My expensive little Alfred is home from hospital. It was agonizing waiting until evening for them to release him. He didn't get here until about 7:30. The first thing he did was climb up on the food counter and eat like no one fed him at all in lockup. He has shaved rings on each of his front legs, like a poodle cut, and his private parts are shaved as well. I tried to get pictures of the front without exposing the back. He was too busy eating to care where I pointed the camera. He's supposed to leave the exposed skin alone, else he could develop an infection that could become quite serious. I caught him licking one of his arms, and tattled on him to his father. That's when he told me the doctor's orders about the skin, and I was sent back to threaten him with the Cone of Shame. By the time I came back from next door and waved the collar at him, he had stopped, so I didn't put it on him. We shall see how long that lasts. I will do what it takes to keep him healthy. We are all lucky that he was sent to the doctor in time. Will take no more chances.
We had still thought we might make a run to the mountain today, to get a handful of stuff up to the build site. I was working on that assumption while I spent a couple of hours scrubbing and scraping the used windows that will be going up soon. Maybe we will make a run tomorrow. With Alfred coming home from the vet and our neighbor taking a big risk this afternoon, it was better to put off mountain climbing.
A few days ago, our neighbor announced he was finally ready to adopt a "Hops" to go with his Barley. Someone he knows from a rescue operation called him up and said that they had a whole new crop of dogs come in, and asked was he still wanting a second dog. He took Barley today to the shelter. They asked him what sort of dog he was looking for, and he gave the best possible answer: "I was planning on letting Barley choose." There were two or three who didn't give Barley the time of day, but then this mid-size black dog came out, and they instantly recognized each other as doggie brothers. This little guy had been in shelters since he was a tiny puppy, stranded in the floods after Hurricane Harvey. He was somewhat miserable, they said. Once he found Barley and started playing with him, the shelter workers said this was the happiest they had ever seen him. By the time I met him, they'd been together a few hours, and it was obvious they are a great fit. He's a charming, people- and dog-loving yearling, and we see great things in his future. If this first day sets the tone, this dog is a winner, in every way we can mean that.
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