bublynski's photostream  

At least, I think that's the name. These tiny spiders are so beautiful and brightly colored. This one lives on one of our clematis vines, and I almost walked into him before saw the web. I cleared it away from the path, then spotted this guy and ran for my macro lens.

Humble and drab... yet they are really beautiful in their own way! This one was ennobled by his colorful perch on an aucuba leaf.

Django and Cocoa have a thing going... he paws that intruding toy out of his pool, and Cocoa runs off with it for a chew in the shade. It works for them.

subtitle: After the Fight
sub-subtitle: Sigh...

Django was in one of his moods this morning, being pushy with Tyler. I called him away three times, and the fourth time he pushed it I thought I'd just let Tyler woof him off, as he's done so effectively (and non-violently) before. But not this time.

This time, Tyler woofed and then went after Django. DJ quickly realized he was in over his head, and tried to get away, but Tyler pushed him into a corner of the fence and I couldn't get them apart right away. Finally I managed to grab Tyler's collar and pull him off, and Django was happy to get away. Anita was on the phone when it started, and heard the whole thing.

The damage wasn't too bad, but enough so that we thought a trip to the emergency vet was prudent. Tyler has a puncture wound near the back of his cheek and a cut on his tongue where it looks like he bit his own tongue. Django has more damage, a gash through his upper jowl that is pretty torn and bruised on the inside, and a scrape on the front of his throat. The vet cleaned everything up, checked them thoroughly, and put them on antibiotics.

They're loose together again, and have been ever since. We're watching them closely for any bad signals, but it appears to be over. I don't want to start separating them, which I think would just make things worse. The three girls were pretty freaked out by it and Django seemed very shaken, much more so than Tyler. I really think he had no idea he was asking for trouble - his communication with other dogs has improved, but still isn't great.

When we got them home, I took Django and the little girls out for some pool time, and it seemed to help settle him down. I'd been wanting a video of them playing in the pool, anyway, so here it is - DJ and Cocoa, at least.

We had company over yesterday - our good friends Mike and Dana and their little boy Liam, with a friend of his. Having company is no small feat with five dogs in the house, including one very troubled, fearful little hound girl. But they are the best possible friends to have over - dog people who have their own multi-rescued dog household and have dealt with their share of dogs with issues, too. Even 10-year old Liam knows exactly how to behave around all kinds of dogs.

Patches reacted to them in her typical fashion, but it didn't take long before she was jumping into Mike's and Liam's laps, and showing them her sweet side. Once she gets over her fears, there's no sweeter dog on earth.

Cocoa was more reactive than usual, for her... and she didn't relax as quickly as Patches. Silly goose.