Katie here. Yes, I’m still around, someone’s got to supervise the little one, and who better than me, right? After all, I had a hand paw in finding her for mama and daddy, so I keep tabs on her just to make sure she’s following the rules I set up for the household more than fifteen years ago.
Piggy!My favorite tunnel toy!
But I can see that I might have to remind some of you that there is nothing new on earth. All the games that little Miss Penny has ‘invented’ I thought of first.
Penny’s favorite tunnel toy is Blue!
Yep. I heard mama tell the little one that I was the beautiful one, but she’s the smart one. Well. Let me remind you all that I outsmarted mama lots of times. And I have the stories to prove it.
I was also much more patient with mama and the camera than little Penny is.
But today let me share with you that mama kind of teared up the first time she tossed a toy in the tunnel and smartie-pants ran through the tunnel and brought it back.
Way to go little Penny!
Because, you see, that was one of my all time favorite games. And Penny plays it just like I did, even though mama and daddy didn’t teach her.
Piggy in the tunnel!
Well of course they didn’t. I have a direct line to Penny’s little brain and I’m always guiding her. So the next time you all think she’s so smart just remember where she gets it from. Yep, I’m never far away.
And please note that I posed on that spiral in the park first. Just saying.
I was there first.
Now go get mama a tissue, her eyes are leaking all over again.
Penny, our 4 month old sheltie, has been fully vaccinated for a couple weeks now, so it’s safe to take her beyond our neighborhood. The little girl has no idea how big the world is, but we introduced her to a tiny part of it last weekend.
Where are we, dad? Is this another vet?
On Friday evening my husband and I took her to Katie’s park. She wasn’t sure about the whole adventure thing when she emerged from the car.
I think turtles have been here, mom!
But by the time we got to the pond she was having a good old time. There were so many things to sniff!
This is kinda fun, you guys, being out here in the evening!
We just wandered around the pond, we didn’t do the whole trail. After all, she’s just a little girl, and there will be plenty of time to explore the whole park in the future. This visit was just an introduction.
What’s this down here, dad?
Of course I talked to Katie quite a bit as I took pictures of Penny and her dad. Katie says she is fine sharing her park, especially with her little sister. Of course I wish she could have been there to introduce the park to Penny herself, but I like to think there was a bit of Katie there, showing us all around.
Is there another puppy here, mom?
Then on Sunday I met a friend and her five month old cocker spaniel named Whisky for a longer walk at a park Katie had only visited once.
Ok Whisky, I’ll let you give kisses to my mom. This time. (Picture by Whisky’s mom, Karen)
We walked on a combination of cement paths, wooden boardwalks and dirt paths along a fast moving river.
These leaves smell AMAZING!
Personally I liked the woods the best, and once Penny got over the abundance of leaves on the ground, and realized she couldn’t eat them all, she settled right in trotting along the path.
This place is so cool!
She also got to see lots of other people and dogs enjoying the park. She was interested in all of them. When she sees something new she sits, very alert, and considers what it might mean. She’s a thinker, this one.
What might that be over there?
I think she had a wonderful time. It was her longest walk, and in a new environment, and she was a trooper.
This was the very first log I’ve ever jumped over!
She fell asleep in her crate on the drive home and pretty much napped the evening away. But the next day she was bored at home, now that she knows there are more exciting alternatives out there.
Hey mom! Did you know I can do zoomies in the WOODS?!!
HEY! I know Mom said I should just lay low for awhile cause you guys have seen enough of me, but HEY! I’m right here people, and I’m pretty stinking adorable, and everyone, just everyone says they want to see more, more, MORE of me.
Right???!
Watching the neighbor and his dog Simon jog past our house.
OK, so maybe not everyone. But majority rules, so I’m going to tell you about my recent adventure anyway, cause I’m the majority and I do what I want. Mom and Daddy have begun to understand that about me.
But I digress.
My first visit to the neighbor’s pond.
Mom and Daddy are still being very protective of me, and decided I couldn’t go anywhere that had other dogs for two weeks after my last set of vaccinations. Geeze. All the other dogs get to go and I’m stuck here at home with a couple of old folks.
I swear, they can hardly get up off the floor after getting down there 5 or 6 times every morning to play with me.
Sometimes I think I should trade them in for newer models, but something tells me if I just wait a little bit longer (say, a week or so) there’s going to be all sorts of fun stuff to do!
My back yard is fun and stuff, but I want to see the WORLD, Mom!
