Yesterday some people came to visit Gus. They run cattle on about 10,000 acres & like to use mules. They were disappointed to find out he was a donkey, but decided to come see him anyway. When they drove up we were cleaning pens. By the time we got to where they were parked, Gus had already introduced himself. He stayed with us, while we went around the pens to see everyone else. We don't know if he has been trained to ride, although he acts like he's been ridden. If I was younger & knew I would bounce instead of break, I'd give it a try.

He is still shedding out. For awhile I thought he was going to hang onto his long woolly hair, but it's finally coming out. Unfortunately his hair is long & very fine, so it mats really bad. I usually try to give him a quick once over, while waiting for John to deliver the morning hay. The last few days, I've been able to get the mats out without using scissors. I think he would stand there & let you brush him until there was no hair left, he REALLY, REALLY loves to be groomed.

Everyone that is being confined to pens seem to be accepting their fate, although old Pepper is getting real pushy. He seems to think if he is obnoxious enough we'll let him do what he wants. We checked yesterday to see if the cattle had found the pile of salt going into Burroland. So far it's not been touched. We haven't seen that many cattle lately, maybe the rancher has moved them somewhere else.

We were a little worried about Sha'ba a couple of days ago. He wasn't eating his hay, & he wasn't eating his beet pulp, timothy pellets, rice bran mixture. Since he usually tries to run me down when I'm trying put the stuff in his feed bucket, this was unusual behavior. Then we noticed his poo. I would say it was about 90% mesquite seeds. I guess the reason he wasn't eating what we were offering, was because he was full of mesquite beans. So now he is having to stay in 24/7. There are now 14 having to stay in the pens. It's going to be a LONG summer, at this rate. After being in his pen for a couple of days, he is now much more interested in what we're feeding.

Tula has a new nickname. She is continuing to be the very last one in the pens, & does everything she can to make sure we don't see her go in. Usually everyone else, including her paramour Chester are in their pens, with their beet pulp goodies & hay & we've gone on to something else, before she shows up. John is now calling her Miss Stealthy. I would give a nickel to know what goes thru her brain. Maybe I should get an animal communicator to work with her.

Still no mice.............!!!!

EEEKKKKK...!!! MESQUITE BEANS

Here's another picture of my childhood friend Kix with me & a few friends. Can anyone guess which one I am?

As of now we have 10 in full time, 4 out during the day, in pens at night, & only 5 that are showing common sense & not eating as many beans as they can find. Right now it isn't difficult to find them, they are everywhere. We have shut off Burroland, so they only have access to the 10 acres. Today we will open the big gate into Burroland & "salt" the opening "literally" with mineral salt. Although the cows roam around the area all the time they aren't use to it being open. So a little salt will show them the way. Right now everything is growing everywhere, so they probably won't have a big interest in checking out new territory without "bait".

This is the first year we've had to restrict Max the horse. He usually eats a few beans & that's it. But for some reason he's scarfing them up at a rapid rate. Right now he is still going out at during the day, but if the amount of beans in his poo doesn't change, he'll be in 24/7. Rusty the mule is on the same schedule as Max. But Jack the other mule doesn't have enough teeth to chew beans, so he gets to go out. He usually doesn't like to be separated from Max, when we've let Max out before Jack got thru eating his hay. He starts yelling & pacing the fence. But it doesn't seem to bother him if he's out & Max isn't.......!!!!

Lucy has to stay in 24/7, she's been foundered in the past & we can't take a chance on her eating too many beans. Buster doesn't have a problem, so he can be out. BUT, she is his "security blanket" & he doesn't like to be very far away from her. We've been putting them in a pen to eat & the first day or so, we let him out. He hung around the pen & occasionally would bray at her like, "come on, lets go". Now when he gets thru eating, he stands by the gate & goes right out. So much for security, I guess.............!!! He stays pretty close to the pen, but seems to accept that she isn't coming out.

As of today 11 of the donkeys are in pens, until the mesquite beans are gone. We have 2 groups of 6 pens that are connected by gates. If all the gates are open it makes a large area for them to roam around & "feel sorry for themselves". They seem to think if they pester us we'll let them out. This morning when we were cleaning pens, all of them were trying all their little tricks, which really made raking pens almost impossible. At one time they were all in the "Fat Farm" with us & 2 of them were rolling in the dirt. Needless to say, it was pretty crowded.

