Daisy the Dog!!!

We are VERY excited to announce that we have a new dog!! We just couldn't stand being without a dog any longer :-) We got Daisy 10 days ago from a local shelter. She is 35 pounds, about 7 months old and some sort of Spaniel mix. (anyone have any ideas on what you think she is??)






The Saturday before Easter, we decided to go look at dogs. We had all been getting increasingly restless for a dog, even after having purchased our substitute pet bird. And Voila!! There she was, just sitting quietly observing us as we walked around the kennels. Katie was very confused about the whole process: Are we getting a dog today? (probably not, we're just looking) Are we getting this dog now? (not sure, we're trying to decide) Are we bringing the dog home today? (no) Is she really our dog? (yes!)

We really were just looking and in particular, we were looking for a small dog - but here we are :-) I think the main problem there is that we're just not small dog people :-) They told us that it would be 2 weeks before we could bring her home - she had to be spayed before we could pick her up - but Monday after we went, they called to say she'd be ready on Thursday! So we went back to see her again on Monday afternoon - just to be sure! Thursday Katie & I took the new collar, leash & cage and went to pick up Daisy.

The 1st weekend was pretty rough, mainly because she was scared of EVERYTHING! The first time I walked her, I literally had to pick her up and carry her across the street. Big fun. I'm sure I made quite a scene carrying this huge dog across the street while also trying to corral a 5 year old! Daisy wouldn't walk through doorways, she wouldn't play with any toys, she wouldn't even go potty most of the 1st day. She was just really really scared. We were really nervous that she wouldn't be able to overcome the fear and be a good dog for our family. (and that we'd have to take her back) She basically was acting like a 15 year old dog - just a big dog lump! It really surprised us because we hadn't seen any signs of fear while she was at the shelter.

But about Tuesday or Wednesday last week, our puppy finally showed up!! I was making the bed and she took off with one of the pillows. Then I could hardly finish because she was trying to bite the sheets, the pillows, pretty much anything she could get her teeth on. Jason was out of town, so I was still nervous that she would still be super scared around him. But she really and truly has relaxed and is enjoying life now! The 1st day or so of Daisy being herself, she hurt Katie by knocking into her or jumping on her. It was a bit tricky to explain that it's actually a good thing that Daisy is doing this because it shows that she is acting like a normal puppy. :-) Not such a popular explanation for Miss Katie!

Daisy is definitely now acting like the silly young pup that she is - here she is trying to get through the gate to follow Katie to the garden :-) No mind that only her head would ever fit through that little hole :-) I really thought she was going to choke herself... but still had to run get the camera to record the silliness :-)





She is a very sweet dog and very calm in general. You can see she is making herself right at home. :-) She has her fair share of really bad habits - pulling your arm off on walks, jumping up on everyone, peeing in the house - habits that seem to be a bit harder to conquer since she is bigger and thus harder to control. But we are trying to practice plenty of patience and have a big order of training tools in to Petsmart for Jason to pick up when he comes to the US on a business trip next week. :-) I'm trying to remember all the helpful hints I learned from taking Rosie through puppy training 2 years ago.

It has truly been a joy to have a dog around again. And the walks haven't even been that bad :-) No, we don't have a yard here - the primary reason that we did not bring our dogs to Spain. We LOVE our dogs, but are also lazy and weren't so keen on the idea of walking our dogs 4 or 5 times a day. But as they say in Spanish - vale la pena - it's worth it! Not having dogs is worse than having to walk them all the time! And I've met all sorts of nice people on my frequent walks - even mostly people who speak English! It has been beautiful weather as well, so it's been great to have an excuse to be outside so much. Yeah for Daisy!!