Don Quixarrow

It's been a long time since my last post. Gosh, that sounds kind of like a confession, doesn't it? Anyway, I felt a pull to post about Puppy Paws. If you asked me a few months ago, I don't think I could have written this post. However, as the days turn into weeks and into months, I must say that I just love that little creature. She really is a sweet dog, except when I catch her on the bed!



However, that's not why I posted. She's not only cute; she's very quirky. Arrow has a favorite rock that she likes to carry around in her mouth. She'll pick it up and race from one side of the yard to the other. She drops the rock and bats it around, waits a while and then races back to the other side. She actually has a specific gallop that she does while she is running with her rock; that's how I know she's got the rock. Sometimes if I am not paying attention to her, I think its a small wild animal that she's got, but then thankfully realize that it is her rock. I can't help, but think of the quirky adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Casey and I had the pleasure of listening to (the condensed version of) it on our way to Niagra Falls this summer. I wonder what's going through her mind as she seriously does this important and determined 'dog work'. I am a bit concerned about her pearly whites, but what's a mom to do?

Because she is still a puppy and in teen mode, she still spends some time in her crate. If we don't have our eyes exactly on her, she cannot be trusted. Yesterday for example, while we were sitting right in the same room, she ate a puzzle. Yes, a puzzle. A 1000 piece puzzle. It's just not worth it if I know that even 1 piece is missing.

And so this evening, I was texting with a friend and I looked down and there was the dog that I always wanted. That sweet pup was just hanging out peacefully at my feet. Age and carrying heavy rocks around can do that to a crazy, energetic puppy.

Oh well, it's all part of the adventure, isn't it?

Until next time,
Lynn

A Puppy Surgery

Looks like I might be on a once a month schedule for my blog. Sorry 'bout that.

Puppy has been good. She is such a sweet pup, except when she goes absolutely CRAZY at the vet, because she just loves being there and they LOVE her!

Arrow was born with double dewclaws on her hind legs. As she gets older that could cause some problems for our little girl, so she had a little surgery over the weekend. She's got bandages on her back paws and has to wear a crown/collar when we aren't watching her. She doesn't really like it all that much and I can't blame her. The fam. wanted me to get a shot of her in it, but I just couldn't do that to her.

We are having our fence installed this week. We can't wait to have a nice big space for our high energy pup to run free and get out some of the puppy energy while she's running around playing. So exciting.

Until next time,
Lynn

Puppy fun!

Oh my! Has it really been a month since I have posted? Sorry, 'bout that.

Arrow is doing fine. She is a character. She is so good when we feed her. She just sits and watches us until we give her the word to eat. It's the most exciting part of her day, except of course when Scott comes home from work.

This little video will show you how her little dog personality is forming:

Poor thing! We must have really worn her out that day.

A few weeks ago Arrow got to meet her dog cousins, Jake and Panzer. Arrow and Panzer are just about the same age and also the same size. Jake really didn't want much to do with Arrow, but 'the kids' had a blast playing together. It was fun to see them.

Jake was the leader of the pack and they just followed him like ... well, like puppies!

This photo of them in a pack at the dog park reminds me of The Incredible Journey every time I see it. It's a great story of a cat and 2 dogs out on an adventure of a lifetime. Anyway, Arrow's back home and can't wait to play with her cousins again.

PS- She just started shedding 3 days ago. I guess she had been saving up.

Until next time ...
Lynn

Puppy Antics

I knew the day was coming, I just wasn't sure when.

"I have nothing to say - guilty"

Over the weekend I took my eye off her for a second and I hear a 'licking the chops' noise. Yep, she had climbed up on the table and was happily enjoying Casey's lunch. She may look guilty, but if she had to do it again, I have no doubt that she would. 

Here's a little jaunt down memory lane. Seems just like 3 months ago. Oh ya, it was 3 months ago.

That's about it until the next adventure.

Lynn

Right-sizing puppy

There's not too much to report about puppy except that she's getting bigger. She's just about 30 lb and she's definitely looking like a Lab to me. I am not sure where the Great Pyrenese prediction came from, but time will tell.

Puppy has been having some problems traveling in her too large crate in my car so I ordered her a smaller travel crate. I wanted to get her used to it so I opened the door and set it in the kitchen while I did a few things. All of a sudden she was ... in! Yay!

Unfortunately the novelty has worn off and and she'll only go in when we demand - er I mean coax - her in there with a nice treat. Oh well. That's ok. She is still awfully sweet and has won the heart of some of the family- can you guess who?

Puppy years

Wow! Time really flies. I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. In puppy years, Arrow is now a teenager. She can be very sweet, especially when she's tired. 

She is very good at sitting. She's actually pretty good overall. She's a real people puppy. Yesterday Arrow had the pleasure (and it was all excitement ) of meeting our little neighbors, they are about 5 and 6. I could barely hold her back and so we've been working on her puppy excitement a little. It's amazing what a handful of treats can accomplish. 

