Fluffy (and All) Fostering at Grade Lodge

So last weekend we had Steve's dog Jessie here. That wasn't bad. Chance did ok with her until it came time to share Mama time. Then it was not so great.

On Saturday my cousin Drew and his girlfriend Stephanie brought over their puppy, Emma for a visit here at Grade Lodge while they jet off to someplace (hopefully) warm and sunny.

You're probably wondering how our pal Chance is handling this...well...turns out he not a big fan of puppies or something...and he is very afraid of Emma.

So we spend a little time with Chance in his crate and that seems to be working. He's getting more comfortable by little teeny tiny bits. He's growling less and less.

Then we spend a little time with Emma in her crate. This actually works out ok as Emma is a Doberman Pinscher and needs to relax for an hour after she eats or it will cause significant and very expensive bloating.

When they aren't crated, like now as I type, Chance is in here with me, under the computer desk listening to the sounds of Emma and Te'a playing somewhere in the rest of the house. Later on I'll block Emma in the family room and spend a little one on one time with her and attempt to tire her out - HA.

We also comfort and praise him when he is near the gate and Emma gallops over on her crazy long fawn legs. That is getting....better... It will probably never be exactly exactly perfect but then we already know that he probably should not be adopted to a family with another dog. Like I've said before, a bigger dog, like his size, would probably be ok. Maybe too a dog ten pounds less than him and he's about 55 - 60 pounds.

It all seems to be working but I forgot, even tho it was just a mere seven months ago, that Te'a was a noisy sassy busy puppy. Lots of work.

I also forgot how fast they grow. Here is a pic of Emma and Te'a when Drew was here in early February.

Perspective plays a role here but following are some pics we've taken this week.

My cousin's dog luvs the evil cuz...

Love that little stubbie tail....

See the toy cat behind Te'a's foot? 20 minutes after Drew left, the poor thing lost the tops of it's ears. So far they haven't completely destroyed it and I'm very surprised. I would have thought that would have lost it's squeaker and stuffing days ago. We still have a few days before they return from the sunny Southwest so...I'll keep you posted.

When I let her out of her crate yesterday, I thought she looked different. Honestly, I think she grew. Drew's going to have to stop at some big name chain pet store on his way home from the airport and pick her up a bigger crate.

We managed to get a couple walks in yesterday. I take them in shifts. My neighbors probably think that we're crazy. No, I'm pretty sure they definitely think I'm crazy. Yesterday morning, I took the big doggies out and then I took Emma and Te'a around the block.

When I got home from work, I took Emma a little further around the block, put her in her crate and then took the big doggies for a nice long walk.

After we got back, Mocha and Emma got into a wrestling match and then Te'a and Emma played tug-o-war over a destuffed and desqueakered duck. Here are the videos....

Puppy has also discovered the cats. The one who shows her the most attention is Hawk. I'll try and get some video of them being crazy together today.

It's very quiet downstairs and that makes me a little nervous. I just bought Scott a new pair of slippers and somebody has already eaten one of the laces.

But just so you don't think that Chance isn't totally out of today's blog....We went for a walk on Sunday in the deluge. Curly here wanted to be back out in it chasing squirrels. Ummm...I don't think so!