Angel Says: I Once Kissed a Cow and Now I Kissed a Donkey Too

Angel has always been the first to raise the alarm if necessary, but being a bit chicken, she will have one of our braver dogs take over and chase a potential threat away. Now it seems like she is working on overcoming her fears because earlier in the summer she marched right up to this cow and planted a big kiss on her nose.  I've never seen a cow jump up on all fours before, this one did, and her startled expression was priceless. 

Yesterday, beautiful white clouds hung low on the mountain and as I was taking cloud pictures, one of the old wild burros from the rescue came up to us. Angel has always kept away from the burros, something I encouraged because these two species usually don't get along. But what do I know? Here she just marched up and planted kiss on him too. This didn't seem to bother the burro, but Angel looked like -- did I just do that? And started barking.

This drew the attention of the rest of the herd and as they approached, ears up, Angel decided to retreat.

OK, she seemed to say to herself, enough of this, I'm averting my eyes and moving to the far side of the road, slowly, without losing face, of course. I am a German shepherd dog  after all.

Many of you asked about Soldier. Here he is yesterday. Soldier is the only dog we've ever had that whines. Being tied up to a dog house for the first seven years of his life, he learned how to whine and good for him, I'd say. And now he whines again. When he was really sick, he didn't. So whining means he is feeling better and wants some action, like a walk. There is nothing he likes better than his walks, something can't have now. But he wakes up cheerful, tail wagging. He eats as well as always, the second or maybe third thing he loves best. The other thing Soldier loves beyond words is his daddy. And he gets to spend time with him now, of course. I don't know if he is any better physically. The harness keeps him stable and he can now get up by himself when he sits down in that awkward position. I keep the harness on all the time, since I only use the front part and it doesn't bother him. I will call the vet today and will let you know more later. Thanks for your concern, we really appreciate it.