I had the good fortune to be able to work from home today (thankfully) and was working when I heard Hektor barking in the backyard. I went out to see what he was barking at along with Gunnar and low and behold it was a huge snake about 4 feet long. My response was rather slow and just as I yelled leave it Gunnar went after it and it struck. I at first thought it was a rattlesnake due to the noise it was making and quickly grabbed both dogs and took them into the house ready to rush Gunnar to the vet! I could not find any sign of a puncture wound on him and no swelling so I left them inside and went back out to investigate.

 It turns out it was a bull snake and he was making a hissing noise when coiled that I mistook for a rattle. I am somewhat shaken up since on any other day I would not have been home and had it been a rattlesnake it might have turned out rather badly.

 Funny thing is Gunnar has had snake eversion training a few years ago, but he was the first one to go after it. Hektor seemed to respect it a bit more but for all I know he had already gone after it before I went outside to see what the fuss was. Good news is noone has any wounds and the snake has since left the premises.

 I am making appointments next week for the rattlesnake vacine!

[:'(] I cannot write much, my heart is heavy today, I did post for him on the Rainbow Bridge forum. I did not know him long, or well but his heart was one of the biggest I have had the pleasure to meet. I feel bad, I wonder if all that I did was wrong, if I had done something different perhaps it would not have turned out as it did. I know that he deserved so much better, and I know that the world lost a really good dog, who just never had the opputunity to show what he was capable of becoming.

Rest in peace

 Wolfie (now known as Bernd) is the young GSD that had spent most of his young life on a chain. He is very sick right now and has pneumonia. He has been in the hospital for three days. He is in the care of a wonderful lady in Colorado, please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers. I am praying that Bernd pulls through this. He is a wonderful dog with the most gently disposition. He has had little in his life to be happy about and yet he is the most loving dog. I sure hope that he can have some good luck as he deserves it.

 For some strange reason both of my dogs have the most vile and terrbile gas today that I have been forced to exile them from the house in order to keep from passing out.

 Two cans of febreze later and the house is still reaking of dog farts (can I say farts? Is that bad?). They have not had anything different to eat (that I am aware of) and both teen age sons insist that they have not fed them any "interesting" treats. The pantry remains unraided.

 I wonder what is causing this? Both normally do not have this problem. I sure hope it does'nt last as I am dieing here!

 I for one am not impressed with the positive human interaction of some of our more positive people. I was upset when my post was deleted because I feel some of these people need to know and understand how incredibly rude their posts sometimes are.

 Regardless of the training method you advocate and regardless of whether we all agree or disagree on things in my mind it is important that we all do a good job of trying to assist dog owners in need, and we should never judge one of our own so harshly when he or she is trying to do what is right for the dog.

 I wonder if those who post such negative comments to others are in fact as perfect as their posts seem to imply. Have you never made a mistake with any of your dogs? Are you always so perfectly positive in all moments? Can you think of no situation whereby you just might have to consider re-homing a dog? If you have a new infant and your new dog hates infants and all that you do does not work and you still have the fear that if the circumstances are just right your dog will harm your infant, do you not consider re-homing? Perhaps you just dispose of the infant. If you have a dog that destroys your home each and every time you are away, if you crate him his nose and paws are bloody when you return and you are in despair of what to do next, and there is someone who is retired and home and wants the dog is it wrong to re-home the dog in this case? Should you instead quit your job so you can stay home with the dog?

 If someone takes the time to come to a dog forum and post a legitimate question about what to do with their dog’s behavior, regardless of how ignorant the person may be is it not best to try and be polite and help them see that what they are doing is incorrect and give them some other method of correcting the behavior or do you just berate them for their stupidity, have them leave never to return and then wonder what became of the dog? Did they PTS, did they inflict more severe punishment in their frustration?

 Anyway enough of the rant, it is now on record how I feel about these type responses. My comments are not directed at everyone, in fact the number of persons it is directed at is few thankfully, and I am sure they will know to whom it is directed.

Well my son and I drove Wolfie to Colorado today. We left at 5:30 am arrived about 1:00pm (due to numerous wrong turns ) and had lunch with the wonderful GSD rescue lady and headed back to New Mexico.

 We arrived home safe and sound and last report Wolfie has eaten, played and had a bath and is settleing in nicely.

 Thanks for all the good vibes and prayers.

 My dogs are a little put off by me today. No walk this morning, no walk tonight. Good thing dogs are so forgiving!

 Wolfie went to the vet today and got a clean bill of health and he does have two testicles after all (not sure what his previous owners think neuter is). He behaved wonderfully at the vets and was friendly with all, canines and humans. He seems to love looking out of the window of the car and is not afraid once he is in it. He still does not like getting in it.

 Hektor is being a butthead and is not liking Wolfie very much, although Wolfie seems to like him just fine. Because of the confrontation problems we will be heading up to Colorado tomorrow to take him to a wonderful lady who does GSD rescue up there.Hektor looks like he is trying to end my days of fostering any male dogs, the little stinker!

I intended to bathe Wolfie tonight but everything that can go wrong has. My car died at the store and had to be jumped. It has never done that. It seems when one is trying to do something right things go wrong, I bet if I were out doing something wrong my car would start just fine!

 Anyway I have a new battery, Wolfie is still a little stinky and it looks like he may be going to Colorado stinky but oh well!!

 Will update again when I return from Co, prayers and good vibes appreciated!

 Well as many of you know, Wolfie was free from his chain as of yesterday around noon. He is doing well and I am really pleased with his behaviour so far. He is going to make someone a great dog.

 He is terribly worried about being left alone, which is sort of wierd considering he has been alone most of his life. He watches us humans closely and does not like us to leave him but he is fine as long as one of the other dogs is with him. If I pull them in and leave him out he becomes distressed. Hopefully this will disapear with time.

 I spent some time putting him in and out of the crate yesterday and he spent the night inside a crate near my bed. He did well and did not cry or make a fuss. The only peep I heard out of him was his panting.

 He is restless and never stops pacing and walking around. He follows me everywhere that I will allow him to follow. We are going out for a run this morning. I will take the pack out to the mesa in the vehicle and let the other two off leash and work with Wolfie on leash to see how he does.

 I really think he is worried that perhaps he is dreaming, that everything is just to good to be true and that any moment he will awake to find himself back under a carport at the end of an 8 foot chain.

 I am less and less worried about his legs. He moves well, and runs well. When he is in full motion he is cow hocked but carries himself well. When he stops he tends to have his back legs well under him which makes him look a little wierd but as he runs around he seems to be changing and getting a little looser. Maybe the problem is just because he has been confined in a small space with little room to really stretch.

 He does not respond to treats yet and seems to not even know that you are offering him food. He responds well to praise and attention.

I am loading up some pics of Wolfie. Would love comments from any GSD people.

 I just got the phone call that it is okay to come and pick Wolfie up. They are giving him to me. Thanks for all the prayers and good vibes as they seem to have worked!

 Now I need more prayers and more good vibes that everyone will get along well.

edit: Wolfie is having a blast in our backyard, he is running all around and playing with Hektor and Gunnar. So far no bloodshed so this is good!! He is like a little kid in a candy store with 20$ in his pocket!

 He is also very friendly and is following the humans around like he is terrified that all this might be a dream and he is going to wake up any second. My son (who is watching them now, he is 19) says that when he walks inside Wolfie will break away and run to the patio door frantically trying to keep him in sight.

 I will post some pictures for you all tonight! Thanks for the prayers and good vibes and happy thoughts.

 Please pray and think happy thoughts that DH does not kill me (for bringing home yet another lost soul) when he returns from his elk hunt!

 He will not really kill me as he knows me well and puts up with my "wierdness" over dogs.

Well Hektor has fully recovered from his excessive feast in which he consumed 16 cinnamon and brown sugar pop tarts in a single setting. My sons are having trouble closing the pantry door and Hektor has discovered that there is food behind that door. The day previous he consumed several raw potatoes also pinched from the pantry. I believe we have solved this problem as both sons have been made aware that there will be dire consequences should they leave the pantry door open. DH and I are debating whether those consequences should be forcing them to consume several raw potatoes or 16 pop tarts. I am leaning towards the potatoes since I believe that most teenage boys would not see having to consume 16 pop tarts in a single setting as a punishment.

 As for our buddy Wolfie I am still holding out and calling daily on bringing him home. I am told (by someone I trust) that he is being let off the chain daily and is allowed to run and that he is being fed twice a day now instead of only once. I will go visit him this weekend.

We just returned from a long run on the mesa. There are numerous trails out there and since I have been having some foot problems I decided to try going out on a bike. It requires that the dogs run along side (leashed) for a bit until it is safe to release them. Everything went great on the way out, the dogs were very tired (as was I) coming back and just as we left the trails for the road (on leashes again) a covey of quail burst from a bush and that was pretty much that. Gunnar shot off after them and I wiped out on the bike. Hektors leash was looped around my body (most likely another mistake on my part) so he did not get far, I am on the ground in the gravel (yes I was wearing shorts). Fortunately Gunnar stopped when I yelled wait (I think he was waiting on me to shoot the quail) so it all worked out okay in the long run. I am a bit scuffed and bruised but both dogs are okay and so is the bike.I am getting to old for this LOL.

 Be careful taking two large dogs on a bike, even if they are well behaved.

 Wolfie is being let off the chain every evening to run, has some toys and bones to chew and water that he cannot knock over. I am still working on getting him and am disappointed that things are not moving as fast as I would like but it is progress.

Everyone. We are trying to rescue Wolfie who is a young GSD who has lived most of his young life on the end of a chain in a Albuquerque backyard. He is friendly, but is currently dumb as a rock since no one has ever taken the time to teach him any manners. Please think happy thoughts this weekend for Wolfie as I am hoping to take possession of him. If I do it will be for the purpose of rehabilitating him and teaching him how big dogs such as he should live in society. Hopefully with manners and some grooming he will find a great home where he is loved and allowed to be part of the family.

alas, when will he learn. He has had numerous bee stings, one of which I though would kill him and still when he sees a bee or worse multiple bees, he goes after them like I go after hersheys chocalate kisses.

This evening the left side of his face is huge, his left eye is swollen almost shut and he looks a right mess. We may go to the vet tomorrow as I have given him his meds, looked for stingers and found none and washed out his eye with sterile water. If it swells more in the night we will likely need a dr visit.

Hektor is offended about the entire deal as we have not walked tonight and he is feeling a bit "energetic". I believe that white cannon ball that just bounced on and off my bed and out like a flash was Hektor, it is hard to know for certain as he was moving pretty fast.