GOING WITH THE FLOW

If you have ever had a room painted, you know what a disruption that is to, well, just about everything.  So, when I scheduled a painter to paint my great room, I was worried about how Tippy would handle all of the changes.  My original plan was to have her stay with our trainer, but she was out of town.  I had no choice but to keep her here and hope for the best.

I put her crate and the furniture that could easily be moved in another room.  Once the painter got here, the rest of the furniture was moved to the middle of the room where it, and the floor was covered with drop clothes.

Checking out the new location of her crate.

Furniture all covered up.

When Tippy came inside, I just let her explore at her own pace.  To my pleasant surprise, she walked right in, not worrying about all of the different textures on the floor or the fact that the furniture was out of place.

Hey mom. The floor is noisier than I remember.

This blue thing smells interesting.

This looks like a nice place for a nap.

She got along well with the painter too.  She did bark at him when he came, but quickly warmed up.  By the 3rd day, she just ran to the door when he got here, excited to see him.

Supervising from the bedroom.

At the end of each work day, we would clean up the biggest part of the mess and I would take the drop cloth off of the couch.  We had it set up so that I could still watch TV from there in the evening.  I wasn’t sure where Tippy would want to sleep, since she normally goes from the couch to the loveseat during the night. I expected her to sleep in the bedroom with me, but this is where I found her every morning.

The couch was her spot of normalcy.

It turned out I had no reason to worry, as Tippy just went with the flow.  However, I think we were both glad when the project was complete.

Back on the loveseat.

Awwww! Glad that is over.

 

 

SISTERS REUNITE

When I found out that Tippy and Huckleberry were finally going to meet for the first time since they were puppies, over 4 years ago, I pictured in my mind what the reunion would be like.  You know, the slow motion running to each other, giving doggie hugs and kisses, and immediately playing.  Of course, real life never quite works out that way.

The initial greeting was tentative.  There were lots of polite sniffing and a little bit of low growling.  To get that under control, we took them for a walk together and then came back for the event.  I wonder if our expectations about the meeting produced some unintentional nervous energy?  We were just so excited for them to meet and for us to meet also.

Even though they probably didn’t remember each other, they sure did act like sisters, the kind that have a love/hate relationship.

They initially refused to be near one another.

Not going to sit by her. Nope. Not going to happen.

I’m not even going to look at her.

As Jane and I talked, we did realize just how much alike they are.  They both lay with their paws crossed, dislike most men, hate large tucks, love peanut butter (they placed 1st and 2nd in the peanut butter eating contest), love their back to be scratched at the same place, have allergies, and have similar mannerisms, have a cow lick in the same place, and prefer Frisbees over balls.  Without jealousy, each one loved on the other’s furmom – like we were one happy family of 4.

Eventually, we were able to get them to sit together, even if it was just for the judging of the Biggest Dog competition and a quick picture. Of course, the Great Dane won and Huckleberry came in second, as she is just a little bit taller than Tippy.

Ok. This is close enough. Hurry up with the picture, please!

Everything considered, I think the meeting went well.  We are planning to get together again next month, when they can just play, without all of the distractions, and when Huckleberry isn’t tired from a trip to the beach and riding all morning.

These two pictures show how much alike they are.  What do you think?

We did manage to get one good picture of them before they had to leave.

Great picture of the two right before they left.

We hope all of your holiday family reunions go as well as this one did…with a lot of love for everyone to spread around, lots of tail wags, some polite sniffing, and only a small amount of growling, if any at all.

BARK FOR LIFE

Our Bark For Life went really well yesterday!  We didn’t have as big of a turn out as I had hoped, but everyone who was there had a great time and the day was perfect for being outside with your pet.

Huckleberry and her mom, Jane, had been at the beach with some friends and stopped by the event on their way home.  She commandeered her friend Brittany and furbaby Tucker to come with her.  They all had a really good time and Brittany posted, “Tucker never knew fundraisers could be so fun!”

We had all types and sizes of dogs, ranging from a Great Dane to a tiny Yorkie. Everyone had fun with the Strut Your Mutt parade, and the dogs seemed to love showing off their best tricks, giving vocal performances, smiling, wagging their tails, and participating in a peanut butter eating contest, among other things.

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The regional news was there and ran a short story at 11 o’clock.

Tippy got second place in Happiest Dog and Best Trick.  She also got first place in fundraising, so her picture will be the largest on the poster calendar we are putting together.  Here she is with all of her prizes.

Tippy and her prizes.

I had intended to include in this post how the reunion with Tippy and Huckleberry went.  However, my internet was acting up today and it literally took me all afternoon and evening to get these pictures up and the post written to this point.  I will do my very best to post about the reunion tomorrow.  Sorry to all of my followers who were looking forward to hearing about it today.

 

 

SISTERS

I found out a couple of days ago that the lady who adopted Tippy’s sister is planning to come to our Bark For Life event on Sunday, so they will get to meet for the first time since they were just puppies!

It all started on a Saturday in late June of 2014.  Someone had posted pictures on Facebook of two adorable puppies that they had found in the ditch in front of their house.  They were going to give them to anyone who wanted them.  Since I had decided it was time for me to get a dog, I called to ask about them.  By that time, they were on their way to drop them off at the Humane Society, so I told her just to go ahead since I wasn’t 100% sure I would want one of them.  I showed up at the Humane Society early on Monday to have a look and try to make up my mind.  Here are the Humane Society pictures of Cartwheel and Pinwheel, aka Tippy and Huckleberry.

Too cute for words.

Adorable, even if a little blurry.

It doesn’t surprise me that Pinwheel’s picture was blurry as she was very active and  Cartwheel was the more mellow of the two.  That, and the two different eyes were what drew me to Cartwheel and not her sister.  See my posts The Beginning:  Prissy and The Search Is On for details on my adoption of Tippy and just why she was initially “sluggish.”

I was thinking today how Cartwheel would have been a good name for Tippy when she was a puppy.  She would take off running as fast as she could, try to cut a quick corner, and her momentum would carry her on, causing her to do somersaults across the yard.  She finally figured out that cattle herding talent and no longer goes tumbling.

When I decided to find Tippy’s sister’s owner, hoping they could get together, I connected with the lady who initially adopted her.  Unfortunately, their current dog and Pinwheel did not get along, so they had given her to a friend who lived in Chattanooga, about 3 hours away.  I was able to connected with her on Facebook.  She is a Tennessee State Park Ranger and got transferred to a park that is only an hour away a couple of years ago.  We have been wanting to get them together ever since she moved, but haven’t been successful.

We are both excited about them meeting on Sunday, and are really hopeful that they get along.  Maybe, in some deep seated memory, they will remember each other and be glad to be reunited.

Tippy

Huckleberry