Picture of Bogey with his new family at Piedmont Park yesterday. Bogey�s foster mom, Becky, also went with Bailey and got to see Bogey, who�s now called Max, again.
Monday, October 2, 2006
Jackson�s foster mom, Beth, emailed and said, �Last I spoke with Jack�s parents was probably a month ago. Jill called to let me know that Jack was now camping out in the crate (when she is in the kitchen he can see her). They are an ideal family for Jack. Jack has come along way. I don't believe he has the separation anxiety issues anymore. He knows Steve and Jill are going to return.�
I called Keely's parents on Tuesday night. Ed said Keely's doing great. They still have one obedience class left. Earlier in October the instructor had to cancel a class so she could go to this Woofstock-type thing. Last Saturday, they were the only ones in class. The class started out with six dogs, but three of them had obvious serious fear issues (not aggression, but hiding in the car and under the bush), and probably should take private lessons first. Then it was down to two dogs, then last week was just Keely. So they pretty much had a private lesson, which was quite nice. The instructor just asked them what they need to work on and went from there. They mentioned that Keely occasionally still growl or chase the cat, it is only occasionally, and they can't figure out the trigger. Ed said that Milo can walk in front of Keely all the time, but just once a while, she would growl. He said one time Keely even pinned Milo down, not biting and attacking, but just pinned him down. I told him that Keely did that with my cat once too, and personally I think in that incidence, my cat deserved it (I think Anastasia was swiping Keely's face right before it happened; Anastasia probably thought it was okay to do to a dog, since Brenna and Jake let her do it all the time). Anyways, the instructor said to teach the "leave it" command to Keely. I think the actual word command they use is "don't think" as in "don't think about it", but from Ed's description, it sounded like the "leave it" command I sometimes teach to the dogs. Ed said that Keely is so smart and knows the commands so well, that when they practice, Keely would do the commands immediately, sometimes even before they say the word, and after they give her a treat, her focus would be elsewhere. Ed said that the instructor told them to give Keely two treats quickly, one after another, instead of just one treat for reward. So that Keely would think she would get a third treat and keep focused. Ed said that the instructor (Peggy) was trying to teach Keely the roll-over command, but after a couple tries, she said not to worry about that one, because it seems like Keely is one of those dogs who doesn't like to do it. Peggy said that it's a lot easier to teach hounds about this command (Peggy works with Beagle and Basset rescues), but there are just some dogs who are not into it. Also, Ed said that when they are teaching Keely to come outside, if Keely doesn't see that they have a treat, then they would sometimes to call her twice before she comes. But he said that a lot of times now, they don't need to leash Keely when they are just letting her outside potty.
He also said no problem with the food bowl now. They can even leave it out for a few minutes after she had finished eating, and no growling from Keely. He also said Keely is also now okay letting the cat drinking from the dog's water bowl. He said they were feeding Milo in the laundry room but then Keely would get in there trying to eat the rest of his food, after she had finished hers. So now they feed Milo in the sunroom. Also Ed said Barbara thinks Keely chipped her teeth by biting on the wired crate, so they no longer crate Keely while they are not at home. They just close the bedroom doors, and Keely's fine with the run of the house. They think maybe Keely was getting frustrated sitting in the crate, while the cat had the roam of the house. But they still leave the crate door open, so Keely can go in whenever she wants. Ed said that they are still working on trying to keep Keely off the sofa. He said she doesn't do it when he comes home, but they keep a blanket on the sofa, and they would see pawprints on the blanket, so they know she gets on there when they are not at home. He said they are interested in taking the agility class in the spring. He said the idea of leaving dishes of treats around the house did not work out, because Milo figured out the game too, and the cat ate all the dog treats. Ed said they will try again when Erica graduates and takes Milo. Both Erica and Mark ask about Keely when they call home, so that's nice.
