Sophie's First Night

[Valarie]

He didn't need treats to win her over!! She charmed his socks off. Resistance was futile. He was hooked the minute he saw those big brown eys and the golden blond hair. Love at first sight I'm sure, even though he wouldn't admit it. Maybe his love for our lost Clay made him hold back just a little - not wanting to be disloyal or not wanting to love and lose again. I had been teasing him that I was going to get a dog that loved me as much as Clay loved him. I jokingly told him that he would have to be mean to our next dog so she would love me - fat chance. Ten minutes later, she had him wrapped around that furry paw.

We let her off leash in the fenced backyard and she ran lap after lap around the perimeter. She jumped into the piles of snow, ducking her head down and scooping up mouthfuls. She acted as if she had never seen a ball or squeaky toys and paid no attention to them at all. She was most animated outside. She certainly needs some work on her manners - her jumps and bumps almost knocked me down. And she was very mouthy with my hands and ankles as we played. Sit/stay/come was like a foreign language. So guess we better find a good obedience class.

We settled in for the night. She was much more subdued than I expected that first night. In fact she was downright lethargic. I was a little worried but convinced myself she was stressed and tired from the traveling, the bath, the meet and greet and all the new challenges that she had faced during the last few hours. I was pretty lethargic myself, it had been a big day for all of us. I sat in the floor petting and reassuring her until time for bed. The stairs seemed new to her so we took it slowly and used a baby gate on the bedroom door. Since we didn't have a regular dog bed for her yet we folded up a huge handmade quilt given to us as a wedding gift. She slept next to my side of the bed. Maybe this seems silly but it made me so happy. You have to remember I had 14 years of wishing our little boy would change his allegiance and come over to my side of the bed. She was down for the count. I don't think she moved all night. She was pooped. Speaking of which, this issue was also going amazingly smoothly. She has definitely had some work in this regard somewhere along the way. We took her out several times during the afternoon and evening and each time she quickly did her business. She was dry throughout the night and was still sleepy and in no rush to go out when I got up early the next morning. Wake up Sleepy Head - time for a visit to the Sawbones and then on to our Extreme Makeover.

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Oh how sweet. Our labs preferred to sleep on a folded up quilt so much that they ignored the dog beds I gradually bought. Luna probably was comforted by the wonderful smell of you also. She sounds like a wonderful dog. Thanks for the bday greeting. Sheila is a mini ALD and will probably top out at 15 lbs. or so. I've never had this small of a dog, but after 3 large dogs and two kids, my left arm is worn out and surgeon said No More Big Pooches for you!! And so we have Sheila. I love her to pieces and she is even winning over DH. Love your blog!

[Sofie, Maggie, and Luna]

Sounds like a happy puppy. Our first puppy is completely obsessed with my boyfriend, we just got a new puppy that is supposed to be more "mine". My boyfriend is not a puppy person (he likes dogs when they are grown up and trained) but he swears he's going to steal her over to his side when she's grown.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

What a happy tail!!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh, it sounds so perfect. Valerie, I just can't imagine that it gets any better than this!

[Anna and Achilles]

Sounds like she is very happy!

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

This just makes me smile......:)