Arrow is very, very good at sitting. 

There's not much else to say this time except that I have now two teenagers in the house.

Slow down, little grasshopper

Someone very wise said that this puppy would be therapeutic. I've had one challenging morning and my business, Fieldtripfinder.com, is launching today, oh my.

Puppypaws ... er, I mean Arrow sits in the sun. 

In the spirit of slowing down and not letting the excitement take over, I am sitting in the 'reading room', with the puppy and the laptop, checking the sites and responding to emails. Ah, to have a "where ever internet-based" business! Arrow is happily going to town on her bully stick and is giving me time to do what I need to do. She's such a good girl (right now). The sun is shining and is giving us both the illusion that it's warm out. Makes me think we should go for a nice long walk ... perhaps later. 

Here she is on the move. She really does still have the puppy look about her; she's so cute as she trots along with - ANYTHING - in her mouth. She's even pretty cute when she's not listening. It's hard to get a photo of her since she's always on the go. 

Arrow on the move; you get the gist!

Until next time, 

Lynn

Puppy advancements

We've overcome the biting, thankfully. We like her so much better now that she's not biting us all the time! She's such a sweet pup.

Now that we have the extra large crate and a large one for the back of the car, an extra large bed and another big bag of large breed puppy food, we are really beginning to wonder if perhaps our large-dog-to-be is actually going to be a smaller dog.

At this last vet visit, we were told that she would only be 40 lbs. or so. As I look at her, she just seems like she's going to be small. She tilts her head in just a way; reminiscent of the RCA dog from ads gone by - - a smallish dog.

We were at Petco, again, and saw a Great Pyreneese waiting to be groomed. As I looked at that gigantic dog covered in thick fur, I felt relieved that little Arrow has coarser and shorter hair. Maybe she'll stay small so she can continue to be a lap dog. Only time will tell. Big or small, she is just fine with me.

Until next time,
Lynn

Puppy bites

Yup, it's official. We have a biter. Could be that she's teething. However, she just gets excited and it comes off as bites.

Chewing on something

We can't take our eyes off her, and it's not just because she is so adorable. Nothing is safe. She particularly loves dishtowels, the oven, throw rugs, the table,  wall trim, the leather (read expensive) leash, the gates, the stool, the metal table, shoes and it goes on and on.

Destroying her ball

We took puppy to the vet yesterday and it was invaluable. She set me straight. As of yesterday, we've reclaimed our lives and the puppy isn't running the house anymore. Seems to be going pretty well actually. Can I just say that I LOVE our vet? Our pup is 13 weeks old today and weighed in at 15.4 lbs. The vet also thinks our puppy is only going to be about 40 pounds. We've already had to expand the divider in her crate several times and Arrow doubled in size in the 3 weeks that she's lived here. The jury is still out and only time will tell how big she'll be.

Our sweet girl

Puppy Kindergarten is going well. She loves the trainer that carries around a pocket of chicken. If that wasn't so gross, I'd do that too! She sits, lays down and goes onto her cot on command. She's very smart with a strong touch of independence. She's so sweet though and she's going to be a great family dog. She already is!

Aww... "Mom, I am a puppy, and sooo cute."

Until the next time,

Lynn

Puppy...love

Could it be that the most busy and crazy time is the time when you actually need to stop and relax? It just doesn't make any sense to my logical, process-oriented brain. Between Mr. C and all that homeschool stuff and activity, starting a business and well managing life in general, I feel crazy. Did I mention that I am sleep deprived? However, I have managed to add in playing, walking, feeding, training, bathing, cleaning up....stuff and then repeat, several times a day. It's getting easier and its all good.

I got home from dropping off Mr. C at classes this morning and she was ready for some attention. I wanted nothing other than to head straight to my computer to get some stuff done. This is what we did and in a couple minutes we'll take a nice long walk and play to get out some of that puppy energy. Perhaps, the sitting and relaxing, and the walking and the playing and of course all that puppy love is good for me too!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Lynn

Puppy names

No, we did not name our puppy Puppy Paws McMuffin. However, on the way to Kentucky to rescue our pup we did consult some puppy name sites to find an appropriate name for the little girl. Puppy Paws McMuffin was on a list. After a long debate in the car and many possible contenders, we stuck with the name that she was given at the shelter: Arrow. It suits our sweet pup.

Yesterday we had to go to the super box pet store for the umteenth time in the long two weeks that we've had our beautiful little puppy. As I stood by the dog tag etching machine, I asked my husband if we should add her last name to the tag. Our puppy's name is Arrow. Our last name is Smith. Therefore, the puppy's name is Arrow Smith... Aerosmith. Could it be that we 'accidentally' named our puppy after a rock band from our youth? Yup.

We've had her 14 days. That means we've been outside at least one hundred and forty times in the past two weeks. Nothing like the great outdoors at 2:08 am, 5:15 am and all the times around the clock!  Time to take her out again...until next time.
Lynn