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!!