Totally Spoiled

One of the things Dave and I do when we foster a dog is start on teaching them good manners.  We teach them basic commands, like sit, stay, down, wait and come.  We teach them to walk on a leash and hopefully not jump on everyone that walks through the front door.  We teach them not to get on the furniture or the bed and to stay out from under the table when we're eating.  We figure if their new family wants to allow them to do any of those things, they can easily allow it, but it will be harder for them to break the dogs of bad habits if we encourage them.  Some dogs are easier to train (Chiquita) than others (Rondo), but overall we pride ourselves on adopting out well-mannered pups.


The other day I was busying myself in the kitchen, probably making food for the shower, and I kind of lost track of what else was going on in the house.  Dave had some chores he'd been taking care of and Mia was spending her time going back and forth between following me, following Dave and chewing her Kong.  Suddenly, I noticed I was alone.  I didn't remember Dave leaving the house--he would have been near or gone through the kitchen to do so--and Mia's dog bed and crate were both empty and toys discarded on the carpet in three rooms.  Her collar and leash were still in the closet, so I knew Dave hadn't taken her out.

Suddenly I vaguely remembered Dave mentioning earlier in the day that he hoped to take a nap at some point.  So I grabbed my camera and quietly made my way up the stairs.  Sure enough the bedroom door was open and the lights were off.  I peaked in the bedroom only to see this:

Of course.  I could only imagine that Dave just lost the battle.  Mia likes to think that she's allowed on the bed and will jump up there once in a while.  She rarely has to be told more than once to get off and then will happily curl up on her own bed.  Unless she's got us pinned down under the covers, then she just takes advantage and gives us the kisses we normally don't allow.  But since her bed was downstairs I guess she thought that the carpet wasn't good enough and decided it would be ok to snuggle up next to Dave. 

I love the look she gave me of, "Oh, hi.  I'm on the bed now.  It's okay, it's my turn now.  I'll let you know when I'm done, so please leave so I can go back to sleep."

Yes, a well-mannered dog is what we aim to produce.  And occasionally that well-mannered dog is spoiled.

Better still, I'm pretty sure the next day she "finished" the peanut butter and thus earned the right to lick the jar.

Yes, spoiled.  It's a good thing she's cute.

Baby Shower!

I've been so excited for this post, but it's not really my news to share, so I figured I'd wait until a more public event to announce.

Cindy's having a baby!  Yay! 

I am so excited for Cindy and Keith (and big brother Jake!) so I offered to host a baby shower to celebrate.  Little did I know the little at-home affair I had in mind would turn into 30 of Cindy's friends and family gathered in my living room to celebrate.  That whole think about 25% of people on the invite list declining?  Yeah, more like 10%.  And that was pushing it.

No bother, because I made a ton of yummy food (all to be featured on the cookie blog), a polka dot theme (complete with polka dot invitations, balloons, napkins, ribbons and bows, gift wrap, wrappers on the food, and even my shirt!) and a lot of fun watching Cindy open all the adorable gifts she got.  Can we talk for a second about the cute baby girl pants with stuff on the bum?  Cupcakes, monkeys, kittens and puppies all smiling cheerfully from the baby's bottom. 

We had a wonderful time and I am so thankful for Stacy and Erin who were a huge help in getting set up with food on the table before (and as) people arrived.  I probably would have lost my mind without their help! 

The only shower game planned was a diaper raffle (anyone who brought diapers got their name entered into a raffle for a gift certificate) and a I had a timer go off every so often and whoever's gift Cindy was opening got a prize.  Simple, but fun (because really--shower games can be annoying, especially with that many people). 

As a gift, I made Cindy an afghan, new born hat and booties and stuffed them into a basket full of essentials, books and a cute outfit.  I also put together a hospital survival kit.  I'd seen this one pinned on Pinterest and thought it was a great idea so immediately decided to put it together.

Cindy is due March 28th but thinks she'll go early. Last week we had to plead with the little one to not make an appearance before the shower.  I kindly told her she couldn't come early because she didn't have any stuff yet!  But now I think Cindy and Keith are well-prepared (well, as prepared as you can be) for her to make her arrival.

Congratulations on the new addition to your family!

Third Times a Charm?

Yesterday Mia had a meet and greet with her third family.  And Dave and I really think this is the one (knock on wood!).  Carey came by with her two daughters, ages 10 and 7.  Both girls were very mature and dog savvy and the older one even helps a trainer that the family has used in the past.  Everyone was smitten with Mia and they weren't turned off by her high energy or her jumpy greetings. For Mia's part, she was much better with her greetings and sat on command for everyone, which is a marked improvement.

Carey's husband couldn't make it to the meet and greet since he was traveling, so he'll meet Mia tonight.  Paws crossed because we're pretty sure dad won't have much choice but to say yes!  We understand that when he got home last night, all the girls could talk about was when they were going to get Mia and what they were going to do with her.  We're very excited for this family. They've already made arrangements to work with their trainer and have been very thoughtful and careful about their adoption process.  Hopefully I'll have a paws-itive post next week (that pun was just too easy).

