Rosie, Mocha, and Tippy

As you read yesterday, Junie B. was adopted.  Not even an hour after she left, I had a minor heart attack thinking I lost a dog.  See, I keep track of the dogs by counting them.  And for a couple weeks, if I had 5 dogs I was good.  Well yesterday I was sitting on the couch and I did a quick dog count, and only had 4.  It took me a good 30 seconds of thinking how long she was missing before I realized that it was Junie and she was with her new family.  Whew!  Crisis averted!

Prior to the adoption, I gave all the dogs some much needed baths.  Surprisingly, they all did pretty well!  Of course there were some initial jitters, but they calmed down pretty quickly.  Tippy was the star of the day, he didn't even seem to care that he was getting a bath.  Maybe he was just so scared he froze, but I think he was just indifferent to it.  Mocha finally let me clean some of the gunk out of his eyes.  That plus I gave him a trim earlier last week and he is looking so handsome! 

Friday I took Rosie, Tippy, and Junie to the vet for various things, so I decided to do a trial run of the dog room!  Mocha and Hardy got to spend about an hour in there while the rest of us were at the vet, and it went well.  So when I went to work in the afternoon, I put them all in there.  Again, it went very well.  Mocha and Hardy did manage to break out of the small dog area (I still haven't modified it as I mentioned last week).  But overall it looks good and I can't wait until it's warm enough to move them in there for good!

Car ride to the vet.  Tippy liked to hang out in the window bay.  Junie and Rosie preferred the actual seat.

Miss Rosie has developed cherry eye in her left eye.  It does not seem to have affected her personality at all.  She's still her bubbly self.  But I took her to the vet on Friday, and they prescribed an antibiotic for her.  Hopefully it works and clears it up, otherwise she will need to have surgery to fix it.  Other than that, she is doing wonderfully.  No accidents in the house for as long as I can remember, and she rings the bells whenever she wants to go outside.  She's also back into her crate without arguing.  I knew that was just a temporary lapse due to the introduction of a new dog (Tippy).

All the pups relaxing after a long day of play

 As I mentioned above, Mocha got a haircut this week.  Now you can see his beautiful eyes.  It's so cute when I call him in from outside and he comes running with his hair blowing back and his big eyes sparkling.  Mental note to take a video of that next time.  I've also started to trim the hairs on his belly (I've found with Hardy that belly hairs tend to tangle more quickly), and also around his paws.  Neither of those locations is as big of a deal with him as his face, but he does wiggle (just like Hardy when I try to trim him), so it still takes a bit of time.

Dog pile on me!  All 5 dogs are in this pic (Tippy and Junie disappear a bit in the sun spot).

Tippy is really coming out of his shell now.  This morning he and Rosie were chasing each other all around the house, and after a while Mocha joined in too.  I also saw him briefly pick up a stuffed animal and toss it around.  I'm so happy he's finally warming up.  He really is a great dog.  He's still sleeping in my bed at night, but we are making progress on crating him.  Last night he went all the way in his crate on his own, and I shut the door.  I had to run out of the room for something, so I left him in there while I was gone (~2 minutes), and he didn't whine at all.  But I could tell he was nervous, so I did let him out to sleep in my bed.  Baby steps!  Tippy's vet visit on Friday was to test for heartworm.  Good news...he's negative!

Doggy play time!  Junie, Tippy, and Mocha rough housing. (Those are not angry teeth on Tippy.)

Continued play time!  (Not angry teeth on Mocha.)

Even more playtime!

To end this post, some really good news!  The replacement belt for my carpet cleaner arrived!  I had no idea how much of a clean freak I was when I came to my carpets, but I've pretty much spent the last week cleaning them (and I have more planned for tonight).  I think it was almost 3 weeks without any cleaning, so I was definitely going through withdrawals.  I feel so much better now!

Junie B has been adopted!

You heard that right! My perfect little June Bug has found her forever home! I'm so happy for her and her new family. They seemed like such a great fit for her. She has a new big fur brother that she's going to have to learn to love, but I don't see that being a problem since she learned to love all these other pups in my house.

Rosie, Mocha, Junie B., and Tippy

I am nearly finished with the dog room.  I sewed all the curtains this past weekend and hung them up (temporarily just nailed to the walls until I can come up with a plan for long enough curtain rods that won't cost a fortune).  I'm going to add one brace to the divider, because as it is now the dogs can lean against the door and move it enough that it will swing open.  Not a huge deal since all the dogs get along now, but if I ever have a dog that needs to be separated, I don't want them to be able to interact without me being there to stop it.  It's supposed to get pretty cold this week, so I'm not going to move the dogs out there yet anyway.  So I'll make that one little change and maybe this weekend I'll move them out there and then take some pictures.

I took some video of our walks on Saturday.  I took Rosie, Mocha, and Junie out for the first walk.  It was a risk with three dogs, but they did wonderfully!  Junie got a bit tired about 2/3 into it, so I ended up carrying her for a bit.  Tippy and Hardy got the 2nd walk.  I don't know how often Tippy was walked before I got him, because he was initially not liking the leash.  But he quickly got used to it, and you can see in the video that he's a very good walker.

