Catching up: Eddie and Petey go visiting

Well, Petey headed off down island at oh-dark-thirty this morning with his personal chauffeur (thanks, Barb!), for the first of what could be two or three surgeries to fix his rotten teeth and other issues. So I get to catch up on a few things while I wait for Sadie's glucose to come back up a bit after her first meal of the day. Later this afternoon, all being well, I'll go down to Mill Bay where one of the directors of Broken Promises will meet me with Petey for the trip home (thanks, Cora). Please send Petey 'safe surgery' vibes.

Yeah, cuz I don't think I'm gonna like this very much.  An' ah didn't
even get no breakfast dis mornin'!! 

First order of business: a blog about Eddie's introductory session with his groomer, our friend Karen. Karen has many rescued dogs - four Turtle Gardens ones and six others from various places. Kabuki, Amie, Ruby and Amber all came from TG, and are quite possibly the luckiest, most well cared for dogs on earth. You'll find another post about them here;  Karen looked after Lucy's pups (the crew of ten I fostered) for the week they were spayed/neutered and met with adopters.

As Eddie gets easily overwhelmed, Karen kept her bigger, more boistrous dogs out in the large back yard. Our plan was to have a cup of coffee in the house, with Eddie, Amie, Fifa and Kabuki. Eddie had other plans. I knew he didn't do flights of stairs but given his penchant for treats and his positive response to clicker training, we hoped we could get him to ascend the fairly short flight into the house.

You want me to go WHERE?

Uh uh. Twenty minutes later, he still would not lift his back feet onto the steps. Every small move forward would result in a click and a treat, but all we accomplished was a dog who could s.t.r.e.t.c.h a phenomenal way without moving his back feet at all.

Treats are good, but ah'm still not climbing these stairs!

Meanwhile, as I had Petey with me, Petey and Amie got to know each other. Petey thought Amie was a really nice for a girlydog and gave her a kiss.

Will you be mah friend?

We moved to the front of the house where there are only three low steps, and even with me just inside the house, Karen running up the stairs, Kabuki modeling the canine behaviour, and plentiful treats, Eddie was NOT going to cooperate. So from there we went to the shop/dog room/hang out place. Eddie decided that was okay, and before long he was up on the table being brushed out and getting a bit of a pedicure - enough for a first visit; baths and serious grooming will come later.

Ah hope ah gets more treats after this!

Ah'm such a good boy!
Hey - watch where yer putting those scissors!

I sat in the dog area sipping coffee and being entertained by Kabuki, Petey and Amie. Fifa thought the whole thing was boring:

What a drag. 

Outside the doggy door, Drew, Amber and Ruby complained loudly - they knew Auntie Jean was in there and why the heck should they be shut out?

Ruby, Drew, Amber
"Auntie Jean! Someone locked the doggy door!"

Petey could sense them through the dog door and spent a lot of time sniffing along the crack, exploring the scent of new friends.

Whazzat I smell?

Then Petey explored the rest of the room quite happily, and only grumbled when he managed to climb over a six inch high crossbar under the raised tub and couldn't find his way back out. What a trooper that boy is, despite being deaf and blind and having come from such neglectful circumstances - he's full of courage and confidence and a spirit of adventure.

While Karen and I sat for a coffee, and for Karen to cuddle Petey, Kabuki decided to climb up and park his butt on Karen's lap, too. Petey didn't mind in the least and Kabuki looked at me as if to say "capture this, Auntie Jean, capture this!":

Kabuki:  Is this my best side?

Amie, meanwhile, lay on her cot and looked beautiful in the light:

Ah'm beautiful from every side!

A fairly good first visit for Eddie, an adventure for Petey, and a welcome chat with my dog-loving friends Karen and Norm. It was a very good day.

Ah'll go back if I get treats and don't have to climb the stairs!