Janet found a spot in the park this week where it's fenced on three sides, so she feels pretty comfortable letting me off-leash. When we're there she throws my Squeaky Kong or my green ball for me to fetch, or we play with the flirt-pole Bill made for me. Hopefully someone will be able to take video of me playing soon, because I'm a fantastic acrobat----especially for such a "substantial" girl!
Today was my first day back in Bad Rap class since I got adopted. I was a little nervous at first because I haven't been around this many dogs recently. But I guess all those walks and micro-lessons with Janet during the last two weeks must paid off, cuz Donyale said I was MOST IMPROVED in the whole class!! I did a beeeeyoooteeeful wedding march (as long as Janet had a treat in her hand, even if I didn't get to eat it right away); sat nicely (ditto); made eye contact (ditto); and did a down-stay that lasted for over five minutes! Donyale's my new BFF, because first she told me I did amazingly well, and then she told Janet I needed to have more treats when we were working on stay. YESSSSSS!
I stopped by the shelter to visit Amelia for hugs. Tim came out to see me too, and I climbed right up on his shoulders and hugged him and licked him all over----I was so glad to see them both! Then I stopped kissing Tim and made it clear that he and Janet needed to stop talking because it was time for me to get in the car. I really didn't want to stay at the shelter any longer....it was nice to visit everyone, but I was ready to go HOME!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
My Nickname and how I earned it
I have a nickname, given to me by Janet's son Scott. I'm now known as "The Wrecking Ball".
On Thursday Janet had me jump in the car. She took me to Scott and Megan's. When we arrived, Khepri and I were being a little scrappy with each other. Since Khepri can't see she has trouble with visual boundaries and I'm still figuring everything out with regard to other dogs. So as a precaution, all three of us dogs had to go to PetSmart and get MUZZLES! Muzzles suck. I stayed at their house until Sunday night. Whenever I went outside my crate and Khepri and Oliver were out, we all had to wear our muzzles just to make sure we didn't get into any trouble. At least I wasn't the only one.....did I mention that muzzles suck?
I didn't like the idea of Janet leaving me behind, even though she promised it was just for a couple of days while she and Bill went to L.A. I whined and cried and carried on for a little while. Scott and Megan were nice to me and took me for walks with their dogs, but I didn't like being in another new place so soon after Janet took me to my new home. I thought I was never going to see her or my nice big kennel and my new bed again. Then Sunday night there was a knock on the door and Megan put Oliver and Khepri in the bedroom. She opened the door just a tiny little bit, and GUESS WHO I SNIFFED WAS THERE??????
I pushed Megan out of the way and pushed the door open with my whole entire body and jumped on Janet and ran down the steps and down the sidewalk (she was hollering at me to "come here this instant" but I was too excited to pay any attention to her) and then I ran back UP the sidewalk and Janet got this very funny look on her face as I raced as fast as I could right up to her with all 65 pounds of me LAUNCHING itself into the air at her!!!! Then I ran into the house and knocked over a fan and broke that, then a I ran into the back yard and ran around and around and around and around and then I came back and launched myself at Janet again and then I ran around and around and around some more while I knocked over some of the yard furniture. That's when Megan told Janet about my new nickname that Scott had given me over the weekend. I had already earned it!
On Thursday Janet had me jump in the car. She took me to Scott and Megan's. When we arrived, Khepri and I were being a little scrappy with each other. Since Khepri can't see she has trouble with visual boundaries and I'm still figuring everything out with regard to other dogs. So as a precaution, all three of us dogs had to go to PetSmart and get MUZZLES! Muzzles suck. I stayed at their house until Sunday night. Whenever I went outside my crate and Khepri and Oliver were out, we all had to wear our muzzles just to make sure we didn't get into any trouble. At least I wasn't the only one.....did I mention that muzzles suck?
I didn't like the idea of Janet leaving me behind, even though she promised it was just for a couple of days while she and Bill went to L.A. I whined and cried and carried on for a little while. Scott and Megan were nice to me and took me for walks with their dogs, but I didn't like being in another new place so soon after Janet took me to my new home. I thought I was never going to see her or my nice big kennel and my new bed again. Then Sunday night there was a knock on the door and Megan put Oliver and Khepri in the bedroom. She opened the door just a tiny little bit, and GUESS WHO I SNIFFED WAS THERE??????
