Day 4504

We went and saw Sammy's puppies today. I'd almost forgotten how cute Dalmatian puppies are. Sammy had a large litter. There were eleven puppies and they were all adorable. The puppies were eight weeks old and in a few weeks they will be going to their new homes. As you might expect, there was a lot of demand for these pups. Potential adopters were carefully screened and most of the puppies will be going to people who have adopted from Dalmatian Rescue before. We met some of these people this afternoon. They were so excited to see and hold their puppies for the first time. These dogs are all going to have a great life. Even Sammy, the Mom, got adopted.

It was supposed to rain today but the rain never materialized. We were able to have a nice walk with Dawn early this morning and then take her on a Sunday outing after we returned from visiting the puppies. Dawn could tell we'd been around puppies. She smelled us a lot more than usual when we returned. It was hard to tell whether she missed being around puppies or was alarmed that we might bring one home with us. I suspect that Dawn is happy that she will never have to nurse another litter. Sammy's pups are almost weaned, but the family that is fostering Sammy and the puppies say that the pups are trying to have the best of both worlds. They are all eating solid food now, but still try to nurse occasionally. 

Dawn enjoyed her Sunday outing today. She definitely prefers cooler weather. We're going to have to start watching out for poison ivy now. I'm starting to see the stuff everywhere. There are huge patches of poison ivy on the hill where we take Dawn on Sundays. Most dogs don't seem to be bothered by poison ivy. Janet isn't bothered by it either. I'm not this lucky. I think I can catch poison ivy just by looking at the stuff. 

The ice cream shop seems to be doing well. There was a long line of cars at the drive up window when we went for our cones today. They call this stuff frozen custard, but I still call it ice cream. It definitely is a tasty treat after our Sunday walk. It's not quite as sweet at the ice cream you typically get in stores and is a huge improvement over Dairy Queen soft serve. Dawn likes it too. I think getting ice cream is the only thing she likes about riding in a car.

It was very windy with dark clouds everywhere when I took my long walk later this afternoon. I didn't end up going very far because the wind was terrible and the air was full of pollen. My eyes were watering the entire time I was outside. I also didn't want to end up getting caught in the rain. I got a respectable number of steps, but I've done a lot better on Sundays.

Since I didn't walk as far today, I had time to vacuum the carpets when I got home. This is another chore like mowing the grass that I tend to put off too long. I wanted to get this done before I left on my trip though. I also wanted to test out the star tracker camera for regular photography before I left, so I took it with me when we visited the puppies. This camera was a pleasant surprise. It was actually easier to use than my regular camera.

We're finally starting to get some rain. It's supposed to get heavier during the night, but the worst weather is quite a ways North of us. I'm not sure if we will visit the kennel tomorrow. It all depends on the weather.  We'll see what happens. Forecasts around here are often wrong.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4461

Well, the return of Winter only lasted one day. The cold front has moved east, clear skies have returned, and by the end of the day the temperature was back in the high fifties. I think we're finally ready for Spring. The forecast shows clear skies and temperatures in the seventies for the rest of the week. It was still very cold when we woke up this morning so we didn't bother to take Dawn on a sunrise walk. She does much better when it is warmer. Later in the day she had a very enjoyable walk.

My shopping list was small this week and I was back home in less than an hour. Even though Janet's doctor says she still treats Covid cases every week, the pandemic appears to be over in Dallas. I saw very few masks in the stores today. I didn't notice any big price increases either. Actually strawberries went down in price. Since I didn't need gas today, I'll deal with prices at the pump later. I hear they have gone up dramatically this week.

Since the weather was nice, I walked my entire route today. My feet were bothering me so I was pretty slow, but who's counting. I'm still pretty slow on a good day. The Hoka boots I've been wanting have been in short supply all Winter, so I'll probably just get another pair of the Bondi 7 shoes I'm wearing now. Too bad these shoes don't last longer, but they're the only things that keep me on my feet.

Sammy, the new mama dog in the rescue program, had her puppies today. Six males and three females. From what I've heard, Mom and the pups are all doing well. They are not at the kennel. Sammy left to be with her foster parents shortly after we took her picture last week. I still think that Sammy might be related to Dawn in some way. Several of the puppies have black ears just like Dawn's.

