen to the yard.

As soon as Molly left, Suki came. We were supposed to have her for two weeks, but the other folks caring for her were nice enough to keep her another week for a total of three. This greatly alleviated the stress between the two dogs. As it was, Suki's owners came home early, so she was with us only five days.

Suki chose to pee in the basement in the same area Molly did. I don't know if it was the smell (though the spot had been thoroughly cleaned), the fallout from being without her 'pack' and moved between homes, her brain tumor, the meds she must take, or all of the above. I couldn't shame her, but that also ended her access. It was funny, because she has never wanted to go downstairs into the basement before and she was all over it when she first arrived. When I allowed her down, I realized something was up and went down to check. Of course, that's when I caught her in the act!

Now, being down to one dog, I can say the dog sitting wasn't as difficult as I anticipated, but reality says it wasn't a cake walk either. The puppy had to be monitored constantly. What was in her mouth? (Like a toddler, everything was ingested.) What was she up to, was she bothering Lucy, where was she? And with Suki, because of her slowing down, it was easier to take the dogs on separate walks, so I'd walk one then the other twice a day. It wasn't bothersome, but it was time consuming. Lucy walks way too quickly for Suki, and Suki is way too slow for Lucy. It was easier to let Suki amble and sniff on her own.

Luckily the carpets were cleaned yesterday, so the house is sparkling. It feels good to just be one-dogged!