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I took Kentucky and Derby to the dog park for the first time today. I was a little worried 'Tucky wouldn't act like a lady, but they both did wonderfully.

Derby spent the first hour marking every tree, park bench, trash can, fence post, etc. in sight. I don't think he even realized there were other dogs there until he ran out of pee.

'Tucky was, at first, more interested in getting people to pet her and tell her how pretty she was than playing with the other dogs.

Eventually, though, they both met some other dogs, very politely. They didn't wrestle or chase anyone really, but were both really behaved. Derby stuck pretty close to me, unless he was leaving p-mail all over, but whenever a big group of dogs started organizing, 'Tucky had to run over and be right in the middle of it.

All of the dogs were very well-mannered for the most part. One woman had a gorgeous pit bull that she would let wander far from her. The dog didn't have a mean bone in his body, but totally didn't understand how big and heavy he was and he wanted to play with all the little dogs. Several times, I had to grab this dogs harness while it tried to lunge at a little dog (not mean-like, just over-friendly) or when someone was holding their little dog out of its way but the pit kept jumping up to get closer to the little dog. The owner would casually stroll across from the other side of the park saying "leave it, leave it" or "I'm coming" while I'm holding the dog so it doesn't squash some poor little rat terrier.

But that was the only problem I saw. There were two gorgeous great danes there - Hamlet and Diesel. Hamlet was GINORMOUS, but camera shy. Diesel desperately wanted to play with K&D, but they weren't quite sure what to do with a dog that big.

I took lots of pictures, but forgot to put my memory card in before I left and, of course, my cord to download the pics to my computer is back in Louisiana. I'll see what I can do to share those with you sooner than later.

The dogs are exhausted now and sacked out on the kitchen floor (YAY!!)

Well, Gustav just doesn't want to veer off his projected path to my house so we have decided to leave tomorrow morning for San Antonio.

I will be making preparations today and we'll pack up the dogs and cats and head out very early tomorrow morning.

After the storm, we'll board the dogs, leave the cats with my sister, rent a truck and head back to finish packing and move permanently (unless my store has been damaged here, then I'll stay behind to help with the clean up).

Some good news from this storm: New Orleans obviously learned something from Katrina as they are allowing people who are evacuating by bus to bring their pets and are making a lot of preparations to help pet owners.

And, from the stupid front, Aaron's assistant manager told him that if she evacuates, she's leaving her schnauzer in the backyard. B**CH!!! So, before we leave, we're driving past her house to make sure she wasn't serious. And, if he's out there, we're taking him, too and she won't be getting him back. I'm sure he'll find a nice home in San Antonio.

I'll be checking in. Wish me luck!

HIGH: You may remember that I posted not too long ago that we sold our house in a day to the first couple that looked at it.

HIGH:  They had the home inspector come out yesterday and he found NO problems!!

LOW:  It seems the couple misrepresented their pre-approval status and can only get an FHA loan, which means the house would have to appraise for no less than $139,000. Well, we wouldn't be selling it for $132,000 if it would appraise for $139,000. So, FHA won't approve the loan for the sale of this house.

HIGH: Fortunately, they must love the house because they've agreed to do a lease/purchase agreement, which it turns out, is better for us because we now will have to pay NOTHING out of pocket as the couple will have to pay $5000 down, which goes towards the real estate agents commission if the couple decides to buy the house after a year. (with the sale of the house, we were going to have to be paying about $4000 when all was said and done). And, the real estate agent manages the property while it is being leased so if there are any repairs, etc. that need to be made that a landlord would normally take care of - they take care of that.

So, I guess this turns out in our favor. Has anyone done a lease/purchase arrangement before?  Are there any other questions I should ask?

I just watched an excellent show on the Nat. Geographic channel called "Dog Genius."  It's scheduled to run again on Aug. 17 at noon (central time). If you can, watch or record it. I guarantee you will love it.

Here is a clip of one of the most extraordinary things on the show. This rescue doberman arranges his toys in geometrical and artistic arrangements. It's uncanny!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGQ0n0A71xQ

When we move to San Antonio next month, the dogs won't have a fenced in yard so they will HAVE to stay indoors (YAY!!). So, I bought them their first crates and we are getting them used to them. They will be inside all the time now (except for potty and walks, of course). I'm so excited!! Looks like they don't mind the crates too much.



Hopefully, they will be just as quiet tonight when we go to bed.

I had a handyman over here earlier this afternoon fixing the siding the dogs had chewed up. I had the dogs in the workshop while he was here so he wouldn't accidentally let them out of the gate.

When he was done, he went to unplug is saw from the workroom and for some reason thought if he left the door open the dogs wouldn't run out.

WRONG!!

Kenutcky took off like a bullet so I got in the car to chase after her. Of course, to her, this is her favorite game: let Mom get close then take off running. She would even run up to the side of the car and I would open the door for her to jump in, then take off in the opposite direction.

I thought I had her at one point as she was squatting to poop in someone's yard. I got out with the slip leash, she took one look at me then took off - turds flying out behind her.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS DOG???

Then, it got scary: she ran down the street to a very busy highway, crossed the highway 3 times and was running straight at cars. She would not slow down, would not come when I called and the only thing I could do was follow her in the car, honking to make sure the cars looked to see a yellow blur in the road.

Finally, she ran off to the shoulder and seemed to be getting tired. I pulled over and was sneaking up on her. Another lady pulled over to help and, of course, Kentucky took off again, but when the lady started calling her, Kentucky finally came running.

I got her in my car and started to back up to get on the highway again and....

now I'm stuck in the mud!!

Fortunately for me there was a couple across the road waiting for a friend to come help them change a flat tire.  I asked them if they could push and see if they could help me get out of the mud. The guy said he had a friend on his way who was HUGE and he could probably do a better job.

When his friend got there, he hooked a chain up to my car and quickly pulled me loose with his truck.

I was so grateful. I asked them, “Now, what can I do for you.” They both said, “Nothing. That’s what we do every day. We serve the public.”

When I asked what they meant, they told me they both worked for the sheriff’s department and they were happy to be able to help.

Wow. Can I keep the guys and get rid of the dog? Just kidding. I did just finish a nice letter to our local sheriff letting him know what wonderful employees he had in these two guys, though.

Then I went home and took a shower...

Found this on YouTube when i was watching horsepoor's video or the fence-jumping Winter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7RdVdsSfAI&NR=1

and I'm sure all you newfie owners can relate to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9N5kDSeRJM&feature=related


and this just makes me smile from ear to ear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odmEFD1aMYg&feature=related