Introducing: Parker & Scout (And Dolly is still here!)

Last Monday I made a huge mistake.  I stopped at the doggy daycare to drop off Dottie's adoption contract and happened to run into the 2 people who know how to talk me into taking more fosters.  First, I met Parker.  

Meet Parker.  The softest, cuddliest guy you'll ever meet.

He was in the process of being groomed.  It took about .02 seconds to convince me I needed to have him.  Unfortunately, he had about 5 minutes left of grooming before I could leave, and in that 5 minutes, I met Scout.

Meet Scout.  A rambunctious sweetheart.

So, needless to say.  I left with 2 dogs after SPECIFICALLY saying I wanted to stick with the one foster for a while.

So here we are.  3 fosters (Dolly, Parker, and Scout), Bella, and I'm dogsitting for a friend (Cooper).  I believe that makes me a crazy dog lady.  But I promise it's not as bad as it sounds!  Parker & Scout don't yet love each other, but both of them get along with Bella, Dolly, and Cooper.

It's so difficult to get a non-blurry picture of Parker.  He is always bouncing around!

Parker is a real sweetheart.  He's just a puppy (around 1 year old), and has the personality to prove it.  He's curious about everything.  He loves to play with Dolly and with stuffed animals.  He and I also tossed around a fabric frisbee for a while.  We're working on crate training.  I've been crating him while I'm at work and also over night.  He will go in on his own (or with a treat), but he does bark once he realizes the door is closed and also when he starts to hear movement in the morning.  He's also not housebroken yet.  He will go outside when I open the door, but he doesn't yet know how to alert me.  He also seems to have a bit of a "revenge pee" problem...every time I leave the dog-safe area he's in, even if just for a moment, I come back and find the tiniest spot of pee on the floor.  I've found that doggy diapers work well for him so far.  Not only does he not mind them, but he doesn't have accidents while he's wearing them.  So we just need to teach him how to use the bells and I think he'll be a quick housebreaker!

 

Parker was neutered today.  I was able to pick him up and bring him into the office for about 30 minutes to meet my coworkers.  They loved him, and he loved the attention!

One strange quirk: Parker likes to scratch his back on the bottom of my rocking chair.

Parker napping in close proximity to our guest (Cooper)

Then we have Scout.  He's a teeny tiny package that is all love.  Night one of him being in my home he was curled up in my lap.  He whines if I won't let him sit in my lap.  In fact, he couldn't sit in my lap while I type this (Bella beat him to it), so he's currently sitting between me and the chair back.  Like Parker, I'm crating Scout while I'm at work and also at night.  As soon as I open the door he runs right over to me to say hi and get pets.  He's nearly crate trained...and I say nearly because about 10% of the time he refuses to go in on his own (with or without a treat) and I have to put him in.  He does start to whine in the morning if I start moving around and don't immediately let him out, but is otherwise quiet.  He's not housetrained, but he doesn't seem to be having accidents in the house (at least I haven't caught him yet).  He goes outside when I open the door, but he has had a few accidents in his crate overnight.

Scout curled up in a pile of warm blankets.

Scout relaxing next to his friend Cooper

Scout (top left) hanging out in the pile of fresh blankets with Dolly (top right) and Bella (bottom)

Scout (right) cuddling with Bella (left) on my lap.  I tried to say they wouldn't both fit, but they had to prove me wrong!

A rare moment of Scout napping by himself.  This bed is about 1 foot away from my chair though...so he's still close!

Scout (left) and Dolly (right) napping in fresh blankets.

We can't forget about Dolly!  I can't believe she's still with me!  She's such a cutie pie, I thought for sure she'd be adopted by now.  She's crate trained (prefers to go in for a treat), and even though we had a minor setback with housebreaking after Dottie left, once we got Parker & Scout she picked right back up again and hasn't had any accidents in the house in the last week!  She's not really a cuddler during the day, but I let her sleep in my bed with Bella and I, and she likes to curl up next to me.  Dottie was her best playmate, but she did somehow manage to convince Bella to play with her.  She's also convinced both Parker and Scout to play!  As far as I can tell, she gets along with every dog (and person) she meets, she's just a little shy at first.

Wild hair, don't care.  Dolly really is a cutie!