The Lovely Lucy

 This lovely little girl is Lucy. Lucy is about 4 and a half months old. Part Beagle and part hound, Lucy is a great pup to have around. She's very energetic and can walk for miles with her nose going the entire time, but  settles in with little fuss when it's time to go to bed in her crate. There are a few things to note...

 Lucy loves talking to the cat. (Mr. B. Of course wants nothing to do with the big silly puppy). But since B wants nothing to do with her, there are several occasions when she has followed him, trying to sniff the air without getting TOO close and, frustrated with not being able to play with him... she barks. Not ALL the time, mind you, only when she gets curious.

 Lucy also LOVES people. And if we stop to chat with anyone, chances are (even though we're working on staying down) she'll want to jump up to say hi. She's luckily a pretty light jumper, so no pushing anyone down, and most of the time when she's up there she'll bury her head into your chest for a good old head rub...but she IS a puppy, so little children might not be such a good idea around her right now, as she's a pretty big puppy.

 Since she's a puppy she loves to pick things up. Not to eat it, but she likes to hold things in her mouth. And since at the moment she's teething into her adult doggy teeth, chew toys would be a VERY good idea. She also loves to pick up her food bowl and water bowl to carry around, which I haven't figured out yet. I have a feeling she just likes to be around her friends, and if that means carrying her food bowl into the living room...ten so be it. :-D

I've attached this video for you to see how she is out walking. We're working on that, too, along with becoming totally potty trained. Once she's in a home with a schedule the potty training will be absolutely no problem, though, as now she only makes a mistake when I don't notice her signal (wiggly puppy starts to get antsy). But you'll notice at the beginning of the video when left to her own devices on a loose leash, she loves to wander around back and forth with her nose leading the way. Shortening up the leash goes a long way to getting her to walk well and curb the back and forth. She IS a strong pup, but unless she gets excited, walks pretty well. Of course, at four months old, lots of things are exciting. But I can see her being a playful dog turning into a really cool chill older dog... :-)

Little Barbie.

After Miss Cindy was adopted, I saw a couple of kittens and offered to foster them together. I was informed, though, that one of the little babies needed socialization and that it might not be a good idea to take both, as the other one might develop her skittish tendencies. Which makes sense. So I said "Okay, I'll take one then." and agreed to take the skittish one, since Lydia, the Foster coordinator, thought that Mr. B. could be a good Yoda to her Luke Skywalker. My words, not hers. :)

 This is Barbie. That first day she was sort of unsure. But VERY vocal about being left alone in a strange place, blocked off from everything. We were okay if we were quiet, or if I was in the kitchen quarantine place playing with her, but if not she'd spend a good five minutes telling me to come back and LET HER OUT... But she was just unsure, poor baby, and left alone... and it didn't take very long at ALL for her to be strong enough to jump up and scale the kitty gate to escape into the rest of the house so that she could be with us.

 As for her personality, I'd have to say it's gorgeous. She's a curious little girl. She's not a climber-up-your-legger like some kittens... when I am in the bathroom doing the washing my face and putting on the makeup routine, I'll hear a soft little mew and look down and she's perched herself against my foot, looking up to say "hi." She's relaxed and become very comfy in her semi-home and now feels no need to be very vocal at all. just a chirp once in a while. "hi!"

She's not a chewer. Some kittens can chew, but she's more a pouncer and player. She loves all Mr. B's little mouse toys and has been known to find and chase a piece of cat food across the floor. She's even been known to try to tackle the occasional tennis ball.

I'd have to say she's become very good at being a kitten, and I'm proud of Mr. B. for helping her. She's a snuggler, when she's done playing hard. She loves sitting across my laptop when I type, and she'll fall asleep with her head on my wrist. But she's an independent little adventurer, too. She wasn't quite sure how to play at first with Mr. B. She did a lot of hissing and running, but with him being patient (I've never seen him act this way with a kitten before... it's like he knows she was confused and he acts like her big brother).

 There's that adventurer....

