Lexa and Mozart

Lexa the bouvier and Mozart the cattledog

Wednesday -- 11:17 AM 6/18/2008

This morning Alice and the dogs arrived in front of my house and I got in her vehicle and we went to the airport. Alice got out and took her things and I got in the drivers seat and headed for home.

When we got home I parked in front of the house and took the dogs in and gave them their breakfast. Then I went out to move cars around. I wanted my car in the street and Alice's in the driveway.

I took mine out and parked it in front of the neighbor's house, then I used the key on my keyring to unlock Alice's driver's door. When I opened the door the alarm started blaring. HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! And I was flummoxed for a moment. My first thought was to shut the door but that didn't help. I decided to go into the house to get her keys that were attached to the magic remote. Fortunately that seemed to be the correct answer. When I started pushing buttons the honking stopped. Nobody had come out to see what it was about, but maybe some of the neighbors looked out their windows. Probably not.

Anyhow, I got the vehicles put where I wanted them, and I guess all's well that ends well. The dogs all found it very intereseting.

I'm waiting for a callback from Travis to clarify the details of the medicine Mozart takes.

Lexa seems to be having a good time playing with her friends here. Mozart mostly stays in a crate where he can watch and not be bothered.

Thursday -- 8:07 AM 6/19/2008

Everyone's getting along well. Lexa spent the night quietly asleep on the foot of my bed and I'm not sure where Mozart slept. I didn't hear from him until about 6:30 when he came into the bedroom to see if we were ever gonna get up.

Mozart's sore on his tail looks fine. I'm spraying the magic stuff on it every day. I'm not giving him any pills until I hear from Travis. Lexa's taking her pills with every meal and seems to feel fine.

Friday -- 8:34 PM 6/20/2008

We're having a heat wave. I'm sure glad I live where I do, since it's about 10 degrees less than most nearby places here. Even so it got up to 85 or 86 in the house. We all went outside to sit in the shade or run and play for a while this afternoon.

All seven dogs (Mozart, Lexa, Quarterdeck, Pete, Rocky, Beau, Starlight) are getting along well and having fun playing together. I thought it would be a problem with this many dogs but I haven't had any serious conflicts yet.

Saturday -- 7:05 PM 6/21/2008

The heatwave continues. There's a lot of lying around going on, and the water bowls get emptied at an amazing rate. Everybody's fine, though, and once it gets a little cooler in the evening the games begin.

They say tomorrow will be the last hot day, but they've been predicting one more day for a while now.

I guess Lexa and Mozart will be going home tomorrow. It's been a much easier several days than I expected, but it will be even easier after they leave.

Sunday -- 8:34 PM 6/22/2008

I picked Alice up at the airport a while ago, brought her here, and she grabbed the dogs and left. Still got 5 dogs here.

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An earlier visit:

Friday -- 5:46 PM 8/3/2007

Travis brought these dogs back for another weekend. All the others were glad to see them.

They settled right in with the gang.

Saturday -- 4:39 PM 8/4/2007

Another day is coming to an end. I left all the dogs home for about an hour this morning when I went to visit a neighbor. Other than that we've all been here all day, and nothing interesting has happened.

They just finished their dinner and I imagine they'll head outside for some running and playing soon.

All 5 dogs are getting along well. They share the toys and don't squabble about anything.

Sunday -- 10:55 AM 8/5/2007

Boring is good. All the dogs here (Beau, Starlight, Lexa, Mozart, Quarterdeck) have figured out their favorite sleeping place, and their best playmates, and nobody has to squabble about anything.

Lexa sleeps on my bed, Mozart on the couch, Quarterdeck usually sleeps on the floor in my bedroom. As long as we have the stability of all the same dogs in residence everything remains pleasant.

Lexa and Mozart will be going home today, so everything will change slightly. But not much.

6:18 PM 8/5/2007

They've gone home. It's so very quiet now...

scroll way down for an earlier visit..

An earlier visit:

Thursday 8:29 AM 7/26/2007

Alice and these two dogs arrived early this morning and I took them all to the airport, then I came home with her car and the dogs.

They weren't eager to come in where all those other dogs were, but I didn't ask them, I told them. They are mostly staying out of the way, hoping nobody will notice them. The other dogs are pretty much respecting their need to be left alone. I'm hoping they will soon feel more comfortable.

When they feel better about things I'll take a nice picture of them. Right now they'd prefer to be let alone. I can do that.