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm very much into the hearts and pinkness and of course the chocolate of this holiday, but otherwise, it's no big deal to Dave and I.  Although I did make special treats for my nieces and nephew (oops, I just sent them today), so really it's just a reason to share chocolate with people.  Or hoard it for myself.  One of those.

But Mia did give Dave a Valentine's card, so there is at least someone in our house who succumbed to the marketing that is Hallmark in February.  (Ok, so there are three someone's because I got Dave a card and he, probably out of fear that I'd be upset if he didn't (and he'd be right), got me a card.  But still.  I think the dog went out of her way.

We're relatively boring lately. I keep hoping Dave will do something silly or we'll have something interesting happen, but alas life is insistent on mundane activities in our life.  Although if something doesn't happen soon, I might need to take matters into my own hands and start hiding things from Dave just to see how far he'll go before he realizes its me. 

Hmmm.

Another Meet & Greet

Mia's meet and greet was on Saturday and she was awesome.  While she was a bit jumpy in the beginning, she really just wanted to give the family (mom, dad, son and two daughters) kisses and get pet on.  The family was great and listened intently to Dave and I as we gave them suggestions to interact with her and keep her from getting too rambunctious. 

The family is looking to adopt their first dog and while they've watched friends' dogs in the past, they really don't know a lot about owning and training a dog.  They stayed for about an hour, asked really great questions (many of which came from the kids) and took Mia on a walk outside.  The oldest daughter, 14, was a little afraid of Mia's jumping, but still liked her a lot and even took the lead to walk Mia for part of our time outside.  The youngest daughter, 8, was quite precocious asking a ton of silly questions among very good questions and had no fear to let Mia eat a treat from her hand.  The son, 12, was very interested in getting Mia to run through her commands and was equally attentive when Dave and I explained the techniques we use.  He was eventually able to follow them and get Mia to listen to him once or twice.

It was a lot of excitement for Mia and she was distracted by the shear number of people and the level of activity and attention she was getting, but she had a very good showing and I think represented well the kind of pet she would make--loving and energetic but overall just wanting to please her people.

The family wanted to talk it over and discuss if Mia would be a good match for them.  They were concerned about making sure they and Mia got proper training to keep her a good girl instead of going wild.  We heard from them later that evening, and unfortunately they decided she wasn't the right dog for them.  Based on their questions and the way they listened to Dave and I, we thought they'd be a good match for Mia but they were concerned that as first time dog owners, they wouldn't have the skills she needs.  It's a good concern and I'm far happier knowing a family was cautious and decided against her than one that rushed to adopt and it have it not work out (again).

So Mia is still with us and hopefully another application will come in soon and prove an even better home for her.  While Dave and I are at work, Mia's new friend Paul comes over to walk her and play with her (and give her a peanut butter kong, which is probably her favorite part), so we still have a happy pup when we come home.  And we're super proud of her because she's had free reign of the kitchen, dining room and office (instead of being confined to her crate) and we haven't had any issues.  The right family is out there for her; we just have to find them.

Stuff You'd Know if I Were a Better Blogger

I really hate doing recaps.  I far prefer giving you full on stories about these things.  But if I did a post for each of these with their complete story, I might not get to tell you about all the new fun stuff that happens for another 3 weeks, hence never really getting back on track (I say that now--watch how nothing interesting happens for the month of March and I struggle to blabber on to you about something).  So here's some stuff you'd already know if I was better at blogging.

• Dave and I moved.  It's a far less interesting story than you think.  My in-laws, Madaline and Ernie, are spending their first full year of retirement together by traveling the country in their Airstream trailer.  They'll be back intermittently throughout the year, but don't intend to stay at home for any long periods of time.  Meanwhile they didn't want to leave their property uninhabited, but since they don't know where they ultimately want to retire, they aren't prepared to sell their home just yet.  And since they are a half hour closer to work (among other bonuses), we decided to help them out by moving in and making sure their house doesn't break.
• Which means Dave and I are landlords.  We have awesome tenants and they like our place so much we're hoping maybe they'll decide to pick up the option to by our home.
• (PS: Dave and I still want to move out of Massachusetts, so hopefully this will be a nice stepping stone so we can get where we want to go.)
• DAVE GOT A JOB!  This truly deserves it's own post, but see above.  I'm thrilled for him and he really likes it so far.  It's temporary and part-time, but hopefully he'll make some good connections to transfer into a full-time gig.
• Mia has a meet and greet tomorrow.  Paws crossed that this family loves her to pieces (she's become quite a good girl and has picked up lots of good habits since we moved).  
• My birthday was Wednesday (happy birthday to me!) so we're celebrating this weekend with friends.

 I'm sure there's lots more, but I can't remember. Fingers crossed that I get better at this whole blogging thing and have fun stories for you next week!