Finn has been part of our lives for almost two weeks now. Her first two weeks have consisted of a trip to the vet, which she didn't care for, a fight over the bed, doggy day care, and a "personality assessment." It has been an eventful whirlwhind for all of us, and we're all finally settling down and enjoying one another. She is strange and cool looking at the same time. She's got a great spirit, an amazing spirit, really, considering that she's been abandoned at least one time in her life that we know of.
She's also hard-headed. I secretly adore this. I try not to giggle at her when she stops dead in her tracks on a walk because we're not going the way she wants to go, or when she jumps up on the bed and spoons David in three seconds flat, even though she knows the bed is off limits. I stifle my giggles and make her follow the rules, but I secretly get quite a kick out of her.
She digs the dog park, too. We were told that her main breed is Australian Kelpie (this is basically the Australian equivalent of a border collie), but after her first trip to the dog park, we think she probably has some Greyhound in her. She's freaking fast. Besides being fast, she likes to "herd" the other dogs, which sometimes results in an inadvertent tackling of a dog running slower than she is running. As time goes on, she's getting better at jumping over, rather than tackling, other dogs. As much as she clings to us and wants to be with us all the time at home, it is funny how she pretends she doesn't even know who we are when we are at the dog park. She completely ignores us in the hopes that she'll get to stay there forever. She's in heaven in that place, even when some big huge bulldog shakes his slobber all over her (this actually happened today -- so gross -- but it didn't even phase her).
Sleeping conditions have really been our issue. She wants to sleep on the bed. We don't want her to sleep on the bed. For a week, it was a battle of wills. The first night she was here, I wound up sleeping on the futon with her so she would stop whining at the door. Thank goodness I don't have to sleep on a futon every night! Not much support, to say the least. We finally reached a compromise -- she sleeps on her bed, on the floor, in our room. Everyone is sleeping much more peacefully now. She's sleeping so well that I often have to coax her off her bed to go on our morning walk. When we're all at home, she spends most of her time lounging on the futon:
This week, I took Finn to The Grand Pet Resort and Spa here in Fort Worth. You may not know this specific place, but you've seen places like it. Paris Hilton takes her silly dog to a place like this. When you call, they ask what the "baby's" name is. I say, "you mean my dog?" to confirm that I am making an appointment for a dog, not a child. Then I fail their test, before I even know the test has started. I took her for a "salon bath" and a half day of play in doggy day care. Of course, before she could go into day care with the other dogs, she had to have a "personality assessment." Yes, my dog has had a personality assessment. What exactly do they do to assess the personality of a dog? I have searched the far reaches of my mind, and I am not sure what this means. I like to envision a version of "doggy therapy," where Finn passes out on the couch like she does at home (see above), while she ignores questions from the doggy therapist about her likes and dislikes. Although I know she's a sweet dog, I held my breath until I discovered that she had passed the assessment and was allowed into group play. You know how I found out? I saw her on the webcam while I was sitting at my desk at work. Ridiculous, I know. However, I have to admit that I probably checked in on her ten times during the day.
We're so happy we found her!
She's also hard-headed. I secretly adore this. I try not to giggle at her when she stops dead in her tracks on a walk because we're not going the way she wants to go, or when she jumps up on the bed and spoons David in three seconds flat, even though she knows the bed is off limits. I stifle my giggles and make her follow the rules, but I secretly get quite a kick out of her. She digs the dog park, too. We were told that her main breed is Australian Kelpie (this is basically the Australian equivalent of a border collie), but after her first trip to the dog park, we think she probably has some Greyhound in her. She's freaking fast. Besides being fast, she likes to "herd" the other dogs, which sometimes results in an inadvertent tackling of a dog running slower than she is running. As time goes on, she's getting better at jumping over, rather than tackling, other dogs. As much as she clings to us and wants to be with us all the time at home, it is funny how she pretends she doesn't even know who we are when we are at the dog park. She completely ignores us in the hopes that she'll get to stay there forever. She's in heaven in that place, even when some big huge bulldog shakes his slobber all over her (this actually happened today -- so gross -- but it didn't even phase her).
Sleeping conditions have really been our issue. She wants to sleep on the bed. We don't want her to sleep on the bed. For a week, it was a battle of wills. The first night she was here, I wound up sleeping on the futon with her so she would stop whining at the door. Thank goodness I don't have to sleep on a futon every night! Not much support, to say the least. We finally reached a compromise -- she sleeps on her bed, on the floor, in our room. Everyone is sleeping much more peacefully now. She's sleeping so well that I often have to coax her off her bed to go on our morning walk. When we're all at home, she spends most of her time lounging on the futon:
This week, I took Finn to The Grand Pet Resort and Spa here in Fort Worth. You may not know this specific place, but you've seen places like it. Paris Hilton takes her silly dog to a place like this. When you call, they ask what the "baby's" name is. I say, "you mean my dog?" to confirm that I am making an appointment for a dog, not a child. Then I fail their test, before I even know the test has started. I took her for a "salon bath" and a half day of play in doggy day care. Of course, before she could go into day care with the other dogs, she had to have a "personality assessment." Yes, my dog has had a personality assessment. What exactly do they do to assess the personality of a dog? I have searched the far reaches of my mind, and I am not sure what this means. I like to envision a version of "doggy therapy," where Finn passes out on the couch like she does at home (see above), while she ignores questions from the doggy therapist about her likes and dislikes. Although I know she's a sweet dog, I held my breath until I discovered that she had passed the assessment and was allowed into group play. You know how I found out? I saw her on the webcam while I was sitting at my desk at work. Ridiculous, I know. However, I have to admit that I probably checked in on her ten times during the day.
We're so happy we found her!
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