Ah, what a glorious day! Bright blue skies, a strong breeze from the north, and temperatures around 70. A promise of the autumn to come, and I can't wait! The dogs are full of energy and are loving this, even old Wheezer has a spring in his step.

This afternoon we took Phoebe and Mandisa to a park not far from our house, that has kiddy BMX racing every weekend. I've never seen this before and it was fun to watch. The youngest kid we saw was a three year old boy who was slow, but did complete the course, with cheers from everyone.

It was good socializing for the dogs, seeing kids on bikes whizzing all over the place, a loudspeaker going at all times, and lots of people walking around. It was also a nice excuse to be outside on such a beautiful day! According to the forecasters we're due for about 4 more days of this weather and I'm looking forward to it.

Shrek says Hi!



Now here is a foolish toad, I found him this morning hiding in the big exposed roots of a large maple tree in the yard. I know he didn't get that big (at least 3 inches across the back, he's huge) in our yard - I hope he's able to escape before one of the dogs finds him!

What a difference a couple of days makes! Trick is feeling great, no more limp, and you would never know he had surgery a couple of days ago. He's back to his obnoxious and goofy self, getting into everything and thinking life is one big joke. This morning his totally destroyed one of the puppy toys; there was stuffing and a mangled squeaker spread over the area rug in the living room.

With the advent of somewhat cooler weather, I made a big pot of dog soup yesterday morning, and everyone got a ladle of it on their breakfast. Silly Phoebe was not impressed, she prefers either Alpo or Chicken Soup for the Dog's Soul canned food! I guess she's going to fit into the catagory of "weird food tastes" just like Shrek, who also prefers canned food to dog soup. Dog soup consists of either hamburger, chicken, or turkey boiled up with broth, sometimes some leftover veggies, and either white or brown rice or barley. It smells great and is human grade food. Most of the dogs think its manna from heaven, but there's always an exception. Now we have two exceptions!

Phoebe is doing great. She's put on several pounds and some of her undercoat is starting to grow back in. She is really enjoying the cooler temps here in CT. Wait until the weekend when overnight lows are expected to be in the upper 40's! She'll be running around like a maniac, I'm sure.

Here's a picture of her yesterday running up the yard. It's hard to get pictures of her because she doesn't stay still for a moment. I was playing around with my camera and found a "sports" setting which has very little lag time, and this helps.

Yesterday Trick got neutered. I'd been planning this for over a year now, but one emergency or another kept cropping up, and finally I was able to schedule the surgery and get it done. He's also been limping some on a front leg, and thought that since he was going to be out cold, it would be a good chance to see what was going on with that.

Bobo (Trick has many names!) came through the surgery just fine - so fine in fact, that I got a call that I could pick him up at 2 pm instead of the usual 6 pm. I went in back to take him out of the recovery kennel and Dr. Joe was laughing about him, saying he had "amazing testicles" and that they were so big he had to work a bit to fit them out of the incision he had made. We knew they were huge, as in the hot weather they swung down and banged on his hocks! Anyway, he said he may be a little sore and have some swelling because they were so big and there was some tissue trauma. He also found what looked like an old bite wound on his front leg that was causing the limping - I have no idea when that could have happened as Trick doesn't run with another dog, but knowing him, nothing is impossible! He's on antibiotics for two weeks and that should take care of that.

Trick was very sore and stiff last night when he went out at the end of the night, but his tail was curled and he seemed to be in good spirits. He wolfed down his dinner, no problems there! This morning he was much less stiff, although he is walking a bit like a cowboy in the rear He ate all his breakfast and was then begging some of mine, so it looks like he's going to make a quick recovery.

This morning I went out to the mailbox to mail some stuff, and when I came back into the gate, I noticed a huge spiderweb and spider in the corner of the yard. The sun was shining on it, and it looked beautiful. I got my camera and took several shots of it, trying to get a really good one. This was the best I could get. I hope it comes through clear enough to see the web.

Friday was a cold and rainy day, and Diane was coming up with Mouse for his final journey. He has gradually been going downhill the past few weeks, and last weekend he pretty much stopped eating. When he did eat a little bit, he would gag and retch and it was obvious something was very wrong. He was having a lot of trouble getting up and was sometimes unable to, and would just soil himself where he was laying. It was time

Diane called Dr. Joe on Wed, and made plans to come up here yesterday. She called me when she was about 20 minutes away, and I met her at the office. As bad as he felt, Mouse still wagged his tail and was happy to see me. Diane had brought her friend Margaret along for the ride, in case she was unable to drive home, and to have someone to talk to. We all went into the exam room, where there was a big thick quilt on the floor for Mouse to lay on. Dr. Joe gave him a quick exam and confirmed that there were large masses in his abdomen.

His front leg was quickly shaved, and he was given the injection - he gave a big sigh and was gone in seconds - he was so ready to cross the Bridge. Of course all of us were crying, but it is comforting to know that his buddy Stella was waiting there for him, probably saying, "What took you so long you old fart!" I have no doubt they are running and playing again and are happy to see each other once more.

It's amazing to me that that tiny, 6 oz puppy, who we never expected to survive the night after his birth, grew into a full sized Akita and brought so much joy into Diane's life for over 12 years. He had a long and wonderful life, and will never be forgotten.