 She has become comfortable hanging out with B. Of course she still loves to chase his tail and run up and grab him around the neck. This morning as I was getting ready for work she ran up to him, and grabbed him and he just sat there. It was very cute. Until he got tired of her hanging onto him and put his paw on her head and pushed her off. :-D

 Snuggle kitty.....

If the link works, you should be able to see her playing tag with B. in the Box. If not, well, they're playing tag with a box as home base.

Now I thought I had a dad lined up for her. Unfortunately it looks like that might have fallen through, through no fault on any side. So I'm posting her here... for all to see... trying to find a home for her. In a nutshell: Would do good with other cats, as long as proper introduction time is given for them to become comfortable with each other (as is true with all cats, really.) But would probably be fine by herself. Doesn't care to be held all the time, but would love a lap to sit on/next to when tired. Independent, but very loving. Playful without being destructive. Can get wound up while playing but is VERY easily steered away from nibbling (and is not a hard biter/scratcher when she IS playing with humans). A bit of kitty food, some little toy mice, and she'll be content for hours and hours. And you will be too.

As you can see, she's a beautiful smoky grey, with darker roots and what appears to be a tabby pattern slightly darker in there. She's very symmetrical, with tiny tufts of white coming out of both ears, a very thin white stripe down her forehead, her two front feet evenly white and her rear feet and legs have white socks (even amounts). She's got two spots of white, one between her front legs, and one between her rear legs with a tiny thin stripe running between them. And a few odd white single strands of hair poking out atop her hip.

I have her until the Friday before Memorial Day, then she's to go back to the Anti Cruelty Society to be spayed before going up for adoption. :)

Miss Cindy Recuperating.

You'd think that she'd be tired...woozy... after her surgery. But no. Little miss wanted to run all over the place. I almost had to sit on her to keep her from bouncing all over. No long walkies, a bit of water last night, some nibbles today... poor little monkey is a hungry girl, but we have to ease that little belly back into use. :-)

Miss Cyndi has a Dad!

Miss Cindy has a dad! I am so happy for them both, since they seem to be a perfect match. Well, she has TWO dads. And a new brother. And lots of aunties and uncles. I'll be sad to not see her little face poking up at me to say "hi!", but Mr. B will take over that job, I believe. After all, he's my best bud. He never lets me stay sad for long at all. A few head butts and the reminder that this is indeed the perfect family for her to go to, with absolutely NO reservations makes it very easy, indeed, for me to say "have a beautiful life and be happy, puppeh!"

This is Cindy hanging out post surgery. She'll stay with me for just a couple of days while her insides heal up from being spayed...since we have a very VERY good idea that if she were to be going home right away she'd be playing non stop with her new brother. I think it would have been fun if they'd shaved a heart down there, but I guess it'll grow back, so...  ;-D

So congratulations!!! I am so happy!

Miss Cindy and the Rocket.

Miss Cindy's 'larnin.

While she's still a puppy, and can be expected to accidentally piddle on the floor if she can't hold it (although we're working on that) and has a shorter attention span (although it IS pretty prodigious for being a baby) she's an excellent learner. We've added "speak" to her repertoire, and "sssh!" so that when she gets excited she'll be able to know the difference and respond accordingly. She's doing really rather well.  :-)

Miss Cindy and the Stairs.

I am happy to report that as of yesterday.... (drum roll please)...Miss Cindy WENT DOWN THE STAIRS! I'd been carrying her down, because she was scared of them. But she doesn't particularly like being picked up. SO, it was a conundrum... when she was upstairs she wanted to stay up, and when she was down she wanted to stay down. We've been working on her confidence, going on bigger stairs and doing the lower part of the staircase. Well, yesterday she decided she'd want to try it herself, and walked up to me as I was sitting on the top step. So I put my hand on her collar to keep her steady in case she lost control and slid down on my butt one step at a time as she made her maiden voyage. She's gaining confidence daily, which makes me proud of her!!

after the park...

A late addition, but I thought this was cute... after her romp in the park...

Dutchie and Miss Cindy at the park...

Today we were going to go for a walk, Miss Cindy and I. We wandered down the street, her nose to the sidewalk back and forth, checking out the world. And we wound up at a little park. Where we met Dutchie. Dutchie was a very nice pug beagle mix who loved to play. And so we let them.

