Dog Blog Part 2, Electric Boogaloo

Okay, so we've done it again, this time with a dog we think we have a fighting chance at shaping better. Her name is now Rosie, though it may become Grosie because she looks so much like our friends' dog, Gracie, we keep calling her Gracie. She's so named for the little red spot on the back of her head, no clue if it will stay or not, but we have photographs to prove it was there when we named her.

She's now about 14 weeks old, and is a mix of Black Lab and German Shepherd, both parents were allegedly purebred. Her mom and siblings were surrendered after they became too much to take care of! Enter Madison Mutts, and then my husband, surfing the web for another dog, found a posting of her that was too cute to resist. We met her last Tuesday evening and went home with another new dog.

Abby was not amused. She's not mean or aggressive to Rose, quite the contrary. She really won't correct her when Rose gets in Abby's face! Today I got smart and totally redirected Rose's behavior--a handful of treats went to her nose and I kept her occupied while Abby was able to walk the other way, unbeleaguered by a rude puppy. I keep hoping Abbers will bone up to Rose one day and tell her just how rude and boisterous she can be. Not to the extent of pain, mind you, but a simple, "Hey, quit it already! You're too much!"

But then again there are times like now, when she's lying quietly behind my chair, sacked out after a walk, and of course TOTALLY innocent, when I think she's really going to become a fine dog. She seems scared of just about everything, sometimes us, most times doors and strange noises outside, and today I found out she didn't like the sound of the opening mailbox. Oh, brother. I got her right next to me and fed her a treat or two as I opened the mailbox again. I think it will be like that for a while. She likes chewing on things and has not found anything inappropriate to chew on. Yet. I'm sure she will, but I also hope we have enough of a variety of "funner" things to chew than straps or shoelaces or chair legs. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

We've had to learn about housebreaking, and particularly how to housebreak this one. She can be so chill and sedentary, that when we go out to the back yard with her to witness her activities, she'll just lie down in the grass. We finally hit on the idea of walking her down the street to get some action, and sure enough, it worked. She's doing much better about "going" more quickly when we go outside now. And, knock wood, it's been five days since her last accident!

We were also very lucky to get in last Thursday to a puppy class that had just started. She thought the puppy play session was just great, and didn't mind the sort of "boring" training part either. We can't wait to go back tomorrow.

One of my favorite things she does is when she's in a playful mood, if you throw a ball off the porch, she'll dive into the grass after it and pounce on it, like a cat. Totally cute and endearing. I think we'll have to teach fetch too, but at least she likes ball to begin with. That's a start.

Anybody got any suggestions on what else we should be doing with her? Got a puppy I can socialize her with? Wanna come feed her treats? Please do!

By the way, Bella was adopted by a guy who works construction. He lives on a farm, I think, and she apparently goes with him to the job site every day. Happy ending there, and all around, really.

By the way, photos of Rosie by Jim Pippitt, see more at www.jdpphoto.com.