It's funny how context changes things. Last week I thought mid-90s was terribly hot; today it seemed almost pleasant. And the weather now feels wonderful. Rain, yay! The storm seems to have cut through the mugginess. I'm very much looking forward to a few days without air conditioning. I don't like to run the a/c much, but we've had to run it nonstop the past few days because the heat gets to Thirteen so much.
Speaking of Thirteen, she's doing really well. I think the acupuncture is genuinely helping. On Tuesday morning when I called her to get in the car for her appointment, she actually sort of ran to me! I can't remember the last time she moved that fast.
Thirteen is also losing weight! I hate having to put her on a diet, but it seems clear that weighing less would alleviate her arthritis pain. On the advice of the acupuncturist, I put Thirteen on Science Diet Light and cut her back to the minimum recommended amount for her recommended weight. (I was way overfeeding her before.) It's hard to tell for sure with a dog because if they pant too hard it makes the scale go up and down, but in the three weeks they've been measuring at the acupuncturists, she's lost almost a pound and a half. I asked if that was too fast and they said no, but I wouldn't want her to lose any faster. That's equivalent to me losing 1.25 pound a week, which would be awfully fast. But Thirteen doesn't seem to miss the extra food. She eats all her food right away now, which she never did before. But she doesn't beg for more or lick the empty dish or anything like that. So I don't think she's going hungry.
[I should add that I'm not trying to lose weight at all; I just put that in by way of comparison. Because for someone my size to lose 1.25# a week would take a fair amount of effort.]
Between the acupuncture and the weight loss Thirteen has been almost frisky. It's too bad the weather has precluded any dog outings. Maybe this weekend we can take Thirteen and Jane someplace fun.
Speaking of Jane, I took a cute (if I do say so myself) photo of her, and am soliciting opinions: does she look like a shepherd mix, or a husky mix? Opinions at the vet's are mixed. I thought shepherd until I saw a husky, and now I'm not sure.
The vegetable garden is still doing well. We finally have ripe tomatoes, the zucchini are starting to come in faster than we can keep up, and the pumpkins are emerging! This afternoon I counted 8 seedlings. If we get just 1 pumpkin per plant we'll be lousy with pumpkins. No brussels sprouts yet but they might take longer to germinate.
Shepherd/Husky mix? I mean, couldn't she be half of each?
But besides that guess, I'm going for Shepherd.
Rain yay!
That is a darling photo.
Her coloring is almost textbook shepherd, and I don't see much husky in her myself, but maybe I'm missing something.
Her lanky build reminds me more of a husky; shepherds seem to have more bulk. But the lean body could come from some other breed and you're right, her coloring is very much like a shepherd, only more yellow. Maybe she's a mix of black and tan shepherd with "something yellow and skinny."
"something yellow and skinny"...
a hyena?
just kidding :) jane is way to pretty to be part hyena.
did you see the thing on boingboing yesterday about the people in Nigeria who have hyenas as pets? i think that's why i thought of it...
She too quiet to be a hyena, too! We've had her 3 months and I've still never heard her bark. Georg heard her once, so we know she's not mute.
I never read boingboing. Y'all complain about it enough to convince me that I'm better off wasting my time elsewhere, and someone always tells me if they post something interesting.
good point about boingboing. it's one of those addictions not worth having. but i'll send you the hyena link.
Something yellow and skinny -- a Burt's Bees lip gloss? A Corona beer?
My next door neighbor's Golden has put on weight in the last year, so I'm taking her out for more ball throwing.