Brodie's (formerly Buddy) visit.

I'm in the middle of my week with Brodie. His family went to California. We've been to the dog park three days in a row between showers, probably won't go today as it's raining. Again. Feels like it's been raining ever since it stopped snowing. 

I was able to brush Brodie and Woodson. They are both shedding, so it's nice to do this at the dog park where I can just let the fur fly. The birds love to pick it up, too.

I haven't taken any pictures. I think KJ got a bunch yesterday. Will have to see if he can get them off the camera and send me some.

The Collies Will Frolic!

Mark your calendars!

 

The next Collie Frolic is Sunday, June 9, from 11am to 3pm at the Stone Mountain Pet Lodge in Blaine, Minnesota.

 

We'll have good conversation, fun games, yummy food, door prizes, several vendors sharing their products, and plenty of indoor and outdoor space for our dogs to play.  Watch for more details.

 

The event is free and open to the public, so invite your friends.  Registration, which helps us plan for the meal, is now open at www.MWCR.org under "Upcoming Events."

 

Looking forward to seeing you next month!

 

MWCR Events and Fundraising Committee

 

 Collie wannabes also welcome!

Dog park, vet, new home!

I'm really going to miss this dog. I told his new family I'd take care of him anytime they needed it.

I'll be taking Buddy to the vet this afternoon, then run him out to his new home. I'm excited for him, but will still miss him.

KJ and I took all three dogs to the dog park yesterday. There were some muddy spots, but overall it was dry. Buddy did really well. We let Brett and Woodson loose in the entryway, so they just run in and take off. I kept Buddy on his leash at first just to see how he does. It was crowded. He did well enough to let him off pretty quick. He was going up to strangers and asking for attention which is new. Maybe it's when they come to him first that brings on his shyness.

At one point he had wandered over toward the entrance, so I called him back to me and as he's trotting toward me, Brett goes pell mell to him and literally slams into him head on. Buddy was stunned and was limping a bit. Wow. 

He walked it off and was okay, but geez, Brett. Woodson knows through experience, to stop and turn when Brett charges him. I'm guessing Brett thought Buddy would so the same. That can't have felt good for Brett, either.

Adopted!

Buddy's visit last Saturday went really well. He met Tessa, a British Lab and would-be sister. They got along  great. Mom had white collies growing up. I could tell they really wanted him, but having a dog is a big decision, let alone having two and two young dogs at that. Buddy is actually one of the most mellow puppy I've ever had. He will need to adjust to Tessa's playing style which is a bit more rambunctious than Woodson, but he will. 

They decided that yes, they want to adopt him. I have to take Buddy back to the vet to finish removing stitches from his surgery on Monday, then the plan is to take him out to Minnetonka.

Here's a link to Buddy's bio page:

http://www.mwcr.org/2013/buddy-2013.htm

Buddy's surgery

Buddy is home recovering from what turned out to be more than a simple neuter.

In his exam Wednesday morning, Dr. Ken found one testicle, so during the regular neuter they had to do internal surgery to look for the other one. They found it, wrapped in a cord. I picked him up Thursday afternoon and he's doing well. He's walking funny, but he's leaving the stitches alone so far. I'm sure the pain meds are helping with that. We go back in two weeks for removal of the stitches. 

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The Pet Expo opens tomorrow. I'm going to drop KJ off for a few hours in the morning so he can help Terry with the iPad and card reader. Then taking Woodson for his rabies shot and giving him a bath on Saturday night because on Sunday we all go back to the Expo at 1 to closing. We always have a lot of fun at this. Buddy would be recovered enough to go, but he's really shy with strangers at first. Actually cowers if someone reaches to pet him, so I won't put him through that. He completely warms up to people, but I think being at the Expo would stress him out. Woodson can be shy, too, but he's getting better. He loves the attention, but doesn't like the standing around.

Quick update

Buddy is scheduled for the snip snip on Wednesday and will then be available for adoption by the weekend. I need to get his bio stuff done!

Re: being loose in the house?

He passed the morning shift.

He failed the evening shift.

He is crated now.

It wasn't that bad. I came home from Foss Tuesday night to two paper grocery bags shredded.

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He's a very shy eater. He needs quiet and no interruptions or he won't eat. I put some water on his food and he seems to eat more. I bring him up to my bedroom while getting ready for work and shut the door. The other day I forgot to shut the door and Brett came in and just started eating. Buddy backed away and let Brett eat. I think he's used to having food down all the time as he only eats some of it, which doesn't work at my house. If you don't eat your food, someone else will!

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Buddy loves to play with Woodson. They play really well together.

Yesterday Buddy and Brett got into a bit of a brawl. I'm sure Brett attacked Buddy. I didn't see what started it, but was able to stop it quickly. The three bones were on the floor, so I picked them up for now. I'm thinking Buddy wanted the one Brett had. Not a big thing, we have these squabbles every so often between Brett and Woodson. 

Takin' a chance on Buddy

It says in his profile from his owner that he can be left loose in the house, so I'm trying it this morning. Will know about 12:15 if it was a good choice. KJ is in Winona for a few days during his spring break. Woodson and Brett are kenneled up, so if any damage is done, I will know it's Buddy. I closed all doors upstairs, left the gate into the basement open so he won't feel alone and put all shoes into closets.

If all goes well, I'll let him stay loose until/if he does something.

Food

Buddy hadn't eaten much at all. I was feeding him in the garage, in order to give him some privacy. I often do this with fosters because I don't know how they will be around my dogs at feeding time. Last night I put some water in his food and brought it into my bedroom, shut the door and he ate. So this morning, I feed Brett and Woodson in their usual spot in the entryway, then fed Buddy in my room again and he gobbled it up.

Bathroom

No accidents in the house. And no pooping in two days. I've been putting him on the cable and sending him out with one of my dogs and he'll pee. I've been trying to walk him a bit but he hasn't wanted to pee on a snowbank and it's icy. He doesn't pull on the leash at all, in fact he kind of walks around me a lot, so we need more training with that. It's hard now because we have a lot of snow and it's really icy still. Late last night I put him on the cable and left him out there by himself while I watched from the window. He eventually went off the step and pooped. Yay!

 Trip to Petco
We went and got him a new collar. Brought all three dogs into Petco. KJ took Bett and Woodson and I dealt with Buddy, who is pretty shy in new situations. The collar Buddy had was as big as it could get and I felt was rather tight. Good for not slipping out of, but I didn't feel it could have been very comfortable. Got him a martingale which is a really good collar for a collie. I won't worry about him slipping it when he's on the tie-out. The collar is like a choke collar, but it only closes up so far and releases better.

Play

Buddy and Woodson are playing a lot. Brett is so rough when he plays. He's a charger and Woodson is used to it, but I really think he enjoys having another collie to play with. They don't seem to get as rough. A lot of it is laying down face to face and just grabbing at legs and ears, etc., huffing and gruffing.

Sunday night, KJ proclaimed that if we didn't have two dogs already, he would want to keep Buddy. This speaks to how sweet the dog is. KJ doesn't like it when the foster is a lot of work!