Another Day at the Lake & All About Red

The weather was miserably hot this past weekend. Since the dogs did not seem interested in burning off any energy in the yard, we decided to take a quick trip to the lake. Even Chloe got to come along this time. The spot we normally go to had several people fishing. We ended up at the beach which is officially closed. I did not think that we would run into anyone down there since there were "no swimming" signs up everywhere. On our walk down the hill, several teenagers passed & remarked on Pauley & what a good looking dog he is. Once we got to the beach area, we saw several families. At first I was not sure if we should turn around, but immediately people were friendly & seemed excited that the dogs were there. One man even ran up & hugged Pauley (okay?). Once the dogs were loose, they went straight for the water!

Note that the splashing is ALL Pauley's doing!

Chloe's swimming days have passed by & this is as deep as she will go now, but she still had a great time.

Hands down, Pauley enjoys swimming more than any dog I have ever seen. He is not interested in fetching or even being near people & he is normally a VERY clingy dog. The only thing he wanted to do was splash & bite the water.

We heard one little boy exclaim to his Mom "she is doing a doggy paddle!".

Red has been with us now for almost two weeks. Since he is going through heartworm treatment, this crate is his home for now. You can see how he feels about it in this picture.  He goes back for his second treatment on Monday the 6th; cross your fingers that all goes well.

The only thing that we know about Red's history is that he was at the shelter since the beginning of the year. We met Red half way between where STAR is located & where we live. When we first saw him, he peed. The poor boy was scared to death. We tried to be as quiet & friendly as we could be, but he did not move once. We had placed treats & a bone beside him, but he wanted nothing to do with them. Once we got home, he was too afraid to enter the house. We lucked out that one of the kitties waltzed right in the door & Red followed. That is the one thing he has been very clear about, he LOVES cats! For the first few days, he did not make a peep & even now he only occasionally makes a soft little whine when he wants to go outside. Normally once a foster gets to the house, they go a little wild, but not Red. He is very timid & takes awhile to get used to anything new. We have given him treats & he will leave them for several days before feeling confident enough to eat them. At first we had a dog bed in his crate, but he was too afraid to lay on it. For now, we have placed a soft blanket down for him. I am not sure if it is just that he feels bad due to the treatment or maybe just a combination of a new place & the treatment. The second day, he wagged his little stub. By the third day, he was giving kisses. I am confident that once he starts feeling better & when a little bit of time passes, he will relax & maybe we will get a good look at the young happy dog who is hidden right now. He is only 1 1/2 (estimate), but already has a gray beard :( I also think that once he is able to interact with the other dogs, that he will feel more at home. With all that being said, we love him & he is sweet as can be. Oh and bonus, he is already house trained! When Red wags his stub & gives you a kiss, you feel very special, because he does not hand them out freely (yet).