Thursday, July 24, 2008

DOG CALENDAR ENTRY

ATLAS and APOLLO
Jon Sinton, Laura Wilkinson, owners

Here are Atlas and Apollo on the way home from their daily three mile
tranquilizer--a walk at the Chattahoochee River. The boys are pound-rescue litter-mates. Atlas, the one with the white stripe, is the brains of the operation. We were told by a breeder that Atlas "Got the good blood." Not surprising for a Border Collie mix, he is hyper-aware of his surroundings and everything that moves in his field of vision. Great with hand signals, Atlas can catch a peanut butter sammie crumb long before it hits the floor--even if he is starting from across the room. Regrettably, he has a little of Stephen King's "Cujo" in him and we have to watch him carefully around other dogs in case he decides to prove his manliness. We've both had dogs all our lives, but this one is whip smart and quite the hunter while becoming cuddly when things settle down at night. He likes to lie down with some of his weight, or just a paw, on you so he'll know if you're thinking about going anywhere. Both these dogs love to spoon, whether with us or with each other, it's rare to see them lie down alone.

Apollo (at rear in photo) is our Special Needs dog. Years ago (they're
9, BTW) he started having seizures. The vet diagnosed epilepsy and put him on phenobarbital. After a couple of years of fewer, milder seizures, we noticed Apollo was aging faster than Atlas. A lot faster. So we weened him from the doggie downers and now he is gray but pretty much seizure-free. Apollo may be the beta on land, but in the water, he's in charge. He got mostly Lab blood and is die hard swimmer and hunter. You never know when he's going to bring you a present of freshly killed rodent, or worse, not quite killed rodent. Our wooded lot is rife with all manner of rodentia, so Apollo leads the parade, running from window to window, then bolting outside as soon as the door is opened. Pity the slow chipmunk. As you can see, both love the car. Ponder Cove is their Number One Fave destination!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

We love Atlas and Apollo - and they love their trips to Ponder Cove (that we get to share with them and their owners). I vote for Atlas and Apollo!!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic picture, a lovely pair of dogs, and I'm so glad he got over the seizures. Love and enjoy them, they are a very busy breed, and it sounds like you are keeping them busy.