Dragonfly Ranch

chester with bone 2008-01-26, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

Chester was neutered on Monday, January 21 (Martin Luther King Day). We took him in in the morning and were going to pick him up the following day, but the vet’s office called in mid-afternoon and said he was ready to come home — and was not happy to be where he was — so we picked him up the same day, along with Sophie (see the Frankenkitty posting).

He weighed 34 pounds — four pounds more than on his first trip to the vet on January 2.

He’s a great pup, though he’s a handful at times. We’re dealing with a few issues, the most important being that he has a tendency to pee in the house when he gets excited. We think that working on his crate-training will help that. We keep toys in his crate, and he now goes into the crate to get the toys, and sometimes even lies down for a short while. Soon we’ll be able to confine him for short periods and then lengthen the confinement periods until we have some control over when he pees. We’re sure he doesn’t have any physiological problem with holding his pee, since he easily holds it all night until he’s taken out in the morning.

Since he’s teething, we make sure he has plenty of appropriate things to chew on. We bought this huge beef bone at the pet store yesterday, and he loves it. So far he hasn’t chewed anything he wasn’t given to chew, except for a bit of newspaper. But he loves to fetch miscellaneous objects (shoes, socks, wadded up paper bags from the recycling bin) and carry them to the daybed. He doesn’t chew them (as far as we can tell). He seems just to want them as trophies.

frankenkitty 2008-01-27, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

Sophie had her annual checkup the same day Chester went in to be neutered. The vet said her teeth needed cleaning, and we decided to have a small pimply growth on her forehead removed as long as she was being anesthetized for the dental work. She came back with ugly stitches above her eye, and medicine that has to be squirted down her throat with a dropper. She’s handling it all very well. She still lets Chester drag her around, so she can’t be feeling too poorly. We had the growth analyzed after it was removed. Although it was of a type that could be cancerous, this particular growth was benign.

Click the thumbnail to see a video of Chester and Sophie playing. Frankly, Chester is doing most of the playing. It’s hard to see what enjoyment Sophie gets out of it, but she lets him drag her around (literally) for over two minutes before she decides she’s tired of the game.

arlin chester and kai 2007-01-07, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

Chester has taken no time at all to make himself at home. After a bout of wrestling, he and Kai usually nap side by side. If you look carefully, you’ll see Willy at the top of the photo in one of his familiar poses on the piano bench.

kai and chester 2007-12-30 3, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

We’ve had Chester for six days now, and he’s turning out to be a treasure. He has a sweet disposition, and is very obedient for a puppy. Someone must have taken some trouble to train him, because he sits on command and comes when called (most of the time), and he walks nicely on the leash.

He’s going to be Arlin’s special dog. It’s been pretty obvious ever since we got Kai that Kai thinks he’s my dog, and Arlin has always been a little jealous and secretly wanted a dog of his own. So when all four of us are together, Arlin works with Chester, and I try to pay special attention to Kai to make sure he knows he’s still the number one dog. Chester sleeps on Arlin’s side of the bed, and Kai sleeps on mine.

I’ve been working half days this week in order to get Chester acclimated to the household. I’ve taken him to work for a half day three times, and he’s been good as gold. (It helped that I tried to wear him out with long walks beforehand.)

Chester went to the vet on Wednesday morning and got his first round of shots. The vet found he had worms and giardia, so he got medicine for those, and otherwise he’s in good shape. We verified that he has no microchip, and I put in a found-dog notice at the county animal shelter. If his owner doesn’t turn up, we’ll neuter him in a couple of weeks.

By the way, Chester’s collar in the photos is Kai’s old collar, which was much too big. On Sunday afternoon we took a trip to the pet store and got Chester outfitted with his own collar, leash, crate, and bowl — along with a name tag. We hadn’t had him for 24 hours yet. I guess that indicates how quickly he won our hearts.

kai and chester 2007-12-30 3, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

We’ve had Chester for six days now, and he’s turning out to be a treasure. He has a sweet disposition, and is very obedient for a puppy. Someone must have taken some trouble to train him, because he sits on command and comes when called (most of the time), and he walks nicely on the leash.

He’s going to be Arlin’s special dog. It’s been pretty obvious ever since we got Kai that Kai thinks he’s my dog, and Arlin has always been a little jealous and secretly wanted a dog of his own. So when all four of us are together, Arlin works with Chester, and I try to pay special attention to Kai to make sure he knows he’s still the number one dog. Chester sleeps on Arlin’s side of the bed, and Kai sleeps on mine.

I’ve been working half days this week in order to get Chester acclimated to the household. I’ve taken him to work for a half day three times, and he’s been good as gold. (It helped that I tried to wear him out with long walks beforehand.)

Chester went to the vet on Wednesday morning and got his first round of shots. The vet found he had worms and giardia, so he got medicine for those, and otherwise he’s in good shape. We verified that he has no microchip, and I put in a found-dog notice at the county animal shelter. If his owner doesn’t turn up, we’ll neuter him in a couple of weeks.

By the way, Chester’s collar in the photos is Kai’s old collar, which was much too big. On Sunday afternoon we took a trip to the pet store and got Chester outfitted with his own collar, leash, crate, and bowl — along with a name tag. We hadn’t had him for 24 hours yet. I guess that indicates how quickly he won our hearts.

great blue heron with lunch-1024×768, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

I was taking Chester on his first dog park walk with Kai on Sunday morning, December 30, when this great blue heron flew by us and landed in the shallow water about fifty yards ahead. When we got even with it, I noticed that it had a rodent in its beak. It was dipping the rodent in the water as if to wash it before eating it. This was at Cesar Chavez Park on the Berkeley waterfront. This may be the same great blue that I’ve seen hanging out in this general location several times in the last few weeks. (I’ve been taking Kai here regularly on Sunday mornings while our usual beach is closed due to the oil spill.)