Rosie is doing really well.  She loves spending time outside with me when I'm out working.  I was fortifying the dog fence yesterday because I noticed in some places the dogs could have crawled under if they wanted to.  So I put up a baby gate to keep the dogs in the house, and Rosie jumped over to keep me company.  I figured she would, so I didn't mind.  She's not the one I worry about escaping anyway.  Especially under tiny holes in the fence.  The one negative with Rosie from the past couple weeks, is that she thinks since Tippy isn't crate trained, she doesn't have to be.  I know that's just coming from the change in pattern with a new dog.  She's already starting to get back into the habit, so I'm not concerned at all about this.  Plus when I move them into the dog room, I doubt this will even be an issue anymore.

Mocha is still as cute as ever.  He did meet a potential adopter this weekend, and we discovered that he still has a ways to go with getting comfortable with new people.  Here I've been praising how far he's come, when it looks like it's just that he's extremely comfortable with me.  So I'm going to need to introduce him to more people.  I have no doubts that he'll make a great pet for someone as is, but I have no problems working with him to make him a great pet for someone in the future.  He is my little cuddlebug, so I would certainly miss him if he did get adopted and left me! 

Junie B. is going to meet her potential family soon.  I still can't describe enough how wonderful she is.  There's not much more to say about her.

Tippy is starting to come out of his shell more and more every day.  I've let him sleep in my bed a couple nights, just to speed up the process of getting him comfortable with me, and I think it's helping.  He's playing with Rosie, Mocha, and Junie quite often.  He and Mocha act so much like brothers, it's funny.  One minute they'll be growling at each other, the next minute they'll be chasing each other around playing.  I also caught him pick up a couple toys to chew on.  He's still a bit of a loner, laying on the other side of the couch as me and the rest of the dogpile most of the time, but if I get up to get anything, he follows right behind.

Definitive Guide to Tippy

Updated 18Mar16

Petfinder: Tippy's Petfinder Profile
Age: ~4 years
Weight: ~11lbs
Food:   3/4C Purina One dry food
Treats:  Tippy loves treats!  The meatier the treat, the more he loves it.  He will eat the "crackerier" treats, but with much more hesitation.  He knows what the good stuff is.
Good with Men: yes
Good with Women: yes
Good with Children: yes, but he needs time to warm up to them.  He doesn't like high energy people (aka kids) running up to him to rough him up until he has time to get comfortable with them.
Good with Dogs: yes
Good with Cats: unknown
Housebroken: Yes.  He will sit by the door when he wants to go out.  He is able to hold it all day (~9hrs) while I'm away at work.
Crate Trained: no.  Tippy is very trustworthy, and I don't crate him when I leave the house. 
Leash Trained: Yes.  He gets very excited when he sees me take the leashes down for a walk.
Other Skills: Tippy will 'sit' and 'lay down' on command.  When he is outside, he will come when called or when I whistle.  We are now working on 'roll over.'  He has started to acknowledge the command, and makes a small movement when I say it, but he doesn't quite know what to do yet.
Personality: Tippy started out shy and cautious, but slowly came out of his shell.  He does not insist on getting attention, but if it is offered he is more than happy to take it.  He loves to cuddle with people and with his puppy brothers and sisters.  50% of the time, Tippy is an old man who just wants to lay by himself (preferably in the sun).  The other 50% of the time he is a puppy who needs to play with all the toys and all the dogs.  He is extremely lovable and fun to have around.
Toys:  Tippy is not huge on playing with toys unless his brothers and sisters are also playing.  He prefers ropes and stuffed animals.
Nicknames: Tipster, Tips
Ideal Family: I think Tippy would do best in a low-energy household, preferably without kids.  I do think he'd tolerate spending time with kids on occasion, but he's just not an active dog that would want to play with them all the time.  An older couple who has grand kids who visit on occasion would be perfect!  Tippy's ideal family would be one who likes to go on walks, lets him sleep in the people bed, and enjoys cuddling.  A fenced in yard that has some sunny spots is a major bonus.

Rosie, Mocha, Junie B., and Tippy

Another big week to get to.  We survived our first major storms this week.  No one was terrified.  Of course, the worst parts happened at night when everyone was crated, so perhaps they knew they were safe.  Either way, we didn't have any howling or whining.  So plus one for all the dogs!

I was sick on Thursday, and that was just a nightmare.  I didn't want to get out of bed, it was raining so the dogs didn't want to go outside, the belt on my carpet cleaner broke, and my basement flooded (twice).  Thankfully that all passed...I'm back at 100%, the dogs are back to going outside, new belt is ordered, and I replaced my sump pump (I discovered the one I had couldn't keep up with the storms, causing the flooding).

