Gibby is STRONG

Such a day! I called early to see how late I could be to get Gibby, since my niece and her family were coming at lunch time. Her two little kids were wonderful - cute and friendly and outgoing and very polite - very nice to be with them. While we were sitting down outside to eat lunch. I did a really stupid thing - I couldn't get the cap off my coke bottle, so I grabbed it with my teeth and gave it a twist. The cap moved, but so did one of my teeth. My number seven tooth had been cracked way back when I was hit in the mouth by a hockey ball in high school - I spent half of my freshman year in college with wires hanging down out of that tooth draining out infection while dental students worked on the tooth. That tooth lasted a really long time, with a silver wire replacing the nerve - but, today, it bit the dust. I had to squeeze a trip to the dentist in between the kid's visit and picking up Gibby. I'm not going to be able to smile for a while.

The animal control people were really nice again. One of them took Gibby's new collar, attached to Blue's old rope, to get Gibby for me. She even took him out to the car for me - which was no small feat because he is really strong and has no proper leash behavior.

I stopped at the house and picked up my mother and drove Gibby down to the farm. He seemed to love riding - I finally put the back window down enough for him to put his head out. When we got to the farm, I pulled into the driveway and stopped to open the gate and pick up Blacky the momma cat. I walked her up to the boarder house and fed her and the other cats. When I walked back toward the car, I suddenly saw Gibby inside the yard - he had apparently jumped out the window without my mother even noticing. I was glad I had the cables all set up, I could quickly grab one and clip it on his new collar (with a metal clip). Then I tried to put Gibby in the dog pen - tried, and tried again. He is sooooo strong, he just pushed the kennel door open and forced himself through. I tried tieing the gate shut, but that only delayed Gibby another minute. I gave up and clipped him again to the cable set up between two trees in the side yard. I couldn't give him any shelter there, but I put a bed and a five gallon bucket of water and a big pan of dry food next to a tree where he wouldn't be likely to knock it over.

Unhappily, it looks like Gibby likes to chase cats. My cats grew up with Rusty - I think they called him Trusty Rusty - so they aren't afraid of dogs. Gibby's cable put him right in the way of several of the cat's paths and he chased them - not in a mean, I'm-going -to-eat-you-up way, but still chased them. I told him that cat chasers can't stay - I hope he heard me.

We had to wait for a roofer to come and measure my farmhouse roof, so I had a lot of time to watch Rusty and decide I didn't want to leave him where he was. I moved the cable over to a tree and a gatepost next to the boarder house. The combination of the pine tree and the house wall will give him a little protection, at least from the sun, the wind, and a light rain. I put a big dog bed under the tree, it's the bed Rusty used when he slept on the front porch, but Gibby didn't seem to be interested in it. He calmed down a little, but when I went over to put the chicken feed wagon away, he smashed through the barriers and got into the corner of the boarder house porch - and stood right on top of some little kittens. I shooed him out of there and put a big cat carrier in the place where the railings were knocked down - I'll have to fix them tomorrow.

The roofer came and Gibby had no reaction, in fact, Gibby hasn't barked since I picked him up. He whined a little and made some little woofs when I walked away from him, but no awful barking like he did at the pound. I spent time with the roofer - who said my farmhouse roof is the worst he has seen in his life - and Gibby finally calmed down and layed down for the first time. He's supposed to be quiet and rest for a couple weeks after his neutering yesterday, but those first resting moments were hours after I picked him up. He does seem to be uncomfortable, trying to deficate and not able to. We have a vet appointment tomorrow.

I stopped earlier and bought one of those head control harness things that is supposed to help me teach Gibby to walk on the leash - I hope it works tomorrow because otherwise I'll never be able to get him to the vet's. I have hung onto some pretty strong horses in my time and I'd say Gibby pulls as hard as any of them.