Lily

Yes, that's right. The name has been changed because that's the way it was put down on the vet's records. Not that Lily cares, mind you. She is very smart, but isn't quite old enough to learn to read 'human cuneiform' quite yet.

Ahh, Lily, Lily, Lily. What a bundle of joy wrapped up in a loving, playful, and well-trained and good mannered young lady. If you consider one and a half dog years to be young. She is definitely full of puppy yet.

Took the drive to Greeley on Sunday the 15th of February. Nice day for a drive, and Lily's foster home and owner Barb and her daughter were easy to find. Great greeting at the door by both Lily and her liver colored Dal companion, Maggie. A couple sit commands later and both dogs were rewarded with a couple dog treats I'd brought along (do I know how to schmooze up the ladies, or what?!?!), and quite happy to let us adults converse for a few moments. A few questions and a couple treats later, and Lily and I were on our way back to Colorado Springs.

Lily was a great riding companion, and since she had been trained to ride in the back seat, was no trouble at all. This was a good sign, as she'll be making many trips with us in the future. Next June, for instance; we're all taking the motorhome to Washington state for a family reunion. Since she doesn't try to get on the driver's lap or under the driver's feet, I'm sure she'll do just fine. And "Bonus!", she doesn't get car sick. My kind of companion, to be sure. Now if I could just afford that side-car and train her to sit in it with goggles and leathers on while her harness is tethered to the seat belt... well, that's another story that may or may not come to fruition...

As stated above, Lily did just fine on the highway all the way back. Didn't even make a sound until we sat at one of the three minute stoplights in the city for longer than she thought we should be sitting still. Then, she became a little antsy. The 'look, either let me out or move this thing' kind of antsy. At about the two minute, thirty second time frame. Two lights later, she had it figured out though, and spent more time looking out the window than being worried about the time we were stopped.

So we finally made it to Lily's new forever home (which frees Barb up to pick up another foster - yeah!), and although it did take her a few moments to figure out which side of the open glass storm door to be on to actually go into the house (she still has problems with that on occasion), she was definitely ready to check out her new digs.

First though, we had to walk directly to the back of the house, and out the sliding glass (bump - what's that? A force field?) door, to check out the back yard and get rid of anything she'd been holding for the last couple hours. Evidently, she found the facilities satisfactory, as there wasn't much sniffing and yard checking until after she'd found some relief. And then she decided she'd do the 'round the fence line' check to see the boundaries of her new domain.

(Lily: Ok, ok, I've checked enough, let's go back into the house so I can see what those smells are, huh? (Bump - what the heck is that? That isn't a see-through force field because I can smell things on the other side, and it gives a little). Dog doors were bad enough, now I have to figure out force fields I can see through?)

Silly owner, I'd left the sliding glass door open, and slid the screen door into position to ensure the cats didn't get out (they are indoor cats) while Lily was checking things out. Boy, does she look a little confused and surprised. Oh well, part of the learning process, and now (after a few days) she has the sliding glass door figured out pretty well (she can see herself in it, so waits), and since we go out with her, she hasn't had to interact with the screen door too often, so that learning curve is yet to come. This summer though...

Once inside, it's get some water and food, and check out the house time. Every room at least three times. Hey! That one has cats in it! Yeah! Except I have to leave them alone. Bummer Dude. I was so ready to play chase, too! Oh well, time for that later, maybe. She notices the kennel, and sniffs inside a little but is way more interested in all the new smells.

Once she's calmed down a little, it's time to get back in the car and go pick up Lily's new forever mom form work. And she works in, gasp, a place where there are just too many smalls coming out that back door (waitress at a local restaurant)! And once there and out of the car to meet Amy and her manager Pam (who, with her husband, have three dogs from the Colorado Airedale Rescue), Lily of course put on her best butt-wiggle and friendly face, and enjoyed all the attention, while trying to figure out how to get past that partially open door to where all those yummy smells were coming from. Dog heaven, almost. But, she succumbed to her name and leash, and went back with me to sit in the car and wait for Amy.

Next stop - PetsMart! After all, we have to get a new mat for her to lay on that will also fit the floor of the kennel when needed, and a harness that is a little easier to get her into and out of to get her to stop pulling and start doing more heeling when walking. Lily is one excitable puppy when people or pets are around, that's for sure. Doesn't know hoe to best convey it, but between the body language (all wiggles) and yelps and growling, she makes it pretty obvious she'd rather be playing with the pets and getting love from everyone else than standing in the aisle with us checking out harnesses. She persevered though, and after getting some attention from a couple of small children, decided she'd be happy to get back in the car to head home and see how this new home worked and where she fit in.

Since Barb had already ensured that Lily knew how to sit and what 'leave it' meant, it sure made working with Lily much easier. That, and her love for treats. Didn't take long for her to meet a couple of the cats (since then she's managed to meet all three, at least in passing), and since we knew that she was allowed on the couch to cuddle in the evenings, we weren't too concerned with the possibility of any domination/guarding behavior by letting her up to lay down at one end. Actually, we have almost the same leather couch and chair combo that Barb does, so that part worked out pretty well for Lily.

