Day Twenty Two - V is for...

Pluto, our guest Vizsla for a few weeks

The Newton home for wayward dogs has taken on a new charge.  Pluto, a 4-year old Vizsla (and featured V photograph!) has been hanging out with the pack for a week, and will likely be here for another 2 weeks or so, while his owners take care of some things in New York.

Pluto is quite the pup and has fit in nicely with our pack.  His first day at the house would have been overwhelming for most - he first met Charlie and Doug on the front lawn, then went into the backyard to run around a bit with them, before Shaggy came charging out and Penny sort of just said hi.

Pluto played the perfect balance with the pack - not too aggressive, but not a complete pushover either - he held his own!  Pluto loaded up with everyone else to go on a walk the next morning, went to work during the day and by dinnertime it was as if he has been a part of the pack for years.

He is a sweet pup, we will be sorry to have to give him back - this is the fundamental reason why fostering does not work for us, we always want to keep all of the nice dogs that come to stay with us!

CHEESE!!

It would appear that I am an easy target for the pack when it comes to treats, specifically for cheese...a favorite snack among the Newton dogs. 

It started with Freddy (center, the fluffy white one), who arrived to our home rather underweight and recovering from some stomach surgery.  I started to give him string cheese as a snack, because he seemed to really like it and I thought that it would be good to put a little weight on him.

He has long since achieved (and is maintaining) his ideal weight, but has not lost his love for cheese.  In fact, he has shared the good news of cheese with a couple of his brethren, pictured here (Penny on the left and Charlie on the right).  It is really a bit ridiculous.  I arrive home from work and Freddy starts following me around, "talking" in his way and sometimes sounding as if he is saying, "Mom, I want my cheese."  Penny, thinking that she might be missing out on something starts to follow at my heels and if I dare open the refrigerator, Charlie is there too.

Shaggy and Scooby (the shepherds) sit up expectantly from their perch on the couch, knowing that I would not dare to feed only 3 of the 5 dogs.  I talk tough as if I am not going to indulge them, but who am I kidding?  Cheese all around!

Penny and Freddy count out the pieces to make sure I have rationed things fairly.  Those dogs are all about equity!

If I Were a Dog...

I posted a Facebook status update yesterday that started out, "If I were a dog...".  It got me thinking that on some level, that wouldn't be a bad thing.  Of course, I would not enjoy the absence of free will to do as I pleased, but it is fun to just think for a moment what I would be like as a dog and I decided, I probably wouldn't make it in the pack!

I would be one of those dogs that needs to be kept busy, is always in something, needs a lot of exercise and probably would have to be monitored around mealtime so that I didn't wolf down through my food too fast and start working on the next bowl that was sitting out.

Our nice, calm dogs would be about over me after the first 30 minutes or so.  They can handle me now because I get them cheese..without opposable thumbs, I would be useless to them!

It is a good thing that I am not a dog, it works out better for everyone that way!

Conehead

The cost of owning a large pack part 2...Penny serves as exhibit B.

During one of Charlie's visits to the vet, it was time to have Penny in for a routine check-up when some funny lumps were spotted on her belly. The vet was pretty concerned that there could be issue with one or two of them, so surgery was scheduled for Monday of this week.

Penny came through the process well and now has a Frankenstein-looking set of stitches on her belly to show for it. We are still waiting on the final word on one of the lumps (the other two were fatty deposits), so stay tuned for that news.

Entertaining is Penny in the cone of shame. She is a MENACE! That dog has absolutely no sense of the space around her or anyone else, which means that she bangs and bumps into anything in her path. At first, we all felt so sorry for her, as to see the sad little face in the cone just breaks your heart. The first 15 times or so that she nearly knocked me over, I still felt compassion for our poor little pup in the cone. After having her clip me AND drag the cone all along the wall in the hallway, I found myself quickly losing patience for the annoying dog in the plastic shield.

