A WEEKEND IN SECHELT

This past weekend I took Isabelle to Sechelt with me to visit my mom and dad.   We went over on Saturday and as usual Isabelle is a great travelling partner.   She wandered around the ferry with me and then rode quietly in the truck when we were on the road.   My mom and dad both really like her...but what's not to like.  She is easy going, cute, affectionate and even funny if you get to know her well enough.  She is always making me smile. 

The trip down to the beach from my parents is quite steep so we drove.  Isabelle probably would have been fine in cooler weather but combine a steep uphill walk with the heat of the afternoon sun and I didn't want to take any chances when its just as easy to drive down there and get our exercise on a flat surface.  Of course she went straight into the water and dunked herself and then proceeded to hang out while we sat on the beach digging through the rocks in search of the 'good ones'.  



"I love the water"



"Oh...is that person carrying a sandwich?"

We had a great weekend and she fit in with my parent's dog Ralph pretty well, although he didn't know quite what to make of her because she's pretty low key and he's used to someone wanting to play.   On the ferry ride on the way home some kids came by to pet her and she is really awesome about standing still and soaking in the attention.   We also met a very cute and chatty little girl (maybe 6 or 7 years old) who spent a great deal of time telling me about her puppy (a Havanese) and her cat named Mango.  Apparently Mango is not too impressed with the new addition to their family.   She told me some pretty funny stories about how it was all going so far and then she told me that in her opinion I should keep Isabelle.   She was very entertaining and helped pass the last bit of the ferry ride, all the while petting Isabelle.  She's a smart girl to see what a catch Isabelle is and to suggest I should be keeping her. But just like so many of the other great dogs that have come from TG to be fostered in my home, I have to let go so I can continue to foster.  One day a dog will come along and get stuck at my place permanently.   In the meantime, Isabelle is meeting with an applicant tomorrow night.   More about that later though....

ISABELLE IN THE CITY



Most of our walks have been down at the beach.  It's so hard to imagine going somewhere else when it's so pretty down there and Isabelle loves getting into the water so much.  She smiles more when we walk there.   I wanted to give her a new experience so we went for a city walk.  She is not phased by anything.  Traffic noises, people passing by, riding bikes, opening doors, and the skytrain running overhead.  She is good with it all.   She walks well on the leash and her endurance is getting better too.   We stopped part way through our walk and she prompted me to get going again soon after.  

Still no word back from the vets office with Isabelle's test results.   Either they had a very busy day today or the results for the thyroid test didn't come back from the lab.  When we were at the vets the other day a lady came over to see what I was using to get Isabelle in and out of the truck.  She has a pitbull who she has a hard time loading in and out.  I showed her the $5.00 bin I had bought from the RAPS Thrift Store.  It works like a charm.  It took Isabelle about 5 minutes or so to come out of the truck the first time I asked her to use it and even then she tried to step around it.   This helps her get in and out without the need for a boost.  She actually will jump in and out without any help but it seems pretty hard on her joints as long as she still has this extra weight on her.  Once she loses some weight...look out.  There will be no stopping her.  Check out the video to see how her step-bucket works, and notice that she waits until invited out.  I had to teach her that because once she got comfortable with getting in and out she had started a bad habit of trying to charge out the door.

When Isabelle first came into foster with me she would lay near the water dish at the end of the night.  She didn't know me well enough to feel the need to lay at my feet.  It only took a couple of days for her to start moving around the apartment to follow me and lay nearby.   She now comes and lays right next to the couch and stares me down to be petted.  I love her soft face, ears pressed back.  She's so cute, I can't resist as she twitches her eyebrows waiting to see if I'll pet her.   

AND THE FUNNY SIGHTINGS CONTINUE

First off I just want to say that Isabelle's geriatric panel was incomplete on the thyroid test so we had to go back and give another sample of blood to complete it.   So test results will be in tomorrow.

