Dog day

There are currently 26 large dogs in the building where I volunteer at the Ranch. There were more but apparently the Ranch has an agreement with a similar shelter in Nebraska. That shelter trains young dogs and has a very good placement rate. The Living Grace Canine Ranch specializes in senior dogs. So they swap with Nebraska. They just sent four of the dogs who were very young to Nebraska and acquired one older one, Misha. I've not met Misha yet. She's in transition to get used to the environment before they have the volunteers walk her.

So that leaves 25 dogs. And three of us walking them. The four Pyrenees dogs travel as two pair. So we take them out as a couple. That makes 23 walks that need to be done. One dog, Duchess has been at the vets for a couple of days (no idea why yet, I'm worried... she's an elder Pitbull who is sweet as she can be). So that makes 22.

So pretty much 7 trips for us each. I only made five today before my hip was done. Fortunately the other to made up the slack. Here are the ones I got to take out:


The first is always Billy:



He's the one that none of the volunteers are allowed to walk. He has a tendency to bite. He knows I'll bite him back so we're friends. He always looks for me first thing and is really my buddy.  I didn't like him at all when we first met until I figured out he was just like me.  Now I've got a real soft spot for him that he tolerates.

The big problem at this point in the morning is that breakfast is being made and few of the dogs really want to be away from their apartments when it is served. So selecting the right dog is important. I chose poorly today.



Samson is a really sweet dog but he really wants his food. We went out and had a good time hanging at the enclosure, walking around the border of the Ranch on the way back and it was all fine until he got close to home. Then he decided he REALLY want to get back to eat. He's only around 70 pounds but is really strong and I'm a lot less so with my hip issue. So we had a struggle getting him safely (safe for me, not him) back to his home. We made it and he dug into breakfast and I was only annoyed, not hurt.

Next, I grabbed these two.  They had already eaten so were ready to walk.



Texas and Bandit have been at the Ranch since before I started, a couple of the original inmates. They know the drill and are just as sweet as they can be. They don't pull at all and are very treat oriented which makes them easy to manipulate. We went out to the big field where they could move around some and I sat and listened to a podcast while they wandered the field. Then we talked for a while and then walked back.

As I was checking off Bandit and Texas on the paperwork I could hear Duke whining so I went to take him:



He's also a sweetheart and easy to get along with. He and the other Pitbull he came in with had a hard life and have the scars to prove it. But they have both figured out the deal and are big time face licking dogs. Duke's only real issue is he HATES trucks and really wants to chase them and bite them. You'd think with three legs it would be easy-ish to hold him back. But I really have to be careful near the road. He's 90 pounds of muscle and intent and could easily pull me down if I'm not ready. Fortunately I am. I find myself singing the lines from a Leon Russel song: 'Stray dog that lives on the highway walks on three legs. Kind of moves too slow to get the message'. It was a Russel metaphor that Duke embodies.

Next, and turned out to be last, is the love of my life, Khaleesi. Here is a picture of her in jail:



She loves to look longingly through the bars and whine a little.  She says she didn't commit the crime.  Innocent, like all the other inmates.

She gets more attention than, I think, any other dog in the place and knows how to work it.

We went out and did our thing in the enclosure. She loves to run laps then try to jump into my lap. It is my job to grab her and keep her from knocking me out of my chair. And then she would be laughing hysterically if she could laugh. She obviously loves the game so much. I always come home with mud on my shirt or jacket from her paws.

We did some walking afterwards but I could feel my hip giving out so she was the last of the day. Fortunately the other two are younger and everyone got a walk.

And I'm about to shower and ice and rest.  Tomorrow is a quiet day then I begin again with Billy Thursday morning.

Student Demonstration Time

Ah, the good old days. I was listening to a podcast today that took me back to Eldridge Cleaver, H Rapp, and the anti war contingent.  What sent me down the rabbit hole of my mind was the statement that there were 'outside elements, non-students' that were causing the problems on campus today.

What we used to call 'outside agitators'.

Mary Ann Vecchio, the 14 year old girl in the Kent State photo, was such an agitator.  I remember the commentators of that day saying so.  It must be true.

My next thought was 'nattering nabobs of negativism'.  Dear old Spiro.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  

One of the best songs of that era, really after it and describing the history, is on a dusty record few have heard.  It is a Beach Boys tune called Student Demonstration Time.  Nothing new in it.  But, really, nothing new under the sun.

Nothing pithy from all this.  Mary Ann is two years younger than me.  Still kicking.  Lives down in the Everglades where she grows avocados.  

So it goes.