There is already a new version of the star tracker software. I haven 't even figured out how to use the previous version. I haven't bothered to install the new software yet. It will give me something to do the next time I have a really boring day. I'm beginning to question my interest in astronomy. I see all these pictures on my Facebook feed of people setting up their telescopes in the snow. I would never do that. It's got to be a really nice night before I'll even consider going outside.

I picked up take out for dinner from a new Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. This was so much easier than going to PF Chang's in Northpark and spending forever looking for a parking place. Our tasty meal was more affordable too. Neighborhood restaurants are a win win. Luckily we appear to be getting a lot more of them. There are quite a few other new places in the neighborhood I'd like to try.

Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow. I've always preferred Standard Time. I like to wake up to sunlight and not have to wait until past my bedtime to go out and look at the stars at night. Now it will be dark in the morning when we get up and it will be harder to get Dawn to walk in the morning. I wish we could just leave the time alone. Nobody seems to like these twice a year time changes. It's hard to change something once it has become established though. We'll probably be dealing with Daylight Savings Time forever.

It looks like tomorrow will be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing. The native prairie is turning green again and I'm hoping we'll see some wildflowers. So far, there haven't been many Spring flowers this year. There will always be ice cream though. A nice walk with Dawn and some ice cream is always something to look forward too.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3973

Dalmatian Rescue has a puppy. We were excited to go meet Emma this afternoon because it's been a while since we've had a puppy in the program. I took my camera to take pictures for the website but it was only a formality. Emma has already been adopted. We must have a waiting list for puppies because they get adopted almost instantly. This four month old bundle of energy will be going to a great home. I'm glad we got a chance to meet her.

Colt is back at the kennel, but he is not well yet. The vet discovered that he has kidney problems and he is on a special diet now. We will be watching him carefully and hopefully his blood work will improve in the weeks ahead. Two of our own dogs eventually died of kidney failure so we know that any form of kidney disease is not something to be taken lightly. There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, but depending on the severity of the disease and how early you begin treatment, a dog can still live a comfortable life for quite a while. 

Charlie is healthy as a horse, but he could lose a few pounds. He's been at the kennel for so long that you can tell that he feels like this is his permanent home. I'm always surprised at how happy Charlie seems. He actually appears to like living at the kennel. Charlie is very smart and we enjoy teaching him new tricks. He'd probably already have a home by now if he wasn't so unpredictable. Let's just say that I wouldn't want to be sleeping in bed next to Charlie.

It was so muggy on our morning walk that we couldn't decide whether it had rained during the night or was about to rain later in the day. It's amazing how much the weather changes from day to day around here. You can never decide what to wear in the morning. The overcast skies cleared by the time Janet and I went to the kennel, but it remained a bad allergy day. I felt like I had pepper in my nose while we were walking this morning. Tomorrow I may have no allergy symptoms at all.

I've been watching how tropical storm ETA has been developing. It's moving away from Florida now and the latest forecast says that the storm may head for the Florida panhandle rather than doubling back to head toward Orlando. The weather actually looks pretty good for launch day now, but the forecast doesn't fill me with confidence. I don't think anyone really knows where this storm is going to go next. I don't think I have the temperament to live in a coastal area. The tornado warnings we get here are bad enough. Hurricanes are much harder to escape.

I walked into the bathroom adjoining the office this afternoon and saw a rather large lizard staring at me. How the hell to these animals get into the house? First it was a bird and now I have a lizard to deal with. I couldn't just open a window and let the lizard fly out. I had to catch it. Have you ever tried to catch a lizard? They can be pretty fast. I eventually trapped the lizard under a piece of Tupperware and was able to remove it from the house. I'm tired of dealing with invading critters, but I'm sure this lizard won't be the last thing I have to catch.