Then I spoke to Barbara. Barbara said that the lady (I'm not sure if she's referring to Peggy, or the walking partner she mentioned to me before) wants the dogs to walk right next to them, but she said she's okay with Keely walking a little front of her or next to her, as long as she's not pulling. That's my dog-walking style too, I don't really care as long as the dog's not pulling on a six-foot leash. She said Keely's wonderful in the car and since the weather's cooler now, they take her with them in the car even more often. Barbara said she has never seen a dog who sits so still in a car. She said that when they get food from takeout window and put it in the car, Keely would not even sniff it, whereas their previous dog (English Setter), would've eaten the whole thing. She said she just went to the pet store that morning and bought some more training treats for Keely. She said they have a drawer full of various kinds of treats. Barbara also mentioned that they are going to St. Louis this weekend because it's Parents' Weekend at Mark's school, so they are going to leave Keely at the kennel for two days. She said they want to bring Keely, but the dog would have to stay at the house with Mark and his roommate, but they don't think Mark and the boys will supervise Keely enough. We both said it's only for two days, so it should be okay. They are leaving Milo in the house, and their neighbor will come over to check on the cat. Originally they were thinking about letting the neighbor come over to watch Keely too, but since Keely doesn't stay in a crate now, they think it would be better if they keep her at a boarding kennel. I told them if they drive with Keely to Florida again, I would love to dog-sit her again. Barbara also asked about Tara, which is kind of nice of her.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I emailed Barbara and Ed about how did Keely do at the boarding kennel, and they said, �She got a good report. They did a trial play time with her and other dogs and she basically just watched. They said that was common with a dog�s first time. She also had a bath and the groomer said she was excellent (we get a written report). We have our last training class this Saturday � one was rained out so she is making it up.�
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Jazz (Jasmine)�s mom sent an update, �She's doing very well. She loves the big back yard and going down to our river cabin as much as possible. She is very loving and sweet and is loved by the entire family.�
Monday, December 18, 2006
I called Keely's parents last night. Barbara answered the phone. She said they went to their last obedience class, and that the instructor has emailed them about taking the agility class. She said they think Keely will enjoy it, but she and Ed doesn't know if they will be able to keep up running around with Keely. She said in the last class, (I forgot which command she said they were trying to teach Keely), they had to get down on the ground, but both she and Ed had a little trouble standing back up. So they are still deciding about the agility class. Then I heard some barking, I asked if that's Keely, and Barbara said it's like Keely knows it's me calling. I asked about the meal times and she said now she doesn't even need to tell Keely, and when Keely sees the food bowl during meal times, Keely would "down" on her own (I think it's wonderful that Keely knows to say "please" and "thank you" without being asked). Barbara says no growling at all. And I asked about hair brushing and teeth brushing, and she said hair brushing no problem, she said Ed does the teeth brushing and hasn't mentioned any problems either. I asked if Erica and Mark are coming home from school soon, and she said yes they are coming in the next couple days. I said I bet Keely is looking forward to see them again, and Barbara said both kids love and like Keely very much as well. She said they've been locking Milo the cat in Erica's room for the past two days, because Milo knocked over a half sized tree that sits on a table in the entrance hall, and broke a couple heirloom ornaments on it. She said they still let the cat out when they are watching the cat, but at night and when they are not at home, they lock the cat in the room or in the sunroom. She said Keely seems to know that the cat got in trouble too. Barbara said they had to take Keely to the vet a few times, once Keely lost one of her toenails (they don't know how) and wouldn't stop bleeding, and the vet just removed the rest of the toenail. Then she said they found a lump, but the vet said it seemed to be from a scratch and the lump is a scab. They don't know where Keely got the scratch, maybe a fight with the cat or something. Also she said Keely now has the run of the house pretty much when they are not at home, and when they come home they see Keely waiting near the front door for them. But she said they could tell when they are away, Keely also gets on the couch. Barbara said she has caught Keely on the couch a few times, but Keely always got down when she told her to. She said they still leave the crate door open and Ed has taught Keely go in there by "crate" command, but Keely goes in there by herself frequently also. I told her this is nice because that's Keely's own space and it's nice to have some personal space. She said they put the big Christmas by the window where the crate used to be and they had to move the crate. She said Keely didn't seem to like that but is doing okay adapting. Barbara said she will get more Barley Dog powder for Keely, because without it Keely just eats grass continuously and had started eating the holly bush leaves in the front of the house. I asked her about walks, she said she does it two or three times a week, and then Keely gets to run around in the yard when Ed works in the yard. She said Keely has made friends with the two big dogs next door (a Golden and a Black Lab I think), not really playing, but at least they are not barking at each other anymore. She said when the dogs are outside, they keep Keely on a long leash (Yipee! No shock collar from the invisible fence!), but if they are not, then Keely gets to run around and pretty much always comes to them when told.
