Gracie Update

The pup is doing so well... she is growing like a weed. At the vet Friday she weighed in at 22 pounds - up nine pounds from four weeks ago.

She sleeps about 7 hours at night - it's LOVELY to finally be getting some good rest. She seems to be settling into a routine and I actually like getting up at 6:00 to let her out and have some time with her before the kids get up. She is a lover and will still try to curl up on my lap with her chin on my arm... so warm and sweet.

Each afternoon around 3:00 she and I go out to the front porch and wait for the kids to walk home... she listens for their voices and as soon as they turn the corner to our block, starts straining on her leash to go meet them. I let her go when they get close and she bounds off to greet them with kisses and her short little tail wagging a mile a minute. It warms my heart.

While the floor is constantly a mess from her little footprints and there are always doggie toys scattered everywhere, I cannot imagine our lives without her.

She is a full fledged member of the family.

We went this afternoon to a "Puppy Reunion" with all her brothers and sisters. She was so excited to see her Mom that she peed... and then so did each and every other puppy... so funny. They wrestled and ran and played so hard. All the puppy moms and dads stood around talking about leash training and puppy food... The kids filled up on soda and cake and cookies while the dogs played, then as we left, each puppy got a goodie bag full of toys and treats. It was a great afternoon. It was good to bring her home though and she's all tuckered out, probably dreaming about her extended family and trying to pin her brother Gus to the ground in her sleep... she's a tough cookie and wasn't about to be bested by her brothers.

She has been cleared by the vet for walks around the block. Wow - she LOVES taking walks. I'm so excited to have a companion. There are so many great places in my neighborhood to walk and yet I don't get out as often as I'd like. This will force me to go - and I can already see that we'll log many miles together.

Her fence training is interesting. Again, her stubborn, tough nature shows itself. She is supposed to feel the correction from the signal in the fence and turn away from it. She's already figured out that if she can endure it, the correction stops after 10 seconds and she can go through. I have to go up tomorrow and get her collar adjusted. The fence is guaranteed to contain her, so we just have to get the levels right so she'll respond to it. She's so smart that she makes a game out of walking into the correction field. She knows if she walks in and then walks back out when we say "Back, Gracie!" she'll get a treat... she'll do it over and over just for the goodies. Smart is good, as long as we can outsmart her!

Okay - I suppose that's enough about the dog... now I'm off to clean my studio. I said I'd do it this weekend and it's already 4:00 on Sunday. Wish me luck - I'm gonna need it!