I may have to go buy a lightweight raincoat tomorrow. The tropical storm may have moved to the West, but it's probably still going to be raining when I arrive in Florida. I had a super light raincoat from my backpacking days, but I can't find it anywhere. All I remember about it was that it was blue and weighed almost nothing. I don't know why I even try to find things I haven't seen in forty years. I can't find stuff I bought last month.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3515

Hank is a 50 pound puppy. You couldn't find a sweeter dog if you tried, but he knows nothing and tries to eat everything. We thought we'd dog proofed the house pretty well before we brought him home last night. Within a matter of minutes Hank had found things we didn't even know we had and was carrying them around in his mouth. After we retrieved a ball of lip balm, a rubber door stopper, and several shoes Hank had snatched, we methodically went room to room and placed everything loose on a high shelf. We had forgotten the primary rule of puppyhood: if you can chew it, you will chew it.

We don't know much about Hank's background. He's probably around two years old. He was picked up as a stray and clearly whoever owned him first never bothered to provide even the most rudimentary training or socialization. It's a shame that a beautiful, sweet dog like this has gotten off to such a bad start. Despite his lack of manners, Hank was good around the house. We weren't well prepared with gates and crates, so we just let him sleep on the bed with us. He did pretty well. For the most part he slept soundly, although he did wake me up once trying to pull the Fitbit off my arm and had an episode of the zoomies, chasing a rubber ball around the house at 3 AM. He also tried to drag the blanket off our bed. All of this was pretty normal for a young dog. We've had old, sick dogs for so long that we'd almost forgotten what a young Dalmatian is like.

Hank seemed healthy and happy while he was at our house, but after we took him up to the vet for evaluation, they reported a few hours later that he'd had bloody diarrhea again. He wasn't throwing up blood after all. The blood was in his stools. This will help the vet diagnose the problem, but we're still not sure what is going on. His blood work and lab tests look normal and an x-ray showed no obstructions in his stomach or intestines. There are many things that can cause bloody diarrhea. The fact that the blood is still red would indicate that the problem is probably in his colon instead of his stomach or upper intestines, but he will need further tests to determine what is wrong. Hank is still at the vet. He is eating a bland diet and taking medication that will help with any irritation he might have in his digestive system. Hopefully nothing is serious. Hank is young and deserves a long and healthy life.

I took Janet to one of my breakfast restaurants on the way home from the vet and then we both resumed our daily routines. It took a long time to get the dog hair out of the car. Hank sheds even more than Dot and Dash did. The cable guy came and hooked up the new buried fiber optic cable this afternoon, although I never saw him. When I came home from my morning walk, the old temporary cable was still attached. The next time I left the house, everything had been fixed. I never heard a thing. The technician must have come while I was taking a shower.

Taking Hank to the vet in rush hour traffic made me glad that I am retired. Drive time traffic in Dallas is horrible now. I don't know how people can stand to do this everyday. It's been so long since I've driven to work on a regular basis that I forget how much Dallas has grown. It feels like I'm driving in Los Angeles now. I'm glad I was able to work out of my house while I had my own company. It kept me sane.

If we have another dog emergency, we're going to have to assemble a dog emergency kit. It would have been good to be able to gate off a few rooms last night. We definitely need to retrieve some water and food bowls from the storage warehouse. Leashes, a sturdy harness, poop bags, a first aid kit, and a few indestructible Kongs are all necessities. I'm glad we were able to help Hank last night. It was nice to have a dog around the house again.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1873

Today's photo shoot went well. I think everybody involved was very happy with the results. In a couple of weeks or so, these images will be featured on thousands of posters and postcards. The young puppies and kittens I photographed were surprisingly well behaved. Nobody tried to chew the leather saddle. Nobody peed on the backdrop. And nobody chased the cat. The little kitten was fearless and clearly wasn't intimidated by dogs. Doing a photo shoot with puppies is always a dicey proposition. The won't stay in one place more than two seconds and seem to pee every five minutes. To even attempt something like this, you need a wrangler for each animal. The small cowboy hats were constantly falling off and needed to continually be repositioned. Puppies and kittens get tired quickly too, so there is always an optimal moment between crazy exuberance and deep sleep were you get your best pictures. All in all, I think I did pretty well today.

