formerly Tigger now Girly

I adopted Tigger who I quickly renamed........GIRLY because she is SUCH a girl - I'm having trouble e-mailing pix from my phone but when I get that sorted - I'll post some funny pix of her giving the camera a wink.......and her sleepin' on the couch with her new blankies:-)

She's got me crackin' up on a daily basis AND walkin' the stairs 3 times a day - I live on the third floor so needless to say - I'm gonna get back into shape with this new kid!

She got a new harness yesterday and polar bear jacket - haha - she did NOT like that at first but once we went out onto to balcony in the chill - she was just fine with it...........she's quite a snuggler.....only 7 pounds and takes over the whole bed..........haha -

Yesterday I went out shopping and put her in her tent carrier - I made the mistake of meeting the zippers on the bottom........when I got home I found her runnin' amuk throughout the house - SHE UNZIPPED the carrier and took over..........hahaha - guess I have to make sure I zip at the top in the future...........this one's pretty smart.........

It's SO good to have a dog in the house again after 9 months of no dog.....since I lost my Cairn in March after 15.5 years........what a void........I've been just waiting for the right time and the right kid and GIRLY is that kid..............YAY....

She's only had a couple of accidents in the house but we're getting on schedule and she alerts well now.

Thanks PUP.......
Girly's Mom - Laura

Update on Ranger and Joey (formerly Champ)

It's been 6 weeks since Joey joined us. He and Ranger thoroughly enjoyed the recent snow, bringing in the occasional icicle to munch. Ranger has had time to adjust to our cooler weather, so he spent extra time patroling the yard. Joey also enjoys cuddling on the couch with our older dog, Rosie. He's so respectful of her, playing her kind of game (run and bark). With Ranger, Joey plays run and wrestle. He's such a diplomat!

Ranger and Joey have come up with an interesting variation on the classic tug game. Before Joey joined us, I'd play tug with Ranger and he'd occasionally flip on his side or back and let me drag him over the rug with the tug toy. Evidently, he really enjoys the sensation because he inserts it into his tug game with Joey. Not sure what Joey thinks of his opponent going belly-up in the middle of the game, but he seems willing to play along and drags Ranger for a bit before the standard game resumes. They are two peas in a pod!

Milos' first night at his new home

Well, looks like we are off to a good start. Milo found his way around his new house, and he and his new big sister were playing in no time. Super cute. If only pictures could capture the fun and playful moments better. Thank you Heather, Milo seems absolutely adorable. (and he's gone potty outside twice already for us! Yay!)

Artie (formerly Dinty)

Thank you PUP... We adopted Artie in October of this year. Here is a photo and update. Artie has brought us such joy! He displays affection, humor with his playful squeaky toy antics and confidence during walks. Artie is quite sociable with other dogs and loves the attention from everyone - especially children. We know he is comfortable with his new tribe! (PS: Raymond and Artie need to meet as they like the same things =)

Raymond, formerly Luigi

We adopted Raymond in August of this year. We wanted to send and updated photo. Raymond has come such a long way! He has taken obedience class and now enjoys running (up to 4 miles!) with his owners and "brother" dog. Ray's confidence is growing by the day. He is very funny and playful and a he is a true delight. He is very affectionate and loves everyone.
Raymond's favorite things are: 1) eating; 2) snuggling; 3) going for walks; and 4) chasing squirrels. He is doing great!

Why we love Jeni

We have had Jeni about a month now. She has stolen all of our hearts, including our two greyhounds, Jimbo and Gordo. Jimbo and Jeni are best buddies. She curls up next to him at every chance and sleeps with him at night. Every once in a while, Jimbo allows Gordo to sneak in and cuddle up next to Jeni. They play tug of war and run together almost daily. Jeni lets you carry her like a newborn baby, with her head looking over your shoulder. She cuddles into your neck, just like a human baby and because of her size, you feel like you're carrying a baby! She is definitely my new furry daughter! She is impressively smart, coming to us crate trained, knowing "sit" and already learning "wait", "dance" and "up". When we take her to our cabin in the mountains, she happily uses potty pads instead of going out in the snow, and was easy to train. As she is a very vocal dog.. not barky, but vocal, I have been working with her to say "mama" and I believe within a month or so, she
will have it down. She is the first pup we've ever had that likes to talk in this way and it is so fun to work with her. Her intelligence continues to amaze us.

We are just so thankful that PUP provided us the opportunity to adopt such a wonderful member of the family. The happiness she brings can not be measured. You guys are doing great things, keep up the good work!

Gibbs Update

It has now been just over 5 months since we were fortunate enough to bring Gibbs... now named Rafael (Rafa) to our home in Vancouver, British Columbia. On June 11th we lost our beloved 10-yr old havanese AJ and two weeks later our hearts were healed when we were approved as 5-yr old Rafa's new parents. As with many rescues, his history was sketchy but he was thought to be a havanese-cross with a bad start in life. We immediately did a DNA test and discovered he was primarily havanese and poodle with a bit of Schnauzer & Pomeranian thrown in.

Upon settling in we discovered that he had plenty of energy, attitude, passive-dominance issues, separation anxiety and the occasional in-house accident. It was clear that he needed to learn who was the alpha (me) and where he stood in the pack. We hired BarkBusters to assist with retraining and the separation anxiety and he no longer howls like a wolf when left alone. We are now able to simply walk out and leave him alone for several hours with access to the entire house without incident !! He hasn't been left alone for more than 4 hrs at a time and this works well for us and him. No more crating, den-gating, doggy daycare and/or baby-sitters.

He is now well-behaved on-leash (never walks ahead of us), has learned several key commands/words and does all his 'business" during his daily walks. He has even figured out a way to communicate to us that it is time to go out.... rarely a false alarm. Best of all, it is clear that he has accepted us as his pack members as demonstrated by the abundance of kisses we now get that we didn't recieve the first few months... we initially assumed he just wasn't an affectionate kind of dog... we were wrong!

The plan was for him to sleep in the den on his own doggy bed and that eventually worked well if we gated the den. Recently, however because of his good behavior we have been letting him sleep w/us... he nestles between the pillows at the headboard and sleeps there all night long. I have a feeling that this is going to become the norm and the den plans are out the window.

He has plenty of stuffed toys to terrorize, rubber balls to retrieve and has made some doggy buddies in our complex. He loves to chase things that move... especially cats and squirrels... although I'm not sure what he'd do if he caught one. His favorite thing appears to be car rides with the window down so he can stick his head out and enjoy the breeze. Our vet has certified him as healthy (he's gained 3lbs) and our groomer is pleased with his disposition during his monthly visits. I'm not sure if he has seen snow before but he really enjoyed running and jumping in it last week. We'll be taking him to Palm Springs for Xmas/New Years so we'll get to see if he can swim in the pool.

Thanks PUP for saving Rafa... I'm sure he'd agree that he's in a much happier place.