I'm going to rant for a minute. 

The fireworks over the 4th weekend spooked Baxter. He hasn't wanted to walk at dusk or later. It's been too hot to walk during the day, and it's tough for me to walk him before work. We went tonight and he seemed to finally start to settle in. As we're making our way back home, some asshole a couple of streets over shoots off fireworks. It will be another month, at least, until I can get Baxter to walk at dusk again. He was terrified. After I got him home, I drove back out to where the sound was coming on, but I couldn't find the stupid people. 

I'm pretty understanding about fireworks on the 4th, even a day before or after. But July 30th is way too late for that ****. 

Well, now he's doing zoomies around the living room. So he doesn't seem to be too traumatized. I still bet it will be difficult to get him to go for walks in the near future. 

Aww, poor Oscar. That sounds awful. 

Before I had realized I had been adopted by Rocky, and my parents were still fostering him, we took him and my parents other two dogs to the park to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. I have no idea what we were thinking. Such a terrible TERRIBLE idea.

We get to the park and sit down and for 30 minutes or so, everything is fine. Then the fireworks start. That first flash of light and then the explosion, I think Rocky jumped three feet into the air. I've never seen a creature more terrified than he was in that moment. My parents dogs weren't exactly thrilled, so my dad and I took the three pups back to the car and went home. My parents dogs rode in the back, Rocky cowered at my feet in the front. I don't know, maybe that was the initial moment when he decided he was going to adopt me. 

I drive past that park fairly frequently and think about that moment just about every time. Needless to say, that was the last time we decided to take the dogs to watch fireworks. Absolutely no idea what we were thinking doing that. 

Baxter did walk last night. But he stopped about halfway through to head back home. Not sure if it was fear of fireworks or the rain that was about to start up. 

They had him for a couple of weeks and then I took him for a week as a sort of trial run. He had heart worm, so after that week he went to the rescue group to get treated, but I told them he had a home and I'd be back to get him once his treatment was done. 

Hi all! It's been awhile. 

Was initially going to come back to mark the 6-year (SIX!) anniversary of signing up here. Still remember it like it was yesterday. I went several days eating basically nothing but peanut butter crackers I was so stressed out by everything going on with Rocky. And after moving a bunch of pillows and blankets to the floor downstairs so I could sleep next to Rocky, I grabbed my laptop and signed up to learn as much about tripawds as I could. Was still hoping at that point that we'd get a positive (well, negative I guess) diagnosis and avoid the whole amputation thing, but of course we didn't. 

Always seem to have something strange going on. I took Baxter for a walk tonight and there was a guy in a pickup truck going really slow. As Baxter was marking the Yield sign as his own personal property, I caught the guy taking a photo of us. My paranoid mind is wondering if there's anything he can do, but I can't really think of anything. Just strange though.

Cell phone pic through the front window of his truck, so it can't be a very good photo. I haven't seen the guy since that day, so who knows. 

Here's a better pic from today: