Rochester, Ellie Mae, and McDuff

Merry Post Christmas, everyone!  The dogs and I all had a great week.  I had a 5 day weekend, so we got to spend a lot of time together.  On Wednesday morning, we all packed up for a road trip.  They were very good riders...no complaining at all!  Rocky did make one attempt to come in the front seat, but after a stern warning he retreated.  Rocky and Ellie had both met my dad before, but this was the first time anyone was meeting my stepmom, sister, or Maggie (the family pug).  Everyone got along great.  My stepmom was still working when we got there, and my sister was hid away in her bedroom, so the dogs had a bit of time to get used to the new house without too many people around.  They were all acting a bit shy, so most of our time was spent with them on my lap.  Maggie wasn't too fond of all the new dogs in her house getting all kinds of attention, so she was quite whiny.  But no one fought with each other.  On Thursday I wanted to spend some time with my grandma before I headed back home, so I left the dogs at the house.  I was nervous that there would be issues if I wasn't there, but when I came back after about 3 hours I  had very positive results.  I guess my stepmom took my place as the doggy lover, and at one point she had all 5 dogs sitting on her.  I wish they would have taken a picture of that for me!  When we got home, I gave the dogs their Christmas presents from me, which consisted of A LOT of toys...most of which are continually strewn about the living room (no matter how many times I pick them up).  I find that the tennis balls are the most popular toy currently.  With the ropes and the stuffed animals coming in close behind.  As I type this I can hear them playing tug-of-war with something.

Rochester is getting so much better at being around people.  He was great at my dad's house.  He growled a bit at my stepmom when she first came in the house, but after she came over and said hello he was fine.  He's also still doing so well with Ellie.  She is really not fond of going outside, but she will follow Rocky out every time.  So now when I want Ellie to go out, I just have Rocky go out first.  He's such a great roll model!

Ellie is getting a lot better at her potty training.  She didn't have a single accident at my dad's house, and she hasn't had any accidents since we've been home.  That's 5 whole days accident free!  She has also been going near the back door quite a bit lately.  Still not making noise or ringing the bell, but she will wait there patiently until I notice and open the door.

Duffy is a darling, as usual.  Did I say last week that he's housebroken?  I believe he is.  No accidents from him, and the territory marking has stopped (we had an incident a week or so ago when I let him in a room I usually keep the dogs out of).  I was worried he'd mark at my dad's house, so I made him wear a diaper when we first got there.  I didn't see him attempt anything, and then I forgot to take the diaper off before my dad took him out for a walk, so that plan ended up ruined anyway.  But even without the diaper I don't think he did anything.  Oh, he did manage to escape when I was bringing things in the house (there's a lot of stuff to travel with 4 dogs!).  I chased him around the neighborhood for a bit until he got to the neighbor's, who happened to be letting her dog out.  Luckily that got him to stop for long enough for me to grab him and bring him back in.

Duffy & Ellie cuddling in the back seat on our way to Christmas!

Duffy cuddling in a blanket.

Ellie playing dead.

All 3 of my foster babies cuddling next to me.

Ellie sleeping against Duffy.

Duffy and Rocky enjoying some sunshine on top of my couch.

Still waiting on one set of pictures to upload.  This is taking forever!

Rochester, Ellie Mae, and McDuff

Well, we just finished our first Xmas of the year.  A few of my girlfriends (and 2 kids) came over for the afternoon.  I knew Rocky would be skeptical, so I kept him on a leash at first.  But after a while he was still barking, and I was nervous about him with the kids, so I put him in his crate.  He was fine back there.  He really was fine with the kids too, they were just very high energy and were scaring him.  He didn't try to nip anyone, but just to make sure it stayed that way, I think putting him away was the best idea.  Duffy was really indifferent to having people over.  He pretty much stayed by me the whole time, but when the older boy (3yo) came over to give him a hug, he didn't even bat an eye.  Ellie was scared and hid behind anyone who would protect her, but she let the boys pet her too as long as they were calm.