Then I got to talk to Ed. He said they were the only ones left in class in the last couple classes, so they essentially got private lessons which were nice, and he learned a lot from it. He said with food bowls, earlier this week he picked up the bowl while Keely's eating just to test her, and no growling from her. He said he does that every once a while just to make sure. He said with hair brushing, they have good days and not so good days, Keely's very good about brushing the front end, she lets them touch her anywhere on the body, but they get the brushing done. They take Keely to groomer every six weeks or so, and so far all visits except one time, the groomer has said Keely was very good there. He said he brushes Keely's teeth every other day or so, and Keely has no problem letting him handle her mouth and no problem letting him clean her ears either. He said overall no growling from Keely, maybe once or twice when she and the cat get at each other. For now the cat mostly stays in Erica's room until Erica comes home and can watch the cat herself and until Christmas' over and they take down the trees, and then during the day they leave the cat in the sunroom. He said Erica and Mark just love watching Keely playing with her toys and they both have pictures of Keely (in photo frames or in wallets I guess). He also said his mother-in-law is coming over for Christmas too. So I asked if she's okay with Keely. He said yes she likes Keely very much too. He said their previous dog (English Setter) is a little reserved with people other than he and Barb and Erica and Mark, but when his mother-in-law met Keely, Keely was excited and greeted her warmly at the door, and his mother-in-law likes that. Plus Keely is a smaller dog and that helps too. Ed said that they took Keely to a dog park nearby. The park is next to a humane society shelter and they were taking some donations there. I asked if Keely played with the other dogs at the park, and Ed said that there was only one other dog there, and they kind of left each other alone. He said Keely sleeps in their room but is not allowed on their bed (sleeps on her own bed) and is very good about staying off their bed. I don't think Ed has ever caught Keely on the couch, but he said he knows Keely gets on the couch when they are not at home because they find paw prints on the blanket they put over the couch, and he said that's fine. He said Keely and the cat are doing fine, Keely is okay now letting the cat drink out of the dog's water bowl. He said Keely did fine at the vet's, and they take all lumps very seriously, because when their English Setter was three or four, they found a lump on her nose and it turned out to be cancerous, but they caught it in time and it was completely removed and the dog died from another cancer at age 12. I said yeah at first when Barb told me I thought maybe one of the lumps that was removed when Keely lived with me had resurfaced, but Ed said no the vet said it was a scab from a scratch. He said Keely goes into the crate by herself often, it's like her own downstairs bed. He said when he works in the yard, Keely either stays near him or she stays in the fenced in pool area, and is very good about both and has fun being outside with him. He said especially now the weather has cooled down, they take Keely everywhere with them as much as possible. He said Keely is very good in the car and sometimes gets to ride in the front seat and sometimes in the back. And since the weather is cooler then he can leave Keely in the car when he runs into the store for five minutes, like on Saturday he and Keely went to the donut shop and Keely stayed in the car when he went inside. He said when they go through the drive-through, sometimes Keely gets a treat, like one time they did the drive-through for the donut shop, and Keely got a donut hole. He said he works with Keely on obedience and overall Keely is very good with that too. He said they spoil Keely a little bit but overall Keely is a wonderful dog. Both Ed and Barbara also asked about Tara and about my school work, which was nice of them too.
