Dear family and friends,
I know I told everyone we got a puppy and then besides one picture with Caroline, I haven't even mentioned her. That's because I've been to busy trying to survive her!
The first almost two weeks were just great. The children loved petting her, walking her, watching her play. It was almost dream like in many ways. They got up early before school to get her a little exercise and just thought this was the best thing that had ever happened. Then the changes started.
Just about the time we had our first puppy lesson with an animal behaviorist our puppy was invaded by evil spirits (not really for anyone who is concerned). Her little puppy nips became harder and she decided she did not like to walk. Now this is a puppy that could make the energizer bunny look lazy you must understand, and the one thing that would relieve that, she decided she didn't like to do anymore.
The next few weeks are somewhat a blur...I remember running around the neighborhood with hot dog weenies, praying I wouldn't "accidentally" let the puppy wander out into the street perhaps in front of a car, and watching my children take to the furniture as the floor in our home was no longer a safe haven. There were actually days that I really struggled with the concept that this just wasn't working out. Yet, I knew God had clearly shown me to get this little white fur ball. Could it have just been in His will to have her for a short season I wondered and questioned?
Anytime I prayed about it, God would just confirm in my heart that this was the puppy for us...a gift. I certainly wasn't feeling gifted.
In the meantime our puppy therapist was going to the mainland for almost two weeks. You see, we quickly transferred from puppy lessons to puppy therapy. Kristin was so patient and kind. This woman is amazing by the way, we just all love her. I mean as a person, not just because she has saved our puppies life (from me killing it). She spent extra time with us before she left trying to set us up for success.
One of our issues at this point was Indee was doing some serious feet/shoe/pants/ankle nipping. The main issue was, it HURT! I was concerned that she was becoming aggressive and at what point should I really be concerned for our children. When Kristin came over she sweetly snickered and said, "This puppy is just having a great time watching y'all do the happy dance." We stopped, she stopped, well, she mostly stopped. Kristin says ignore the behaviours you don't want and reward the ones you do. Of course every time she says this I'm thinking about how this should apply to my children.
Indee is a very smart dog, which according to Kristin is not a good thing. She says that people tell her all the time that they want a smart dog in which she replies, "No you don't". In some ways this is our problem, in other ways it is our saving grace. The night before she left on her trip she came over one more time to teach us "leave it, take it". You put the chicken in your hand and tell her leave it. Of course the puppy immediately comes over to sniff it. Once she pulls back and leaves it alone, you let her take it. Indee got it right off the bat and on the second time she sat back and left it alone. I sound like a mother bragging on my baby, which she is not by the way, she is a dog. The next day you could put it in front of her nose on the ground and she would just sit there and look at it. This little game has been the best tool so far. It really calms her down and she's ALWAYS willing to play.
So we spent the next two weeks running around Hawaii with hot dog weenies and playing hours of leave it and take it to survive. When Kristin came back and we were all still in tact, I knew the crisis had past, and that Indee was here to stay.
We've come a tremendous distance yet have so far to go. In the past seven weeks weeks I've done things that I never thought I would, how can I love these children so? Running around with hot dogs is just the tip of the iceberg. Please imagine me fully clothed in the shower with Melanee Kate and the dog. Melanee Kate had called me as the puppy's feet had gotten very muddy. I told her to take the puppy out back and let her run around to get her paws clean in the grass. Kate sweetly abdicated this task to her little brother who just heard clean. Jefferson took the puppy out back and much to Indee's horror just hosed her right down. This was right in middle of the dark days so I only felt a little sorry for the puppy.
I am pleased to announce that on Monday Jefferson and I successfully showered Indee and this time she got wetter than we did. She does look like a rat when she's wet, I'm almost embarrassed for her at that point. Jefferson was the peanut butter spoon holder as you know peanut butter just makes everything in life better. He also played a mean game of take it leave it with the hamburgers that Wyatt burned last week. Our neighbors Westie apparently gets exhausted when they bathe her, not our dog. Could a shower be counted as an upper?
I have spent weeks taking this dog around feeding her chicken. This was our first homework assignment. Kristin wanted us to have Indee go fifty places, meet fifty people, and fifty dogs. Good things happen (chicken) around new people, new dogs, and new places. Other dogs bark and bark at her as they are being drug on by and she just kicks back like she's at the movies with her popcorn. This puppy definitely supports "Eat More Chicken". We have two more weeks. She hasn't been to fifty places yet, but she's already arrived in the people and dog categories. Please understand that I do all of this in my spare time. Actually this week we've actually been back to normal meals rather than just all the fast cheap things I could come up with. It's been so much fun to see her do so well and it has been a fantastic family project. We've all had to pitch in, sacrifice, and work hard, which are obviously great things for our children.
Wonder pup loves the Mastress (I don't really prefer the title of Mistress due to negative connotations and Mom is out of the question as I did not give birth to or adopt this dog, I just purchased her). The children love to talk about how much the puppy loves me just to get a rise out of me.
Melanee Kate is my number one poop picker upper. I can't tell you how much she has done this for me with a sweet servants heart. The original rule still stand: Unless completely necessary, Mommy does not do gross puppy things.
This puppy now has me running around all day with Cheerios in my pockets with a lovely clicker bracelet that is in a fashionable orange and blue. Today I clicked and rewarded Caroline twice. I only said click though as if wonder pup would have quickly found me as a promise is a promise. If we click, even an accident, the puppy gets a treat.
She can now sit when I say "Manners" and learned to "Settle" last night (a down). We taught her a recall last week but we aren't allowed to do it again until this weekend as Kristin wants her to forget the correction she received when I tripped over the 30 ft line. I was doing the holding the puppy back job because I thought I would mess the other part up. Our children thought they were funny when Wyatt quickly slipped out to make popcorn so they could watch the show. When Mommy went flying through the air, they had one.
She now wants us to rub on her tummy although this took five weeks for her to ask for from us. On week two of training the children were banned from touching her. Poor puppy, she was so relieved. On week five I was not allowed to talk to her for a week so she wouldn't be too attached. I didn't mind this as I have lots of other things to do than talk to a dog. I think I was as relieved that week as puppy was on week two. I know she rolled to get her tummy rubbed regularly with her previous owners, but she just wasn't quite sure she really wanted to be a troop.
Her original name was Precious, it's actually the first thing I said to Kim Abbott when I saw her walking the puppy down the street. We laugh that we should have stuck with the name as the moment she was named Madame Independence she decided squarely that she would live up to it. We were thinking of our country, not her personality. Caroline was so funny the other day as she chided, "Mrs. Abbott thought I was precious, but we all know I was lyin'!"
Oh, did I tell you she runs for tuna? So what if we all smell like tuna for the next 14 years. Wyatt has decided he's going to stuff it into capsules that dissolove so he doesn't have to touch it. Wyatt helps me run the dog while I parent and "mastress" from my bike. There are some days I don't know if the puppy or the boy need the exercise more.
Madame Independence is a very sweet puppy and we all agree that she makes a great addition to our already vivacious troop. I see God using her in our lives, for which I am grateful. Please come by and meet her. We are working on teaching her to not jump up on people when they come in...
Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops
