Hazards of Spring

Skinny woke up with an eye infection, with the third lid covering his eye so another trip to vet. He'll be on eye drops for a week.

Last week Yeti went to the vet for having chewed up a Jolly Ball and having a semiblockage. He stayed overnight on an IV. Needless to say, we try to avoid having to go to the vet, but both trips were necessary.

Dogs who live alone can have a toy , but the penned pals are too competitive. They swallow whatever is available , playing "keep away" from their pen partners. They particularly like to steal gloves, handkerchiefs, bungee cords (hard to swallow, thankfully). Liller buries anything she finds next to her pen, so when others are out they try to dig up what she buried.

Dogs are free running every day on a schedule, of sorts. They know when their turn is coming and all others are the cheerleaders. The risk, of course, is that they'll run off. If they do run off, they don't get another chance for awhile. Mostly they're very good.

Last night after feeding and calling in the deer, I took a short walk and just over a rise met a fox feeding . Sulatna took after her and while I doubt a fox would hurt a dog, the porcupines and skunks are out there. She came back with a strong fox musky smell , into the house. L(

And, the ticks are out. They'll last until mid July. Also, we've had a couple of thunder storms. The fields are very dry , always fire danger, but we did have a nice rain. The Pine River is very low, our favorite kayaking spot.

And yet another " hazard", I have a large blister on my foot from wearing lighter socks while walking.

It's great that we can use hoses for watering (not hauling pails) and we're getting the straw cleaned up, bit by bit. The dogs are enjoying sunbathing.

Photo: Skinny's eye; Herman, son of Skinny and Liller, free running.