Monday, February 19, 2007
I called Keely's parents yesterday to get some update and spoke to Barbara. She said Keely went to the groomer for bath several weeks ago, and got a good report, saying she's not scared there anymore. Barb also said that Keely likes the Valentine's toy I sent (snowman playing "Let It Snow" I think, can't remember it exactly; I was going to get her the rose that says "I Love You" from Jeffers, but it reminds me too much of a creepy episode from The Twilight Zone) and has been playing it all week. She said Keely's not interested in the bone (sterilized knuckle bone) I sent, but the cat has been showing interest at it. I said that's fine, because I was worried that Keely would like it too much that she would start guarding it, but if she doesn't mind letting the cat playing with it then it's fine. Also she said there is no issues with food bowl guarding, and even though she puts out one water bowl each for the dog and for the cat, the dog likes to drink out of the cat's bowl and the cat out of the dog's. I asked her if Keely's okay with that and she said yes, so I guess it's okay. Barb said she's been walking Keely more and they are planning to take the agility class with Keely in the spring, and she said they will keep me updated on how that goes. She mentioned that Ed is keeping up with cleaning Keely's ears, but she had some trouble brushing Keely's fur. She said then she had the groomer trim Keely's coat shorter (but not shaved; Barbara prefers the non-shaved look) and that worked out better. She said so whenever it gets harder to brush then she will have the groomer trim it shorter. Barbara said earlier this month she went down to Tampa to help her mom move. Her mom just turned 80 and has decided it's best to live near them. There's a retirement community being built about 2 miles away, and her mom's planning to move there so they can check on her regularly. She said during that week when she was in FL, Ed came home for lunch everyday, so he could let Keely out potty and also to spend a couple hours with her. So that worked out well. Barbara said Keely's doing fine and the only problem they have right now is that Keely gets so excited when they come home that she leaks urine near the front door, but she said it's not a big deal. I told her it's probably submissive urination, and I recommended her to either ignore Keely when they come in or downplay the greeting ritual. She said it's hard to try to ignore Keely now she's not crated anymore (Keely's tooth got chipped back in September, they think it's from her chewing on the crate, maybe from frustration seeing the cat walking around when she was crated when the humans aren't home), but again she said it's not a big deal. I said it's sign of submission, so Keely's acknowledging they are the leaders, and personally I think this is better than having a fear aggressive dog, and Barbara agreed. I asked Barbara if it had snowed in Nashville yet, and Barbara said yes actually it had just snowed this past weekend. She said the cat was very curious about the white stuff falling from the sky, but when they let Keely outside, she just went potty like nothing had happened. Keely has not shown any special interest in the snow. Barb said they are letting her on one of the couches now. I said well as long as they tell her off and she gets off, then it's okay. Barbara said sometimes she has to tell Keely twice but she does get off with no problem.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
On Friday when I heard the Drs. Foster & Smith dry lite formula dog food recall news, I called and left a message on their answering machine. Then last night I called them and got to speak to Ed. He said they are going to be really busy in the next six weeks, so they probably won't start the agility class until late summer. He said Erica (the daughter) is graduating and has decided to stay in Chicago, so they are going up there to help her move from her shared apartment to her own apartment. And Mark (the son) isn't going to be at home for the summer either, he got an intership in Chicago, so they'll go to St. Louis and help him move some stuff to Chicago for the summer. Then Barbara's mom is moving to a retirement home near their house, so they'll have to go to Tampa to help her move up to Nashville. And Ed's painting the guest bedroom so Barbara's mom can stay over if needed. He said they'll be taking Keely with them as much as possible, just like they take her around town when they run errands, so she gets to ride in the car a lot. He said for the Tampa trip, they are flying down, so Keely will probably have to stay in the boarding kennel, but it's a really nice kennel, and Keely gets to watch the other dogs play or least gets some outdoor time each day (they booked the day care option too), so she should be okay.
