The More Things Change…

I am constantly fascinated by the things that link Zoe and Abby, and the things that set them apart.

When Abby was younger, she was afraid to change surfaces. She’d hesitate going from the carpeted living room to the wood floor in the dining room or the linoleum in the kitchen. Abby’s favorite resting spot was in the living room, unless she so warm that she plopped down, panting, on the cool kitchen floor or in front of an air conditioning vent.

Zoe acts as if the entire house is hers, and she’ll lie down almost anywhere. This weekend she spent a good part of her lounging time where she had access to windows. She wedged herself between the couch and the picture window in the living room, popping up occasionally to growl at people walking by. A few times, I found her sleeping in the dining room by the patio door, where she could keep watch over the back yard upon waking.

Earlier this evening, she trotted over to the fence where a rabbit was too close to her territory. Instead of dashing off out of sight, the rabbit decided to toy with Zoe, stopping about three yards beyond the fence. It sat there for a few minutes while Zoe watched intently. The rabbit eventually hopped away, but it was a pretty bold move.

Zoe’s new nickname is Freddy Krueger, after an incident involving her nails and my chest. I was trying to get her to settle down when she batted me with her paw, leaving a nice long trail of claw marks from my neck downward. I could always use this as an excuse to buy some new decorative scarves, or maybe I should switch to a higher neckline for a while. For the most part, she listens when we tell her no, but we can all use a little work on defining what’s acceptable rough play. Obedience classes, here we come!

The Week in Review

Zoe is keeping us very busy, but in a good way.

Monday: We took Zoe to visit Dr. J for the first time. It was fun to see everyone again, although I had one little pang as we were sitting in the lobby and I remembered the last two times we were there. Zoe was very gregarious and eager to sniff everyone and everything, including a white Boxer in the lobby who looked like her foster brother. She got a little restless when we were in one of the waiting rooms, but she behaved very well for Dr. J, who was happy to see a young, healthy dog. His only minor concern was her eyes. She has diamond eye, which means that one of the folds of skin creates a small pocket in the corner and it gives her eye a diamond or square shape, depending on the angle.

He also mentioned that we might see a little more discharge from her eyes because they are so deeply set. She definitely has giant eye boogers, especially when she wakes up from a nap.

I asked about her hives, and he said to give her Benedryl whenever they cropped up, but not every day, which is consistent with what her foster family was doing. I also asked about her acne, and he suggested picking up some generic Bacitracin rather than using the acne wipes, which were stinging her face and making her generally uncomfortable.

Zoe loves car rides, and she loves to stick her head out the window. If the window is rolled down enough, she puts her head out so far that she looks like she’s going to climb out. She’ll place one paw on the door armrest or the window ledge for balance. Being a nervous person, I always double-check the locks and I’ll roll the window up a few inches if I think she’s too far out there. It’s too bad we don’t live in a state that’s conducive to owning a convertible for more than four months out of the year.

Thursday: As I was drying my hair, I bent over to get a little more volume out of my flat hair, and I was greeted by a sweet little dog looking up at me and licking my face. She didn’t mind the sound of the blow dryer at all, and I was careful not to point it in her direction. She then settled at my feet on the bath mat, leaning against my legs as I finished getting ready for work. Cuteness.

Saturday: In the morning, I did some light housecleaning so it wouldn’t be a complete disaster area when Kristen picked me up for our shopping expedition. Zoe was extremely helpful, following me around and pawing at the broom as if it were a toy. We went for a brief stroll around the neighborhood to expend some energy, so she wouldn’t drive Tim crazy all afternoon. She was pretty mellow, and I felt like we were really bonding. I’ve become very attached to her even though it’s only been two weeks. She’s our dog.

Sunday: Because it was almost 70 degrees, we took Zoe for a long walk in the woods with the Gentle Leader. She’s doing really well with it, and the only time she paws at it is when she sees another dog. She bats at her halter as if it’s the only thing keeping her from wandering over and making canine conversation. She did get to meet a really cute white terrier named Ferguson. She was really playful with him, but not rough, considering she was almost four times his size. It was good for both of them. I need to get her into obedience classes so she can have regular interactions with other dogs.