Our walk wasn't the longest, but I think Miss Cindy had loads of fun and that's the important part. On our way home she was more focused with a lot of the puppy energy burned out of her and at this moment she's crashed out under the coffee table, probably dreaming of wrestling with bigger dogs...

:)

Miss Cindy growing up...

 Miss Cindy is getting bigger. And still no home. I've been out walking her, showing her off to the neighborhoods and we'd thought that she might possibly have found a forever home, but it seems that it's on hold while we wait. But she's not waiting. She's growing, and learning, and getting smarter and more shepherd-like as you read this.

Here's what I have learned about Miss Cindy. And what she has learned. We've fallen into a lovely rhythm where I wake up at about 6:45 in the morning and take her outside to go potty. There are a couple of walks, one shorter, one longer, and several trips out just for potty. She is still scared of the stairs, but today I took her down to the laundry room to practice on the five stairs going down there, and she managed it quite nicely. I have a feeling that it's the darker red carpeting, the shadows, and the larger amounts of stairs that throw her off.

She's a puppy, so of course she's still in the nibble stage. She HAS, however, decreased on that one a lot. It pretty much happens now only when she's really excited. Whoever gets her will want to continue to discourage it by redirecting. I've seen many people who let her chew on them and say that it's okay because she's a puppy... but she's got to learn some time...better now than when she's big. Because she's going to be big enough that what is cute now is painful later. When she wakes up and before and in spurts she's very energetic, and loves to run and play growl at her leash, and play with her toys. I've figured out the key is to give her enough exercise. When she's able to run it off she becomes calm and loves to sit with you and just hang out. Right now she's laying under the couch. Well, she WAS. :-)

She can startle at things that she's not seen or heard before. This morning, she saw a garbage truck from about twenty feet away backing up...the beep beep beep part scared her and she wanted to run, but with a little hunkering down and calm chat she ran up and sat between my legs and was able to watch. Anything, she'll come and sit between my feet and then look at whatever it is with curiosity. Once she knows it's not going to get her, she's fine.

Once she's got her frenetic puppy energy run off (it's getting easier now) she does very well at Sit, Down, Touch, Paw (that's a great one, by the way, when she has her leash wrapped around her leg) and she's doing REALLY well at sitting on command when we see another dog coming along. Since she's a puppy and some dogs like their space, we leave it up to the other dog's non-fur parents to let us know if it's okay to play. If so, then it's on. What has surprised me, though, is her sweet side is coming out, and what I thought might be a dominant dog is sitting and rolling over on her back for pets and for play...a submissive gesture. And she loves putting her nose to the ground looking for stuff to pick up. We're using "ick!" "out!" for her to know that that's not a good thing to eat... :-)

Now if she still wants to stay where she's at, she WILL plop down and not move... and no, treats aren't really going to help. She's a bit blase about them. But she DOES love her evil squirrel squeaky toy and tennis balls. As long as you make it sound like it's the best thing ever to come to you right now she'll lay there and stare at you (that shepherd stubborn streak). So getting her to come to you solely to put her leash on or to get her to go into her crate isn't a great idea. She's smart enough to figure out that you're going to do something when you use a specific tone of voice... but if you call her over for nothing more than to give her lots of love and pets, well then she'll love you and won't mind coming over at all...

Oh, and she loves to argue with Mr. B. Until I tell them to break it up. :-D

Miss Cindy out and about...the social Butterfly...

 Today was a beautiful day. As of today, Miss Cindy is approximately 2 months, ten days old. She's getting bigger and stronger and so we went for a looooong walk. All the way around the block. :)  And here are some more things that I've learned about Miss Cindy...

 When Miss Cindy is out and about, she's almost ALWAYS got her nose to the ground, sniffing things out, wanting to pick things up. But with a nice firm "out" and a little tug on the leash she almost always drops it. Then she's off to find the next interesting thing....

