I'm afraid I've neglected the blog spot this summer. A lot has happened with Zeke still here at Greenwood and Sammy still at Travis County.
We had a play date with Dakota who nearly killed a chicken. Zeke did not encourage the assault, but didn't really try and talk Dakota out of it either. It turned out that the only thing lost was a few feathers. The hen recovered to lay an egg by noon.
A few weeks ago, I took Zeke to an outdoor concert in a park. He was a little high strung, but settled in for the first set next to my lawn chair. During the intermission, I took Zeke to go busy away from the crowd. On the way back to my chair, another dog lunged at him and bit him on the face. It was a complete surprise to both of us. All the dogs had been so quiet and well behaved during the concert. I screamed horrible things at the owner of the aggressive dog who was blaming me for the assault. He said I simply walked too close to his dog and therefore needed to accept responsibility. The security workers came over and asked my to return to my seat. I said only if they made him leave, so they did. I think they took him to the other side of the stage or behind the stage, because I never saw him again. Zeke was treated and released from the vet the next morning. The punctures have healed nicely and the hair is growing back now. It might be white hair, but it is growing back.
Zeke has developed a very good respect for snakes at Greenwood. He watched our little dachshund, Dixie, get bit in the face by one the other night as we were coming in from our walk. She stopped to take a sniff of the three-foot garter snake and it struck her right in the sniffer. She flung her head and the snake flew about six feet and landed on the sidewalk. Zeke and Dixie avoided the sidewalk for a couple of days.
Last night, I went to close the chicken coop and there was a seven-foot gopher snake entwined among the hens' feet. I took a deep breath and grabbed his tail. The hens jumped up as I pulled the rascal free from the roost. I drug him backwards for over a hundred yards, the entire time, yelling at Zeke and Dixie to leave it. Dixie went and hid somewhere. Zeke stayed with me, but kept a safe distance. The snake kept striking at us, but we managed to make it to the carport where there was a metal trashcan with a lid, which I used to contain him. After I stopped shaking, I drove him to his new home and turned him loose. He jumped at me one more time when I was releasing him. He just had to have the last word. The funny thing about Zeke is that he still thinks the snake is in the metal trashcan. He is keeping an eye on it.Tonight, I took Zeke for training at a beach volleyball game. It was a typical Zeke rodeo when we arrived. He was sure we were at the dog park and I was about to turn him loose on the game in the sand pit. After a few stern corrections, I found a place to sit and just worked on obedience with Zeke. He got the message after about 20 minutes of leaping after the ball and nearly pulling me off my chair a few times. I was very pleased with his progress and made a video. Oh, four of the players were family relations, so that added an extra element of excitement to the experience. Enjoy the video.
We had a play date with Dakota who nearly killed a chicken. Zeke did not encourage the assault, but didn't really try and talk Dakota out of it either. It turned out that the only thing lost was a few feathers. The hen recovered to lay an egg by noon.
A few weeks ago, I took Zeke to an outdoor concert in a park. He was a little high strung, but settled in for the first set next to my lawn chair. During the intermission, I took Zeke to go busy away from the crowd. On the way back to my chair, another dog lunged at him and bit him on the face. It was a complete surprise to both of us. All the dogs had been so quiet and well behaved during the concert. I screamed horrible things at the owner of the aggressive dog who was blaming me for the assault. He said I simply walked too close to his dog and therefore needed to accept responsibility. The security workers came over and asked my to return to my seat. I said only if they made him leave, so they did. I think they took him to the other side of the stage or behind the stage, because I never saw him again. Zeke was treated and released from the vet the next morning. The punctures have healed nicely and the hair is growing back now. It might be white hair, but it is growing back.
Zeke has developed a very good respect for snakes at Greenwood. He watched our little dachshund, Dixie, get bit in the face by one the other night as we were coming in from our walk. She stopped to take a sniff of the three-foot garter snake and it struck her right in the sniffer. She flung her head and the snake flew about six feet and landed on the sidewalk. Zeke and Dixie avoided the sidewalk for a couple of days.
Last night, I went to close the chicken coop and there was a seven-foot gopher snake entwined among the hens' feet. I took a deep breath and grabbed his tail. The hens jumped up as I pulled the rascal free from the roost. I drug him backwards for over a hundred yards, the entire time, yelling at Zeke and Dixie to leave it. Dixie went and hid somewhere. Zeke stayed with me, but kept a safe distance. The snake kept striking at us, but we managed to make it to the carport where there was a metal trashcan with a lid, which I used to contain him. After I stopped shaking, I drove him to his new home and turned him loose. He jumped at me one more time when I was releasing him. He just had to have the last word. The funny thing about Zeke is that he still thinks the snake is in the metal trashcan. He is keeping an eye on it.Tonight, I took Zeke for training at a beach volleyball game. It was a typical Zeke rodeo when we arrived. He was sure we were at the dog park and I was about to turn him loose on the game in the sand pit. After a few stern corrections, I found a place to sit and just worked on obedience with Zeke. He got the message after about 20 minutes of leaping after the ball and nearly pulling me off my chair a few times. I was very pleased with his progress and made a video. Oh, four of the players were family relations, so that added an extra element of excitement to the experience. Enjoy the video.