8:31 PM 7/26/2007

It took them most of the day to begin to feel comfortable here. By evening they were running and romping with the gang. They still feel like they need to be careful to keep a low profile, but they aren't nearly as concerned as they were at first.

By the time I remembered I had intended to take a picture of them it had already gotten dark. Oh well, maybe I'll remember tomorrow.

Friday -- 9:40 AM 7/27/2007

These dogs are still feeling a bit insecure. The other dogs all run and romp and play, and Lexa tries to stay out of the way. Mozart plays with the others a little, but not as much as I'd like.

All the others are respecting their space, and not annoying them, so I expect them to warm up to the gang soon.

Lexa's spending most of her time in the crate in the corner. That's the most favored crate I have. There's almost always a dog in it. With the door open, of course. I guess they feel secure there, where they can see out but they aren't easy to see.

Mozart lies on the couch beside me as long as I'm there, and when I walk around he usually comes with me.

5:44 PM 7/27/2007

Oh the joys of feeding multiple dogs.

With 6 dogs in residence I have to be very careful in feeding them all. Many of them have special diets, and medicine added to their food. And they all want the other guy's food.

So as usual I put two of them in crates, one in the pen, one in the kitchen and my two in the spare bedroom. And I started feeding them, as usual. First I gave my dogs their first part of their dinner. Then I came out and fed Rusty in the kitchen.

Then I fixed three bowls of food for the remaining three. And as I came out of the kitchen I noticed that Lexa had come out of her crate. No problem, I hadn't latched it, just assumed she'd stay put. It's OK if one is loose, since everyone else is confined.

So I had my three bowls of dogfood and had to put Lexa back into the crate. She didn't want to go in because her food wasn't in there yet. So I put all three bowls down so I could take one and put it in the crate for her.

Well, the top of that crate has things piled on it, so there's no flat surface to put dogdishes on. Somehow Quarterdeck's dish got tipped sideways, and before it had a chance to spill I pushed it up against the wall. So far so good. Besides his kibbles there were four small pills there. And I really didn't want them to be spilled where I might not be able to recover them. Hmmm. Couldn't just take the dish away from the wall as most or all the stuff would fall out.

Meanwhile, Lexa was getting quite impatient for her dinner. She could see it but I wouldn't give it to her. Just wait, Lexa, it's coming. I should explain, there's a tapestry hanging against the wall that the dish was against. So I put my hand behind it to see if I could support the food in the dish while tipping it. Nope.

So I looked at all the things piled on the crate. Magazines! I reached for a magazine and put it behind the tapestry. That made it stiff enough that I could carefully tip the whole thing enough to make the dish level and get it away from the wall without spilling. I set it down more safely and gave Lexa her food.

Then I looked to see how many pills were in the dish. Couldn't see any. So I gave Mozart the food he was waiting for so patiently, then slowly poured QD's dinner from one bowl to another. Yes, all his pills were there so I gave him the dish. By then all the other dogs were complaining that they were still locked in. And I still had to give Beau his medicine and both my dogs the rest of their food.

So I gave Beau and Starlight the last of their dinner and started letting everyone out. QD still had a pill in his dish so I put it in his mouth and it didn't come out. Now they are all loose and all I have left to do is give Rusty his shot.

And you thought I lead a boring life.

Saturday -- 7:19 AM 7/28/2007

We made it through another night and another breakfast. Both were relatively uneventful.

Now there are about 4 big dogs wrestling and milling around in the living room, with Starlight watching from the couch and Rusty outside by himself. Oops, nevermind, here he is again.

The house is beginning to resemble a disaster area. Somehow, with this many dogs messing things up I can't seem to get motivated to do any cleaning. In a couple days 3 of the dogs will be going home and I'll steam into action. Maybe.

It will really seem quiet with just my dogs and Quarterdeck here. But it won't last. It never does.

We don't have any plans for today. It looks like it will soon heat up, so they are getting in as much playing as they can in anticipation of their long day's nap.

8:31 PM 7/28/2007

We had a quiet day and a playful evening. Both dogs are beginning to feel at home here but they are still keeping a low profile. They rest a lot. When I go outside they come with me, and they do some romping with the others in the morning and evening.

I guess tomorrow will be their last full day here.

Sunday -- 7:52 PM 7/29/2007

While Starlight and I were at our agility class my cellphone rang. Travis was at my house wanting to pick up the dogs. I told him he'd have to wait a half hour until the class was over.

They're gone now. I forgot to take off the tags I put on them. That's OK, I'll get them back eventually.