New skills

It has been so long since my last entry!
A lot of things has happened in the meantime.. Lily learned a few extra tricks. She turned one! And last night, she actually played fetch for the first time!
We have spend so many times trying to teach her, but she showed no interest. Just lying down and watch us throw and retrieve the toy ourselves. If we played with Truffles, she would run to him and bite him on the but or neck, but ignored the toy.
When trying to play tug, she would pull her nose up at the silliness of it all.

Then last night after we practiced some tricks and were elated that she started to do "say your prayers", the treats were done and Truffles went in search for something else to do. He went to our bookshelf where I incidentally keep a box with inside toys and sniffed at it. I got the message and took out a rope with a tennis ball attached to it. I threw it and out of the blue, Lily did not go after Truffles, but after the toy! She got hold of the one end and brought it to me with Truffles. We tried this a couple of times and then I held Truffles back to see if she would go it alone. Not only did she go for the toy, but she brought it back to almost at my feet. - It was just out of reach.
We were elated. We grabbed the camera and I gave it to my son to record. Sadly we found out afterwards that he did not know that he didn't press the record button hard enough and after some stellar "fetching" the battery went dead! I was so disappointed, as Hubby wasn't home and we wanted to show him when he came back home after work.  But, by the time he got home, they were fed and they were sleepy. Still, we got one fetch from her later, after they both got their second breath being cuddled by 'daddy', however, it was very half hearted.

So today we tried again. It was a miserable failure as Lily has no idea what the fuss is all about. Truffles would run after the ball all day if your arm could hold it, but Lily looses interest and lies down and doesn't even look at you.

So, I'm going to put up some footage of our morning tryout, with the one time Lily went for a fetch successfully. We are still elated! :)

Until next time, remember: Love your doggies!

Some pictures

Such a cute little face!

All ears!!!
Let your ears do the talking ;-)

Remember: Love your doggies!!

5 Months and ready for Spring

Yesterday Lily turned 5 Months old. Today she is ready for spring! I didn't take any pictures, but believe me if I told you she and Truffles looked really scruffy. They have grown thick coats as it was a miserable Winter and we ran out of jackets for them to wear as they have grown so much!
So, this morning we trekked all the way to a nearby town to have them groomed.
TMI - Lily, the poor thing gets carsick!! On the way there and back again!!! We've got to get her something from the vet or taking outing this summer with her, won't be very pleasurable - for her or us.
Here is the Afters (without the before):

 

 

 She is still our Pretty Girl! But in the next photo you'll see  - *gasp!* Lily has got some skunk in her!

 Do you see it?? :-D


Little more about our Miss Lily: She is a scardey cat!! Oh, yes, and for this I'm sure we are part to blame. So soon as the weather has stopped its erratic behaviour and we have more sunny days, off to Socialization classes she will go!
She barks when she sees new people, especially if they don't let her sniff you or you don't touch her. She barks at noises and at the dogs next door when they howl.
Our noisy dog-child.
Sometimes when one bends down to her to pet her, she will cower and/or turn on her back. We have no idea how to change it. :-( We hope to be able to call in some expert help soon. Not just for that, but for the socialization and some obedience training. (although we are slowly moving forward on the latter on our own)
Oh and did I mention Miss butter cannot melt in my mouth, looooooooooooooves digging holes. She is a real champion digger and is really giving Truffles lessons in whole digging every day - it seems he is beginning to get the hang of it!

More pictures of Lily and Truffles if you click on the 'Truffles' tab. They are very obedient with sit and lie down.

Training has begun!

Here is Lily about 10 minutes after I taught her to "leave it alone". 

My son took the video with our old iphone, so excuse the quality.

She is soooo cute and is eager to learn. But I know that a lot of repetition is still needed to reinforce what she has learned every day. 

One thing - Truffles are used to me training him, so he is super jealous about the time that Lily is getting from his mommy! 

It proves to be more difficult to teach 2 children and train 2 dogs at the same time, than I initially thought it would be - and, I had my doubts!

Enjoy!

PS: Please leave a comment in the comment box, if only to say Hello!

Remember to Love your doggies!

Transformer!

This little girlie takes everything in her stride! Going to the parlour today and getting her first haircut, didn't phase her in the least.