Courtney came late this afternoon & trimmed 5 of them. Jenny was such a well mannered young lady, she even picked her feet up for Courtney, which is a first. And she stood still while Courtney worked. Courtney thought her feet really looked good, considering what they looked like about 15 months ago. Chester didn't try to kick her head off this time, which was good. He didn't want to stand still, but he has been worse.

So far the boards have stymied the mice, we'll see if it lasts.

UNHAPPY DONKEYS..............!!!

We made a decision yesterday to keep Lucy & Buster in a pen. When she came in yesterday afternoon, she was walking like her feet were bothering her. Rather than take a chance on her foundering, we went ahead & penned them. Of course they think we have lost our minds. Donkeys are such creatures of habit, that any chance in their routine, really upsets them. We had no empty pens, so someone had to get thrown out of theirs. Chili & Gus drew the short straw. Once they figured out they couldn't get in their pen, they also thought we had lost our minds. There are mesquite beans everywhere, so this morning I decided to keep the 4 minis in. They have the same opinion of our mental state as the others. Tonight John said Buddy's neck seemed to be larger & harder than normal. Since he is insulin resistant already, he'll be staying in also. At this rate everyone but Max & the 2 mules are going to be in pens. They usually aren't as interested in the beans as the donkeys. But Rusty the mule, has been spending quite a bit of time with his head up in the trees, pulling down beans, so I'll watch him pretty close, at least his poo. When the amount of beans outweighs the amount of hay in poo, it's time for them to go in a pen.

This afternoon we went to visit with Belle & Shiloh. When Belle came to stay with us she had an open wound on her face caused by habronema larvae. I got it cleared up that year, & last year she didn't have one sore. But it seems this year she has regressed & has sores on both sides of her face. I gave her folks a few ideas to try, but it seems once they develop the problem it's almost impossible to get it healed until cool weather, which kills off the majority of the larvae carrying flies.

Hopefully some of them will get their feet trimmed tomorrow. All of this wet weather is making their feet grow fast & in weird directions, especially the ones that have been foundered, Lucy's look especially bad.

MONSOON CONTINUES

Our weather wasn't all that bad last night, but the lights went off at feeding time, & didn't come back on until feeding time this morning. Obviously somewhere in our electrical system, something went wrong. We heard from close neighbors & neighbors 12 miles north of us, they were in the same boat. We dragged out the candles, ate peanut butter crackers for supper & read by LED lights attached to the front of baseball caps. The donkeys hate those lights, but they sure work good for reading.

The mouse count is up to 5 now, I caught 2 last night. I was using fruit, but it seems that peanut butter is the "treat of choice", for our little buddies. We know where they are getting in, John covered the hole with duct tape. I'm sure they didn't even slow down to admire his handiwork, as they buzzed thru that barrier..........!!!!! (G)

Tula is going thru a wild spell, wilder than usual, right now. If she comes over from Burroland, she hides until she can sneak into her pen without us seeing her. Yesterday she had gone in her pen, but saw me in Chester's pen & ran out the gate. She slipped back in, before she realized I was just around the corner of her shelter. This morning she wouldn't come over from Burroland, & she had an odd assortment with her. She had Jenny the mammoth, Buster & Lucy. Buster & Lucy are usually the 1st ones here at feeding time, so that was very unusual. When I went over to run them back, everyone had their heads down vaccuming up beans. Lucy has been foundered before, so she might end up in a pen if she starts eating more beans than hay, which means Buster will have to go in to. He always stays right by her side & really gets upset if they are separated. When Tula saw me it was like she knew the game was over, & she headed for her pen.

When John went over to feed the chickens this morning he found that another 1/3 of the old mesquite by the chicken pen had fallen. It's a huge tree, a few years ago 1/3 of it fell & we knew the inside was rotten, although it's still alive. It was a great woodpecker nursery for a couple of years. Don't know when the fallen part will get cut up. Since John's arm is broken, he can't use the big chain saw, at least he probably shouldn't try. And it's big enough, it would probably spin me around in circles if I tried to use it. Of course the donkeys are thrilled. All mesquite beans they can reach have been eaten. BlackJack is behind Justin with his head buried in the bountiful harvest.