David was in the same camp and called me on Wednesday to tell me that he couldn't take it anymore, so he took the collar off. Having Penny and the collar and all of the other dogs in the truck was creating chaos, and David thought that Charlie was going to snap and have a nervous breakdown. Even calm and collected Scooby was about over Penny and her bumping ways.

She must realize what a menace she was in that collar, because she hasn't picked or poked at her stitches even once. She was probably tired of having all of us glare at her!

Pup in Boots

The Newton dogs have been visiting the vet lately - a lot, and in some cases for some seemingly random things that end up costing a pretty penny.

Mr. Charles here is exhibit A. About a month ago, he took off to chase after some unsuspecting prey on the Los Robles trail and when he returned 20 minutes or so later it was near dark and he was limping a bit. David gave him the business for taking off, then the once over to see if he could figure out why he was limping and then they came home.

The next couple of days Charles was just a little off and he was spending a lot of time tending to his foot. David again tried to figure out what was wrong and then Charlie snapped at him...clearly something was wrong and he was in pain, so off to the vet they went.

Turns out that Charlie ripped his nail and it is going to take something like 2 months to heal. We have been back every week to change the bandage after the initial same-day surgery was done and it is a slow process to recovery. The vet suggested that we kennel Charlie all day and limit his time on his foot to just a few minutes a day.

I think that Charlie would as soon have his leg amputated rather than be sequestered all day. David bought the little booties to protect the bandage and keep it dry, and we seem to be doing OK now.

Not sure that Charlie is super excited about his one-boot fashion statement, but this is the price that a dog has to pay for running amuck in the Santa Monica Mountains. That and about $600 in vet bills!

Sorting the Dogs

Holly took the initiative to sort the laundry before I got home tonight, resulting in several piles across the family room floor. Our house is a pretty decent size, with plenty of places (and beds) for our dogs to lie and relax.

Why would it be that of ALL the places to flop down, they would all choose to do so in a pile of laundry? At some point in the evening, each one of the pups found a pile that they preferred and claimed it as their own.

Freddy and Penny are pictured here, but Charlie has laid claim to his own stack too.

I am going to teach all of them how to run the washing machine.

3 on a Leash

David takes on the task of walking our dogs - all 4 of them - twice a day. Admittedly, Shadow does not cover the distance she used to so it is really the equivalent of a 1/4 mile or so with all 4, back to the car to let Shadow relax and then off with the crazy pack for another 2-3 miles.

We like the weekends when I am along for the walks, as it is nice catch up time for David and I, and we can each handle 2 dogs - 1 leash in each hand - without too much craziness. The pups love it and certainly make the most of their time cruising the great outdoors.

Walking 3 dogs, all on retractable leashes is no easy feat. I can hold my own, but must admit that if the pack ever decided to make a break for it on my watch, they could probably orchestrate it between Scooby's strength, Daphne's clumsiness and Fred's deafness.

Don't let on to my weakness with them!

Perseverence

After blogging it up about the 3 crazy dogs on their leashes, it seems only fair to share this shot of Shadow, following loyally behind on her 1/4 mile "victory loop" at the start of our morning walk.

She is 15 years old, arthritic, aching and the sweetest, most tenacious pet we have ever had.

Every once in a grand while she opts to stay home when we gather the pack for a walk, but for the most part, she shuffles along to get up, slowly walks out to the truck and patiently waits to be lifted up and in.

Her portion of the walk is fairly functional as she tends to business and slowly makes her way along the route. She certainly isn't fast, but she always keeps going. That dog perseveres, period.

As Elizabeth is no doubt saying right now, God bless Shadow.

Fred Fairbanks the 4th

We have a new member of the Newton clan. A little over 40 pounds, white hair, blue eyes and cute little tufts of hair sticking up from his ears, Fred has joined the pack.

Fred has a sad little story. He was left in the backyard of his home with water but no food or contact for about 2 weeks. The home had been foreclosed and the family did not take their dog with them when they left. Fred is from San Diego, but HART picked him up because he is a little older (about 7-8 years)...that is how David came to learn of Fred and his plight.

