We've enjoyed 10 days of walks, treats, snuggles, unexpectedly retrieved items (particularly my undergarments), and a blizzard of fur (maybe we haven't enjoyed that last two as much)! With Graysen's allergy panel in mind, Barclay returned to his birth home and we were petless once more (well, G$ did some rearranging in his room and the dresser-top beta fish made an appearance at the end of the hallway. Noah walked by and said, "Wait a minute . . . you guys have a fish?!" Graysen said, "Yup, it's been around longer than you have." Ha! We're just full of surprises!)
So, I was scrolling through the volunteer page for the puppy-raising group Caelan volunteered with pre-covid, and saw they were looking for a guardian home for a beautiful, two-year-old English Cream Golden Retriever. I didn't know what a guardian home was, but I did know that our time with Linus convinced me that if ever we were to get another dog, an ECGR was the pup for us :)
It turns out a guardian home is where Newton went after we had him. . . a place for future parent dogs to live until they've completed their service dog deliveries, then the parent dog is the guardian family's to keep! Olive'll hopefully get rolling on her first batch here in the next week or two. The organization takes care of all those details. They also take care of delivery and the first 6 weeks of care! While it would be fun to have a bundle of puppies running around our carpeted house, the process is super complex for early training, determining personalities etc. in those early weeks. We've volunteered for parts of it before, and it is a BIG job!
Buck said he wasn't ready for another dog, yet Graysen sent him daily updates of shelter pets, just in case. When I sent Olive's picture and the explanation (she's already been through basic obedience, etc.) Buck said, "I'm okay with that kind of dog." So, it worked out that Buck already had a vacation day scheduled (to go to church) and that it happened to be a day the current housers (of six dogs!) had available for us to visit. Graysen went with us to meet Olive and we were pretty quickly smitten! The couple caring for her has welcomed 83 puppies through their private breeding program over the past couple of decades; we learned a lot about how they select genetically superior dogs for service dog candidates and how the others are sold to try to recoup some of the expenses (puppy business is pricey!)
Within an hour, we were loading boxes of high protein food and a great big dog into our van!
Although she wasn't a fan of the thunderstorm (yes, so random in February!) on her first night with us, she was happy to snuggle in for movie night amongst her admirers. So far, we've never heard her bark or whine, she just growls when she wants to play. Pretty chill pup!
She doesn't remember all her commands, but honestly, neither do we. We got permission to attend puppy classes for a refresher, so that's on the calendar. She does pretty well at walks; at first, she's in "go" mode and pulls, but by the end is walking pleasantly next to us. Her previous family (they moved to Washington state, so were too far away for her puppy duties) must have let her on furniture, because she's tried to climb up on our couch a couple of times. Caelan also caught her standing on top of Buck's and my bed trying to retrieve my giant purple blanket and my eye drops. It must have been a running leap, because she's barely chin level to the mattress. Naughty! She also barreled into my nephew when he and his dad stopped by for pizza. That's the only time she's been overly extra at the door. I feel bad about the bump and the tears and the toe Band-Aid (he was wearing slides) that resulted from their first meeting.
Olive always carries a blanket with her, she likes to rearrange her dog bed, and this is the silent view I wake up to each morning :) My extensive dog heat research (I'm practically a veterinarian at this point), indicates these are nesting behaviors that indicate she may soon be ready for motherhood. I guess we'll see!
Olive is "helpful" with schoolwork, will bring her leash to us if she can access it, and has started giving hugs :) Bonus points if you can name the movie we're watching on this evening!
We've had some cold and snow, so we're doing more indoor things than outdoor things. Olive likes to be right next to me when I'm working on baby quilts. I've got three going for the three babies I know are boy or girl, but I'll wait a little longer for the special autumn baby (which my guess is girl, but I will hold onto my fabric for now :)
Of course, with babies and puppies on our minds, we are thinking of all the names! Olive needs a middle name, and when I asked Brennen what it should be he replied, "Garden." Ha! Actually, everyone likes this the best of all the ones we've come up with :) We're also thinking of theme names just in case we get to help name future puppy litters. May flowers? White-toned semi-precious stones and minerals? Foods you might order off the menu at an Italian restaurant . . . lol :) Anyway, it gives us something fun to do while we're waiting for the puppy process to begin.
Buck brought Olive home a dinosaur toy--built extra tough for critters with big teeth! Olive loves her t-rex and carries it around almost as much as her blanket. She did manage to pull a seam in the dino's throat, so he's in dry out in preparation for a few stitches. Olive's a happy girl with her blankie and dino!
But something that makes Olive sad--is the plight of the poor dogs on the ASPCA commercial . . . she couldn't take her eyes off the screen for their whole loooooong pitch! Buck said, "Don't let them mess with your emotions, they just want your money--it's a business, Olive." But Olive didn't care . . . those sad eyes really did a number on her ;)
Good thing Caelan is here to support Olive . . . or just to sit on her bed (Olive prefers the white, fluffy side) ((actually, Olive also prefers to jump up into Buck's spot while he's having coffee and I'm still sleeping . . . ooopsie, Olive!!))
We are all enjoying having Olive in our home, she's loving and friendly and mostly a good girl :)
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