He said they just bought a camper, a small RV I think, and they are going to take Keely camping with them. He said there is only one bed in the camper, for two people, but they'll bring the blanket and put it on the chair in there and Keely could sleep on the chair. We think Keely would love go camping! Ed said the only problem would be Keely still likes to munch on grass whenever they are not watching her, and when they took her hiking once, she kept chewing on grass, so he doesn't know what to do with that when they go camping.
Then we talked some about the dog food. He said Keely is not on the lite formula, so they are safe right now with that. He said they went online to Drs. F&S website and it says they'll contact people who bought the other products if there is more recall, but he and Barbara have been checking the updates closely to make sure Keely and Milo (the cat) don't get sick. He said Keely had peed in the house once or twice, but nothing major, so they decided to bring her to the vet for overall check, to make sure there's no urinary tract infection and also blood test to make sure she wasn't affected by any of the tainted food, and also to get a baseline value since she's an older dog. Their vet said many people had done that since the food recall, and Ed said they watch Keely closely and take her to the vet whenever needed. They are still waiting for the test results, but the vet did physical exam and everything seemed normal. The vet also told them that many people had started home cooking for their pets, and he and Barbara have rejoined this organic produce club and they'll receive some organic fruits and vegetable each month. Also he said they weighed Keely at the vet's and she's 33 pounds, perfect weight for her (they are doing a better job with keeping her at an optimum weight than I did :). Ed said Keely's perky, and we both said it's hard to believe Keely's eight years old (I think from the records from her previous owner, she'll probably be nine soon) but she acts much younger.
He said as far as training and exercise go, they haven't taken her out walking much during the winter, but now the weather is good they are out more, and he's been doing more training practice with Keely. He said sometimes they still put the outdoor line on her when they are outside, but most of the time they don't have to anymore since she's pretty good about coming back, as long as she's not too focused on a bird. He said if he can get her to turn her head when he calls, she'll come back. He said with training, Keely is so smart that when she sees treats, she'll start doing all the commands she knows, trying to predict which one Ed's going to ask her to do, so she would get a treat. And sometimes she would run off for no reason and then come right back, because she knows if she comes back then she would get a cookie. He said they are still working on the greeting at the door when he comes home. He said Barbara has been tougher about ignoring Keely, but he said he has to train himself not to respond to Keely's happy greeting. It's hard to resist when she's so happy and come running, barking, and wagging her tail. And they've been having Keely sit-down-stay and give her a cookie when she does not bark when they come through the door.
He said no problem with the food bowl, he said actually now they leave the bowl down most of the time after meals, and no growling. He said Keely lets Milo drink out of her water bowl, no problem, but growling occasionally at him (over food I think), but then he slaps her when she walks under the chair with him on it. So they have a mutual relationship. He said there was a fight between Keely and Milo, so now they don't leave the two together unsupervised. They close this door in the house that separates the house in half, and the cat stays in one side and the dog stays on the other side, when he and Barbara are not at home. But when they go up to Chicago to help Erica move, they'll take Milo with them and the cat will go back living with Erica. He said they'll miss the cat, but sometimes it's hard for them to try to find the cat when they are getting ready to go out, to try to separate him from Keely. He said Erica's new apartment has a large window to look out, and the cat will like it a lot, because both Milo and Keely love to spend time at the greenhouse (screened in porch) to look outside.
He said Keely's very good when they spend time in the pool area (fenced), that she would just sit under one of the chairs. He said no diarrhea or soft stool, but occasionally Keely would eat grass and throw up, not often, maybe once or twice a month. He said with teeth brushing, they found this mouth wash in Drs. F&S catalog, so he's been doing that with the sponge thing and cleaning Keely's teeth that way. Hair brushing is going better, Keely still does not like her back end brushed, but she tolerates it much better now.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
�Sorry we did not get back to you sooner but we have been very busy. Mark has a summer internship in Chicago and Erica graduated from Univ of Chicago in June. We went up to Chicago for her graduation on June 10. We were in Chicago for about 4 days. Ten days later Barbara drove up to Chicago with Milo to help Erica move to her apartment as Erica is staying in Chicago for her new job. Barbara stayed in Chicago for about 7 days and then had less than two weeks to get ready for our vacation which begins Saturday. This is our first trip with our camper. We are going to Myrtle Beach , SC. When we get back, Barbara will be home for three days then leave for Florida to move her Mom to Tennessee. She will be in Florida for about 10 days helping her Mom pack and then drive back. About a week after Barbara gets back her Mom�s furniture will get here and we will move her into her new apartment. Then we have to get her Mom settled. We are looking forward to September. It is just so hectic.
