Shelter Dogs Euthanized

I stepped outside and stood on the patio this morning around 7:30am. I had been up for a little over an hour and it was already hot enough to feel it. That is the only way I could describe it. My friend and I were heading out for a short easy pace bike ride by 9am. The ride went fine but I didn't feel much breeze and the air created by riding a bike, was hot air.

Is that tree in the first photo dying or are it's leaves being baked on the tree before they can change color? We have one more day of really hot weather where the temps are in the 90s and the "feels like" is over 100° By Saturday it will be back to our normal summer weather. 

This weekend is also the start of college football where I will tune in 11am central time for the first kickoff and the remote only programed with the other channels showing football. Unless I am out of "football shape" I will not be turning off the tv until after 1am Sunday morning. The Washington Huskies game starts at 10pm local time. 

I will get my Saturday morning bike ride finished way before I sit down to watch football.

That is some pretty red wood inside that tree, you can see some of it where you can see it sticking out. The hounds and the dogs didn't stay outside long while took these photos. Henry has never cared how hot it gets. Is it because he was born in Arizona? The puppies had a doggie door going from their air conditioned inside kennel to their outside kennel. After they were a little older they were allowed to come and go as they please inside those kennels. The breeder told me when I picked him up that he liked sleeping outside at night.

Henry's vet was sick last Monday, so our afternoon appointment was moved to tomorrow morning. They will take a look at that growth on his tail. I'll get a second opinion. Heidi had a growth about that size but it was inside the skin of her ear. She had that for years until a vet decided to remove it while he was pulling teeth toward the end of her life. Henry's growth has not gotten bigger and it is under that white hair you can barely see sticking up at the top of the white hair section on his tail.

Ava continues to amaze me. No matter where she is, if she hears "Ava Crate" she goes running for her crate and is sitting there quietly by the time I get there to shut the door. Walter was able to chew the upper door latch into the open position the other day. So now both door latches have those small Bink's padlocks that I used on Stella's crate. Ava never whines, never barks inside her crate. By the time I have moved the two bar chairs to each side of the crate to block Walter from trying to open the side doors, she is laying down. I don't take chances for destruction anymore. When I leave the house she stays inside the crate.

Watson was still trying to wake up. He doesn't like waking up when Ava is making enough noise inside the closed bedroom to wake me up. That is always before 6am. He has fallen asleep in that position, while sitting up on the love seat.

When I see Walter this far out into the house at this time of morning, he wants only one thing ... water. To be poured from the Brita pitcher into his bowl and only inside ... as he monitors very closely.

That small corn crop is looking pretty good this year.

Ava finds out that no one wants to run and play when it's before 8am.

The wet patio is because I watered the backyard early evening yesterday for an hour each in two sections.

The palm tree came with me from Arizona. It has survived puppies chewing on it over its life. I cut off three more limbs that had died for whatever reason and it looks like it may not last. But what the photo does not show are five new sprouts coming out.

Not knowing how many thighs were in a package, I bought the 6-pack for $19.99 at Costco a few weeks ago. I found out the other night there are five very tasty chicken thighs in one package. So the pricing beats my Schnuck's Grocery five chicken thighs for $5.35 when they are on sale. My package tonight had only 4 chicken thighs.

Based on Kirklands source of chickens, I could tell the difference in taste from others I have bought at Walmart of Schnucks Grocery. 

I mentioned it before recently but every time Facebook sends me another page for animal shelters, I am going to have to delete it immediately. There are three large shelters in this city. A Facebook notice from one of them told me the other night, counting all three shelters they are currently overbooked at 124%. The city shelter is the only kill shelter of the three.

They said due to the long weekend this weekend some would be euthanized if not fostered or adopted. New dogs arrive the same time a dog leaves.

The thought of dogs being euthanized just kicks me in the gut when I see notices or their photos. And since I have looked at one page then Facebook automatically feeds them to me. They are animal shelters nationwide on their "reels and short videos" ... that makes the kick in the gut even harder.

I don't have time for a 5th dog no matter how much I hate the animal shelter situation. To give them attention they crave, training Ava, walking all four now that Walter has figured out it is that bad, and "trying" to cut their toenails ... I just can't do it.

Old readers of this blog know with me it is nothing in between (fostering) ... it is either zero or all in when it comes to about anything I do. 

My answer always shows up when I turned off the reels and videos on the computer, and hear two of my four snoring, all four are asleep here in the computer room or great room .. wherever I am in the house. They all get along, they know which bed or blanket is theirs, they know their food bowl and whose food belongs to who.

Plus those times I lay in the center of the floor daily, I am smothered by the four I have all wanting to be petted first and petted all the time.  LOL I have found out that Henry is one heavy basset hound and even though he tries, he cannot lay on my chest and shoulder like he did when he was a 8 week old puppy. 

Things are running smooth with all of them. 

While sitting at a stop light today after picking up new bags of dog food, it dawned on me there are organizations now that do all the advertising for financial support, they pull dogs out of shelters that are on the list to be euthanized and they have large facilities to care for many of them. THEY are doing what I feel I should do with just one. They are also better at it.

I cannot save them even if I want to.