Dog days

It's been an eventful first business day of the New Year. Mocha made a scheduled visit to the veterinarian this morning (nothing serious, it turned out and our boy weighed in at 96 pounds) but had to fend off an attack by the neighbor dogs on the way out of the house.

We've returned from England to find that some folks with a pair of German shepherds have moved in next door while were gone. The dogs are inside a makeshift fence except for when they get out of it, which has been fairly often in the last couple of days. I've encountered them close up by myself on one of their previous escapes and I don't think they're as vicious as they look and sound -- although they've been scaring some folks in the neighborhood by running up to them and barking.

They were out loose this morning and rushed into our yard as Jayne, Mocha and I went out the front door to the car. Mocha received a little puncture wound on his cheek -- nothing serious, the vet says -- but didn't back away from those big dogs. We pulled him away before things got worse. By the time we returned, several people in our neighborhood had called Mecklenburg County Animal Control about the dogs.

They were taken away for a couple of hours before apparently being reclaimed by their owners. I sense an ongoing saga developing here, so we'll see what happens.

UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL: Mocha's veterinarian and home-away-from-home for most of his 5-1/2 years has been the East Lincoln Animal Hospital (http://www.eastlincolnanimal.com/) near Denver, N.C. It's a bit of a haul from where we live -- about 45 minutes -- but worth the drive, as they say. They know him by name and seem to like him a lot there, as they make a fuss over him on each visit. And he' s spent two New Year's Day holidays and one extended summer vacation there as we've been on our travels to various places.

How much do they like him? He received a treat-filled Christmas stocking in the mail from them last week. Folks, Mocha says thanks and Merry Christmas.