Other than that excitement, Rocky is still being a great dog.  He's still not understanding "down," but I'll keep working with him as long as he's here.  I do think he's a little jealous of Ellie and Duffy's attention, because he does try to sit in my lap an awful lot.  I have to keep reminding him he's not a lap dog.  And for the record, Duffy is also not a lap dog, so I don't let him sit in my lap either.  Rocky just doesn't like that Duffy often gets the spot right next to me.

Ellie Mae is doing much better on her potty training.  Still not housebroken, but between her and I we've pretty much figured out a schedule that works 90% of the time.  We had 1 bad day last week (and it was really bad, so I'm not sure what was going on.  I thought maybe full moon, but that wasn't it...so just a rough day), but other than that we're down to 1 or 2 accidents a week.  And she is more frequently heading toward the back door, even if she's not quite figured out how to let me know that she needs to go out (by scratching or whining or ringing the bells).

Duffy is such a sweetheart.  I'm confident in saying he is housebroken.  He has had 1 genuine accident in the 2 weeks he's been here (coincidentally on the same day Ellie had her breakdown.  Which is why I think there was something in the air that day.).  We did have a pretty rough bout of territory marking, which did subside and we haven't had anything in a week.  He also doesn't seem to know any tricks, but I'll start working with him on "sit."  Duffy is obviously not his given name, as he doesn't respond to it at all.  So if you're looking for a great dog with an opportunity to come up with your own name...this is it!
Edit: I forgot to mention Duffy's weight gain!  He's obviously still scrawny, as I've only had him for 2 weeks.  But he is visibly putting on weight.  I also can tell when I pet him, he's still boney, but not as boney.

Ellie got her first bath with me!  (She hated it.)

But she was so happy to cuddle afterward.  We curled up on the couch with a blanket and she napped there for nearly an hour.

Duffy got his elf costume today!

Ellie in her elf costume sitting on the Xmas blanket.

Santa and all 3 of his elves.

Rocky hid behind the tree when my guests arrived today.

Ellie Mae made a new friend!

Bonus video of Rocky & Duffy playing, and Rocky being his goofball self.

Zuzu (Queeny) Update

I have a great picture of Zuzu to share!  She is looking so well taken care of, I can't even handle it.  I just want to pinch her little cheeks and give her kisses!

^This is the reason I do this.^

Rochester, Ellie Mae, and McDuff

What a week!  I picked up McDuff on Tuesday (check out his intro post).  This week was sales meetings at work, so I was out late on Wednesday getting dinner with some of the out of town folks, I was out late on Thursday getting dinner with the whole sales team, and I was out late on Friday for the company Xmas party.  Whew!  But all that being away from my puppies made me feel bad, so Friday night I slept on the couch so they could hang out and cuddle.  Sleeping on the couch was a mistake for my neck...and for actually getting any sleep...but the dogs loved it.

Rocky and Ellie are really bonding.  They are like the cool older brother and the annoying younger sister.  No matter what he's doing, Ellie likes to go up to Rocky and start licking and pawing at his face.  Rocky growls like he's angry, but he just lets her do it.  Sometimes for over 10 minutes at a time.  And this happens several times a day.  I tried to get a video of it, but Ellie stopped as soon as she heard the beep of my phone.  This is the guilty face:

Duffy is really fitting in as well.  He's playing more with Rocky, and he's cuddling up with the rest of us on the couch now.  I'm pretty sure he's housebroken, but I want to wait until next week to confirm.  He is getting better at crate training too.  He's still not happy about going in, but he doesn't fight as much.  And I've been able to move his food dish inside the crate in the morning, so I think he's starting to understand that it's not a punishment to be in there.  He is silent all night too while he's in there.

I decided to take the dogs out for a walk today, because it was pretty nice out.  A little rainy, but relatively warm for a mid-December day.  I'm not crazy, so I broke them up into pairs.  Rocky and Hardy have obviously been out on walks in the past, so I wanted to pair them up with Ellie and Duffy, assuming I would have one well behaved dog and one potentially not well behaved dog at a time.  Then I also decided to do a big dog with a small dog.  So my first walk was Rocky and Ellie.  We got 2 houses down, where my neighbor was out cleaning off his driveway.  And we stopped to chat.  Rocky did so well.  Not a single growl or bark.  Rocky even went so far as to sit next to my neighbor!  It was quite amazing to see.  After we left there, it quickly became apparent that these two were not a good walking match.  They would walk in circles around me, Rocky would try to jump up on me, Ellie wanted to be under my feet.  We went about 1 city block total before I had enough and turned us around.  Then I took out Hardy and Duffy.  If that wasn't the easiest walk I've ever been on.  Duffy is obviously leash trained.  He walked on my left side the whole time and he didn't pull on the leash (but he did walk at the end of it most of the time).  Whenever a car would approach, he would willingly move off to the shoulder with me without a fight.  We ended up walking about a mile down the road and back.  I could tell he was getting tired by the end, but he didn't complain or stop at all.  Neither did Hardy, which surprised me.  Because in the past when we've gone that far, I've usually ended up carrying him back most of the way.

Chateau Update

Well it wasn't the smoothest of transitions, but I'm happy to say that Chateau is happy in her forever home, and I have a couple pictures to share!

I don't know for a fact that this was a sit on command, but if seeing the family in action while they were here to pick Chateau up was any indication, I bet she already has that trick mastered.  :-)

Thanks for the update!  I look forward to hearing more in the future!

Introducing: McDuff

McDuff is the newest member of my furry family, and he is absolutely adorable.

Adorable, right?

He's a bit shy with me and the other dogs, but he's quickly warming up.  He will jump up on the couch with the other dogs and I, but he likes to lay down on the opposite end as the rest of us.  He's not up to cuddling yet.  After a few minutes of caution, Duffy will play with Rocky.  They are pretty close to the same height, so they make perfect playmates.

Duffy is a little on the skinny side, but I consider myself to be an excellent dog fattener upper.  He's eating very well, and sometimes requests extra food in the afternoons (which I give him, because he's cute)

He's not crate trained, and really puts up a fight with me when I want him to go in.  Once I get him in he's fine, it's just getting him past that door that is the problem.

It's too soon to say if he's housebroken.  We had a 2 day period of territory marking, but that seems to be winding down.  Other than that, he hasn't had any accidents and he did scratch on the back door last night.  So I say there is some serious housebreaking potential. 

McDuff running around

McDuff playing with a mini tennis ball

Rochester & Ellie Mae

Another mood shift in the house this weekend, as my dear Chateau was adopted on Saturday.  We didn't fall under the same type of sadness as when Ollie left, because Chateau was a much calmer dog and didn't feel the need to put herself in the spotlight as much.  But we still felt the loss.  One big thing I noticed is that Chateau was always the one to get excited when I'd get home from work, and she was always the first to greet me.  I can already tell I'm going to miss that.

Rochester is being a great role model for Ellie Mae.  She follows him around everywhere, and she's picking up his tendencies.  One of the best parts is that Rocky is always willing to go outside (on Ellie's schedule), and she will follow him out and do her business.  Without him, I don't think she'd go outside.  I'm also working with Rocky on "down."  He's getting pretty good at "sit," so I thought we'd move on to the next one.  He has a bad habit of jumping up on me when I'm trying to sit down.  So I think this will be very important.  Other than that, he's doing very well.  He's playing more with Ellie, but he's still a little rough with her, so I have to remind him once in awhile to be careful.

Ellie Mae is doing well also.  She's still not housebroken, but she is getting better.  Or maybe I'm just getting better about keeping her on a schedule and recognizing her potty signs.  She actually went about a day and a half last week without any accidents, which I was very happy about!  We had a bit of trouble this morning, though.  She went out no problem when we first woke up, but due to the rain she didn't want to go back out after her breakfast.  She isn't really letting me know yet when she needs to go out, but I think she's getting the idea that going by the back door will get her outside.  Every once in awhile she'll wander back there, and so I'll go open the door for her.  Most of the time she'll go out, sometimes she'll just look at me.  Ellie is completely crate trained (did I mention this last week?  I can't remember).  She doesn't make a peep once she's in there. 

I did horrible this week with taking pictures.  I only got a few, and none of them were very good.  But I do have a video of Ellie playing with her favorite toy (an empty kong).  Enjoy!

Chateau has been adopted!

Congrats to Miss Chateau and her new family!  They stopped by this afternoon, and after a few treats she was in love!  There was a small hiccup when it came time to put the leash on, which surprised all of us (I had never seen her react so strongly about a leash!), but I know in time she'll get used to it and will be back to her bubbly self.  I have no doubts that she'll get a lot of love and attention in that household.  I wish the whole family luck, and happy holidays with one of the best puppies I've ever had!

To say goodbye, here are some photos from the last couple weeks:

Chateau and Rocky playing tug of war.

Chateau getting that itch on her back.

Chateau saying hello.

Rocky and Chateau fighting to the death!

Rochester, Chateau, and Ellie Mae

Well, I'm sorry to say this will be my last Chateau post...until her adoption announcement next week! Yes! My sweet Chateau has received an application and we're meeting on Saturday.  I can't see any reason why she wouldn't get adopted once they meet her.  She's the most well behaved foster I've had yet!  Plus she's gorgeous...I sure hope the family is ready to be stopped everywhere they go to have people tell them that!

In general news, the mood and energy level has certainly picked up in the last week.  Still not at Ollie energy level, but we're no longer a depressed household.  And speaking of Ollie, I received an update from his family and they say he's doing great and fitting in with them like he's been there forever!  I'm so happy to hear that, because Ollie really was a sweetie and deserves the best!

Rocky is doing well.  He's playing more with Chateau and even playing a bit with Ellie.  He's probably going to be upset again when Chateau leaves, because he's still not completely used to playing with the small dogs.  He's also still being extra affectionate with me since Ollie left.  I think it's cute, so I don't mind.

Ellie Mae is fitting in nicely.  We're still working on her housebreaking, I wouldn't say it's going great by any means, but she is just a puppy, so I don't think it's anything we can't accomplish.  She's getting much better about letting me touch her paws and ears, and even let me cut some of the hair around her ears the other day!  I've also been working with her to let me wipe her tear stains with baby wipes.  That is going pretty well.  All in all, she's still adorable and I don't want anyone to adopt her so she can be mine forever.

Ellie Mae cheering for the good guys!

I wasn't sure her sweater was warm enough outside, so we tried on Hardy's coat.  It fit and she didn't mind wearing it!

Rocky giving those puppy dog eyes.  Please adopt me!

I bought the kiddos some Christmas gear...Rocky is Santa and the little ones are his elves.  Adorable.

Ellie elf.

Santa Rocky.

Santa Rocky and Ellie Elf chillin on the couch back.

Ellie loves the snow!

Santa Rocky conversing with Hardy Elf.

Ellie Elf works with a smile on her face!

Ellie and Hardy cuddling together in their elf shirts.

All of my Christmas babies cuddling together.

Rochester, Chateau, and Ellie Mae

I want to start out today by saying what a difference the mood in the house is without Ollie.  I think we were all in a little bit of depression yesterday.  We pretty much spent the entire afternoon laying on the couch.  No one was really up for playing.  It was so quiet.  I didn't realize how much we would miss Ollie, but we do!  Attitudes picked up a bit this morning, but it'll take a bit to completely get used to not having that energy in the house!

So yes, I was a crazy dog lady for a few days.  5 dogs!  It wasn't as terrible as I was imagining.  Ellie Mae was the newbie, and she is a very good girl.  So that made it easy.  More on her below.

5 dogs this weekend!  Here they are all lined up on the couch.  From top to bottom: Chateau, Hardy, Rocky, Ollie, and Ellie Mae.

Rochester is doing well.  He misses his play buddy though.  All afternoon yesterday he was trying to crawl into my lap, which he doesn't normally do.  I can only assume it was because he was sad Ollie was gone.  This morning he started to play like he normally did, though.  So I think with time his mood will pick back up.  Ellie Mae tries to play with him, so maybe that'll help heal his broken heart.

I was crafting this weekend, and somehow Rocky got a red sequin on the tip of his nose.

