As things worked out, they had a volunteer willing to meet me half way in St. George to pick up the boys. The best part about that was that our friends Patti, Brutus and Tytus live in St. George and they’ve been offering to let us come try out their pool. So, we got in touch with Patti, and she was awesome about letting all of us drop in on she and Deboys last minute.

The foster boys didn’t need any special lapel pins to introduce themselves. They were immediately right at home in Patti’s gorgeous backyard, and after lunch we got a chance to watch Brutus and Tytus show off their swimming and diving skills. They are awesome!

The smaller foster boy though, decided that Tytus was his hero…

Maybe he should take a closer look…

and then he just couldn’t stand it any longer…

The larger boy never joined in the water, but he had a great time anyway…

I don’t think any of us could have asked for a nicer way to send these lovely boys off to the next chapter of their lives.  Thanks to Patti and Deboys for being the perfect hosts!!!

The reason is that the records from the vet said that “The Bear” was neutered. Since I thought that this was the bigger, older boy…I never confirmed this, till Tues., when my husband could help me. Upon inspection, the larger boy is intact. Since the vet records didn’t say one way or the other if Schouzy was neutered, I’m now wondering if the bigger boy is Schouzy and the smaller one The Bear.

You might think that they would make it easier on me by responding well to the correct name, but no. The boy with the blaze on his face responds to just about anything you call him, and the bigger boy responds when he feels like it, regardless of what you are calling. hehe

Anyway, even though I’m not positive about the dog’s names, I am finding out more about them. The smaller boy thinks that the best entertainment in the world is to run and bark at vehicles driving down the road. The bigger boy thinks that the most fun thing he can do, is chase the faster younger boy and bark. LOL Here’s a little video of what they look like in the front yard.

Grooming is also progressing, albeit slowly. The smaller boy is nearly done being brushed out, and I think I finally got through all the mats in his coat. Yay! While trimming the extra long hair on his paws today, I found that he seems to have double dewclaws on the rear legs. It’s bizarre. The bigger boy still has some more brushing to endure, and then both should be ready for a bath. I don’t think that either one of them is ready to go out and shop for personalized thank you gifts for me for all the grooming that they are getting this week, but that’s ok. I think when I’m done and I get to take some better pictures of them that will be all the thanks I need.

The boys have weird names, at least in my opinion. The bigger boy is named “The Bear” according to the vet records. His age is undetermined right now, but he appears to be older than the other boy.

The smaller, boy is named “Schouzy” I thought maybe it meant something, but my google search didn’t give me anything, so I don’t know if it’s just a made up name or what. He is 5 years old.

Both boys are just very sweet.  They haven’t caused a bit of trouble here.  Schouzy reminds me so much of Twist in his personality.  He is just fun loving and friendly and wonderful.  Both boys are overweight, though I don’t think you can really tell in these pictures.  Schouzy weighs in at 32 lbs, and he’s about Twist’s height.  Twist when he’s soaking wet is rarely 20 lbs.  The Bear is a little taller, but not a whole lot, probably somewhere around 16 1/2 or 17 in. tall and he weighs 41 lbs.  Both of them could really use some diet pills that really work. Other than that though, they both seem to be in pretty good shape and I hope that they find their new permanent homes soon.

Another year has come and gone. It was a year packed with lots of memories. Some I’ll cherish forever, and some I wish I could forget. LOL Looking back though, I can honestly say that I’ve learned something from all the experiences, both good and the not so good.

He will be here till either Friday or Saturday, so I guess his stay is actually nearly over. He fits in so well that I don’t really notice that we’ve got an extra dog here most of the time. Zoe doesn’t share my opinion though. She thinks that Zack could go back to his home anytime now and the sooner the better. LOL

It’s nice to be able to have him visit occasionally and see that his new family just adores him. It’s definitely one of those happy endings that you hope for so much in rescue. Makes me glad that we had the privilege of playing a small part in helping him find his great family.

