Day 351

I am the world's worst at time management. For the second time in as many weeks, I scheduled two different things at exactly the same time. What's it going to be? A haircut with Betty or a trip to the podiatrist? Hmmm...continued foot pain , or a haircut? I rescheduled my appointment with Betty for tomorrow. The podiatrist was a friendly gentleman who basically told me that the answer to my foot pain was to start wearing some hideously unattractive shoes he showed me in a catalog. I didn't have a bone fracture as I suspected. I just needed better arch support. He also told me to stop walking around barefoot all day and sold me some high-tech carbon fiber shoe inserts that cost more that the shoes I'll be putting them in. After looking at the sign on the doctor's exam room wall, I didn't tell him any of my own foot pain theories, which tend to involve two tugging Dalmatians and lots of nearby squirrels. Walking the dogs five miles a day has definitely improved my bone density and has allowed me to get up to level 5 on a cardio stress test, but it has destroyed my joints in the process. The dogs are very strong and when they see something they want, like a rabbit or a pile of horse poop, it can be hard to hold on to them. I'm convinced that I'll be dealing with a permanently dislocated shoulder for the rest of my life.

Dot and Dash wore their sweaters to training class for the frst time this season. Several of the other dogs had coats on as well. Needless to say, it was chilly at class tonight. Another cold front blew through late this afternoon and it is supposed to send temperatures plunging into the low 30's this evening. This isn't that surprising for this time of year. The surprising thing was that it was almost 80 degrees yesterday. Like they say...if you don't like Texas weather, just wait a few days.

It's hard to believe that it's almost time for another Santa Paws photo event. I'm going over to the storage warehouse tomorrow and begin packing up my equipment again. This Saturday's event will be the second of three this year, and based on the number of reservations, it looks like we're going to have a good crowd. There's a Dalmatian Rescue Casino Party on Friday night too. I have a feeling that I'm going to be very tired on Sunday morning.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day