I pushed Megan out of the way and pushed the door open with my whole entire body and jumped on Janet and ran down the steps and down the sidewalk (she was hollering at me to "come here this instant" but I was too excited to pay any attention to her) and then I ran back UP the sidewalk and Janet got this very funny look on her face as I raced as fast as I could right up to her with all 65 pounds of me LAUNCHING itself into the air at her!!!! Then I ran into the house and knocked over a fan and broke that, then a I ran into the back yard and ran around and around and around and around and then I came back and launched myself at Janet again and then I ran around and around and around some more while I knocked over some of the yard furniture. That's when Megan told Janet about my new nickname that Scott had given me over the weekend. I had already earned it!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Ten Things I Learned This Week
10. I have my very own chain-link kennel like the one I had at Berkeley (only much bigger) and also a travel kennel inside that. I have a brand-new trampoline bed like I had at the shelter, but I like to ignore that. Whenever I get fed at night, I like to save some of my food for snacking on the next day, just in case. I usually lie down in the shade inside the travel kennel during the day. I'd rather be crashing around in the garden, but that's not allowed.....sigh....
9. At night I sleep in a wire crate in the enclosed patio on a nice soft pillow. I get one Meaty Bones biscuit whenever I go into my crate. YUMMMM! I like the biscuit part, but I'd rather not be in the crate. In this house, walking around at night is not allowed.....sigh......
8. I like going inside Janet's house because it has lots of soft furniture. I already know all about furniture, so I must remember it from the "before" place. I LOVE jumping on furniture and curling up---it's so comfy!!! But here that's not allowed....sigh....
7. Janet and I go for walks twice a day. I wish Donyale could see me doing the wedding march everywhere I go! I hope I can remember to do it when I go back to Bad Rap training. We go past many fences where dogs bark at me, but I'm not allowed to bark back. I've been very good about that, and haven't barked once! (Well, I did once, but that was about something different.) Some of our walks are to a park where there are children. Children are nice to lick, but licking children at the park is not allowed.....sigh....
6. Next door there is a young girl-dog named Lexie. Lexie barked at me until we went for a walk together with her person, Eric. Now that she knows who I am she doesn't bark at me so much. Lexie is so lucky----she has her OWN BOY. His name is Zachary. He came into my kennel and I was allowed to lick him. He gave me a biscuit and then he let me lick him some more. YUMMMMM! Boys and Meaty Bones are my new favorite combination of things to lick! I would like to bark at Zachary when he's in his yard and invite him over to give me biscuits and be licked, but that's not allowed....sigh....
5. Janet has a grown-up boy named Scott and an (almost) daughter-in-law Megan. They are both very nice to lick and they give excellent scritches! They have two dogs. Oliver is old and grumpy (Janet told me not to take it personally that he growled at me a little when he was sitting in her lap, because she IS his favorite grandma). He's a cocker spaniel and some other dogs mixed up. He thinks he is very big, but he isn't. Khepri is a pure-bred pit bull. Apparently I'm not, because I don't look like her. Khepri likes her ball better than anything else in the world----except squeaky toys. After we three dogs took a nice get-aquainted-sniffing-around-the-block walk with our people, Khepri and I played ball together in the yard. She can't see very well, but she's a great sniffer and she always found her ball, even when I ran away with it! After pizza dinner (which I wanted to share, but that wasn't allowed.....sigh....), Janet got the Squeaky Kong that my Auntie Ferne gave me out of my toy bag so she could show it to Scott. Khepri wanted it VERY MUCH. Janet put it back in the bag, and said it was waaaay too exciting for Khepri. But Khepri tried to take it out when we weren't looking. I caught her with her WHOLE HEAD in my bag. Then I told her it was MY bag and MY squeaky Kong that MY Auntie Ferne had given me, and that she was not to touch!!! Then Khepri and I (but mostly me) got into trouble for being rude to each other. Janet told me that rudeness was not allowed.....sigh..... But Khepri and I kissed and made up, and after that Janet and Bill and I came home because we were all very tired. From now on, taking squeaky toys to their house is not allowed....sigh.....