The SMAP spacecraft had a successful launch this morning. The four or five people from our group who had flexible enough schedules to stay in the area for the launch all said it was spectacular. I wish I could have been there too. I did get up early and watch the launch on TV and everything seemed to go perfectly. The network news channels only showed a few seconds of the launch, but NASA TV broadcast the whole thing live for over an hour. I was mesmerized. I don't think I'll ever look at those short clips of satellite launches on the evening new the same way again. Now, when I see a rocket go up, I'll be thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of people that it took to get it off the launch pad.

The animal rescue community is all abuzz about the new GoDaddy commercial depicting a puppy who falls off the breeder's truck, gets lost, and eventually finds his way home, only to discover he's been sold. It didn't take long for rescue advocates to get this spot pulled. I saw the commercial and agree that this definitely looks like a puppy mill breeder. A responsible breeder would never ship a bunch of puppies of in a truck and wouldn't sell them online either. Many rescue advocates think all breeders are evil and that you should always get your dog from a shelter. I've been involved in animal rescue for many, many years and I don't necessarily agree with this position. Responsible breeders are wonderful people who understand their dogs, keep them healthy, and always find them great homes. It's easier to buy a house than it is to purchase a dog from a very good breeder. They are very particular about who gets their pups. Dot and Dash were both rescued from shelters, but we've gotten dogs from breeders as well. If your have your heart set on a particular breed, there is nothing wrong with getting your dog from a good breeder. Puppy mill breeders are cruel to their animals and should be eliminated, but responsible breeders should be your friend. They are actually some of the biggest supporters of rescue efforts. Nothing is black or white, except Dalmatians of course. I hate to see issues like these polarize people.

I don't know who to root for at tomorrow's Superbowl game. Neither the Seahawks or the Patriots are teams that I'm particularly fond of. If Dallas couldn't be in the Superbowl, I'd much rather root for Green Bay or Pittsburgh. I'll watch the game and eat more than I should like everybody else, but what I'm really interested in is the Culwell and Son Superbowl sale. These guys were a client of mine for many years and once a year they mark everything down up to 75% off for just a few hours on Superbowl Sunday. Since it's the only time I can actually afford these expensive clothes, I never miss this sale.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1733

This morning's photoshoot was interesting. There were fifteen children of various ages and each of them was holding a puppy or kitten. What could possibly go wrong? The children were cold. The puppies were restless. The big challenge was to get everyone looking in the same direction before it started to rain. Actually, everything went pretty well. Children are much more flexible than adults, and since everyone wanted to hold a puppy, they were willing to stand out in the cold for much longer than I expected. When I looked through the images this afternoon, it was fascinating to look at the different expressions on each of the children's faces. The young ones were so open and honest. You could almost tell, just by their faces, what each of them was going to be when they grew up.

The temperature was in the mid-fifties when we woke up this morning. The seasons change quickly here in Texas. One day you are worried about your car overheating in the Summer heat and the next day the leaves are all turning red and gold and you are looking for your winter coat. If this weekend's cold front lingers, we will soon be turning on the furnace again. I'm always nervous the first day I try to use the furnace. I'm fairly confident that the furnace will roar into life again, since it is still fairly new. I have many memories of cold mornings and dead furnaces though. Hopefully, this new furnace will be more reliable than the old one.

I did some catch-up work on the websites that were down earlier this week. Now that they are all back online, some of them are already out of date and need to be updated. Keeping these sites updated is a never ending process. That's OK though. Most never ending processes are good for business. If you were actually able to finish something, you'd never see some of your clients again.

So what did we learn from tonight's new episode of Dr. Who. Apparently the Doctor is afraid of the dark and Clara herself is the monster under the bed that frightens most children. Since Steven Moffat wrote this episode, it got mostly glowing reviews. I'll admit that Steven is the undisputed master of convoluted plots, but they often leave me a bit confused. My favorite episode is still the one where the Doctor and Rose go to visit Vincent van Gogh. That's the kind of story I like.

