Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The Abby update day one
her first full day seemed pretty good - I think we tired her out on sunday though! Of course she was on sensory overload, taking in all the new sights and smells, so we decided against taking her to a conservation area that day. Instead, we took about 3 walks throughout the day, around our neighbourhood, repeating a couple of our usual paths for her to get familiar with some of the smells.
And then she hung out with us by the pool while we threw the ball in for Ender, she wasn't too keen on getting in the pool on sunday - and she seemed to really need close contact that day, so she spent most of her time right next to me, either following me, or getting petted. She is such a sweetheart!
We have discovered that she is a fairly skittish dog, and we have also discovered that after only a couple of hours with us, Ender is ready to defend her! There was a sound from the neighbour's yard that startled her - someone dragged a chair or something across their deck - and as she jumped and ran about 12 feet from the noise, big Ender came barreling over to the fence and proceeded to check things out - he didn't bark, but he was all in a huff, and certainly was interested to find out what startled her Abness... he normally doesn't give a crap about noises like that!
The two of them seem to be working out fine - they sniff each other now and then, and when ender is close to her face, he includes a couple of licks. The two of them were running through the green belt together - me on the end of her leash, as I'm not sure about her off leash skills yet, so, truthfully, the 3 of us were running around the greenbelt like big goofs - ender was off leash, so Don just got to sit back and laugh. She is so funny when she runs! Definately one of her mad lab moments, while Ender was his normal freaky nutbar self. We got a ball for her to play with while ender was jumping into the pool after his - and she was so goofy again! She loves to pounce after a bouncing ball, and after seeing her all goofy, Ender got in the mood too, and both of them ran a few mad lab/freaky nutbar laps around the yard!
Monday night, we introduced her to Dukie, another chocolate in the hood, and his people. She was VERY good - no jumping this time! But, as I mentioned, I think she was tired. She really liked Dukie though!
On sunday, our cat hissed at her, and she looked dejected for about half an hour, poor thing. But, Lucy has since warmed up to her! We spent some time together sunday, on the bed - just us three girls! We've had a chance to sit together, the three of us a few times now, with not much drama at all. Lucy is a notorious ninja - famous for threatening 4 leggers new to her territory. But Abby seems to have never encountered a ferocious feline in her life, and just patiently waits for Lucy to stop hissing or swatting, and she stays perfectly still. I think she will have the great and powerful ninja disarmed in a matter of days.
Tuesday night, being Dog night, we tood Ender and Abby to Claireville - and there, we tested her offleash skills - which, shall we say, are not quite mad skills. But there is hope that we can get her there. She is quite the treat hound, and as long as we have a treat to lure her with, she returns almost faithfully, and this was only day three, technically. It's like training a puppy again, and we have to remind ourselves of that.
We have talked trash for a long time about making a list of Mr Ender's vocabulary - and at this point, I wish we had done so. It's amazing that we take the training he's gone through, and the progress he's made for granted. But it's very apparent when we tell the dogs something quite clearly, and while Ender goes off and does whatever we've said, poor Abby leans in, looking deep into your eyes, as if to say, "sorry, what was that?" So we are starting almost from the beginning, getting her used to certain words that will someday become commands or common lingo for her.
I'm finishing this entry on wednesday night, which is basically her third day with us. She has done very well, even her itch seems to have subsided? The jump in the creek she had last night might have helped that. She has a wonderful personality, very calm,and inquisitive - she wants to learn. She and Ender do not seem to be best-friends-forever yet... when I come home from work, I find her coming downstairs from the bedroom, while Ender is still keeping his grumpy old man post on the couch, so he can yarp all day at passersby and that pesky mailman who comes every day.
We are thrilled to have Abby as part of our family, and we are doing our best to make sure she is happy with us. She seems to enjoy our company and praise, and I hope she is comfortable in our home. She really seemed to love dog night, that's every tuesday night, for the uninitiated.
We're very happy we were able to offer her a home. That said, i don't believe she would have had much of a hard time finding a home through the rescue group - because she really is lovely - but I'm really happy that she has found her way into our home. After only a handful of days, there is still a lot I don't know about her, but I'm looking forward to learning!
Time to get my chocolate butts to bed... this is BrownDogMama, signing off.
G'night.
And then she hung out with us by the pool while we threw the ball in for Ender, she wasn't too keen on getting in the pool on sunday - and she seemed to really need close contact that day, so she spent most of her time right next to me, either following me, or getting petted. She is such a sweetheart!
