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.

FREEDOM!!!

Today my charges... Princess Leia, Gracie, Little John, Frankie, and Loverboy... were let out of quarantine. Once one is strong enough to jump the gate, I pretty much know that that's the time. The gate slid up (low enough to keep Mr. B. out, but high enough to let them in to go potty and to eat. I'm keeping the food separated, much to Mr. B's consternation, because he doesn't need the calorie rich food like the babies do to gain weight and get healthy. He's already doing VERRRRRY well in that regard.

So Princess Leia was the one to jump the gate. I pretty much could have predicted that. Mr. B's doing pretty cool except for yelling at the little monkeys if they want to run up on him too close. Only one small potty problem, with Frankie thinking the bathroom rug (and hey, she's never been on a fluffy rug before, and right next to the litter box she probably thought it WAS a litter box, so I have no problems with her) was to go potty on. Grab her, take her to HER bathroom, wash the rug and scrub the floor, and it's all good.

They all seem much less wound up now that they have a lot of room to run and hide and play. Frankie discovered she likes sitting in the window watching the world go by, Gracie loves sitting in the sun snoozing on a white fuzzy blanket that I used to cover the ottoman, and Little John loves to lay UNDER the ottoman while Loverboy has staked out the top with P.L. sitting in the chair. Right now they're ALL zipping from one place to another while Mr. B. hangs out on the couch with me. Zip...stop. Zip....stop. Tackle. Stop. Zip.... and so on.

 Everyone checking out the comfy place....

 Frankie in the foreground, with Princess Leia and Loverboy wrestling in the background.

 Helloooo!!!!

 Gracie napping in the sun....

 Frankie and Little John snoozing under the ottoman...

 Frankie and Princess Leia wrestling....

 Gracie just can't hold her head up....

 Gracie and Frankie....

BONK!  There it goes....right into the rug...

Hey, it was a long and adventurous day.....

Don't forget.... these little lovies will be ready for adoption in about three months.  If you want to talk about them, and find out more about their personalities... just leave a message!  I'll be happy to talk about them with you. Everyone needs someone to love, and I just know that with this wide range of personalities and cute kitten bellies, I could find just the right one for you...  :-)

Kitties!!

The Five are getting bigger and bigger. What felt like bird bones now feels like little full bellies. What used to be cautious tapping has turned into full blown skirmishes. In other words, Princess Leia, Gracie, Frankie, Loverboy, and Little John are becoming kittens. They're learning how to play. They had their first manicure (and did very well, I might add). They are, of course, using the litterbox, and we're working on that whole "cover your bathroom" stuff.  But overall they're doing brilliant. Which is sort of scary. Considering the fact that in a week or so they'll be out of quarantine and the Five will be unleashed on the rest of the apartment.

Oh who am I kidding... it's going to be great..... :-D

And as always...remember... Visit the Anti Cruelty Society and find a new friend. These adorable fuzzballs will be available in just about a month.

New Furbabies...the Quintuplets....

Last Wednesday I called Lydia at the AntiCruelty Society and told her I'd foster someone. It didn't really matter who.  She suggested two different sets of kitties that had been ready for fostering for a week. I said OK, and she set me up with the Five. One month, 23 days old. That at first look are all alike....

I sat down the carrier and opened the door, and out they slowly came to check out the alien landscape. All except for one. Who has now become known as Gracie. More on that in a bit....

They had been named Toes, Shoes, Boots, Mittens, and Socks. Alas, ALL of their descriptions were listed as "brown tabby", so this did me NO good in figuring out who was who. But leaving them nameless wasn't really an option, so I decided after a few days to give them names from what I saw, and their personalities... I'm still working on the names part...

But so far I have Frankie (after Frank Sinatra, old Blue Eyes...even though she's a girl. She plays like a tomboy, anyway) and Gracie (after Gracie Allen, from Gracie Allen and George Burns...she's so cute and petite and girly with big eyes [one is just ever so slightly crossed] and she'll tap politely on your leg to get your attention to be picked up and loved. Then there's Leia [after Princess Leia...another tomboy...with her big ears looking like Leia's hairdo], Loverboy [who LOVES LOVES LOVES to give face rubs and get petted and loved], and Little John [from Robin Hood, the biggest boy of the bunch, who loves to wrestle].  And they're ALL sweeties who love to play king of the mountain with me as the mountain and perch on my shoulder...sometimes two at a time...

Remember, they'll be hanging out with me until October 1st, then it's back to the Anti Cruelty Society to be spayed and neutered and out for adoption.... and one of these sweeties could be YOURS.  Please pass the word...and pass the love....

First and last day out.

I'm happy to say that Milkshake and Cheesecake went back to the Anti-Cruelty Society, were fixed, and within one day of them being out for adoption... they were adopted! One down, thousands and millions to go...

comfy....

It's very fun to watch these kids get a bit bigger (I had to let Milkshake's collar out a hole). It is definite. She's a little independent soul, and Cheesecake is about the biggest snuggler you can find (when she's not chasing around with Milkshake). If you let her, she'll crawl up right under your chin and stay there, kneading and giving loves.  I've caught Mr. B down on the floor wrestling around with them, too... when he's not pretending he's above such antics.... :-D

Remember... August 8.  That's when the little monkeys will be back at the Anti-Cruelty Society waiting to be adopted.  And I doubt they'll last long there... so get down there quick!!