Here is the dramatic transformation!

Is it even the same dog? :)

Wruf!wruf!wruf! Do the pretty girl..

Pretty as a picture....

Here are some more cute pics of our Pretty Girl!!

All eyes on me when I walk in
No question that this girl's a 10...

Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful...

 Okay that is enough.

Until next time, remember: Love your doggies!

At home...

It has only been five days ago that we brought Lily home. Things are going stellar! She and Truffles plays a lot, to the extend that we have to separate them so that baby can have a rest. That is why my husband made a pen for her. It has been her safe place. That and her sleeping crate.

I don't know for how long the pen will stay a safe place, as Truffles took the liberty tonight to jump right in with her! We promptly escorted him out, but I fear that soon, it will be their place to be in not only hers.

In five days time Lily comes when called(most of the time), she sits on command, sits when getting a treat and takes it softly. She and Truffles ate their food at the same time, side by side.  And tonight, we took the liberty to let them sleep together under the covers. It took some coaxing, but it is such a precious sight...

First next to each other with some wire mesh to separate them.

Next to each other! Each wrapped in their own blanket.

Finally... nestled against one another.

Don't you just love these snoopy blankets?

Things are looking good from where I'm sitting...

Until next time: Love your doggies!

Playtime!

Some more cute pics

Here she is in her very first ride home. 

Tug of war!!

She looks a little bit scared, cold and unsure of herself, but that was sure to change very quickly...

sleeping on mommy's chest

 

Here she is showing off her Diva sweater. Is this not too cute?

 

Its all for now. Until next time, remeber: Love your doggies!

Warning: Picture overload!

It was a cold and rainy afternoon when we got into the car and drove to a nearby town to fetch our newcomer to the family.
Traffic was bad and we thought we would be late for our meeting. It turns out we were early and the short wait seemed endless.
My biggest concern was introducing Lily to Truffles, who was lying on the backseet between the kids still fastened in his seatbelt.

The car arrived. It was icy cold, but luckily the rain lifted for a bit.
We waited our turn. Then she was given to us. So sweet and scared.
I covered her in my scarf, the sharp little nails hooking into the weave. We took her to the car and then we let Truffles out. He was overly excited. Yelping and jumping trying to see who I had in my arms.
He sniffed her - like only dogs can do - and then he came round to see her face. She yelped with such a huge yelp, that Truffles had a fright and gave one loud bark. We called the meeting to order and adjourned it promptly. As the breeder drove away, she looked very worried and said he looked very friendly and excitable. I assured her that he loved other dogs.
The drive back home was uneventful. Both of them settled down as soon as we started driving. Lily in my arms and Truffles in the back seat.
At home we separated the two. Truffles went to the office with hubby and Lily stayed with me and the kids. Very soon we discovered that Lily was not at all alike to Truffles. She was an explorer and not afraid of anything. She really gave us the run-around. She also did not mind the collar and leash we put her on. The kids were ecstatic.

Soon she was tired and needed to rest again. We took her outside quite a few times, but this lady refused to "go".  I was sure to pay the price later on...
After her nap, I called my husband to try and introduce the two once again.  With lots of treats and ample amount of praise as well as Truffles in his harness to control him if needed, things went really well. After about half an hour, we decided to let them have a go themselves with lots of supervision. It all went very well!

We seperated them again for dinner. Feeding time was a breeze, even with all the treats given. She was not afraid of the new bowl or the tag clinking against it. She ate heartily and then had a drink of water. Two steps away and she squatted. I couldn't stop this one - she was holding for far too long. Cleanup in aisle one!!

Our night went very well. Three times up, with no potty. This one proves to have an exceptionally good bladder! But every time we had to let her get sleepy before she was willing to go into her crate. We also made sure she had her bean bag doggie to keep her warm.

Skip to today. Second meeting with Truffles was in order and this time we couldn't have asked for a better meeting. Truffles restrained himself very well. Except for the one instant were a treat fell and Lily went for it. The sir was not impressed. We took care of that promptly with a stern reprimand.

 

So well in fact, that we could let THIS happen!

 One last picture:

Blogging with Lily in my arms..

So, until next time... Remember: Love your doggies!

Lily Preview!

She might look a little bit like a mutt right now, but soon she'll be a pretty girl!