Fred is actually Fairbanks (we aren't sure if this is a new name, as he doesn't answer to it but he doesn't seem to have the best hearing either, so who knows!), but I threw in the Fred because it fits in with our Scooby theme...Shadow technically should be Shaggy, but we will ignore that for now! We were also calling him #4 because, crazy as it sounds, he is the 4th dog in the house.

David was tricky with this one. He came over under the premise that he is being fostered. I can easily get behind that, but when I hear David using phrases such as, "if things work out" and "he seems to be acclimating well", I can bet that this will be the longest fostering EVER.

Lucky for us, Fred is a cutie!

Happy (part II)

Scooby (another rescue dog) is not one to openly show her emotions. Typically reticent, she is often in the front room under the bed or in our bedroom in her kennel pretending that she is invisible when people come over to our house. As soon as the company leaves, Scooby is out in the family room, leaping and jumping like a winning show dog.

I often tell others about what a funny little dog Scooby is, but to date, it has basically been folk lore, as easy to prove as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster because I haven't been able to prove it. I submit to you this photo as proof that Scooby is a happy, silly pup!

I took the dogs for a walk Saturday night by myself. We went over to the Junior High because school is out so no one is ever on campus, the rabbits are running loose and the big area allows Daphne and Scooby to run to their hearts content while Shadow can plod along on a slow and short route. The trip was a productive one, with at least 4 lively rabbit chases that had both dogs panting and looking rather pleased with themselves.

The sun was quickly setting, the neighborhood was quiet, the grass was cool and refreshing...Scooby was just feeling happy, so she plopped down in the clover and started rolling around on her back. I whipped out my Blackberry and snapped the photo before she realized what I was doing (I am sneaky like that), and after I dropped the offending instrument back into my pocket, she started to roll again.

It makes me happy to see my dogs so happy and carefree. Blurry or not, this vision makes me smile.

Nervous Nellie

Daphne has a phobia that comes out only a couple of times a year, but when it does, we are all keenly aware of it.

This is often the challenge with a rescue dog; they have fears and issues that we don't really understand and therefore sneak up on us unexpectedly. With Daphne, loud noises do her in. She is a little high-strung in her own right, but noises like thunder or fireworks send her spiraling into a shaking, shivering, nervous wreck.

We first discovered this issue last year when we had a little early-summer thunderstorm in the middle of the night. It wasn't a super strong storm, but it did have thunder and Daphne was beside herself. I am sure that I would have slept through the storm if left to my own devices, but having Daphne jump up on the bed made sure that I was aware of the storm. It must have taken her a good 30-minutes after the storm passed to calm down and it took me petting her and trying to lull her to sleep before she would stop pacing.

The 4th of July is no treat for the nervous one, with the excitement extended this year by the kids living in the apartment complex behind us, courtesy of their illegal fireworks. As soon as the first pop sounds off, Daphne comes galloping/sliding into whatever room we in are to look at us desperately as if to say, "DO something!"

Let's hope those kids run out of their fireworks soon so that Daphne doesn't have a nervous breakdown!

Driving Miss Daphne

It would appear that Daphne not only believes that she should always sit in the front seat, she has taken to the belief that she should drive too.

I am waiting for the day that David gets pulled over for letting the dog behind the wheel without a permit!

Lake Balboa Bullets

We did a group event at Lake Balboa this weekend for a good cause. The Virginia Avenue Project hosted its inaugural 5K Run for the Arts. It was held at Lake Balboa in Encino/Van Nuys and welcomed runners, walkers...anyone who wanted to participate to help support a good cause.

In addition to David, Holly and myself, Eric and Briana joined us, as well as Shadow, Scooby, Daphne and Roxy - Briana's dog. We made quite an impression as we strolled along the course. Shadow was feeling a little stiff, so we slowed things down a bit with her. (I actually think that it was Eric who was slowing things down, but we let him blame Shadow because it made him feel better)

I have to admit that we were something of the celebrities on this event, with people cheering us on and offering the dogs water at every aid station. We loped across the finish line a little after an hour of the start, and they promptly started tearing things down once we had cleared the timer.

