Life as seen from 4 paws - the new home

Good morning my puppy brothers and sisters, where ever you all have scattered.  I am so glad that you have all found your fur-ever homes.  I heard Denise talking to my human, Chuck, mentioning that our entire brood have all been adopted.  It is neat that each of us has found the human that we were hoping for.

Life here has been quite interesting the past couple of weeks.  It was two weeks ago today that I moved into my human’s place.  It is nice, let me tell you.  They have big grassy areas that they call “outside” and big soft areas they call “inside”.  They even have a couple of caverns they call “crates”.  I am getting 3 squares a day, plus additional snacks that I will explain later.  Plus plenty of toys.  And my adopted brother Sleepy, i mean Bristol.  Life is nice.

Sleepy is doing well.  Dog, that pup can sleep.  I want to play, chase, chew and run.  He loves to get up on the sofa and snooze with his human.  It is getting up on the sofa that is so funny.  For me, it is a few steps an I am airborne, coming to a soft landing on the sofa.  For Sleepy though, it is not so easy.  I laugh as I watch him get a running start and generally launch himself into the side of the sofa.  He has about a 2 inch vertical leap.  His human helps him up though, and he curls up there and falls asleep.  For hours at a time.  I swear, i think i saw him fall asleep in mid leap one time.  As Denise says, sleeping is Bristol’s super power.

About those snacks I mentioned.  I am working hard on training my human.  He is making great progress.  He is learning to give me treats almost on my demand.  At first, it was when i would get into my crate, then when I would sit.  But now, wow, I finally started training Chuck on clicker training.  He is learning to give me a treat whenever the clicker clicks.  No matter what I am doing!  I know!!  I will need to continue to work with him so that he carries the clicker more often and clicks it more often, but he is doing great so far.

Our walking training is going okay.  It is hard to teach Chuck that I get to go wherever I want when on a walk.  He seems to like it when I stay on the path and close to him.  He is missing the simple joy of picking up sticks, smelling grass and chasing leaves.  I will keep working with him though.  I think he needs to learn some of these things, life as a human seems as if it can be a bit stressful.  He needs to learn to relax and to smell the sticks, leaves, plants, grass, floor, furniture and all of life around us.  It seems to make him happy when I stay closer to him on our walks at times, and I like to hear him singing my praises.  So, I will do that for him at times.

I am working on understanding my human’s body language.  There are certain things that I just cannot quite understand yet.  One is the apparent  difference between “inside” and “outside”.  I think both are nice.  Outside is fun with the grass and leaves and such, but inside is right there, close and accessible.  For some reason, when i need to relieve myself, they seem to like it more when I do it “outside” rather than “inside”.  Not quite sure why yet, but I will continue to try to understand it.  When I go outside, i get all sorts of praise and joy.  Inside, and I get picked up and taken outside.  They are smart though, I am sure they will help me understand what it is they want before too long.

“Inside” does not have sticks and leaves, but it has so many toys to play with and chew on.  Bones, squeaky things, kongs, nyla-bones, blankets, shoes, sofas, crates, chair legs, fingers and more.  There are many times that I will be busy chewing on one thing and they will bring me another to chew on.  I told you, they are pretty well trained, always working on making sure I am fed, content and happy.

Now, Sleepy still needs a little work.  He seems to think that he can chew on my toys when he wants to.  My human really should buy him some toys and chew things as well.  So far, I have two great bones, a bunch of nyla-bones, about 4 different kongs, and an assortment of other entertaining chew toys.  He, however, has nothing.  So, of course, he tries to take mine.  It keeps me so busy, I will be chewing on my bone and Bristol will pick up my other bone.  So I will need to drop my one bone and go get my other bone back.  The nerve of that pup.  But, I am sure I will get him trained over time.  He is kinda fun to wrestle with and run around the house with.  I never see our humans wrestling and racing around like we do.  They are missing out on a lot of fun.

At the end of the day, though, Sleepy and I get along pretty well.  We share our crate for naps and night time.  Sleepy’s, sorry, Bristol’s human thinks it is cute and likes to take pictures of us curled up together as we sleep.  Sometimes the Pupparazzi can get a little irritating.  At times it is just fun to mess with her.  I walk next to her and she takes my picture, i curl up with Sleepy and she takes my pic.  I have found that she will take my pic when i just put my ears up.

That “ears up” leads to some interesting discussions.  They have decided, in their mind, that I may not be mostly lab, like they thought.  Chuck has decided that I am part lab, part retriever and part shepherd.  Of course those are his favorite breeds.  He is slowly understanding that I am “100% me and 100% his”, and that that breed is the most important part of all.

One thing that I have not yet figured out is why my human leaves early every morning except for the weekends.  I don’t know where he goes and why he is gone so long.  I do know that he comes home to me at the end of each day and I welcome him and let him know how glad I am that he is back.  That is the best 45 seconds of the day, until Sleepy takes yet another of my toys and I am off again.

Other dogs have questioned, or laughed at, our both selecting the same human family, but it is working out pretty well.  They have each other to entertain each other when we are resting.  Of course, we do the entertaining when we are awake.  We both give attention to both of the humans, but we know whose is whose.  Like now, Sleepy is up on the sofa with Denise, sleeping (no surprise there) and I am chewing on one of my two bones on a blanket on the floor next to Chuck as he writes on the computer.  They are really such nice humans to us and ask for so little.  Just a little bit of snuggling and letting them pet us and they very happy.  Sometimes I just lay back and let him scratch my chest and just look at him, telling him that “you are my human and that I am very happy that you are”.