Time for bed. Which she is used to sleeping on with the kids. After she magically ended up on the bed about three times, which I was very quick to correct, she got the hint. Her bed is on the mat at the end of the bed, or she can choose to lay beside the bad. But the bed is reserved for the humans and the cats. I will say that although she weighs in at 63.5 pounds, Lily is very light on her feet, and it took a moment to figure out it wasn't one of the 10 to 12 pound cats that had just jumped onto the bed, but Lily. All's well though, and Sunday is finally over.

Monday morning, Amy is out the door at 7, and I am gone by 8. Lily had already eaten, and been escorted outside a couple times, but without a dog door, she must not have realized she'd have to hold it. And, she wasn't too fond of the blinds on the front window; they got in her way when she was trying to watch us leave and the postperson deliver the mail. Amy got back about 1 and myself at 5, and we both laughed at the shape of the blinds (which weren't so blind any more) we found when we got home. Our fault for leaving them down; was just glad she hadn't gotten herself tangled in the strings and hurt herself. So, the blinds came down, so she now has an unobstructed view of the front yard, and we have the famed Dal nose prints on the inside of the glass!

Now, as to the lack of a dog door, her discovery of this fact was not a big deal. Lily very politely left a gift on a throw rug by the door, and a wet spot in one other place, and both were very easy to take care of (after all, it was our fault we didn't ask about how long it took for her to process meals, did we?), and we learned our lesson. Certainly wasn't her fault. And now, she knows that her chance in the morning is one that is better taken than passed up on. So we're getting along just fine.

Amy even gathered her up and took her to the local park's dog run, which is about a mile and a half from her new home! Talk about fun! She had a blast doing some meet and greet and a little running with one other dog (Amy wasn't quite sure how Lily would do with that many other dogs of various sizes and breeds, nor with the strange humans (not that we weren't strange enough, mind you) so she kept Lily in the small dog run, which was empty) and on speaking with the owner, managed to get a brave soul to come in with her dog for someone to play with and test the ground. Boy did she come home tired. All that puppy sure likes to sleep when it gets worn out. Not too keen on chasing the tennis balls at the dog run though. Now, the rawhide end of a chew toy bone that she found, THAT she likes to toss around the house. But not a fan of balls. Who knew?

Subsequent days have had no accidents at all, even though Tuesday morning Amy had fed her at 6, and I tried again at 7, not knowing Amy had done it. Lily refused the second feeding, which I figured was due to her being so smart and not wanting to have an accident. Which I later found out was because she knew I wasn't so smart and she wasn't going to Lord it over me, but let Amy do that. I was home multiple times on Tuesday, so there were plenty of opportunities for success, and she did just fine. And I took a good ribbing from Amy later that night.

Tuesday was Lily's vet appointment, to give the doc a chance to get a baseline on her, so he'd have something to refer to should something happen in the future.

I picked up Lily and took her to the local park's dog run, which is huge, to try to wear her out before the trip to the vet's, and I thought she was going to have a conniption fit trying to get out of the car, and I'd finally find out just what a "connipt" was. After all, it was her second trip there, and she just knew she was up to the challenge, and there were so many potential new friends there. Pit bulls, collies, standard poodles, terriers, shepherds, and even chihuahuas! Not to mention (ok, I will) the retrievers, labs, shelties, mixed breeds, and humans!

There were about 10 people there with about 20 dogs, and Lily was up to the challenge of going into the big dog's run, which is pretty big, actually. Or so she thought until she got through the door and went to greet/sniff the first dog she met. And 4 males descended on her to greet her back. Suddenly, her world got a lot smaller, and her nerves gave way. She headed for the nearest person and snuggled in for a little support.

This occurred multiple times, but she finally managed to meet all the incoming dogs, and most of those already inside, as well as everyone human at the park who she got a cuddle from, and all the greeting she had to put up with. Boy, was that tiring for a young excitable girl like her. And guess who was home when we returned. Amy! After a good wiggle greeting, she was off to the vet for her physical. Two people to lift her onto the table, and a fairly thorough check-up to include verifying the chip was working. Since we didn't yet have the information, she also got brand new rabies and distemper shots, and starting Wednesday, will begin her monthly heartworm medicine (boy is that good with peanut butter!).

So after a busy day with a lot of new things going on, and a great bill of health, was she going to sleep well when she got home! And, she did. Oh, she was alert enough to still eat dinner, and take care of business, and keep an eye on where her new owners were going when they left the room, but the zip had definitely been taken out of her zipper.

Still tries to get on the bed a couple times in the morning, but she's fitting in very well, and is taking full advantage of the evening television schedule to get in her puppy naps. She is getting in her exercise with some walking besides her trips to the dog park, and she's doing pretty well so far. Might have to work on fetching balls or frisbees (she may have been told to leave balls alone in the past), but we'll get there, and we are very happy with the new addition to our household, regardless of what the cats think of us at the moment. With Lily's personality, it won't take long for them to come around too, we're sure.

Chalk up yet another success story for Dal Rescue, and thanks again!

Amy and Lyman T.
Colorado Springs, CO

All that sniffing and smelling makes for one tired little girl!      

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