 She met this gent, who was out walking his HUGE Mastiff (who happened to love puppies and drooled all over her back... but that's not a big deal. That's what fingers are for...to wipe them off) and they got along marvelously. As of yet, aside from a couple of VERY noisy dachshunds that made her hide behind my feet the dogs that she's met have been very nice to her and she has no fear or aggression... in fact, she wants to play, but kinda does the submissive puppy roll over... which is too cute. I'd have taken a photo of them together, but wanted to keep my hands free just in case of tangling or a need for a fast escape. Of which there was no need.

She came halfway up to the mastiff's belly, by the way... and I was cracking up.

 More sniffing.. Sniffing and looking around. That's what it's all about for her. She WILL need to solidify her sit when she meets people. We've got her sitting, but she loves meeting people so much that she forgets and wants to go prop her feet up on them for loves.....

 She DID let me know that the El's sound scared her. Cars? Nah (well, unless there'd be a really loud, scary sudden noise...but then I'd be scared too) But she didn't care for the loud train. She needed hugs and pets and loves to know that the train wasn't going to get her...but all she really DID was whine and pull back and try to hide behind me. I think the hugs were more for me than her... :)

 Yup... not too sure about that.

 Miss Cindy loves to walk next to the fences and try to get underneath to get some marauding leaves before they escaped.

We made it about 3/4 of the way around the block before she pooped out and, in the middle of a driveway, plopped down and gave me those big puppy dog eyes. So of course, she got a ride home. I'd say she did brilliantly for her first big trip.

She's also coming along with her potty training. If she has to go potty and I miss her signals (she gets more active and verbal) then she goes into her crate about 95% of the time now. Which gets her a "good girl!" She hasn't had a poo accident for several days now... which gets her a "GREAT!"

To keep her mind active we've been working on "sit", "out" (meaning drop it), "touch" (to touch her nose to my palm which is held up like a stop sign), and "paw" (to stick her paw on my palm as it is stretched out flat almost at the floor). We've also just started "down" for her to lay down. She's getting them all rather well, with just a few missteps..but hey, she's a puppy. I consider her knowing this like my three year old niece knowing the names of the Presidents of the USA.

She's doing VERY well at running up the half-flight to my apartment, but going down the stairs is still a VERY scary prospect to her. She'll need encouragement on that end. I've been sitting at the top of the stairs, petting and talking to her to desensitize her from them, and after a bit I carry her down to the last three stairs or so and set her down to walk down them. Which, when she does, of course gets a "Good puppy!" and lots of rubby-huggy-loves.

When she gets really excited she gets nibbly. Not as much as she did, and I have a feeling it is because she had pent up energy. On our walkies today, with all the people she met, she was more stand on her hind feet lickie. So this is another reason for a good walk for this VERY social little doggy.

She's an energetic pup, so a good walk or two a day will probably be a very good thing as she grows up to keep her happy. So far the only thing she's gnawed on in my apartment are her toys, she likes to drag my shoes around for a casual munch (we're working on not doing that, either. She's getting pretty good, but she can slip.) and she did carry an old paperback that fell off the shelf into her crate to gnaw on the corner. That got a "no!" but she didn't know, and now she does. :)

 Post walk, we came in and went into my bedroom where I accidentally caught her tiny puppy toes under the door. BAD foster mommy! She cried, and held her paw up, and I almost cried, and hugged her and petted her and told her I was sorry, and checked her little toes and movement and put her down to walk around and she was fine, except for the scare and the way it probably felt like when we take a step into something and stub our toe...owie! So we had lots of snuggle time after that...

 Awwww....looookit that faaaace.  Don't let her fool you, though. Two minutes before this she was goading Mr. B. on, trying to get him to play with her...barking (which she doesn't really do...she's NOT a very vocal girl (Except for the first night in a new place, but she settled in quite nicely)... then running and hiding behind me if he turned to look at her to say "Boo!"

Mr. B.

I have nothing to say today....

Except that this is the most photogenic little pup I've seen. :-D

And she loves my bathroom mat. I was eating dinner tonight and she was running around getting exercise. For a minute she disappeared, and as I got up to go check on where she was.... she came trotting (well, TRYING to trot) out of the bathroom dragging this fuzzy red carpet. So we had to locate evil Squirrel quickly for a bit of diversionary tactic as I hid the bath mat in the tub.