I guess that got boring & too easy for Justin. This afternoon John came in & said he needed some help to catch 2 donkeys that had gone over to the neighbor's who also have a real nice crop of mesquite beans. I asked who it was & he said "who do you think"? Believe me, I have a rather long list of suspects, & actually Justin & Pepsi's names weren't very high on the list. John had the universal halter that we use for the standards. But it doesn't fit the mules, horses, Jenny the mammoth or any of the minis. So I had to go in the feed room & get a couple of teeny weeny halters. By the time I came out here comes Justin & Pepsi walking towards us. John had been over there before trying to entice them home, but they were too busy eating beans. I guess they thought about it & figured he might have something even better than beans.........!!!! I told John to give them a treat, which he wasn't in a mood to do, but he did. The reason..... for over a week, he has known there was a wire down between us & the neighbors & hadn't gotten around to fixing it. In fact that's how he caught the little devils, he went over to fix the wire & saw hoof prints under the wire & headed east. I was quite impressed with them coming home, John wasn't..............!!!! Although he is out there this afternoon fixing the fence.............FINALLY........!! This is how they make us look stupid, I guess.

MOUSE COUNT CONTINUES

This morning I had a little boy mouse in my live trap. They sure are energetic little critters, they bounce all over the inside of the trap, when they see me. I carried him across the wash over by the chicken pen & deposited him in the same brush pile as the one yesterday. Who knows, they might be a pair. I'll keep setting the trap every night, until I quit catching mice, I guess. Might be a never ending project...............!!! (G)

Terry came out this morning to help with chores & groomed on Gus & BlackJack. Gus is actually shedding a lot, but his hair is so fine it mats real bad when he sweats. So we do a lot of the grooming with a pair of scissors. Gus was a real good boy, he let her pick up feet, & lean on him. I think he would have let her do just about anything, as long as she kept grooming.

It's a good thing Courtney is coming out next week to trim feet I guess. Yesterday Jenny started walking on egg shells. Her feet are cool & I don't see anything out of the ordinary, so I assume her feet are getting too long to be comfortable. Gus' feet are flaring & breaking off, we'll see if they need trimming when Courtney is here, or if he can self trim. She'll be able to tell by looking at him. Even Rusty the mule's feet look rough. His feet usually look just about perfect without any effort on our part.

This is REALLY not about donkeys..........but I'm sure the donkeys are glad John broke his arm a couple of weeks ago. Usually on race nights they have to stay in their pens all day because I have to feed by myself earlier than they are use to. It is such a chore to round them up, that I finally made the decision they would stay in during the day on race day, so I could get them fed & make it to the races on time. They yell & scream all day long, although they love getting fed early.

But now that John isn't able to drive for awhile, he won't have to leave so early in the afternoon, so they got to go out today. We'll see how it goes. If they don't cooperate, they'll be back to staying in.

We race on a 3/8's mile dirt track in Tucson, USA Raceway Park . The #222 is our son's car. It's painted like John's first race car was painted 39 years ago in Fairbanks, Alaska!!!!! The retro paint job is only for this year, next year Rod will have his own paint job for the first time. We've ran the orange/white paint job since 1970, so John will keep that paint scheme as long as he can crawl in a car, I guess. He's probably done for this year, because of the arm. So our grandson, JR, is running the 21x.
UPDATE

Races were cancelled tonight because they were expecting rain. Don't know if it rained at the track, but we sure got plenty, right at feeding time of course. John got caught in the Fat Farm, taking off fly masks & filling water buckets. I got caught in the small barn, putting the golf cart to bed for the night.

This has nothing to do with donkeys.......................BUT...........this has to be the funniest flyer ever posted. As someone that lived in the midwest when I was growing up, & having an uncle that was always trapping, catching or observing wildlife, I am very familiar with possums. I have a couple of questions about this whole situation.......# 1, how did they catch it? # 2, who did the checking to find out it is a male? Yes, they will play dead (and will growl the whole time) ........BUT........ if they aren't playing dead, they can be a formidable opponent.

Recently I have noticed signs of a mouse being in the feed room. Considering that there are 2 dogs using the feed room as their home, you would think a mouse wouldn't have a chance. I finally decided they weren't going to do their job, so set a live trap last night. Sure enough this morning there was a very active, bright eyed, chubby little mouse leaping around in there like a Mexican jumping bean. (Do they still have those?) I asked John how far I had to haul her, so she wouldn't beat me back to the feed room. I was going to take her over on Burroland, but there isn't any water over there. (I know, I know, it's a desert mouse.) Then I thought of the chicken pen, but chickens can really be hard on mice, especially when one gets on one end of the mouse, & one gets on the other & they play wishbone.........!!! YUCK! So I compromised, I put her in a brush pile, close to the chicken pens. If she waits until after dark, she can run around at will in the chicken pens, until the resident snake gets hungry.