This weekend has given us WONDERFUL weather.  The dogs and I have been outside all day yesterday and today.  Well, the dogs were confined indoors for a couple hours yesterday while I moved their fenced area.  I had them up right behind the house, but that area is all landscaped and consists mostly of rocks and plants...not the ideal place for dogs to play.  So I moved their area just below the deck which is all grass.  And I've started the long process of re-landscaping the upper area so hopefully in a couple months it'll be a nice fenced in grassy area for them!  But boy do they love their new grassy area.  Not only do they have all that to run around in, but it also gives them free reign of the deck (I blocked all the pickets so they couldn't escape).  So they have plenty of spots to sunbathe (see pictures below).

I made the mistake of letting the dogs in the garage with me when I went to grab my purse.  They all jumped in thinking we were going on a trip.  In this picture you have Hardy at the top, Rosie in the purple collar, and Junie B. and Mocha down below.

Handsome Tippy

The new dog area!  So green and luscious!

Mocha running to me

Tippy lounging on the deck

Mocha and Rosie lounging together

Another shot of Tippy on the deck.  I got him yawning with his tongue out!

Hardy, Junie B., Tippy, and Mocha lounging.

Junie B. was bugging me while I was working on the dog room curtains this afternoon, so I threw a piece of fabric on her thinking she'd run away.  Nope!

Tippy with his puppydog eyes

I think I caught Junie and Hardy sleeping while standing.

Tippy strutting his stuff

Junie B. in her favorite sunbathing spot (on top of the stoop)

Tippy jumped up on the window ledge in the dog room.  What a goof!

Mocha decided my lap was the perfect place to nap.

Side shot of Tippy.

AHHHH!  Breathing in that spring air!

Mocha and Tippy sitting in the sun spot

Same picture, but looking at me.  My handsome foster boys!

Introducing Tippy!

I picked up Tippy last night, and so far he's a doll.  He absolutely loves being outside, and even when the rest of the dogs hesitated because of the rain, he would run right out every time I opened the door.  He met the rest of the brood outside with no problems.  Rosie keeps trying to play with him, but I keep telling her to give him time (he just stands there while she jumps all around him).

Enjoy these videos of Tippy meeting everyone for the first time!

Rosie, Mocha, and Junie B.

First day since Benji left us.  It's definitely calmer around here, but Rosie is doing her best to keep the energy level up.  Unfortunately for all the other dogs, she's twice their size (at least), so they really need to gang up to play with her I think.  The biggest difference I notice without Benji is he was my laundry buddy.  He was the only dog who would go in the basement with me.  Now I have to be down there all alone!

Now that it's getting nice out, I've been able to leave the back door open for the dogs to go in and out as they please.  This has completely eliminated accidents in the house, which is so wonderful.  Also with the nice weather, I've been converting my sunporch (previously used just for storage) into a dog room.  Once it's consistently warm enough (hopefully within the next week or two), I'm going to move their crates out there.  It's right off my bedroom, so they'll still be within comfort range, I think.  But I feel bad keeping them cooped up in their crates so much, that the intention is to give them the run of the room while I'm at work.  The floor is tiled, so that will make it easy on cleanup if there are accidents.  I spent this weekend building a divider so I can keep the little dogs separate from the big dogs.  Not really because I don't trust the big dogs, but I know they can annoy the little guys once in awhile, so I wanted them to have their own space.  I'm going to be putting up curtains today.  Because it's a sunporch, it has windows on 3 sides, and they are low enough that the dogs can see out.  The intention of the curtains is to put up a barrier where I can still open the windows on hot days to let air pass, but not let the dogs see out to bark at all the neighbors.  Fingers crossed it works as intended.  I will have pictures to post once the whole thing is done.

Rosie has been with me for nearly 3 months now.  What is wrong with you people!?  She is such a great dog, I am really shocked she hasn't been adopted yet!  Am I not doing a good enough job of selling her?  She's housebroken, great with other dogs, great with people (a little shy at first, but she gets over it quickly), never violent, comes when called, sits on command...what more do you need to know?!

Mocha is also one who's been with me longer than expected.  He's also housebroken, great with other dogs, great with people, not violent, comes when called, and also sits on command.  Plus he's really fluffy.  Is it the fluff that scares people off of him?  I promise it shouldn't.  He loves to get his hair combed.  As long as I've had him he's never been a tangled mess.  And he's really become a cuddler in the last month or so.

Junie B. hasn't been with me long, and I don't expect her to.  I still maintain that she is the ideal dog for any family.  She managed to outsmart me when Benji's family was here yesterday, and she was so interested in meeting them.  I almost think she wanted to go home with them too!  (And now that I think about it, Rosie did too...to the point where she actually followed them outside to their car, and I had to go grab her!)  My little June Bug is 90% housebroken, we still occasionally have accidents, but she's getting a lot better at knowing when she needs to go outside and letting me know.

Benji has been adopted!

I'm so excited for this little guy.  He really seemed to fall in love with his new mom and dad right before my eyes.  I just know that they are the perfect family for him, and they will all live happily ever after!  I can't wait to get update pictures!

Update with some pictures of Benji in his new home:

Already found a perfect height window to observe the neighborhood!

Keeping his eye on things

Benji and his mom.  Don't they look happy!?