It's OK, we had a good time, raised some money for a good cause AND went to Las Fuentes for brunch afterwards. THAT is a win/win scenario if ever I've seen one!

Fat Actress

The highly-anticipated debut of Shadow on the Animal Planet's Groomer Has It finally happened this week; we caught the 8:00 pm showing on Saturday.

It was very exciting to finally see our little celebrity on the small screen as the filming actually occurred back in early November; blog followers might remember the post. The theme for the groomers was how to groom larger (translate...fatter) dogs to minimize their girth. I wasn't super excited about that category when we first went down to LA for the filming, and I must admit that I was even less excited about it when I realized that the name of the episode was "Piggies" (there was also a challenge to wash pot-bellied pigs...a cute connection, I suspect some producer believed).

There was also a tone to some of the groomers that the owners of this group of dogs was irresponsible in not taking care of their dogs, feeding them too much and not exercising them enough. Not the case, as the twice per day walks (often totaling more than 4 miles) and daily activity that all of the Newton dogs get. We are also not big on the table scraps for the pups. Letting all of that judgement fall to the side, how did Shadow do?

Cassandra, the groomer assigned to handle Shadow seems to be having some sort of personality conflict with the judges and the other participants, which netted out as a 15-minute penalty slapped on her by another groomer, Marco (he got kicked off, so his strategy didn't pay off in this case). Cassandra was fairly bothered by the penalty and combined with the difficulty in grooming Shadow, she landed in the bottom 2 for the episode.

The judges recognized that Shadow was a difficult case to groom (things have never been right since someone shaved her to her "dog in a sheep suit" look over a year ago), so Cassandra managed to hang on because the job that Marco did on his dog was worse by comparison.

Either way, Shadow has lived her 15-minutes of fame, albeit with the title of fat actress!

Dogbook

I have been on Facebook since September, with the bulk of my activity in the first few months when I first joined up. I found (or was found by) a myriad of friends, acquaintances and ex-colleagues whom I would likely not interact with were it not for the wonders of social networking and the Internet.

My experiences with FB aside, I soon found an application that I thought was super fun, although not widely utilized...Dogbook. It is the same basic concept as Facebook for dogs, including profiles, status updates and the like.

I set all three of our dogs on it but admittedly don't tend to it much anymore because let's face it, there isn't a whole lot of diversity in the life of our pups.

In Facebook status update style...

Daphne is pestering someone to pet her.

Shadow is asleep.

Scooby is hiding in the back of the truck, hoping for a squirrel or rabbit to run by.

Cute, but not the read of the century by any stretch!

Looking Sharp

David and the dogs came out to support me in the Victory for Victims 8K last weekend, as I blogged earlier in the week. It was a very warm morning/day, so after I finished, we all sat down on the grass and enjoyed a few bottles of water...I think that we polished of 4 or 5 between us!

The event photographer must have thought that we made a nice little photo op, as he circled back and took our picture. You will note that Scooby and Daphne are lapping up their water from David and I while Shadow, ever the celebrity, faces forward with a regal pose.

Given the fact that she is 15 years old and just walked about 5 miles, I'd say that she looks pretty sharp!

A Day of Rest

Sunday is hike day at the Newton's - at least for David, the dogs and I (Holly opts to sleep in on Sunday, waking up just in time to get to church).  Ever on the prowl for a new space to investigate, we discovered a bonus segment in the Conejo Open Space network of trails; another leg of a trail that we use called the Los Robles trail.

The weekend was another perfect one, with clear, cool skies and plenty of sunshine rewarding all of us up and out early enough to appreciate the day ahead of us.  In addition to leaving Holly behind to sleep in, we had another member of the family opt out of the early morning hike...Shadow.