Everyone seems to be doing good right now. Chester is still limping & we're still giving him antibiotics, but that's OK. He doesn't even have to be in the squeeze now, because he knows he gets ginger snaps anyway.

All this rain is making feet grow fast I guess. One day Max the horse was running around with what looked like a complete frog he sloughed off, flopping around. By the time we got thru feeding he had gotten rid of it, thank goodness. He has nerve damage because of his broken neck. The last time one of his rear legs was picked up about 5 or 6 years ago, he sent a farrier all the way across the pen. He is well trained & I think when the the guy picked the leg up & put it into position, it pinched a nerve. So I'd rather not have to pick up a foot if I don't have to. He self trims, like most of our guys do, but I've noticed some flaring of the hooves on some of the ones that don't move around a lot. Even Tula has a big chunk missing out of the side of one hoof, which surprised me. She probably moves around more than any of the others, & I would think she would keep her feet nice & short all the time.

BENNIE THE LOVER..................!!!

Thanks Susan for the use of the picture...!!!

That's what he is, a lover boy. Bennie & Nina went to a wonderful home last year. Bennie was always the 1st to greet people when tours came out to visit the donkeys. He never met a person he didn't like, & he especially loves children. As you can tell from this picture Susan took, he is soaking up the attention like a sponge. Nina is in the background, she was always a little shy, but it looks like she was hanging in there for some of the attention also. I wish all donkeys could have a home like these two have, thanks to Tom & Susan.

Michael one of our neighbor's has been helping us with morning chores, since John, the Uncoordinated broke his arm. Michael's getting ready to leave in a couple of days for awhile. We're certainly going to miss his help. This morning a couple of other friends came by to help. I couldn't believe how quickly we got chores done, including picking up poo. We were done before 9AM......which may be a record..........!!!!!! (G) Thanks Amy & Brian..............!!!!

Another friend stopped by to visit & was amazed at how well Jenny is walking now. He remembers when she could hardly move, & had her hind legs tucked under her to keep as much weight off her front feet as possible. She steps out lively now, in fact John & TJ were standing talking, & Jenny thought John should be dispensing a treat of some kind, so she butted him. He is a little cautious about the broken arm & started yelling for me to come get her. She's big enough she probably could damage his arm if she butted hard enough. She's butted me a couple of times usually up against a corral panel, which isn't fun.........!!! She hasn't had any pain meds in months & we are hoping when her feet grow out again, that she will have good strong feet. They look so much better than they did, at least on the outside. I can only assume the inside is reaching a level of comfort. Sometime when the vet is out here or when we're taking someone up to Gilbert, we'll make the effort to get more x-rays of her feet, to see what changes there are, since last July. I don't know if she would ever be "useable", but our main objective was to get her comfortable, & she is that. She also has a boyfriend, she seems to like Chili & he is usually wherever she is. They aren't bonded like Lucy & Buster, but they do hang out together.

FACTS ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS

Something worth thinking about..............!!!!

THE MONSOON CONTINUES............!!!!

This is how it looked here yesterday just before feeding time. It was over 2 feet deep & moving fast. John was "out"......that means he was on the other side of the wash. This wash crosses the paved road 7 times before it crosses our property, so if you're out you stay out until it recedes. He managed to slosh thru, in time to help feed after having to retreat once. In less than an hour it was down to rivlets running here & there. That's when we discovered 5 donkeys on the other side. They were standing on the bank pleading for us to help them well some of them were. John walked across to show them it was safe, & Chili & Jenny actually followed him back across. Cisco thought about it, but decided not to go with the other 2. John went back across to encourage him to follow, he was interested, but not willing to step into the soft sand. Chester & Tula weren't interested in following John at all. But by the time we got ready to feed, those 3 finally managed to be brave & make it across on their own.

I left the 4 minis in the pens today. Justin is still limping so hopefully a few days of not roaming all over the place will give his leg a rest. Of course they think we have lost what little minds we still have left. They are so use to running all the pens for scraps of hay, this is like being put on a crash diet. Actually they all could stand to lose a little weight, so it won't hurt them, but they sure think it will.

This morning I noticed a lot of flies on Chili's skinned nose. He is still almost impossible to doctor, so I tried using the clicker to get him to cooperate. He actually did pretty good, I was trying to get him to hold his head still while I put my hand on his nose & keep it there for a couple of seconds. I got it doctored with a little cooperation & a lot of patience. He doesn't like to stand still under normal circumstances, let alone when he thinks you are trying to "do" something to him.

