Thursday, February 16, 2012

Rain, Rain, Go Away!


Yup, it's raining! Though it is Vancouver, so I suppose it would be odd if it did anything else.
Because of the rain I have little brown footprints tracking the pups as they move from outside to inside, and Scotty wears his rain jacket on walks!

Scotty
Scotty is doing well as always, but there are always new things I learn to add!
Because of the rain Scotty has been wearing his Rain jacket. He is totally fine with it and pretty much ignores it. However, while wearing it on his walks he walks even closer to your side and does not get easily distracted! I have a feeling he would do really well with a backpack, because how he walks with his jacket it seems like he's working! So I think a backpack would be a great idea when walking to help him burn off excess energy as well as give him a job!
I have also noticed that he has a bit of a prey drive. He becomes quite alert on walks when he sees a squirrel, though not as much with birds unless they are really close. Though also he also gets quite excited with his toys that squeak, so I work a lot on having him relax around them. Also, he has previously lived with cats, and he is also quick to learn so I think he would be fine in a house with cats-- so long as the cat is okay with it ;)
I have also been jogging a little with him and he would make an excellent jogging companion! He trots just next to me and the leash is nice and loose.
Also I walk him on umbilical (leash tied around my waist) and he does really well with it!

Scotty looking for cuddles while hanging with me at 3am after taking the pups out for a pee

Chika
Chika is still working on house training. She is also teething more than Carlin, and is getting a little mouthy, but I find frozen carrots work wonders! Also I am teaching her not to use teeth on people, and she is coming along nicely! She loves lying down next to me while I cook or do dishes. She is also the first to settle down when I am giving them a treat or their food. When I dry her off with a towel, she tries to grab the towel but eventually lets you dry her off without fussing much. She is also developing standing ears!! Only the tips are still floppy! In the next few months her muscles will strengthen and she will most likely have full standing ears! :)

Chika's ears

Carlin
Carlin is also still working on house training. He is not mouthy at all except with things like paper towels and newspaper which he may try to grab and rip up. Frozen carrots also work well for him. He is more vocal than Chika, and he may bark when excited, but is fairly easy to calm down. He loves getting rubbed down with the towel and will rub against it in your hand and will stand quietly as you dry him off. Carlins ears are starting to rise as well, or at least one of them is! His left ear is starting to raise up though not as much as Chika's. He currently has one floppy (lab like) ear and one "wing-tip" ear.

Carlin's ears

They are both still learning not to jump up when excited.

We also took them to the stables where I ride to get used to new things, and Carlin was the most interested in the horses! The horse I ride (Paddy) is totally fine around dogs, and loves them. Carlin went right up to him and Paddy just ignored him and Carlin just sat there staring at him, probably wondering how a dog gets to be so big ;)
Chika stayed back, though she was not nervous, just decided to sniff around and sit by us. But also stared at Paddy. Neither of them were nervous past the first few minutes, once they got used to being in a new place.



Another side story about the puppies...
We took them to meet my boyfriend, Adam's, dogs, Rikki (Staffordshire x Rottweiler mix) and Gold Digger, or "Digger" for short (Golden Retriever). And we thought they'd play but my weren't we shocked about what happened! Digger just wanted to bark and play with them, but Rikki was amazing!
She played with Carlin and they had a good time! And Chika just went to sleep. Once Carlin was asleep too, next to Chika, Rikki came up and laid down beside them both and put her head on Carlin's paw and slept with them! She became Mama Rikki! The puppies loved her and she loved the puppies! [I have some photos of them sleeping below, sorry they're a bit dark]



Rikki is the dog on the far left, Carlin in the centre and Chika to the right


Mama Rikki loves her puppies!

More to come!

5 comments:

  1. What wonderful experiences for the pups and Scotty too. They are so very lucky to be with you and we are so fortunate to have you on board. Thank you!

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  2. Great blogging Julia....and it was so nice to see you and Adam at Tisol today doing such a great job with pups and Scotty. You both are so natural with the dogs.

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  3. Thank you both so much!
    And we're just super lucky to be fostering such wonderful dogs and with such a great rescue!

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  4. Julia thank you and Adam for bringing all 3 dogs to the Tisol event and for the wonderful blogs. The pups are cute as heck and Scottie is so wonderful. The pups were so calm yesterday in the middle of all the excitement. We're so glad to have you as part of the TG foster family. Keep up the great work. I love how the blogs are divided up into individual parts so that we really get to "know" the dogs. Your help is so greatly appreciated.

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  5. Thank you so much! And I'm just glad to be part of such a great rescue!

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