Day 40 - Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Lana and Sophie at play.

Day 39 - Monday, February 16th, 2009

Last Thursday I got a call from the Humane Society - somebody was interested in Lana and wanted to meet her.

I took her to the shelter the next day with mixed feelings. On one hand we became attached to the old girl, but on the other hand the shelter director assured me that the interested person would give Lana a wonderful home.

The people in question visited with Lana for a bit and then said they'd think about it. They're o.k. inside, but as soon as Lana spots one outside, off she goes.

We haven't heard back from the people and I really think the cat-chasing issue might have been a problem for them. Can't blame them! I'll have to start working on that intensively.

Grandpa and stepgrandma came to visit over the weekend and they got to meet their new granddogs for the first time.

Sophie was bopping all over the place, as usual, but Lana was a bit shy. Even barked at them when they first came in.

Grandpa is going to babysit when we go on vacation in March, and if Lana's still here I'm sure they'll become friends within a few days. Well yeah, since he's the one with the food......

Sophie has been demanding more and more of Lana's attention, and the old lady has seriously started playing with pipsqueak.

She's also been carrying her toys around in a more playful fashion and less in a "I-need-a-place-for-my-puppy" manner.

This odd behavior had been a source of conflict between her and Josephine, but it has changed into something more playful, and now Lana enjoys being chased by Sophie while carrying a toy in her mouth.

She's also starting to go for the tug games.

Surprisingly, Luci has watched the two interact and all of a sudden started playing with Sophie too. This has never happened and was so much fun to watch. Better than TV!

Day 32 - Monday, February 09, 2009

I finally caught the two newcomers playing in the front yard.

Day 31 - Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Today wasn't as warm as yesterday, but it wasn't cold either. We did spend some time outside, first taking a long walk and then sitting in the front yard. The video shows an energetic Sophie, just running around and enjoying life.

Lana had a sort of a breakthrough last night and exhibited it again today - she actually played with Sophie! Sophie tries hard to get the other dogs to play with her, so far unsuccessfully. Last night she started tugging on Lana's ears and jumping up on her and Lana responded by mouthing and rolling around on the floor with Sophie. The old dame is reliving her second youth.

We went shopping in the afternoon and when we came home both Lana and Sophie greeted us outside. The little pipsqueak had obviously followed Lana outside through the doggie door! Nobody has ever showed her and I thought it would take a long time for her to go outside on her own, but here she was - yet another surprise.

Day 30 - Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Today was another special day - aren't we just full of them!

Lana got to participate in our Saturday ritual for the first time. No, we don't sacrifice small animals and drink their blood - we go to the coffee shop.

It was a wonderfully warm day today so I took Lana out to the walking track and walked one mile with her, as I do now every morning.

Then we loaded our 4 kids into the car, which is no small feat and almost feels like herding real children, and headed out to our neighboring town to get some decent coffee.

They tolerate us and our ever expanding circus at the coffee shop and let us sit on their patio mainly because we put their kids through college. Or maybe it's just because they are nice people.

We took all of the dogs for a short walk before planting ourselves on the patio. and they behaved surprisingly well today. There was none of the usual "lets-see-how-tangled-up-we-can-get" contest, but just peaceful snoozing in the carriers - until the food came, that is.

Then of course daddy was suckered into giving out bits of his lunch until he hardly had anything left. And he wonders why Josephine is fat!

Anyways, it was very enjoyable. Lana paced a bit, but then settled down. We'll definitely take her again.

The rest of the day the dogs and I spent mostly outside. They had a ball in the warm weather, just running around in the yard and barking at the people that went by.

Lana is still chasing the cats outside, but can now co-exist with them in the kitchen. Once in a while there's a frustrated bark at them, but when I call her name she stops.

Not so outside, but we're working on it.

Little Sophie also came outside with us, something she hadn't done when it was cooler. She thought it was the greatest thing to run around on her little stick legs, drag branches through the yard and try to animate the others to play with her. They were very tolerant, but wouldn't play.

All in all there was none of the usual "who's-the-biggest-bitch" behavior and everybody got along.

I guess the warmer it gets, the more they chill!

Oh, almost forgot - Lana hasn't had any accidents in the house for quite a while. That's a good thing, because grandpa and stepgrandma are coming to visit on Friday, and we sure don't want them to get wet feet. Not to mention other things.

All we need to do now is potty train Sophie!

Day 26 - February 3rd, 2009

Today was the big day - we took Lana to the vet this morning to get her teeth cleaned. We also took Sophie to get dipped for mange.

This is a precautionary measure, because some of the other dogs at the "breeder" she came from have mange.

I took off work this afternoon so Tom and I were able to go pick up the kids together.

Lana came out with her mouth all puffy, but she was very alert and proceeded to pee on the vet's rug in true movie-star fashion.

The vet said she had to remove 7 teeth and gave us some pain medication for her, but when we got home Lana acted like superdog, chasing the cats, barking enthusiastically, and running around like a puppy. If I were to humanize her I'd say she was relieved to have finally gotten rid of those rotten teeth.

Now she's rubbing her face against the carpet so I guess it's time for the pain pill!

Day 24 - Sunday, February 1st, 2009

I haven't posted in a while since nothing earth-shattering has happened in the past few days.

Lana is still going after the cats despite my best efforts, but I have hopes that some day the yapping and chasing them will shrink to a tolerable level.

Now that the weather is getting better I've been taking Lana out to our local walking trail, which is a mile long, and walking one round with her.

She has enough energy to walk the full mile and enjoys it, but indicates that that distance is fully sufficient for a lady her age.

Barb, the chihuahua rescue lady, sent us some more bling collars for Lana and Sophie, including the matching velvet leashes.

They look so pretty all decked out - if there were a show "Pimp My Dog" they'd be on it!

Sophie is still shy, but will come to us if she wants to be held. She's a little spitfire with lots of energy, but we have the impression she put a little weight on. Luckily we can weigh her on the kitchen scale and get a more exact number than on the people scale.

Seems like the dominance issues between Lana and Josephine have been resolved. For a while there it was cause for worry since at times it seemed they were going to get into fights, but it never advanced beyond the growling and snapping stage.

I'm not quite sure who won, but I have the impression Josephine did since Lana will turn her head when Josephine comes near.

I'm glad since Josi was here first and shouldn't be downgraded in the order of the pack.

Lucrezia has become more tolerant of Sophie, but the most patient dog with Sophie is actually Lana. Sophie will try to get her to play, tugging and jumping at her, but Lana just lets it happen. I think the circus that has moved into our house is finally getting its act together!

Tuesday is the big day for Lana - she'll finally get her teeth fixed. I am so looking forward to that since her teeth must be causing her discomfort.

Sophie will go with her to the vet to get dipped for mange one last time.

There's always something!