More rain this afternoon..........

GET ALONG LITTLE DOGGIE.................!!!!

Last night as I was finishing up chores, I kept hearing some of the range cattle yelling back & forth. One sounded like a calf either real close or with a really loud voice. I looked up & here comes a little black calf across the wash running as fast as his little "week" old legs would carry him, headed towards where the mooing was coming from. Obviously he had taken a wrong turn & managed to get thru the fence onto our property, while momma continued down the road. I think I might have been the first human he had seen, because he certainly wasn't impressed & upped the speed a bit, with bucking thrown in. It's hard enough to "herd" cows thru the mesquite when they get on the property. But he was so small I lost track of him almost immediately, so headed thru the brush in the same direction he was headed, when I last saw him. Never saw him again, by the time I got to the corner fence, I guess he had figured out how to go thru & hook up with momma. They had disappeared on down the road.

It's always a challenge to get cows out. You would think if we manage to get ahead of them, open the gate & head them in that direction they would see the 16 foot wide opening & figure out that's the path to freedom. Cows don't seem to be able to assimilate that information & use it wisely, without many abortive attempts. Thank goodness it doesn't happen very often.

Poor little Justin has a sore leg right now. I don't know what he did, it looks OK, no swelling or painful areas. But he's not putting a lot of weight on it. He probably stepped wrong. His Mom is a firm believer in exercise. She says that as a flight animal unless there is some good reason to keep them penned up, they are better off being able to move around. Yesterday I tried to look at it & you would have thought I was trying to cut it off with a dull knife from the way he acted. Finally had to halter him & put him in the squeeze we made from 2 corral panels. It's amazing how they figure out when the fight is over, & give up quickly. At least most of them do, & he was no exception. Of course he wouldn't have anything to do with us when we let him out for awhile. We had to pay for getting the best of him I guess.

RAIN, RAIN, & MORE RAIN.............!!

We need the rain............BUT...... why does it have to rain at chore time? Doesn't matter, morning or afternoon, the clouds seem to choose those times to do their thing.............!!!! One thing the rain shows is, the low spots in the pens. Not that Tula would go in her shelter anyway, but right now it is flooded. So is Jenny's. John plans on hauling gravel with the tractor tomorrow to fill in the low spots. He went to the surgeon today for his post op check-up. The doctor told him to do whatever the arm would take, up to lifting 3 pounds. The tractor has power steering, so he should be able to sit on it & work the levers effectively.

It is funny to watch the donkeys try to walk around without stepping in water, when it's this wet. They will do almost anything to not touch puddles. When I put Rusty the "Cadillac" mule in his pen this afternoon, there is a large puddle at the gate. I figured his momma's "horse" sense would make the puddle, no big deal. He managed to miss the puddle with all 4 feet by really stretching his stride, turned around & gave me a dirty look, like it was my fault.

I started Chester on antibiotics 3 days ago, & he's already walking on his bad leg, although still limping badly. I can only assume there is infection even though it didn't show up in the last x-rays. We have a neighbor that had a horse fall on him about 8 years ago, & ran the saddle horn thru his abdomen. He has been on antibiotics of one kind or another ever since because of the infection that they have never been able to get rid of. I guess if he can stay on antibiotics long term, so can Chester. Dr. Taylor answered my e-mail about the July Equus article. He doesn't think Chester's bony growth is large enough to cause his problem, so we won't pursue more surgery, at least for now.

I'M BACK..........!!!!!!

Don't know if anyone missed me or not, BUT............ I have been without internet since I wrote the last blog message. Hughes didn't seem interested in fixing the problem anytime soon, next Monday was the earliest I could get a technician out here. The Wild Blue tech just left after hooking me up with their service.

Since I've been gone, John fell off a ladder while trying to get on the roof to see if there was something wrong with the cables. Compound fractured his arm, (left one thank goodness) hauled him to our little hospital, & they sent him into Tucson for surgery the next morning. He's home & actually able to help with chores, filling water buckets & doing fly masks. One of the neighbor's has been helping with morning chores also, so that helps. We've actually got the routine down pretty good, so we get done before it's time to start again..........!!! (G)

All the critters seem to be doing good, although I have had to put Chester back on antibiotics again. He's 3 legged lame & hopefully if it is infection the antibiotics will do their job. This time I won't quit giving them for a LONG time, although last time I gave them for over 6 months, & only quit after x-rays & the vet saying let's see how he does without the antibiotics.