Monday: Zoe is helpful when I’m trying to exercise. As I was attempting to do push ups (a daunting task in the first place), she proceeded to give me a facial.

She had her second outbreak of hives since she’s been with us. I fed her some Benedryl inside slices of turkey. I’m sure that somewhere, Abby’s spirit is thinking, “What the heck? I had to wait until I was 10 to get people food, and she gets it in the first month?” But it was the best way to get Zoe to accept the pills, and she wasn’t interested in peanut butter (which Abby received plenty of throughout her life, until the blue sucrulfate pills ruined that fun).

We’ve booked Zoe’s first overnight stay at the Puppy Hotel. I hope she likes it there, and I hope she doesn’t think we’re abandoning her. She’ll have been with us almost two months, so I think it will be OK.

Puppy Love

We’ve discovered that if Zoe is being rowdy, and we pet her on a certain part of her neck, she rolls onto her back and shows us her belly. It’s a good thing to know, because she gets really excited when she plays. She doesn’t realize how big she is (all 70 pounds of her), and she’s still a very playful puppy.

We’re starting to settle into each other’s routines. We’ve been crating her during the day when we’re at work, and giving her lots of attention and exercise when we’re home. She goes into the crate very willingly (especially if treats are involved). But when we open the door, she bolts out of the crate and does a happy wiggle-butt dance to greet us.

We’re trying to break her of the habit of nibbling on our hands and pawing at us when she’s excited. We’re also trying to convince her that the living room couch and chair are off limits, although there are other perfectly good puppy lounging couches in the basement and on the enclosed porch.

We were trying to teach her to heel with a regular collar, but I think we’re going to use the Gentle Leader instead. This way we can go for an actual walk, as opposed to taking five steps, watching her lunge in front of us, coming to a stop, telling her to “heel,” waiting a few seconds, then repeating the entire sequence. We tried a walk with the Gentle Leader yesterday. Zoe didn’t enjoy having an additional collar, and she pawed at it for the first couple blocks, but she settled down and we had a nice stroll. I remember that Abby did the same thing at first, but she eventually saw the collar as a signal that we were about to embark on an exciting outdoor adventure.

Today the weather was awful (the wonderful wintry mix that our meterologists like to call “snizzle” and “frizzle”), so we played lots of indoor games of fetch to burn off some of her energy. Zoe was reluctant to go into the yard, but at least she realized that the indoor areas are not to be used as a bathroom for puppies. She’s done amazingly well with that so far (knock wood). We were expecting a few accidents the first few days, but she’s been great about letting us know when she needs to go.

Earlier, she had just come in from our yard when we heard the sky rumble. Instead of cowering, she turned around and poked her head out the door to investigate the sound. She’s not timid at all. Yesterday, she accidentally nudged the glass door on our entertainment center. Rather than backing away, she nudged it a couple more times with her nose to verify where the sound was coming from.

It’s been so much fun to observe her. We’re still figuring each other out, but we’re all enjoying it.

Finally

We brought Zoe home last night, following a long drive across the metro area. She rode very well in the car. She balanced herself on the back seat, handling the curves and stops with ease. She has apparently been schooled in the paw/jowl cuteness method, resting her jowls everywhere (including the armrest, the window ledge, and her paws) for maximum adorableness. I watched her from the front seat almost the whole way home, just to make sure she was still there.

She spent her first night on our bed. Zoe was used to sleeping with her foster parents (and three other dogs!), so we wanted to make that transition as smooth as possible. She woke us up a couple times during the night with whimpering. I wasn’t sure if she needed to go outside or if she was just lonely for her people and her siblings. We took her outside anyway, and she obliged us by relieving herself on the grass.

We were warned that she had no concept of her size (all 70 pounds of her), and she proved this by climbing on Tim’s chest in the middle of the night.

She has chased two sets of two rabbits between last night and this morning. I think they’re getting the message.