After going to the vet I took Isabelle down to the dog beach in Richmond which is on Sea Island, near the Airport.   While I was down there I was talking to Cynthia who had fostered for TG quite some time ago and this guy came up to us and was asking if people swim in the river.   I told him there are signs at the beach saying not to swim but that I've waded in there a bit and sometimes you see kids swim in there.  So he tells us he is Jaeger Mah who is the winner of the live at yvr for 80 days contest and he's going in swimming.  So he hands me his phone/camera and asks me to film him.  He strips down to his underwear and jumps on in.  He is a very entertaining guy with a big personality so it's no wonder he won the contest.   He has been in the airport already since mid August and he can go out and about as long as he stays on Sea Island.  He is trying to get a barbeque arranged for the little community of Burkeville while he is still at the Airport.  I have no doubt he can make it happen too. 

Click here to see the video



Jaeger Mah after his swim in the river.

When we got home I was happy to see something in my mailbox other than bills.   King and the Royals have sent me a bandana and flag for Wren and now I'm sad that he was adopted before he got to sport his fancy bandana with his name on it.  Look at all the hard work that went into even the packaging:

Thanks Del, King and the Royals for sending this and we're sorry that we adopted Wren out so quickly that he never got to feel the love from the TG bandana factory.  At the very least you made me laugh and smile!



Isabelle proudly wears Wren's new gear in his absence.
(Dogs who are tired from the beach are way more willing to model bandanas)



SOME THINGS TO CATCH UP ON

Well, I suppose I should mention first that Wren was adopted!   I put him/her on Craigslist and found the most awesome home.  I was very careful to ensure this was an adoption and not a snake's lunch.  A family of 5 (with 3 girls and 1 boy) called me to adopt Wren and they were visiting grandma's house 5 minutes from my place so I drove Wren over there and the girls came jumping and skipping out of the apartment because they were so excited to get a new Gerbil.   I checked in on them yesterday and here's the report after the first day:

Hi, Yes, everything has gone well, We put the new gerbil beside the other one and it seems their eyesight is not so good as they seemed to smell  each other first and look around. Because the cages are lower half plastic and upper half wire, unless they stand on the hind legs, they cannot see each other. Once they noticed each other they touched noses and tried to dig and bite the cages to get to each other. At this point it looks like two gerbils in love, but it could be two gerbils trying to protect their territory as well ( they are very anxious to get to each other ) To be safe, we are not putting them together until they get used to each other and to each others smell. They were so noisy that my kids separated them overnight and most of this morning they slept . We read articles that suggest we should exchange their cages everyday for a while so they get used to each others scent. We are keeping them side by side as well so they can touch noses. I think the white gerbil is a male. Our old gerbil seems to be a female. The internet suggests males behave more calm and are not as afraid of humans and this seems to be the case.  Thanks

So a happy ending for an unusal foster pet!

I also missed sharing some pictures from the TG reunion weekend.  Isabelle has a hard time getting into the box/back of my truck so she slept in the tent with Dave and Sail slept in my truck with me.  She looked so comfortable so I took a couple of pics....

Sleeping on the bed I made for her (nice smile)

...and then the pillow thief on the bed I made for ME

It was nice to spend some time with Sail again and I hear she is doing really well up at Turtle Gardens.  I think she needs boundaries combined with the right amount of freedom and TG offers that.  I offered boundaries but couldn't offer her the freedom she needs.  It also doesn't hurt that TG doesn't have a bunch of rabbits on their front lawn and squirrels running across the street : )

I also found a couple of pics of Isabelle that I hadn't posted yet and thought I'd share them.  The expressions she gets on her face is one of the endearing qualities I really like about her.

Her expression when I look into the back of the truck
when we get to the beach.

This is her I-want-something expression.  She was staring me
down so I'd put the camera down and pet her some more.

I took Isabelle to the vets office tonight and Dr. Ubi said he thought she was closer to 7 or 8 years old and not the 12 years that was told to TG when she was surrendered.   I have been thinking the same thing, that she just doesn't seem THAT old.   She is slower because of her weight and maybe that makes her seem older but he said that by looking at her and her teeth, he couldn't see that she would be over 10 but maybe even a couple of years younger than that.   So that's very exciting news for her adoption prospects.   Turtle Gardens requested a geriatric panel on Isabelle so we will know tomorrow how her overall health is.  I will write more about this tomorrow. 

VESPA PARTY

If you have followed my foster dogs on the Turtle Gardens blog you may remember some of the bizarre things that I've seen when I've been out and about with the dogs.  I was flashed by a guy near the skytrain station, saw Elvis pushing a shopping cart down No 3 Road and also saw a car driving down the river when I was showing Yvette the dog beach in Richmond. 