Anyway, send me a note when you get a chance and let me know how your new families are working out.  You can reach me at “favoritepuppy@chucks”.

Life as seen from 4 paws

So, I was chillin in the crib with my bro's and sis's and a few other new friends at the Aurora outpost of the Anderson Animal Shelter.  We all got along well and such, but I was beginning to think that I wanted to adopt a person of my very own.  Don't get me wrong, the staff there was great, but they were busy and did not have the time to really get to know me.

It was Friday night and this nice couple came in to see us.  They were dressed in matching colors, kind of cute, but harmless.  I could see that these two had potential.  I had to wait a little bit as they looked over some of my different friends here.  They took Midnight out for a walk, well Midnight took them out for a walk.  He is part lab, like me, but much older.  He had turned the big 03 not too long ago, which is some other big number in dog years, but I don't really know what.  After they came back from that excursion, I looked them over closer.  Athletic, artistic and wanting a puppy.  They looked very loving to each other.  They had potential to be some pretty good humans.  I knew they were a bit old, but I figured I could inject a little youth into their world.

Anyway, I let the manager know that I wanted to spend a little time with them, so he brought me out of the crib to see them.  We spent a fun 10 minutes or so together.  I played a little fetch with them and snuggled with them a bit.  They seemed very nice, but I just was not quite sure.  I had my mind set on a pure athlete, but these two seemed pretty close.  I let the manager know that I appreciated the visit and thanked him, but i was not ready to make a decision.  

I wrestled with the thought of them all night long.  I could tell that the woman (he called her Denise) was not going to be my first choice, but the one called Chuck was really pretty special.  She would be a better match for a cute, quieter dog.  But, I knew that I could get to love her if I decided on him.  

As I thought about it, I realized that human that I was going to adopt did not need to be a purebred athlete, but that as long as he had many of the traits that a pure athlete would have, that I would be happy.  As I thought about, I realized that this Chuck was the human that i wanted to adopt.  I had really enjoyed my time with him and his beautiful bride on Friday night.  I know that I wanted to make them my forever family.  

Saturday morning, I let the day manager know that I wanted to reserve him so that no other dog would take them before I could get them here.  They said they don't often do that, but in my case they would make an exception.  I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing with my brothers and sisters for the last time, letting them know that I would be heading out soon.  Puppy, let me tell you they were jealous.  They commented on how pretty that Denise was, and that Chuck was nice too, but I knew that I had found a human that would care for me, talk to me, listen to me, walk with me and play with me.  I knew it would take a lot of patience and training, but that I would be able to build a bond with him that would last for years.  I knew that it was important that he feel and be seen as the Alpha human in this relationship, but I knew that I would be the one that controlled his heart.  

About mid-afternoon Chuck and Denise and Bristol came into our store.  Wait, Bristol?  All of my litter-mates were asking, who's this 4 legged intruder?  Had another dog selected my Chuck?  No, I told them, I had picked and reserved Chuck.  This gray beast of a puppy was Denise's dog.  "Are you crazy?" they asked?  Sharing two humans with another puppy?  I told them that I was fine with this.  Chuck was mine and Bristol was hers.  And that Bristol would keep her entertained when I was busy with Chuck.  

"You are so lucky" they said, "they are such a cute couple, with their matching colors and all." 

"You can tell that they are going to be fun to train and raise, and that you will have a very loved and cared for life" my brothers told me.  My sisters commented again about how pretty Denise was and how they would pick her in an instant.  I agreed that she is very beautiful and special in her own way, but that Chuck was my human, that he was perfect for me.

My dog family reminded me of all of the things to think about and said our good byes.

In the car, I finally got a good look at my new puppy mate, Bristol.  What the heck kind of dog was he, I asked.  He didn't answer me, he just howled.  

"Come on, dude" I said, "it is just a car ride, and my Chuck is right up there.  He won't let anything happen to us"  

" I know," he howled some more.  "My Denise is there as well, but I am six feet away from her and this is scary.  Listen, even Chuck is howling"

"He is not" I replied, "He is singing trying to calm you down"

"Sure sounds like howling" Bristol replied and went back to his howling.

I came to realize of the next few hours that any time Denise was away was a good time for Bristol to whine and howl.  And, any time Denise was there was a good time for Bristol to sleep.  Dog, can that puppy sleep.

Anyway, enough about him.  I am living the good life.  Chuck is an even better human than I thought.  He plays with me, holds me, pets me, runs with me, walks with me and takes me outside.  I really like that outside stuff.  Just sitting in my new back yard is great, feeling the grass under me and smelling all of the new smells wafting by.  

Chuck had a crate installed for me and I really like it.  It is a good place to rest and relax, kind of like my own dog cave.  I am thinking about installing a wide screen tv, at least 24 inches, in it, but that will be for later.  I can get in there whenever I want, and it is usually very nice.  Well, except when the Howler is in there with me, and Denise is not right there.  Does anyone have a pair of ear plugs I can borrow?

 I let the sleeping howler know that all of the toys here in the house are really mine.  He seemed surprised when he would pick up something to chew on and I would come take it away.  "You were already chewing on something" he would say.  

"Doesn't matter", I would say, "They are all my toys and right now I want to chew on the one you have".  I am sure he will learn over time.

I did need to let Chuck know that "Julie" was just my temporary name, that my real name is Samwise Gamgee.  Sam or Sammy for short. He has messed it up a couple of times, but I am thinking he will get the hang of it soon.

Anyway, I am liking my furever human and home a lot.  I am glad that I found him.

Sam