Riley

*Adopted* He has heifers, a bull, a steer, 100 chickens, two rabbits and seven cats. He has become the guardian of these livestock along with Bobby who was also adopted from us many years ago. Riley will be taking over from Daisy, who was adopted with Bobby, as she is working towards retirement. He has turned out to be a natural fit in his role as guardian. We are so happy for this boy!

We had a visitor arrive. He overnighted here before he continued on his journey to southern Ontario.

First, I want to send out, as always, a heartfelt thank you to Daniel for bringing him in. And, to Chrystal and Craig for doing the final two legs.

What an absolute joy Riley has been. His people obviously did a lot of work with him. He has no reaction to cars, people or kids walking or biking past him. We've seen a couple of smaller dogs. He's only wanted to say hello, so far. Apparently, he did react to a larger breed dog so time will tell.

As is typical of the first night with a dog coming into care, he barked at a few noises and he couldn't settle. However, when I awoke, he was sound asleep in the closet. He was one tired boy. This agitation dissipates as the dog becomes accustomed to his new surroundings and his people over the weeks. Remember, these dogs' lives have been turned upside down.

As one always has to do with a new dog coming in, I have kept him attached to me the whole time. He has not yet been neutered and will lift his leg as he desires. There have been no issues on that front. You also know nothing about the new dog, and they know nothing about you. You don't know each others' reaction to anything. It takes time to gain a mutual trust and respect so keeping the leash means safety for both you and the dog.

I've brushed him, done his nails and trimmed his paws a bit.

As an unneutered male (soon to be neutered), Ziti respects him from a distance. She is not ready to have him close to her but she hasn't put up any fuss. Sadly, he will be moving onto the rest of his journey to foster so they will not have the opportunity to play together. Max wants nothing to do with him, as is typical. He does not like to share Ziti.

He's a gangly year-old and will fill in nicely as he matures. I think he would be about 85 pounds at the moment.