Anyway, Mom decided that we could visit our neighbor’s pond today. It’s just across the street and no doggies go over there, so she figured it would be the perfect place for me to explore.
Mom! This place is AMAZING!
And boy was she right! We found out right away that I’m not afraid of getting my feet wet!
My very first muddy feet!
In fact I loved walking along the shore in the water even though Mom said it was really cold and wouldn’t let me explore near the deep parts.
I thought it was important to taste it too, in order to get the full effect….
Nom, nom, nom.
…but I don’t think I really like the taste. I might have to taste it again, though Mom wasn’t real keen on me drinking from the pond. She says I have nice clean ice cold filtered water at home. I said, sure Mom, but that doesn’t taste like frogs and turtles and fish and muskrats!
Moms don’t always understand stuff until it’s explained to them.
Yuck!!!
I had so much fun over there. I got water up my nose and got to shake it off, my first real doggy shake. I think this little adventure proves I’m a big girl now, and ready to take on the world, if they’ll just let me!
Nothing that a little shaking won’t fix.
And just to prove how responsible I am, when we got back to my yard I helped Mom by picking up my poop bag she’d left behind and carrying it back to the house for her. I figured it was only fair that I pick up after myself in return for having a great little mini adventure.
Mom says that pond was nothing compared to what I could see if I continue to be a good girl.
Don’t worry, Mom, I’ve got this!
I told her just watch me. They didn’t name me Unstoppable Penny for nothing.
Hey Peeps, Penny here. You don’t mind being called Peeps, do you, cause I think of you all as my people! Yep, every single one of you. Mom says you can never have too many Peeps, and since I’m just a baby still, I’m taking her word for it.
Speaking of baby, mom took a bunch of pictures of me a thousand weeks ago when we had lots of snow, and she’s hardly shared any of them! Mom says she doesn’t have time to sort pictures cause she’s running around making sure I’m happy.
Personally I think she needs to hone her time management skills, in fact, as I recall my sister Katie told me this very same thing. Mom gets tied up with too many things and stresses out. Katie and I both suggest she just focus on the puppy all the time. I think mom’s stress level would lower right away if she did that.
What do you guys think?
Any-hoo, I’ve been bugging her (my most important job as new puppy in this household) to post my baby snow pictures before the daffodils bloom. I understand once the yellow flowers start showing up I’ll have to do a lot of modeling, and it would be embarrassing to still be working through snow pictures. Bad for my modeling career, you know, to be so far behind.
So far I’m still sleeping through the night and I’m mostly house trained. I can sit when asked but I’m not going to stay. No siree, there’s no stopping this girl when I get moving, and I’m mostly moving all the time.
Mom puts me in a timeout if I get overly excited or if I’m cranky. It’s not so bad, I have a big cushy bed in there, and some of my toys and a water bowl, so I don’t really mind going into my timeout pen. My Auntie calls it my rest stop. I do mostly fall asleep in there, so it’s a good place for me.
And when I wake up mom or daddy take me outside right away. I love my yard, but there’s a lot of presents from the resident deer out there that are apparently off limits. I don’t know why, I think they smell fabulous! Sometimes mom and daddy are no fun.
So this is my life right now. No parks quite yet, no walks with friends (I don’t even know if I have any friends!), no visits to the store, no adventures unless you call a sedate walk down the driveway and back an adventure.
WAIT! I DID have an adventure!
Mom promised me one last Friday and I was sort of excited. Not a lot excited because, never having had an adventure, I wasn’t even sure what an adventure was, but kind of excited. We ended up at the VET! And they stuck me twice!! I’m gonna check with Katie, but I’m pretty sure this is not what she was talking about when she told me about all the fun she had going on adventures.
Well, Peeps, I’ll sign off for now. Time to get a little shuteye in my rest stop. If you can, please poke mom for me (I do plenty of that but a girl can’t be poking constantly, it’s not lady-like) and see if you can prod her into taking me on a real adventure soon.
Mom says we missed Wordless Wednesday. She says it’s Thursday now and I need to move on, but seriously, I think Wednesdays are perfect days to showcase me, especially during my cute puppy days.
Cause everybody knows that puppyhood doesn’t last forever.
Mom called my name, so I turned right around.
So I have tasked mom with making sure she posts a picture of me, her Adventure Girl, every Wednesday.
I figured I better speed it up, in case there were treats.
And, because she messed up already, I am requiring additional photos today. Sort of an advance on future Wednesdays, just in case she loses track of time again.