Keely is doing fine. She just had her annual checkup. She passed with flying colors. She has put on two pounds so we will be watching the amount of snacks she gets. She now goes out with us around the house without a leash. She likes to go out early in the morning and chase the birds on the lawn. I have worked on her with hand commands. I point to the door and she runs to the top of the stairs and waits for a treat. I am getting pretty good results using two hand claps to get her attention when she starts to run too far or chase a squirrel. She usually turns around and comes right back. I still am a little cautious if there are other dogs out. She REALLY likes staying in the house with the air conditioning. We got her hair trimmed for the summer. Because of our schedule we have not taken any classes this summer. If we take an agility class, we will take it with the same trainer we used with Keely before. We are still deciding whether we take Keely with us on vacation? I want her first camping trip to be a good experience and we are little nervous taking her for a full week. We will keep you posted.�
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I just called Jazz's mom, Kathy. It was a very short conversation, less than 60 seconds, but Kathy said everything's fine since adoption more than a year ago, that Jazz fits right in with the family.
Monday, October 22, 2007
�Keely is doing well. She started growling at her food after the last lengthy kennel visit so we have been dealing with that by lifting her bowl when she growls. Last week we decided to change her food and this has helped the growling. Keely was good on our camping trip but it was hard on us because we had her with us continually. Her last adventure was to St Louis to stay overnight with Mark and his 3 roommates. They love her. We walk in the park now instead of the neighborhood because I am afraid of dogs in electric fences. At least in the park they are on leashes.�
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
I went to visit Keely yesterday. I wasn't going to take Tara into Keely's house anyways because I don't want Keely to tense up (Tara bit Keely before when Keely visited more than a year ago), but I just found out the sitters I used over the summer don't live in Auburn anymore, and I didn't have time to interview new sitters. But the weather was nice yesterday and I just left Tara in the car with the windows open, while I visited Keely at her home.
Tara and I got to Keely's house at 1 PM. I was taking Tara out potty when Keely and her mom came outside. Keely was on leash and barking at us across the lawn; I wasn't sure if she was barking aggressively at Tara, or if she was barking happily at me, or maybe it was a combination of both, but her beautiful long tail was high and wagging. While I was putting Tara back into the car, Keely and her mom came near us, and Keely barked a couple times softly. I could see that there are some gray hair on her face, and I told Barbara (Keely's mom) that Keely looks older, and Barb said yes with the gray hair, but we all do :) I put a handful of dog treats (dry biscuits from Newman's Own Organics) into the car's backseat for Tara, and I asked Barb if I could give one to Keely too (Keely had them while in my foster care so I know she's okay with that treat), and Barbara said yes. Keely just sniffed the treat very briefly and did not eat, hmm very strange... but Keely sniffed me for a few seconds, did not act excited like when I visited a year ago, so I wasn't sure if she remembered me.
