Dogs a.m. & Horses p.m.

I had a great time today with the dogs! I walked 6 dogs - a total of 3 miles of trail in sandy soil. What a workout but so much fun! A few of the dogs I walked: Virgil - a very shy greyhound mix, Quizno - an also shy, beautiful hound mix, Ogy - a sweetheart pitbull mix, and Drake - a 10 year old mix, given up because his owners of 10 years said he was ripping up the new landscaping :(. They all had such personalities; it's going to be hard to pick one for my "sleepover"! I didn't get to spend time with any small, yappy dogs ;) but they are kept in a different area to keep them safe from the 50 pounders and up. I met Michael Mountain today, president of Best Friends. He spoke at today's lunch. I think I also met one of the original founders; he was asking me about being here and I was so excited about my day that I was gushing and forgot to ask who he was. And I'll tell you about the extremely annoying volunteer I met this morning who, so kindly - not, took me under her wing. She only found out about BF 3 weeks ago and thinks she knows EVERYTHING about it because she started reading the book. I was getting so annoyed that people thought we were together just because I was wearing my University of Wisconsin t-shirt and she happened to be from... you guessed it, Wisconsin. The shirt was a good conversation starter though. I really enjoyed my afternoon with the horses. There were a few hardcore "horse people" and some "cowboys" but all were very nice and super friendly. I painted 2 crosses for the horses that are buried there, mucked out 4 pastures (just like scooping a litterbox - not bad), and then went around and fed all of the horses in all 6 pastures, including the sheep, goats, and donkeys. I met: Appy - a horse that was going blind so he'd knock into you to be petted, even while I was mucking. He was a riot, almost knocking me down and then chewing in my ear. I couldn't help but laugh, and the caregiver laughed, when I said to Happy "You're rude!". Grandpa Bernie - an elderly donkey who really fit his name, grandfatherly looking and ornery (but not mean, just vocal) and, Dee - the 45 year old horse who came in weighing 600 pounds about 10 years ago (~500 pounds underweight). These are just a few, obviously, who had personalities I was able to appreciate. I noticed today how different various animal people are. The "dog people" are very different from the "horse people" and some animal people really have no people skills. I did meet 2 non-annoying volunteers at lunch. One of them came alone like me; I may have dinner with her tomorrow so our sleepover dogs can get together and have a play date. Sleepovers are very important in seeing the dog's personality out of the kennel setting and it increases their adoptability. I met alot of Katrina dogs, some with very sad stories, and I was amazed at their adaptability. Most dogs in general here are painfully shy. I also stopped at Angels Rest, the cemetary here. Thought about Gabe and how much I miss him and also thought about Kitty. It was a very peaceful place, with hawks (sorry Cyn, I don't know what kind they were) soaring overhead. I tried to upload pictures but dialup is so slow that it timed out in the process - sorry. I have to head to town for a corkscrew (for the bottle of wine I wanted to open last night to celebrate being here while sitting under the full moon surrounded by desert sounds) and some creamer for coffee. I only have one grocery store choice, the other is a Morman run one that doesn't sell anything with caffeine in it or alcohol. I'll try to upload at least a few pictures later but I'm not promising anything. ;) Night!