This morning, her favorite thing to do was look out our living room window at whatever nature was present: small birds at the bottom of the steps, a squirrel across the street. Her eyesight is amazingly sharp, and we’ve found her focusing on things that seem to be far away. Her sense of smell is also strong, and she’s been sniffing around the rabbit hangouts with interest.

She took a brief nap (and so did we) this afternoon. We took her on her first walk around the block, with her pulling on the leash the entire way. Tim worked with her in the driveway after that, letting her know that she could only walk forward when he did. We tried this method again when we took her on a second walk later in the afternoon. She still pulled, but she seemed to be getting it some of the time. It will take practice for all of us.

It’s been fun to have a little helper around the house, watching your every move, following you into different rooms, especially the kitchen. She’s sniffed at a lot of things, but she’s been really good about only chewing on her toys (except for a minor incident involving the tassels on my slippers). If we were playing with a toy and it landed near a piece of furniture, she gingerly picked up the toy to put it back into play.

She’s gone into her kennel a couple times to sniff around. We have a blanket from her previous owners, so it smells partially like home in there. She’s not fond of the pad underneath, so we might end up removing that if it becomes a giant chew toy.

We were concerned she wouldn’t want to go downstairs into the basement, but after her first trip there this morning, she’s been running up and down the stairs like she owns the place.

She appears to be adjusting really well, apart from the occasional whimper. I think part of her misses her family, but part of her enjoys having all the treats, toys, and attention to herself. Ultimately we’d like to get her a sibling, but we want to wait until she settles into our home and establishes a routine.

She’s sleeping on a giant dog pillow in the living room right now, worn out from all the day’s activities.

I’m so happy she’s here. There’s been something huge missing from my life over the past three months, and I finally feel like the void is beginning to disappear. I’ll always love and miss Abby, but having Zoe around reminds me of her in a good way. I’m excited to remember things I forgot that Abby did as a puppy, but I’m also excited to learn what makes Zoe her own dog. She likes to talk to us when she wants attention, in a funny bark/howl combination. She likes different treats (and she has a stronger stomach to handle them). And she actually comes when called, most of the time.

It’s only been one day, but it’s the best day we’ve had in a long time.

Mr. Rabbit

Dear neighborhood bunnies:

You might notice a slight change in your environment tomorrow. You’ve been getting pretty bold lately without a canine occupant in the yard. A couple days ago, we noticed you leisurely chewing the grass near the stairs on our deck.

We enjoy your presence, especially the one of you that lives under the lower part of our deck. You are cute and furry and brown, like our former dog. You appear to be peaceful creatures who mean no harm, unless gardens are involved. Fortunately, that does not apply to our yard. I can’t say the same for the neighbors.

However, unlike the last canine inhabitant of our yard, the new resident will be young and spry, with a keen sense of smell. Based on what we saw with the resident cats last weekend, she has an extreme interest in small furry creatures. Be ready for lots of curious sniffing around the areas where you have been comfortable. And if she sees you, be ready to run quickly. We had a rather unfortunate incident when our last dog caught up to one of you. I’d rather not have that happen again, and I’m sure you wouldn’t either.

By the way, we’re not saying anything to the squirrels yet. I’m looking forward to the first treeing of the season.

Those Things Are Hers

We had a laundry hamper full of Abby’s old toys. While I was out running errands, Tim decided to go through the makeshift toy box to see which toys he should put in the dishwasher so they’d be fresh and clean for New Dog. He got about a third of the way through and stopped. We’re still not ready to let go of her old things yet. In due time, we’ll pull some of them out, but some of them will always belong to Abby.

We purchased some duplicates of her favorites that we think New Dog will like: the red bone with holes in each end for treats, a Kong, a rubber ball with several holes in it for gripping with her teeth, and a chicken-flavored Nylabone. We also purchased some other toys not associated with Abby: a long red cloth toy with a squeaker on one end (only to be used when supervised), a bone with lamb filling (ditto) and a blue rubber treat-dispensing toy. We’ll buy more as the need arises, so we still have room for some impulse buys to surprise her.