4. Janet has a garden and three cats. The cats are one reason I didn't come home with her from the shelter sooner. They don't like it when Oliver and Khepri visit, even though two of them were kittens born in the same house where Oliver and Khepri lived!! They like it when I sleep in the crate at night or stay in the kennel during the day because they can pretend I don't live here at all. Janet says until I have better manners that I can only be in the garden on my leash, even inside the fence, because on my first day I broke a sprinkler head and climbed the firewood-pile and found a loose board in the fence and smooshed some plants. I had a most excellent time, but Janet said all those fun things are not allowed....sigh.... The cat Guinness thinks it's funny to watch me walking in the garden on my leash. Yesterday she felt brave and got very close to me. I play-barked and tried to jump on her, and she ran away. Janet told me barking and jumping at her kitties isn't allowed.....sigh....
3. Janet wants me to do my potty chores in one part of the garden. I want to do potty chores wherever I feel like it. Sometimes I decide I'll show her---I won't do potty chores at all until I can do them wherever I want. But then I really HAVE to go, so I give up and do them where she wants me to. When I visited Khepri and Oliver, I got to do potty chores anywhere in their yard. Scott walked around with a little scooper and cleaned up after me, just like Tim and Thomas did at the shelter! It was wonderful. I pooped and peed about a zillion times, wherever I felt like it. Scott said that when their garden is finished, Khepri and Oliver will have to do THEIR potty chores in a special place, too. HAH! I would like to poop and pee on the tiny lawn in Janet's back yard, but it's for dogs to roll on, so pottying on the lawn is not allowed.....sigh....
2. Here there are not so many wonderful friendly people walking by my kennel and saying hello to me like there were at the shelter. Sometimes I get sad because I haven't seen my shelter friends lately, and no one has come to talk to me, so I whine and yip. Then Janet comes to see me, but she tells me that whining and yipping are not allowed.....sigh.....
1. When I came to the shelter and they did my write-up, they said I weighed 45 lbs. The number one thing I have learned this week from my medical records is that I really weigh 65 lbs! Janet says this explains why I can push her over so easily when I'm licking her and she's scritching me and we're playing silly. And that's allowed!!!!
9. At night I sleep in a wire crate in the enclosed patio on a nice soft pillow. I get one Meaty Bones biscuit whenever I go into my crate. YUMMMM! I like the biscuit part, but I'd rather not be in the crate. In this house, walking around at night is not allowed.....sigh......
8. I like going inside Janet's house because it has lots of soft furniture. I already know all about furniture, so I must remember it from the "before" place. I LOVE jumping on furniture and curling up---it's so comfy!!! But here that's not allowed....sigh....
7. Janet and I go for walks twice a day. I wish Donyale could see me doing the wedding march everywhere I go! I hope I can remember to do it when I go back to Bad Rap training. We go past many fences where dogs bark at me, but I'm not allowed to bark back. I've been very good about that, and haven't barked once! (Well, I did once, but that was about something different.) Some of our walks are to a park where there are children. Children are nice to lick, but licking children at the park is not allowed.....sigh....
6. Next door there is a young girl-dog named Lexie. Lexie barked at me until we went for a walk together with her person, Eric. Now that she knows who I am she doesn't bark at me so much. Lexie is so lucky----she has her OWN BOY. His name is Zachary. He came into my kennel and I was allowed to lick him. He gave me a biscuit and then he let me lick him some more. YUMMMMM! Boys and Meaty Bones are my new favorite combination of things to lick! I would like to bark at Zachary when he's in his yard and invite him over to give me biscuits and be licked, but that's not allowed....sigh....
5. Janet has a grown-up boy named Scott and an (almost) daughter-in-law Megan. They are both very nice to lick and they give excellent scritches! They have two dogs. Oliver is old and grumpy (Janet told me not to take it personally that he growled at me a little when he was sitting in her lap, because she IS his favorite grandma). He's a cocker spaniel and some other dogs mixed up. He thinks he is very big, but he isn't. Khepri is a pure-bred pit bull. Apparently I'm not, because I don't look like her. Khepri likes her ball better than anything else in the world----except squeaky toys. After we three dogs took a nice get-aquainted-sniffing-around-the-block walk with our people, Khepri and I played ball together in the yard. She can't see very well, but she's a great sniffer and she always found her ball, even when I ran away with it! After pizza dinner (which I wanted to share, but that wasn't allowed.....sigh....), Janet got the Squeaky Kong that my Auntie Ferne gave me out of my toy bag so she could show it to Scott. Khepri wanted it VERY MUCH. Janet put it back in the bag, and said it was waaaay too exciting for Khepri. But Khepri tried to take it out when we weren't looking. I caught her with her WHOLE HEAD in my bag. Then I told her it was MY bag and MY squeaky Kong that MY Auntie Ferne had given me, and that she was not to touch!!! Then Khepri and I (but mostly me) got into trouble for being rude to each other. Janet told me that rudeness was not allowed.....sigh..... But Khepri and I kissed and made up, and after that Janet and Bill and I came home because we were all very tired. From now on, taking squeaky toys to their house is not allowed....sigh.....
