A lot has happened during the last few weeks.
In late April, Diane took me to the Callaghan Road Animal Hospital. This is a new veterinary clinic just down the road from our house. I hadn't been to the vet in a while, but it turned out the vet who saw me is Dr. Guevara, who had seen me before at another vet clinic. He remarked at how well-behaved I am, especially for a heeler. I got my rabies vaccination. It turns out that I have heartworms, so I have to take some medicine and get some treatments. I don't feel sick, however.
On Saturday, April 30 a tan puppy (probably 4-5 months old) squeezed between the gate and the fence post into my yard. How bold! However, she and I like to run around and play together, and Mike thinks we look good together, so she has been able to stay, so far. Diane was gone at the time the puppy showed up, so Mike decided the puppy would stay.
The following Saturday morning, Diane and Mike walked the puppy (who seems to be called "Molly" most of the time now) and me to the neighborhood park. We stood and sat around and there were quite a few other people there. The people were holding a ceremony to re-name the park from Ingram Hills Park to Joan Price Park. Joan Price is the president of the neighborhood association. She writes the newsletter that Diane or Mike and I deliver once a month to the houses on Stardust Drive.
Molly and I stood and sat patiently during the ceremony. We didn't bark or misbehave. We met the City Councilperson for this District, the city's Mayor's mother, and even the Mayor.
On May 14, Diane took me on a Volksmarch again. We left Molly at home. We walked along the Salado Creek Greenway. Diane saw some people she knew as we walked along the wide sidewalk or boardwalk. At one end of the walk, we went into the MacAllister Park Dog Park. I got to run around the dog park off leash. I saw Tang (another red heeler, whom I had met a few weeks ago on a SA NatureHounds walk) at the park. There was a large dog named Whiskey. There was a German Shepherd who seemed to tussle a little roughly with several dogs. We left the park after I had walked around and explored most of the park. We walked to the other end of the Greenway, near Los Patios, where the path currently ends at the access road along Loop 410. As we were walking back to the checkpoint, I saw a long black object along the edge of the sidewalk. Diane stopped and looked back and realized it was a snake. With the rain that we had on Thursday, snakes became more active. It didn't bother us, though. I wonder what adventures we'll have next.
I am having fun playing with my new buddy. I run around the yard a lot chasing Molly, and she seems to like to play a lot, too. She's got puppy energy, so sometimes I just need to rest a little, but I'm having fun with her!
On Monday night, we had a family outing with the San Antonio Nature Hounds. Diane and Mike put Molly and me in the back of the Prius and we went to the Buddy Calk Trailhead along the Leon Creek Greenway. There were 12 other dogs and people who walked with us. The trail is mostly a wide sidewalk, so it's good for walking, and reminded me of the walk along the Salado Creek Greenway. However, the trail was heavily used this evening, and there were a lot of bicyclists (probably another Meetup group!) and a lot of runners and other people and dogs using the trail. We had a variety of dogs in the group. At the watering stop, which was next to a golf course and on a ridge, we had a nice breeze, which was pleasant, following the warm (about 86 degrees), humid conditions (about 63% humidity) we encountered on the walk. Mike was impressed that one of the dogs, who is part blue heeler, was so good at fetching. Mike is disappointed that I don't return objects to him when I fetch. We took this group picture. Molly and I are on the far right, and I'm looking toward the trail. 