Another day...

IF this uploader works, you will see the FABULOUS Miss Cindy running her little tushie off. We've started getting her out, going to the bathroom, then taking a puppy run out to the end of the courtyard and back. It works really well because 1. It takes the edge off that puppy energy. 2. We'll invariably run into someone. And the more someones we run into, the more socialized she gets. 3. It works out her little muscles. We never go faster or farther than she wants to, that she can handle, but she really seems to enjoy it. She might do really well with an energetic family or even as a runner buddy, once she gets big enough to go.

 Above I'd like to label as Exhibit A. Meeting new friends. Earlier in the day we ran into a really nice lady who  gave her loves then went up into her apartment and came back down with her two huge golden retrievers. She told me that her dogs loved puppies and were gentle, and so we let them meet, and it was a big old sniffing love fest. SO: good with people, cats, dogs... she's becoming well rounded. :-)

She doesn't mind being an independent little soul, but she's still a little baby who loves a snuggle...

Little Nibbler...

 Well, we're a week into Miss Cindy's stay. She's over her cough, so we're back to going outside to learn to go potty. And she's pretty much got it down. Obviously, with a bladder the size of a walnut she has to go more frequently, so when I get up to let her out in the morning and after work (yes, she sleeps in her crate at night and when I'm gone... it keeps her from chewing on something in her puppy stage and getting hurt, and she really does like her bed) there's usually a little present in there. But as she grows her bladder is going to grow too, so she'll grow out of that.

It's all about keeping a regimen when you have a pet. It keeps them happy. And it keeps you (me) happy too.  We know what to do, we know what to expect. So every morning We wake up at 7am, and go outside to go potty. We go to one spot, and we stand there IN that spot until she's gone potty and poo. (I can tell when she has to go poo...she gets verbal with little squeaks and ruffs and runs around crazy in circles out to the end of her leash until she goes. One of the main reasons I stand still. If I walked with her until she was satisfied with her "restroom" who knows HOW far we'd have walked..). THEN we play for a few minutes since she was such a good girl, and come back inside for a lovely breakfast of kibble and canned and play. For the next couple of hours or so we play with the Kong, or evil Squirrel (I've become a pro at tossing evil Squirrel while putting my shoes on).

Before I leave for work we go outside again to go to the bathroom... same thing. Stand in one place (We're inside a courtyard, working our way gradually out toward the scary noisy outside) while she goes to the bathroom, then a bit of play for being good.  After work...yup, same thing. Then it's back inside for dinner, for more play, and outside a couple more times (same routine) before bed.

Things I've noticed? That German Shepherd stubborn sometimes comes out, which means that if there's something that she really likes... she can be distracted from it... but it may take a  few attempts. When she gets wound up playing she tends to be a nibbler...those puppies DO like to chew...so once again, something to distract her usually works well. :-D  We're working on being better at this. But that stubborn means just a bit more working. But she's SO worth it. She's just a loving little thing, full of spunk and fun.

Thoughts on puppies:
1. It's all about the routine. Keep a routine, don't confuse them, you'll all be happy...

2. Keep Potty time and Walk time separate. If it's 5 degrees outside and you have to take the dog outside to go to the bathroom but Fifi is used to walking around the block before she goes...it's going to be a loooooonnnggg cold walk. I used to pet sit a dog who did exactly that. To go to the bathroom we'd have to walk around the block...rain or shine... to go. I, on the other hand, trained George the dog (my lovely lovely yellow lab) to go out to go "potty". Once that was done, then he knew it was time for play, or "walk".

3. A lot of times when you get a pet from a situation where there are a lot of other animals together they can develop Kennel Cough. Sort of the equivalent of a dry, scratchy cough in a human with a bit of a retch at the end. One of the best things I ever did was get a warm air humidifier. It soothes their dry air passages and helps them get over it faster. That and mainly moist food while they're sick...which is more soothing to swallow...

4. All puppies are going to be nibblers and full of energy. They're BABIES. :-D We have to remember that. And not hold it against them or give up on them and take them to the shelter.

