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Ed's Dog Blog
for
Leah and Elah
Arrival of My Girls
Notes and pictures from the first
few days Leah and Elah
and I were getting acquainted.
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Notes
and pictures from the first few days Leah and Elah and I were
getting acquainted.
Sunday June 3 2007 I got a call from the women who run
Pets in Distress, a small private
rescue organization that relies on foster homes for shelter here in Ft Lauderdale. (Well,
really out in in Davie.) I had agreed to take care of dogs on a 'foster home' basis and they
were calling for my help.
Thursday June 7 2007.
Here they are. Two sisters born
10/11/06 who have lived mostly at
Mommie's Puppies, a small pet
store up in Parkland ever since, mostly in kennel crates and
in the room in back of the pet store, hoping for someone to
buy them. (Mommie's Puppies has moved to Boca and is now
Golden Paws II)
At eight months old and about 25
pounds each their chances of being bought were growing slimmer.
Most customers want adorable little puppies and smaller dogs.
These gals look a lot bigger than they are because of all
the fur. It's poodle fur and they should not be
shedders. That's the good news. The bad news is they are
skittish and frightened and not socialized, which made them even less
likely to be bought. Rosalie, the proprietor just wanted them to have a
home and called the rescue to see what could be done.
So these are my new girls. Taken
in as foster care dogs until a home could be found. Originally
named Lucy and Ethel by
the pet store. They didn't respond to the names very well and as
confused as they were, this was a good time to change them, which I
have now done.
(Update June 9, 2007:
They are staying. Renamed Leah and Elah)
Elah (nee
Ethel and Elsa for a few days)
Poodle - collie mixes is what they were
called, or colliedoodles. Do you see collie
characteristics?
Leah (nee Lucy and Lena for a few
days)
She's actually grayer -
more salt and pepper - than her sister but the
contrasts don't show up too well in these first two photos.
Here are some more.
Leah with my neighbor Mark. She warmed up to me much quicker
than her sister did.
Elah looking out the back door of my place.
You can see how much darker she is here. She
is the more reserved and shy (frightened actually) of the two
although they are both nervous. They jump at the slightest odd
noise like a sneeze, to say nothing or car and truck noises on the
street.
As I am writing this at about 11PM on their first night they are
already laying by my desk chair chewing rawhide bones.
Another good picture of the color contrasts. They need haircuts and
their nails done.
One of them put three holes in my T Shirt the
first day just
saying hello and I didn't even notice til later. We have
are working on walking on leashes. Quite a project with two
large dogs that are not leash trained. We've had a few
wet spots and pooped in the house a couple times. I bought a second crate
and now they are being crate trained until they are reliably
housebroken.
I put in the arrow because she blends into the woodwork a little too
well.
So far they like the rawhide bones. They don't
seem to really have any grasp of what a ball is for.
Dogs do funny dumb things, especially puppies.
So here's the first funny dumb thing. They came around the
corner into my office when I got home from Spanish class the first
night and
both started howling at their own images in the mirrored wall
at the far end of the office room.
Here they are below figuring out what was going on with
the mirrors. They still don't really get it but hopefully they
will catch on. I want them to be good smart quiet dogs that
don't bark at every little thing.
Friday June 8, 2007
- They were quiet last night. One
barked at around 5:30 this morning. I was up around 6:00.
Real early for me.
Walked and brushed both of them this
morning. Walking on leashes will take some work, and training
two of them at once to walk on a leash will be a special challenge.
Leah actually rolled over and showed her
belly in the process of being brushed. Neither one resisted too much at all.
Very encouraging.
Update Saturday June 9, 2007: Got them
their rabies shots today. No problem riding them in the Jeep
but I did put the windows and doors on.
Finally got a good picture of Elah's face.
Took a while to even make eye contact with this one.
Have to get them to the groomer, then for
spaying. They are good docile dogs. They are mostly
quiet at night. Walking two of them on a leash is still tough work
but they will get the hang of it.
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