I’m really hoping that Raven will be able to finish her CD this weekend. She got her first leg at the Sheltie Specialty at the end of April, so she only needs two more. Twist is just entered on Sat. of this trial to see if our work on the broadjump has improved to the point that he might be able to qualifiy in Open for the first time. I’m a little nervous. Ok, I’m a lot nervous. Obedience always makes me more nervous that agility does, for whatever reason. I love it though.

Layla is going along to have a lesson tonight, so I’m really looking forward to that. It’s always nice to see if we are making progress and then what areas still need our attention. Anyway, hopefully we’ll have lots of good news and some pictures or some video to share when we get home…

As of yesterday, she was beginning to settle in to the point that she was beginning to play with another one of the Shelties in the house. That’s good news! She’s being just a little tricky about trying to eat her treat without getting the pill inside, but they are experts at making sure that the dogs are getting their meds, so I’m sure that’s a temporary problem. They tell me that she is being a really good girl, and that she has been easy to have at the house. I guess she’s like a shadow following Barbara around. (I kind of expected that). So, that’s about all I can update you on at this point. I know that she’s in very capable and caring hands!

Of course, when I’m more rational, and my own nerves and emotions are less raw I had already considered that we may just not have found the correct medication for Rogue. We talked briefly about that. We also talked about the fact that sometimes the changes that these meds bring about are small enough that on a day to day basis I may not be noticing them, but that they may be accumulating more than I think. Also very possible.

I have some concerns about whether our home environment is adding to Rogue’s anxieties, so we talked about that. We talked about whether she might thrive in a home with more stable routine. Having the boarding kennel here means that some days I’m in and out of the house dealing with clients quite a bit, and that seems to stress her out.

Then another possibility was presented. I have to say that I was pretty unsure about it at first, but the idea is growing on me. They mentioned letting Rogue come stay with them for a time to give us a break from the situation and to give them some time to evaluate Rogue. After talking this possibility over with my husband, we both agree that this may be just what all of us need. A little break.

So, once they get back from the Sheltie Nationals in a couple of weeks, Rogue may get to for a short stay at the SRU house. That is, unless there is some radical development with this latest dosage change in her meds. In the meantime I want to express my gratitude for both Barbara and Jim giving of their time, (of which they have none to spare), and their continuing offer of support and help for Rogue and for us.

Our all breed rescue has tried helping her take dogs to adoption events, only to have her take in more dogs than she adopted out. Ugh!!! The local shelter even got to the point that they quit allowing her transfer animals out into her program. Unfortunately, nothing has helped. When she couldn’t transfer them out into her program she would volunteer to transport them to other rescues, and then not deliver all of them. Incredible! It just absolutely must be like an addiction. That’s the only way it makes sense to me.

Finally, (not because she realized she was in over her head), but because the “rescue/sanctuary” was in violation of our kennel licensing laws, and because of the conditions the animals were in, the dogs were being taken to the shelter today. The animal control officer we spoke to today told us that they even found the bodies of a couple dogs that has died in the last few weeks!

The really frustrating thing is that even at this point, she seems to be in denial about the situation that she has put these dogs in. She even called the person in charge of adoptions with our rescue and asked her to get some of the dogs out and let her have them back! The answer is NO WAY!

The shelter took in about 16 dogs today. Unfortunately, while that would be plenty, in reality it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The low estimate of dogs she had in her care was around 50, so we’re missing a quite a few at this point! We know that animal control left 3 that she claims as her own personal pets, and 6 more that she says her daughter will pick up and take to the Salt Lake area in the morning. That’s still only got us to 25. We know for sure that she has moved a quite a number of the smaller breed dogs to some friend’s houses. How animal control will deal with that, I don’t know. They said that at this point, they are just going to keep a very close eye on her. I don’t know how successful that will be!

Anyway, it’s just a sad day for rescue in our area. I really wish this situation could have had a different ending.