Admittedly, both David and I were a little worried that something was wrong with the oldest member of our pack (at 14 1/2, she translates to something like 100 years old) because she just flat out didn't show any interest when we gathered everyone and rolled out the door early in the morning.  I think that she was pretending to be asleep so that we wouldn't bother her.

The good news is that Shadow looked alert and rested when we came home, following our every move so that she will be ready to go the next time that we head out for a walk.  We all breathed a big sigh of relief and realized that at some point in time, everyone, even the dog, just needs a day of rest.

De-Skunking the Myth

I have been plagued by the smell of skunk for close to a month.  Blog regulars may recall the story of the night that Scooby was sprayed by a skunk and then rolled around in several places in the house trying to get rid of the smell.  Many efforts were made on my part to wash everything, including a rather unwilling dog (twice!), but I can still catch a whiff of it every now and again, particularly when I am lying on the chaise portion of the couch.

I decided a few days ago that there was definitely a smell there and I was going to do something about it.  I had the slip covers off the couch and in the washer in moments flat, alternating the different pieces out across the patio furniture on the lawn to dry.  I vacuumed, had Holly spray Febreeze and pulled every part of that couch apart.

David thinks I am crazy and even the very supportive Holly claims to not smell anything...I don't know if things are ever going to be right again, but I can tell you that Scooby and I eye one another very suspiciously now in the evenings when she is clamoring to go out back.  

That is one tricky dog, I am telling you!

Spring Hikes

The Newton clan (sans Holly, who enjoys sleeping in on Sundays) trekked out on a new adventure this weekend in the Santa Monica Mountains at Cheeseboro/Palo Comado Canyon . It is a beautiful space, managed by the National Parks with lots of trails and something for everyone, horses, runners, mountain bikers, bird watchers, walkers and of course, the friendly little pooches.

This was the first day with the time change, but that didn't seem to make a difference to the many people outside and enjoying the beautiful day. We meandered through the different trails, just enjoying the scenery and discovering lots of cool paths. Scooby and Daphne were a little disappointed that they couldn't get off leash to chase the squirrels, but I think that a good time was still enjoyed by all.

This will definitely be a repeat location…until the snakes come out. There will be none of those shenanigans as far as I am concerned!!

Skunked!

The "back 40" as David refers to the extended piece of our backyard, is filled with lots of interesting critters. Rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional possum find their way into the yard, much to the delight of our resident huntress, Scooby. It is not uncommon, then, to have one of the dogs come wake us up in the middle of the night under the guise of an "emergency" visit to the backyard. One never wants to take a chance on the reason for the request, so if a dog barks at 2 am, David is getting up (I mange to sleep a little more thoroughly and figure that I did my middle of the night responses to Holly crying all of those years ago).

The night that Daphne came back from her surgery turned into quite an exciting evening. Sometime around 1:45 am, I heard some barking, dozed back off, heard some shuffling in the room, dozed back off and then snapped awake with a start. What was that smell? I realized that the lights were on in the family room and there was some sort of commotion. I staggered out to see what was happening and see Daphne stranded, feet on the couch, unable to lift herself up. David is in the kitchen, holding onto Scooby's collar, seemingly stuck in place. And it smelled, horribly!

We must have looked like a couple of lunatics, frozen in our spots. I wanted to help Daphne up but didn't want to touch her stitches, Scooby had obviously been sprayed by a skunk and needed to be cleaned up. She apparently had attempted to rub it off on the couch, in our bedroom and in the hallway, but it was still pretty strong. David popped a can of tomato juice out of nowhere (I certainly didn't buy it, the texture of that stuff makes me a little gaggy!) and was rubbing it on Scooby. I managed to give Daphne a boost up on the couch (the one that now smells like skunk thanks to Scooby), took one look at the scene and decided that I was going back to bed.

Let me tell you, it is hard to fall back asleep when the smell of skunk and tomato juice permeates every molecule of air. I managed to do it, though!

The couch however, may never be the same...