A report on GRACE:

GRACE is doing great with her new family. I took LESLIE to Sit! Stay! Play! to be evaluated for day care and GRACE was there (her Daddy works there). The two sisters had a joyous greeting. GRACE looks great and is noticeably less nervous around people. She remembered me and came over for pets and kisses. LESLIE will go to day care several times next week. Janet, the owner, is going to call NIGEL & O'Reilly's uprights to see if they would like to bring NIGEL in tomorrow for a little family reunion.

So the next day . . .

GRACE & NIGEL were both there when I got to the day care this morning with Leslie. They all recognized each other and it was so fun to see the two red girls and black boy wiggling and bumping and greeting each other.

LESLIE (above) and NIGEL (right) at first day of Day Care. LESLIE looks very relaxed compared to GRACE & NIGEL on their first days. Note the position of the ears.
ADOPTED!!
(LESLIE's Forever Name is LILLY)

It is hard to see the progress when you see them every day, but things like this show that progress really has been made. LESLIE wagged her entire body when she realized who I was when I came to pick her up.

I have one tired little girl here after her big walk in the Rillito this morning and then her day at day care. I will give her the day off to relax tomorrow (although I will take her on the morning walk again) and then take her back to day care on Wednesday, when both GRACE & NIGEL will be there again. ADOPTED!!

And a report on CHARLIE:

CHARLIE went in for his checkup early this morning. The vet examined him and said that he appears to be very healthy and not too thin -- just athletic feeling in muscle tone. He weighs 63 pounds, which is ten more than when he was neutered in July. He was wagging at the other dogs in the office and didn't shy away from the vet (female vet, fortunately; CHARLIE likes women!). I asked them to check his microchip and it is still in place. Guess Bridget didn't succeed in removing it.

Last night he climbed up on Molly's sofa and when I sat down next to him, he put his paws over my leg and proceeded to lick my arm and neck clean. So far, the three of them get along great. However, someone -- I'm not sure if it was CHARLIE or Bridget or both (probably) -- undertook the destruction of the big round mats with bolsters that were their sleeping mats. I told them they would be sleeping on Ol' Roy mats from Wal-Mart instead of Orvis dog nests this winter unless I can get fabric enough to cover three 50" mats soon. I patched each mat at least twice, and then there was nothing left to patch. Polyfiber everywhere! There is now one Ol' Roy mat and they are taking turns lying on it. No one showed any remorse except Molly, and I'm positive she wasn't the guilty party! She looked at me like "I tried to stop them!"

But other than that, CHARLIE has fit in well and looks happy. I hope you can come see him one of these days, I think you'll be pleased with how well he has adapted to life in the country. There isn't a single person walking by on the road that he doesn't challenge all the way along the front fence. Lots of barking and leaping and just general ferocity. One poor old fat Dachshund takes forever to pass by and his owner looks pained by the racket the whole time. When they have passed the corner fence post, CHARLIE races back to the house as fast as he can go, looking very pleased with himself. Don't think we have to worry about anyone climbing over the fence into the yard while he is on duty! Once the display is over, he is such a sweetheart -- at least his dastardly breeder apparently managed to breed for good temperament.

Anyway, CHARLIE appears happy, the girls are happy to have another companion, and we are happy with our little family. Thank you all so much for working so diligently and with such compassion to save all those lives. You're heroes in the dog world!