I asked Barb if Keely has slowed down some, and she said they think so, but they have too, so it's okay. She said they've discussed before and agree that after walks, Keely just pretty much sleeps the rest of the day. She said Keely appeared to be sleepy probably because she got up with Ed when he had to get up at 4 AM that morning to go to work early. I asked but there's no signs of arthritis, right? And she said they don't see any limping, and she still takes Keely for walks in the park several times a week. Barb said they used to walk around the neighborhood, but one time a dog broke out of his fence and charged at them. Keely backed up and Barb tripped, but the dog backed off when Barb told him to go home. However ever since then, they just feel safer walking in the park, she said at least the dogs there are leashed. Barb asked me if I think Keely's going blind, and I told her that I don't see any obvious signs of cataracts, and I asked her why she asked that. She said that her mom visits often now she has moved up from Tampa, and a few weeks ago when her mom drove up with a friend. Usually Keely gets excited when Barb's mom visits, but her mom said Keely sniffed her for a while when they met at the door that time. But then Barb also said that Keely ran out of the door at time too, and usually Keely comes right back when they call her, but that time Keely ran over to the next door neighbor's yard and growled at their two (Lab?) dogs. Anyways, I didn't see any obvious signs of Keely having vision problems. I wonder if Keely's family was thinking about Tara's blindness (caused by Progressive Retinal Atrophy). But even with that, most owners say they didn't notice their dogs losing eyesight until very late stage of the diseases, besides, there's no cure for PRA right now anyways. Barb said Keely is a heavy sleeper, actually she had to wake Keely up when I drove up. I asked but no hearing problem when she's awake right, and Barb said no problem.
I asked Barb how did Keely do on her RV trip (Barb and Ed got an RV over the summer), and she said Keely did really well. She said that when they got to their campsite, they gave Keely a large bowl of water, and Keely drank all the water, and threw up (so they only give small amounts of water at a time now). But other than that, Keely did really well on the rest of the trip. She said they had a campsite dinner with the other guests, and they brought Keely along too, and Keely was very well behaved. But she does realize that traveling with pets it's like traveling with a small child, that you have to watch them or have them with you pretty much 24 hours a day. Barb said Keely drinks a lot of water, compared to their previous dog (an English Setter) (I don't think Keely has diabetes or Cushings, physically she looks fine, and they had a completely blood panel done in August during her semi-annual vet exam). I asked about Keely's trip to St. Louis to visit Mark, Keely's human big brother, in college. Barb said that their hotel did not allow pets, so they decided to let Keely stay with Mark and his housemates (I think Mark had asked for Keely to stay over last year too), and she said they loved having her there. She said when Mark was home, Keely stayed with him and slept in his room at night, and when he went out, she sat next to one of his housemate's feet while he completed grad school applications. And the girlfriend of one of the housemates is a vet student, so Keely got a lot of attention from her too. Barb said that Mark asked them if he could bring her to campus with him while he was manning a school club table, and they said yes. When they met up with Mark afterwards, Mark told them that they had recruited a lot more people that time with Keely there. Barb said Keely did throw up a little bit afterwards, probably because Mark wasn't preventing Keely from eating grass. She said that Keely still likes to eat grass, if their grass gets tall, Keely would eat it, and Keely would eat the grass at the dog, but the barly grass powder supplement definitely helps some. I asked her if Keely's now more comfortable meeting strangers, and Barb said that Keely still barks at some dogs, but most of the time she just ignores them. With people, Barb said Keely has no problem with that, is friendly, and her tail wags when people visit their house.
I was petting Keely and she's now got very long hair, beautiful feathering. Barb and Ed don't get her the typical Springer cut because Barb doesn't like the shaved look. Keely's got two mats behind her ears (Barb did say Keely needs to go to the groomer again soon), but otherwise no mats, so I think they spend a lot of time brushing her. I was feeling Keely all over and grabbed her butt and then her tail. Keely did not move and just relaxed. I was amazed, because a year ago and when I fostered her, Keely did not like her behind touched, now she doesn't even care, it's just like touching her ears or face. I told Barb so, and she said that yeah Keely doesn't have problem with people touching her tail now, they don't know why she had problem with it before. Keely's nails are long, but I know that many people, even some veteran foster parents, aren't comfortable clipping their dogs' nails and would rather have the groomer or vet do it, so it's okay. Also Keely's got good weight on, not over or under, so I guess no diarrhea from the new food (Barb said they switched gradually).