On Saturday Isabelle and I went to Harbour Park in Ladner with a friend and her dogs and no sooner had I pulled into the parking lot ...a bunch of Vespa's came around the corner all in a row.  There must have been at least 60 of them.  Some retro and some newer ones and some interesting people riding them too...the whole look.   They were holding their annual gathering at the park and were just getting the festivities underway.  I want a Vespa now!   Just seeing how much fun they were having was enough to make me want to join their group, and I'm pretty sure you'd need a Vespa to do that.  


One row of Vespa's, including the retro Pizza Van.



Isabelle, tired after our walk down to the river.

THE BEST WAY TO RIDE ON A FERRY....AS PER ISABELLE

CAMPING AND AN ADDITIONAL FOSTER

Wow....I have been really neglectful in writing my own blogs here.   I wrote three blogs for the Turtle Gardens website though.  So, its not like I disappeared completely.  

In case you missed it, I wrote a one week blog about Isabelle.   CLICK HERE

And I also wrote a blog about the Turtle Gardens reunion on the Island.  Isabelle and I went over and camped out for a couple of nights.   CLICK HERE  



Wearing her TG 'adopt me' bandana.  (Thanks Aunty Del)

 Isabelle is a great travelling companion.  She rides really well in the truck, and on the Ferry we sat outside in the shade on the car deck.  At our campsite she just hung out without being leashed.   She got along with all the other dogs - both camping and at the reunion.  I haven't seen her really play with other dogs, she is mostly all about a short sniffing session and then she moves on.  I think Yvette told me that she used to play with Martha (one of the dogs she came to TG with) so maybe she will play with other dogs if they were to be a new sibling.   She has also proven to be very good with kids so far too.  On the night before we left for the Island we went to Paula's place to pick up all of the TG display boards, t-shirts, etc. and the kids in her complex were all out in full force on their bikes.  It started with two girls coming up to pet Isabelle and ended up with about 6 kids standing in a circle around her petting her.   She just sits and takes it all in, enjoying the attention.

At the reunion she hung out in the shade and even when I ran back to the parking lot for a couple of things she just stayed put and would wag her tail when she saw me again.  She is very comfortable in so many settings.   If any food was brought out she scoped it out from many feet away and would be sitting at the feet of whoever was eating lunch.



Sending positive thoughts for the food to drop.

 She soaked up all of the attention from everyone and when it was time for the walk down to the beach I was so proud of how well she did. 



Happy after a good dunk in the water.

 Her endurance is definitely building up and she also looks likes she's getting a waist.   She went straight to the water at the beach and then came to lay at my feet.   When it was time to head out of the park she hoofed it up the stairs and then up a bit of a hill, which I'm not so sure she would have done as easily a few weeks ago.   



Asleep at the campsite...after a long day at the reunion.  (Her leash is
harnessed around her so it doesn't drag on the ground.)

On the Sunday when we headed for home I told Dave that I would foster the Gerbil and try to get Wren a home and so....I now have two TG animals in my home.   Wren has a new cage and is very low maintenance so really no problem at all.   I wrote a 2 day blog (CLICK HERE) for Turtle Gardens to post in the hopes this would help find a good home that Wren could go to and he/she is also posted on Petfinder now.
  

I'll bet nobody else has used a TG bandana
for a Gerbil hammock yet.

I haven't had a little pet since I was a kid.  They are entertaining.  It's fun to set up a cage and watch them enjoy certain elements of the world you created for them.   Wren ran all around the new cage checking everything out and has enjoyed chewing up all the paper I put in there.   I have been trying out different treats including veggies, gerbil treats and even dog treats.  The treat that Wren likes the most so far is a Kaliwags dog treat that I picked up at the Petnership dog event.   I haven't taken him out of the cage yet because he's still a little nervous in the new setting, so for now I just put my hand in the cage and let him get comfortable with me.  I have picked him up a couple of times and he hasn't nibbled on me yet so a trip out of the cage will be in order real soon.  Wren is cute but I'm not looking to adopt a gerbil so please help me find him a forever home.