We have discovered that she is a fairly skittish dog, and we have also discovered that after only a couple of hours with us, Ender is ready to defend her! There was a sound from the neighbour's yard that startled her - someone dragged a chair or something across their deck - and as she jumped and ran about 12 feet from the noise, big Ender came barreling over to the fence and proceeded to check things out - he didn't bark, but he was all in a huff, and certainly was interested to find out what startled her Abness... he normally doesn't give a crap about noises like that!
The two of them seem to be working out fine - they sniff each other now and then, and when ender is close to her face, he includes a couple of licks. The two of them were running through the green belt together - me on the end of her leash, as I'm not sure about her off leash skills yet, so, truthfully, the 3 of us were running around the greenbelt like big goofs - ender was off leash, so Don just got to sit back and laugh. She is so funny when she runs! Definately one of her mad lab moments, while Ender was his normal freaky nutbar self. We got a ball for her to play with while ender was jumping into the pool after his - and she was so goofy again! She loves to pounce after a bouncing ball, and after seeing her all goofy, Ender got in the mood too, and both of them ran a few mad lab/freaky nutbar laps around the yard!
Monday night, we introduced her to Dukie, another chocolate in the hood, and his people. She was VERY good - no jumping this time! But, as I mentioned, I think she was tired. She really liked Dukie though!
On sunday, our cat hissed at her, and she looked dejected for about half an hour, poor thing. But, Lucy has since warmed up to her! We spent some time together sunday, on the bed - just us three girls! We've had a chance to sit together, the three of us a few times now, with not much drama at all. Lucy is a notorious ninja - famous for threatening 4 leggers new to her territory. But Abby seems to have never encountered a ferocious feline in her life, and just patiently waits for Lucy to stop hissing or swatting, and she stays perfectly still. I think she will have the great and powerful ninja disarmed in a matter of days.
Tuesday night, being Dog night, we tood Ender and Abby to Claireville - and there, we tested her offleash skills - which, shall we say, are not quite mad skills. But there is hope that we can get her there. She is quite the treat hound, and as long as we have a treat to lure her with, she returns almost faithfully, and this was only day three, technically. It's like training a puppy again, and we have to remind ourselves of that.
We have talked trash for a long time about making a list of Mr Ender's vocabulary - and at this point, I wish we had done so. It's amazing that we take the training he's gone through, and the progress he's made for granted. But it's very apparent when we tell the dogs something quite clearly, and while Ender goes off and does whatever we've said, poor Abby leans in, looking deep into your eyes, as if to say, "sorry, what was that?" So we are starting almost from the beginning, getting her used to certain words that will someday become commands or common lingo for her.
I'm finishing this entry on wednesday night, which is basically her third day with us. She has done very well, even her itch seems to have subsided? The jump in the creek she had last night might have helped that. She has a wonderful personality, very calm,and inquisitive - she wants to learn. She and Ender do not seem to be best-friends-forever yet... when I come home from work, I find her coming downstairs from the bedroom, while Ender is still keeping his grumpy old man post on the couch, so he can yarp all day at passersby and that pesky mailman who comes every day.
We are thrilled to have Abby as part of our family, and we are doing our best to make sure she is happy with us. She seems to enjoy our company and praise, and I hope she is comfortable in our home. She really seemed to love dog night, that's every tuesday night, for the uninitiated.
We're very happy we were able to offer her a home. That said, i don't believe she would have had much of a hard time finding a home through the rescue group - because she really is lovely - but I'm really happy that she has found her way into our home. After only a handful of days, there is still a lot I don't know about her, but I'm looking forward to learning!
Time to get my chocolate butts to bed... this is BrownDogMama, signing off.
G'night.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Abby!
Today, we added another smiling chocolate lab to our family - her name is Abby, and she is very sweet. She and Ender are getting along well, and she has yet to truly encounter tha Luce, but we'll get to that when it happens! Lucy saw her once and hissed, but so far they have not had contact.
Abby is a rescue, and seems to be about the same age as Ender. On her first day with us, we've taken a walk through the green belt behind our house, and watched Ender fetch balls from the pool. Abby did get into the pool just up to her ankles, she stepped in on the first step, but I'm sure she and Ender will be swimming together in there before long.
Here are a couple of picture from day one.