We're debating whether to scale back our efforts to waterproof the bed each night. Dot has had quite a few accident-free days this week and it would sure be easier on everyone if we could go back to sleeping like normal. Dogs are notoriously unpredictable though. Just when you least expect it, they'll throw up their dinner, or poop on the living room floor. I think we'll compromise and put a few waterproof pads on the bed tonight, but quit trying to turn the bed into a multilayer impregnable fortress. If it gets really cold tonight, I may wish that all the layers were still there. Four layers of waterproof pee pads on top of the covers make the bed pretty warm.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1269

My models for today's photo shoot were a small puppy and kitten, sitting together inside a gold crown. I didn't think a dog and cat would play nice together for long enough for me to get the shot I needed, but we had an unusually calm kitten and some very good animal wranglers. I think the shot came out fine. I definitely don't think Dot or Dash would have been this calm in a similar situation.

Our power went out today during another surprise thunderstorm. After about six hours of being dead in the water, the power is still out. I can hear a repair crew from the power company back in the alley replacing a transformer on one of the telephone poles, so I have high hopes that our electricity will be restored this evening.

There was another roof problem today. The roof is mostly finished, but there is a small section of rotted wood that still needs to be replaced directly above the kitchen door. It rained so hard during today's thunderstorm that water got into the unfinished area and came spilling into the house through the top of the kitchen door. As I have mentioned already, I couldn't have picked a worse time to put on a new roof. It's usually not so bad at this time of year, but this has turned out to be the wettest Spring I can remember.

It was bad enough that it was raining cats and dogs while I had to pack up all my equipment to go photograph some cats and dogs. It would have been even worse if the rain and ensuing power outage had happened yesterday though. I would have hated to be forced to complete my Photoshop marathon using a laptop with a low battery as my primary resource.

Everyone seems in a hurry except for me. I feel out of sync with just about everything this week. My client in New York is in a hurry to get all the Las Vegas pictures. My veterinarian client is in a hurry to get the kitten and puppy pictures. The roofers are in a hurry to get paid for their still unfinished roof. I'm trying my best to keep up with all the requests, but the only thing I'm in a hurry for is the weekend.

Dot and Dash did pretty well today, especially considering all the chaos going on around them. I had to leave the dogs right in the middle of the rainstorm, and amazingly they both seemed pretty calm when I left the house. I think they sensed that this was a day where I had few options and they were doing their best to help.

Hopefully, the power will be restored this evening and tomorrow will be calm and uneventful. I'm looking forward to sunny skies and my favorite Black Bean Benedict for breakfast.

Gypsy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 621

On the way home from the dog park, we stopped by Sprinkles again to get some cupcakes for Dot's party. They make dog cupcakes there, but really it's just an excuse to get some for ourselves. Janet seems to think that Dot's birthday is really today anyway. Maybe she's right. I'm terrible with dates. I just looked on the blog from last year and we celebrated her birthday on the 27th then, so I assumed it would be the same this year. Dot's real birthday may be Feburary 4 for all I know. When you rescue a stray, you never really know how old they are or when they were actually born. Most people just make the day they adopt their dog the pet's birthday from that day forward. I don't think Dot or Dash particularly care when they were born. They just wanted a bit of the steak we had for dinner and of course, their special Sprinkles dog cupcake. I think the party was a success.

Earlier in the day we got a call from our vet about some stray puppies that had been found in the park. The pups had spots, so the people who found them thought they might be Dalmatians. The dogs were heartbreakingly thin and looked like they had the mange. The two puppies definitely weren't all Dalmatian, but they were adorable. We see situations like this all the time and it is terribly sad. Who would just dump little puppies like this? One way or another these pups will get healthy again and find good homes. Probably next week there will be another story just like it however. I'm sure there are hundreds of stories just like this all over the country today.

I finished the day by mowing the grass, which was probably a mistake. It was still well above 100 degrees today. It's weird listening to all the reports about the hurricane on the East Coast. You wonder why they get all that rain and we get none? Even though we continue to water, the grass in our back yard has given up the fight. The yard that looked so great in May looks terrible again. I went to Home Depot this afternoon and got some Fescue grass in hopes that I could reseed the dead spots. It's probably hopeless though. I bet I'll be putting in a brand new turf again next Spring. There is just too much shade in the back yard for grass to grow properly.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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