Sunday, June 22, 2008

Good News & Bad News!

Bad News First!

I won't have as much time to blog in the near future. (Actually, that might be good news to some readers!)

But the really, really, good news is that I'm ahead of both
Barack Obama and John McCain. Way ahead.

I've selected my running mate! And she's a woman!
Well, actually she's a girl! A dark-eyed beauty!

Catherine Ballou

As in Cat Ballou! But do not try nicknaming her as "Cat". It's Ballou or 'Blue' for short!






We rescued Ballou yesterday from a shelter in 100+ degrees!


Doberman Pinschers come in black & tans, reds, fawns, and blues. Ballou is a blue.

Ballou will finish my beer whenever it gets warm, so I'll always have an excuse to open a fresh one! She's also taken over on the George W. Bush chew-toy where
RedOct left off.

Her age is estimated at approximately six months, so we're fixing her birthday on the day that RedOct left us. He would approve.

I asked him.

12 comments:

  1. Nothing is more important than keeping your life in balance.

    We all welcome Ballou to the family.

    George W. Bush Chew Toy. Heh. She'll need a beer after that one.

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  2. Happy is the man who counts his quiver full.

    Someday I hope to have the time and space to devote to a dog, or three. Alas too many hrs. at work and being single would not be fair to either of us.

    Someday.

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  3. She is a real beauty. Not happy about you cutting back on your blogging but with my son taking more computer time putting me in the same situation I fully understand.

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  4. Further good news: Ballou comes to us with evidence of some training. We are rebuilding her memory traces. She will sit. She's coming to our feet when called by name. She wants to please. She wants continuous human contact. She is very agreeably trained about traveling in cars: going directly to the back seat: not getting out of the car until she is leashed.

    Bad News: she has a displayed decided aggressiveness toward other dogs in her line of sight. Maybe that behavior is going to last until the first good bite on which she's on the receiving end, but I don't want it to come down to that. Socializing with other dogs will be expensive in terms of time in the near future. Another problem is that every lawn she encounters looks like a pasture: her grazing leads to vomiting up of grass, and perhaps suppresses her appetite. I'll have to find out if that is caused by a dietary insufficiency.

    It took her exactly 24 hours to realize she was home. Hours after arriving, she was tied in the living room when my son and fiance arrived unexpectedly, totally unprepared for her presence. No one was in the front end of the house to introduce them. He said, "Hello, are you and what are you doing here?" And Ballou's reported expression and posture (silent glare) expressed the same sentiments. Exactly 24 hours later, when close friends arrived to meet her, walked in the front door and were greeted with her first barking. We loved it!

    Unlike Jane Fonda's Cat Ballou, we didn't rescue her from the gallows, but we sure rescued her from a Gitmo-like prison. And, like Pretty Woman, she has rescued us right back.

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  5. Thanks, Wizard, CW Vet, & Beach!

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  6. Ballou is magnificent. Congratulations on your new addition to the family. If you can't blog too much, pictures will be great.

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  7. Ballou will be an excellent running mate. She's a beauty.

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  8. mazel tov! She's beautiful!

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  9. Congratulations Vigil. You did a good thing. As to eating grass, the conventional wisdom used to be that it signified some sort of digestive disorder but contemporary wisdom says that it does not. The fact is some dogs eat grass more than others. I would not be concerned about it.

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  10. I am just so happy for her and for both of you! As an animal lover and rescuer,there is no happier and more loving companion than one whose life has been changed for the better by a new and loving home.

    Love to you all. LittleBill

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