4. Janet has a garden and three cats. The cats are one reason I didn't come home with her from the shelter sooner. They don't like it when Oliver and Khepri visit, even though two of them were kittens born in the same house where Oliver and Khepri lived!! They like it when I sleep in the crate at night or stay in the kennel during the day because they can pretend I don't live here at all. Janet says until I have better manners that I can only be in the garden on my leash, even inside the fence, because on my first day I broke a sprinkler head and climbed the firewood-pile and found a loose board in the fence and smooshed some plants. I had a most excellent time, but Janet said all those fun things are not allowed....sigh.... The cat Guinness thinks it's funny to watch me walking in the garden on my leash. Yesterday she felt brave and got very close to me. I play-barked and tried to jump on her, and she ran away. Janet told me barking and jumping at her kitties isn't allowed.....sigh....
3. Janet wants me to do my potty chores in one part of the garden. I want to do potty chores wherever I feel like it. Sometimes I decide I'll show her---I won't do potty chores at all until I can do them wherever I want. But then I really HAVE to go, so I give up and do them where she wants me to. When I visited Khepri and Oliver, I got to do potty chores anywhere in their yard. Scott walked around with a little scooper and cleaned up after me, just like Tim and Thomas did at the shelter! It was wonderful. I pooped and peed about a zillion times, wherever I felt like it. Scott said that when their garden is finished, Khepri and Oliver will have to do THEIR potty chores in a special place, too. HAH! I would like to poop and pee on the tiny lawn in Janet's back yard, but it's for dogs to roll on, so pottying on the lawn is not allowed.....sigh....
2. Here there are not so many wonderful friendly people walking by my kennel and saying hello to me like there were at the shelter. Sometimes I get sad because I haven't seen my shelter friends lately, and no one has come to talk to me, so I whine and yip. Then Janet comes to see me, but she tells me that whining and yipping are not allowed.....sigh.....
1. When I came to the shelter and they did my write-up, they said I weighed 45 lbs. The number one thing I have learned this week from my medical records is that I really weigh 65 lbs! Janet says this explains why I can push her over so easily when I'm licking her and she's scritching me and we're playing silly. And that's allowed!!!!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
I am Clover
The people there were very nice to me, and I got a kennel and a bed all to myself. I liked that part. I didn't like the dogs barking on either side of me, so I barked back and tried to sound meaner than they did. This could have been a questionable tactic on my part, as it might have been one of the things that kept people from being interested in adopting me. Lots of volunteers and staff people walked me and wrote down nice things about me, though----I used to read their notes at night when everyone was gone. In March, Joel told a new volunteer Janet that she was going to take me to Bad Rap training. "Training?" "What is this 'training?'", I wondered. It turned out to be a lot of hard work!
I had to try to make eye contact, (which is still hard for me.) I had to not bark or be grumpy with other dogs, even if they looked right at me!! I had to sit, and lie down, and stay---"stay" is my VERY least favorite thing. I did get some treats, which helped, but not a lot. Sometimes people would watch me at class, and Janet would make me sit still while she told them how wonderful I was and how fast I was learning new things (all true) and how they should take me home with them. But they never did. I was always really tired at the end of class, and happy to get back to my kennel.
That was my life until July. Then last week a WHOLE bunch of new dogs came into the shelter, and it got crowded and even barkier than usual. All of us were stressing out and the people had very worried looks. Yesterday Janet brought her husband Bill to take me for a walk, and then everyone was smiling and petting me and telling me how lucky I was. My Auntie Ferne brought me a bag of toys, too. I love toys....
After the walk, Janet and Bill didn't take me back to the shelter. They told me to jump into their car, and get in a big box. I'm pretty sure I've done this before, and I knew just what I was supposed to do. It was really comfortable lying on a soft blanket that Tim gave me, and I went to sleep. We went a long way, to a place called Gilroy.Janet says this is where my new life will begin!
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