This week's photo....

...will more than likely be late. I'm not even totally sure the photo came out. We'll find out as soon as I'm able to spend time at my computer. Right now, I can't get to it because Katie has turned into a devil dog!

Hubby patched up a couple of the holes in the fence only to have Barkley push down another part. Barkley then taught Katie how to push down that part of the fence also and get out. When she got out, she went over to our neighbors house and killed 7 of his chickens! Now out in a rural area, that's enough to get a dog shot, but our neighbor is a good guy, retired military, and he just came and told us what she did and asked us to keep her out of his yard. He wouldn't even let us pay him for the chickens she killed. We'll it's been raining almost nonstop since then and we haven't been able to do any more fence repairs. So, Katie has had to be put in the pen every time she's gone out since then. She's not getting nearly enough exercise.

Her behavior has gone to hell in a hand basket. She's getting into the trash and tearing it up. I plan to buy covered trash cans. She's started peeing on the floor in the middle of the night. We're trying to make sure she goes out late at night and early in the morning. She flat destroyed a couch cushion. We need a new couch anyway. Although I think we'll wait a while to get one. She's jumping on us constantly. She had been doing it some, but not to this degree. I think it will calm down again as soon as we can start working with her more outside.

All of this is to say that I don't want to leave her downstairs tonight so that I can work on my computer upstairs. It's been raining too much to take her up on the carpet right now. So, the photo will be late. It will be here though. So, until then, happy reading.

Katie update

I thought you might be wondering how our Katie girl is adjusting. She's quite at home now. She and Barkley truly seem to enjoy each other's company. They play and run together all day long. She has found at least one way out of the fenced yard, which worries me because we have recently discovered that there are wild hogs in the area now! I'm actually more worried about the hogs than the highway. Fortunately, she doesn't get out often and she comes back quickly when called. She no longer has accidents in the house, but she still tends to chew things left within reach. We're working on it.

When she first arrived here, Katie was pretty quiet. Now, she barks when she hears or sees something unusual going on. Last night, she was barking and seemed to be protecting me too. I think it was actually the reflections on the darkened windows that got her all upset, but it could have been some animal that she could hear and we couldn't. Everywhere I went, she followed. Standing very near me, looking toward the window barking. It was a nice sign of things to come. I love a friendly dog who is protective when it needs to be, but not one you need to worry about being aggressive. I believe she's going to be that kind.

Now, she was a bit overwhelmed when my grandchildren first showed up. Our house if pretty quiet usually and when you add 5 new people to it -- three of them being excited children who have been cooped up in a car for almost 24 hours, it can get loud quickly. My house, being made of cedar logs, can also really vibrate with noise when there is some. It kind of bounces around in here before it figures out what to do with itself. Katie did not like that one bit. I held her collar and talked to her while hubby explained that she was nervous and why to the children. The kids quieted and slowly approached. Before long, they were all playing together.

I have yet to get a photo I like of Katie. I'm still trying and she doesn't seem to like the camera. She reminds me of my granddaughter number 2, always turning her head or running away as soon as she hears it come on. In this shot, she's trying to take a little snooze on the bed, where she is not supposed to be.

Getting to know Katie

First thing this morning, Katie and I went to the vet in Dallas for her check up. It comes with the SPCA adoption. She is such a good travel dog! She's curious, as all dogs are when in the car. She looks out one window and then the next, but she doesn't whimper or whine about being in the car. She was also very good at the vet. They all fell in love with her. The results of her checkup were that she has an eye infection. We have medication for that and for flea and tick prevention. We're good to go. Coming home, she laid down in the seat and slept most of the way.

Once home, I had to run to the grocery store. Richard happened to be home today, so he gave the dogs a chew bone that I had gotten for each of them yesterday. Katie immediately grabbed hers and ran to "bury" it in the chair! Richard said that she was using her nose to try to cover it after putting it between the cushions and was getting frustrated that it wasn't being covered! There happened to be an old, torn sheet downstairs, so he put it on top of the bone. She was happy as a clam by that! I sure wish I had seen it. It was so funny to hear about.

When I'd read about Katie on the SPCA website, it said she was a German Shepherd/Chow mix. It wasn't until we had adopted her that we saw by the computer paper work that she is really a Border Collie mix. We've figured out that she has a lot of terrier in her. Maybe momma was a Border Collie and daddy was a terrier. That's my guess anyway. I think an angel had a hand in us getting Katie. You see my hubby is extremely fond of German Shepherd dogs. That was one reason I had noticed Katie on the website and had been able to entice him to go look at her. The day we adopted her would have been my friend Marianne's birthday. For a couple of months before Marianne's death, she and I talked about her adopting a dog. She had been bitten a year or so before and was quite leery of most dogs, but when we talked of the type she'd get (when she was feeling braver about it) she only talked about wanting a Border Collie! Now, you may not believe in interventions of this type, but I do. And no one will ever be able to convince me that Marianne did not have a hand in this adoption.