Meet Gus

Well, I called it, didn't I? We now have doggie number three. He's a sweetie pie, but it turns out he's in need of a few repairs. No matter, we're up for the task!

Good news first. He's a very sweet boy who is has interacted incredibly well with the other two hood rats. They, too, have taken an interest in him and have seemingly included him in their pack. This is great news! He seems to be potty trained and can "sit" on command. He's quite the little charmer.


We took him to see Dr. Effie yesterday and his heart and lungs sound good and his teeth are pretty good. He is not micro-chipped, which is a Godsend, as it would kill us to have to return him to his neglectful (at best) "parents."


Not-so-good-news. Obviously he has been on his own for a while or at least neglected. Effie says he's malnourished, which is evident in his dull and patchy coat. He's not neutered either. He's got a REALLY guttural and horrible sounding cough, which is probably kennel cough. We did get medicine for it, so it should lessen soon. The worst part is that he is heart worm positive. It's going to take some pretty intense treatment, but it is most likely curable. The treatment calls for serious antibiotics, followed by a 2-3 night vet stay and a whole month of isolated movement. The whole process will take about 6 weeks. But hopefully after that, he will be all better.


HW treatment will commence once he's cleared the cough, or at least until he is finished with the antibiotics for the cough. Effie says that they might actually help with the worms too.

Though a heartworm positive diagnosis is disheartening and sad, we're hopeful that with treatment and time, we can help restore his good health. Nonetheless, he'll definitely be receiving more than his fair share of belly scratches and sugary, high-pitched words of encouragement. That's got to count for something, right? :)

softies

That's what Zac and I are. We got a call at 9:30 last night from our neighbor, Myla, the Dog Catcher Extraordinaire. Given that we had such a hard time with the Scout vs. tiny house/tiny dog/easily bruising Sarah legs, I was prepared to combat any request she had with a gentle let down. Until she said the magic word: Pomeranian. On one of her many dog walks last night, she happened upon an older Pom who looked tattered, hungry and tired. He was very scared of her and tried to get away, but she did end up cornering him on a neighbor's front porch and leashing him. He didn't snap at her; he pulled a Jack move and surrendered belly up so she could scratch it while she put the leash on. Smart boy.

She says she thinks he is in the double digits in age because of his glassy eyes, condition of his teeth, and grey hair. She says his hair is badly matted and unkempt, and that he's got a flea and tick collar on, but no tags.

She's bringing him over to meet us tonight. I have a feeling that this little boy is about to finally find his forever home. :)

Independence Day

Zac and I declared our independence from relaxation this weekend and did some very sorely needed yard work. We put some SERIOUS sweat equity into the Copp Casa...it was like 3 days straight of Bikram yoga in the 100+ summertime heat. We also did lots of re-purposing. First of all, we re-purposed the weekend. We had planned to spend the long weekend with friends at our buddy Wade's ranch. I'm sure we missed an "unprecedented" party (unprecedented in quotes b/c that's Wade's word for awesome...was apropo here), but we did get a ton of stuff done 'round here.

First, we re-purposed an old table and chairs that Tara and I bought for our first apartment together after college. It's made of wrought iron, glass, and solid wood, so fortunately we could remove the old stain on the wood, paint it with outdoor paint (it looks white, but it's actually a beautiful green color called oak moss) and make it usable again on the flagstone patio.

We also stripped the area near the garden with the banana tree and elephant ears of all the Bermuda grass and put filter fabric and mulch down. We also uncovered our flagstone path--the St. Augustine had totally taken over. By the way, we have re-purposing plans for that garage too. Only, unfortunately for the garage, the plans include demolition and putting in a pool. Some day. :)

We also plucked the Bermuda from the driveway and finally planted the planters in front of the garage with Lavender. The planters are re-purposed too...they originally held Italian Cypress plants that we planted at a job site back in January. Horray for free planter boxes!

We carried the Lavender through to the front pots too.

All-in-all, it was a ton of hard work, but so worth it. We officially reclaim our dependence to relaxation.