Pepsi hasn't really found a permanent running buddy yet, although one day he'll be with one bunch & next day with someone else. I thought he was going to run with Justin, but he seems to prefer Chili. Speaking of Chili he whacked his nose pretty good, looks like he came up under something & cut across it. It's been swollen for a couple of days. He loves sympathy, & will let me do anything to it..............unless I have medicine to put on it........!!! Then he gives me a dirty look & "dares" me to try to put that "stuff" on him..............!!!!

I'll keep this short, needless to say I have a lot of addresses to change. My new e-mail address is: hiestand08@dishmail.net

WHEW! IT'S HOT.................!!!!

How hot is it? I don't know, but I don't care if it doesn't get any hotter. The monsoons are trying to gather up enough clouds to drop some rain, which means the humidity is up. So besides being hot it's also sticky........!!! YUCK!

Heard from Gallita's (IE Twinkie) new Mom. They had the vet come out & look her over. I was told she was such a good little girl, the vet was very impressed. They performed all the indignities that medical types like to do, & she didn't bat an eye. Even though she came here with good manners, & we had little to do with it, it's nice to hear that she was a good girl. She went to them as a foster, & they have already sent the paperwork back, so she is officially adopted...........!!!! I guess the other 3 girls still aren't sure they want her around them, but that will change as she gets use to her new home, I'm sure.

Pepsi & Justin have "found" each other & seem to be on the road to being buddies. They can play & rough house with each other & not have a size difference for me to worry about. The standards played with Justin quite a bit & were careful to not play too rough. But this way they can chase & rear up as equals.

I'm afraid that Pepsi might have to stay in the pens for awhile. I was hoping by cutting down on his hay & treats that he would be able to run around & get exercise. Donkeys store fat in the top of their neck, like camels store in their humps. It's hard to get a good picture of just how large his crest is, but you can see the ripples in it. Also the lumpy area in front of his shoulder is a fat pocket. Although his crest has gotten a little softer, he's obviously "eating off the land". Some that are insulin resistant can lead a fairly normal life, but others have to have as much sugar & starch removed from their diets as possible. We may end up having to soak his hay for awhile. Some equines see this treatment of their food as an insult to their intelligence. Hay is suppose to be dry not wet..........!!!!!

Everyone seems to be doing pretty good right now. I have my usual doctoring. Jenny's legs have to be wrapped in gauze to keep the flies from either causing sores on her legs, or being drawn to sores on her legs. I've managed to get the sores healed up, but the flies are still drawn to her. I would imagine her immune system doesn't work as well as it should.

I'm also doctoring Sha'ba & Cisco everyday to keep the habronema larvae at bay. I'm doing pretty good on Cisco, although Sha'ba has some on his sheath, poor little guy. I dug 2 out this morning, one was as big as a fat piece of rice. Nasty little beasties.

I have sent a message out to Dr. Taylor about an article that I read in the July 2008 Equus magazine. It was about a horse that was sound except when being ridden. They did all sorts of tests & an x-ray showed he had an old break in his tail that had developed a bony growth at the joint. They removed the growth & part of the vertabrae without knowing if it would make a difference or not. The horse is now sound. Hmmmmm, bony growth caught my eye, since that is exactly what Chester has right below his right elbow. I've thought for quite some time that the growth could keep the surrounding tissue, tendons & muscles irritated, which could be why he limps although he doesn't seem to be in pain. I would hate to put Chester thru more surgery, BUT, if it might help him not limp, I think it would be worth the effort. We'll see what Dr. Taylor thinks of the idea.

I finally got a chance to brush Gus. Once I got started I discovered 2 things, one, he LOVES to be groomed, I don't think he moved a muscle the whole time I was pulling & tugging, especially in areas like his armpits that had mats, etc. Didn't seem to bother him at all, as long as I kept doing it. The other discovery was, he has got a LOT of hair & some of it is shedding out, so we'll try to do some more brushing on a regular basis. BlackJack keeps his long hair, & since they are so much alike, I just assumed Gus would keep his too. He probably won't slick out, but I'm sure he will be glad to get rid of some of it. He also did something I've never seen before, he grabbed up a big blob of hair & ate it...........!!! YUCK! Don't know if there is something missing from his diet, or if he just wanted to watch me have a fit.......!!!!