Just the THOUGHT of treats made me leap for joy!
I’ve only lived with mom and daddy a month and I can already tell I’m going to have to keep them in line. They mumble something about being retired but that’s not going to fly with a puppy in the house!
I’m coming, mom!
I’ve got so much to tell you, but for now, over and out,
Really mom? One piece of kibble for all that?
Your feisty chewing whirlwind Adventure Girl, signing out!
It’s been a long, long time since we lived with a puppy. Some thing had to be relearned immediately. Some things are lifestyle changes that we can grow into even as she grows.
When you have a new puppy you have to look in all directions before you move your feet. She could be anywhere and most of the time she’s behind your feet, between your feet, next to your feet or chewing your feet.
When you have a new puppy you must never ignore sounds no matter how faint. She’s almost always doing something and sounds are your first hint of it all going wrong.
Tearing sounds, gnawing sounds, throw up sounds, peeing sounds, the sounds of toenails racing in places she shouldn’t be, clanging sounds of food bowls being overturned, the sounds of shoes being dropped in other rooms…the possibilities are endless.
When you have a new puppy you must give up cleaning, unless it’s cleaning up poo or pee. There’s no time to do anything but follow your adorable little puppy around, ensuring there’s less poo and pee to clean.
When you have a new puppy you give up your luxurious long morning snoozes. Little puppies have little bladders and need to go OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW! It’s OK, because being an older new puppy parent you probably need to GO RIGHT NOW too. Hopefully not outside though.
And speaking of snoozes, when you have a new puppy you learn to nap when she naps. Which, if you’re perfectly honest, is quite often. And you’re probably sleepy (see early morning observations above) so take that nap!
When you have a new puppy your vocabulary is reduced to “Awwwww” and “NO!”
When you have a new puppy you must remember she’s not the dog you had before and will probably react differently to things like opening the oven door or blowing your nose or using tinfoil. Or she might react exactly the same, crazy way.
When you have a new puppy you have to learn to manage the leash with a twirling, dancing whirlwind on the other end.
When you have a new puppy you spend more time down on the floor than you have in years, playing ball, tossing chicken toys, tickling tummies, and laughing.
When you have a new puppy you need to stop wearing earrings because little squirming puppy kisses turn to chewing on hair, noses, chins and ears. And earrings are irresistible.
When you have a new puppy that has fallen into a happy, exhausted puddle of puppy nap right in the middle of the living room floor, you tiptoe around her and settle in a nearby chair to watch her sleep.
Because she’s so cute. And because everyone knows to let a sleeping dog lie.
Happy 3 month birthday, little Penny. Welcome home sweetheart.
Wednesday afternoon the sun came out and temperatures rose into the 50s F (10s C). The snow began to melt, birds were singing, and spring felt within reach.
“Can we please go outside, mom?”
Little Penny, experiencing her first spring day, was ecstatic. And, because she wanted to be outside exploring her yard, she began to ask to go outside.
Our first picture together.
And just like that a corner has been rounded in our potty training effort.
Wednesday afternoon she began going to the back door and whining softly. Once, when I didn’t move fast enough to suit her, she pawed at the door.
Trying to engage the puppy in the reflection.
I’m pretty ecstatic too.
We’ve gone a whole day without a potty accident in the house. She’s napping at the moment, exhausted by all the tours of the yard, the grasses pulled, the gardens explored.
“Hey mom! This grass smells great!”
I’m grinning as I type, because I can tell she’s going to be an awesome dog.
Oh, I still miss my Katie-girl. I will always miss her, and Bonnie before her, and Daisy before Bonnie. As I walk around the yard, little Penny dancing on the end of her leash I talk to Katie.
She sits when she’s interested in something. We didn’t train her to do this. I spent years trying to get Katie to sit when a car drove by.
“See your little sister, baby-girl? See how she’s running and grinning and having the best time in your yard? Isn’t she cute? She’s got so many adventures in front of her, doesn’t she, sweetie. You keep watch over us, Katie-girl, and thanks for guiding us to this little one. She’s going to be special, just like you.”
“I think this piece of grass needs to be pulled up, mom. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.“
Yep, this one’s a fire cracker, all bundled up energy, bursting into zoomies at the slightest instigation, never complaining, always happy, and definitely smart.
“Can we please go out again, mom?”
There’s going to be some stories to tell, no doubt about it. I can’t wait to get started. I think she’s pretty amped up too.
Change Is Hard 