That's how I got my George dog. A young lady was walking him, and he'd been stuck in a cage all day long so he was running in circles. She couldn't handle it. Her loss became my gain for a decade. Because I COULD and he became the best friend a person could ever have had.

:)

Little Miss Cindy and Evil Squirrel...

 Miss Cindy decided she liked my boots much more than a boring old kong (even food filled), so to redirect her attentions I stopped in after work the second night to get her her own animal to kill and skin. When I brought it into the bedroom and let her out to investigate she wasn't quite sure about it. Especially when the evil Squirrel squeaked at her. She decided that under the bed was a MUCH safer spot.  After a few minutes, and no evil Squirrel squeak, she cautiously climbed out and onto my lap and decided to sniff the weird, fuzzy thing.  Not five minutes later, ignoring the occasional squeak, she was grabbing it and sliding across the floor on it and occasionally giving it what-for with a rowdy "bark!"  By the end of the night, Miss Cindy and evil Squirrel were best of friends, with Cindy dragging evil Squirrel to the couch and begging me with her puppy eyes to give them a lift up. Which I willingly did.  And after a few moments.... they nodded off to dreamland.

So here's what I've learned so far about Miss Cindy: She's VERY smart. And while she's not potty trained, she tries her hardest to let me know by sniffing that she's got to go potty, and when she's close enough to be able to get to it fast, she runs to her crate to go. Because of some unforeseeable conditions the outside potty training (which she was already starting to pick up on on the second day) had to be put on hold... but I think she'll do great at learning... all we need to do is pay attention to her cues...wild sniffing, a bit of whining...and remember that she's just a baby so she has to potty a lot more often than a grown up dog with their big old bladders.

She's also independent... She doesn't like to be rolled on her back, she's a bit of a wiggler when you pick her up, but when her feet are solidly on you she's fine.  She's not going to be a lap dog. Maybe a sit beside you on the couch and snuggle dog... She loves to be scratched under the chin, and on her chest, and when you're standing there brushing your teeth she'll sit down and rest her head on your feet. She's a lover, but not a clinger. Which I find charming.

She's a bit shy of new things, but then she's a baby. Everything's new. It doesn't take long for her to want to investigate. She even still wants to investigate Mr. B... who, in true cat fashion, ignores her.

In most cases when I call her she'll come right to me. She DOES love sitting under my jewelry box on top of a pile of my Converse, but even then, with a bit of a coaxing, she'll come.

She's obviously not trained to walk yet.... so I'm always prepared to keep my eyes down so I don't accidentally trip over her, but the fact that she'll come with me when I call her gives her a gold star. :)

And lastly, after her first night in her new crate, she's settled down, and doesn't mind being put in her "house". She'll settle down and snuggle onto the blanket and should I need to go get something, there isn't any urgent whining to get her out.  She'll look up, and if I open the door, she'll come out. And get smooches for being such a good girl.... :)

Cindy

02-21-2012. This is Cindy (I like her name...), who is just a little bit of a pup. According to the Anti Cruelty Society she's 1 month, 20 days old, and is a shepherd mix. She's a foxy blonde color, with a tiny bit of white on three of her paws, a little raindrop of white on her chest, and a bit also under her chin. On the tips of her ears, a bit under her chin, and on her tail  it darkens into a mixture of the all over color and black.

I just brought her home today. She's never been anywhere, really, but she was a brave little soul on the cab ride home. I brought her into the apartment, introduced her to the crate, with her little bed  fixed in and left her there for a bit before I brought her out so she'd know that it was a comfy place and she wasn't going to be left there forever. She did cry a bit, but I waited until she quieted down then got her out. I didn't want her thinking that the barking was what made me come open the door. After a bit of exploring with me close by, she wandered back into her little house (so I know she's not minding it...score!) before we went outside for a little bit, just in case she had to go potty.

Once in a while she'll give a little baby cry (but that's to be expected...after all... this is all new) but I think the first day she's passed like a champ. And now... she's passed OUT like a champ. Before we go to bed we're going to take another detour outside.