Rocky wearing his winter jacket.  It's a little big on him, he slips out every chance he gets.

Rocky cuddling with Ellie Mae.  He has his paw around her!

Chateau is as wonderful as ever.  Last week I took her to the vet, and she got such compliments on how beautiful she is.  I swear, I can't take her anywhere without someone saying she's a gorgeous dog!  I'm a little upset right now, because I had a video of Chateau playing with some toys, and I can't for the life of me find it!  She's so funny when she plays.  Usually by herself, she'll grab one of the plush toys and jump and toss it in the air and catch it.  It always makes me laugh.  Hopefully the video is on my memory card at home...if so I'll update tonight.  This morning Chateau and Hardy were involved in an epic battle for one of the long plush squeaker toys.  Being about 20x Hardy's size, you'd think Chateau would win every battle...not so.  Hardy hangs on with all his might and actually ends up with the toy a majority of the time.  Chateau sure tries though!  She was pulling Hardy all over the house this morning.  My smart little guy just holds on until she gets tired or lets her guard down, then he takes off with the toy.  Then of course, she takes off after him and it starts all over again.

Chateau wearing her highly reflective winter jacket.  She didn't like it at first, but she's used to it now.

Chateau running around outside.

And now meet my new peanut: Ellie Mae!  I've decided I want to keep her as long as I can, so I'm only going to say bad things about her.  Ellie is gassy!  I mean, I don't have proof that it's her...but I started noticing it the day I brought her home.  So coincidence?  Darn it, that's the only bad thing I can think of...potential adopters, stop reading now!  Ellie Mae (I also call her Ellie or Elle depending on my mood) is the sweetest, cutest, friendliest little girl ever.  She gets along with all my dogs, and tries very hard to play with them.  Though she's still just a puppy, so if the others get a little rough with her I stop them right away.  She's not housebroken, but she is very good about going potty outside when I let the dogs out.  I also think she's picked up on Hardy's signals (he scratches at the front door when he wants to go out), so she will walk next to the front door before she needs to go.  If I'm fast enough, I can get her outside.  If not, she has a spot next to the coat closet that she seems to like.  I don't have any concerns getting her housebroken soon though, it only took a couple days for her to figure out the front door trick.  I'm also working on crate training her, and it's going very well.  I threw her for a little bit of a loop yesterday though.  Because I had the 5 dogs this weekend, I had her using Hardy's crate.  But now that Ollie's gone, I moved her to his crate.  So she still goes to Hardy's crate first.  But she's getting better.  This morning she accidentally crawled into Rocky's crate while he was in there!  My heart skipped a beat thinking he would snap at her...but he didn't make a peep!  I just coaxed her out and everything was fine.  She does whine a little when I put her in the crate for the night, but it only lasts for 5-10 minutes and then she's silent until it's time to get up in the morning. 
Right now I'm focusing on getting Ellie Mae house broken and getting her used to having people touch her ears, paws, and teeth.  She's pretty good about letting me touch everything, but as soon as I get near her with a scissors she runs away.  Something we need to work on.  After that, we'll start working on some of the standard tricks.  I think she'll pick them up quickly.

Ellie and Rocky cuddling on my lap.

Ellie hanging out outside.  She prefers a sweater in this cold weather.

Miss Ellie Mae.  What a doll!

Doesn't it look like she's smiling?

Ellie lounging on the couch with me.

Ollie has been adopted!!!

Yep, you read that right!  My mischievous boy just left with his forever family.  They had actually met at the Meet & Greet last weekend, so I already knew they'd be a great match for him.  And sure enough as soon as he saw them, he started pulling on his leash to get there.  I think he knew that they were his people.  They are going to be great together.  I look forward to hearing updates!

A couple pictures of Ollie from the last week to share.

Dog Pile on the Couch!  Ollie on top, Chateau on the left, Rocky in the middle, and Ellie May (read more about her tomorrow) on the right.

Ollie, Chateau, and Rocky showing off their winter gear!

It's hard to look tough when you're fighting in bubble jackets, but Rocky and Ollie don't care!