Dog Days

We've had Angel for four months now, which isn't really a very long time, but I had hoped this stranger anxiety would get better. On Friday night, Nat had a friend stay over, and Angel did pretty well with her, but today she is just being barkier than normal with one of our young family friends. I wish everyone knew Angel the way the four of us do....sweet, loving, quiet, gentle, cuddly, fun, playful, and loyal. I'm afraid others look at her quite differently, and it breaks my heart. I know she's just scared of them, but after doing the same thing to our guests over and over again, I wouldn't blame them if they didn't want to come over anymore. No one likes to be barked and growled at and chased around the house, even if her tail is wagging the whole time! She's never tried to nip anyone, but she sure sounds like she would to them. Sigh...I sure wish we could get her over this. It stresses all of us out to have company, and then I feel like a terrible hostess because I'm exhausted from trying to manage her. I'm sorry I don't have a cute post today, but the reality is, dear sweet Angel is going to take some work in order to make her an all-around happy dog. I know, it's only been four months....and I will hang in there, it's just tiring some days! I just hope one day everyone will love her like we do because she really is so wonderful to have around. Really, she is...:)

Runaway Angel

We're back! Luckily I still have a dog to talk about. In the last two days, Angel has "run away" twice! I happened to notice yesterday that not only was Natalie and her friend gone, but Steve had taken Serena to town, leaving me home with Angel. Only I couldn't find her anywhere in the house! I assumed she went to town with Steve, so I called his cell only to be told, 'no, she was with Natalie on the deck when we left". That didn't sound good to me, as none of her leashes were taken from the house and I couldn't see the three of them anywhere! I panicked and started calling for Natalie. A few minutes later, I heard Natalie calling Angel and saw little flashes of white fur flying through the woods. When Natalie finally made it back to the house, I could see she and her friend were barefoot and had been chasing the wayward Angel through the woods. As both girls pulled splinters from their feet, Angel got a good talking to in the house! Well, that didn't seem to do the trick! Today as we got back home from town I was excited to give Angel a big bone we got her at the pet store. She needed to go out, so I went out with her as I do every day. For some reason, she tore off again, leaving me to chase her in my flip flops! Luckily Nat had her tennis shoes on and came running out to help. Then Steve and Serena happened to see me running across the lawn so they came to help too. I was running through pine tree branches calling her, but she acted like she didn't hear me at all. That stinker was just running like a crazy coyote (another one of her nicknames, aptly so). I kept my eye on her so I'd at least know what direction to go, and soon she came running in Natalie's direction. When she reached Natalie, she rolled over on her back as if to say, "I'm sorry!!" Yeah, she's not really sorry. She loves adventure, for sure. It's hard to punish her because she doesn't really know what she did wrong. I told her she wasn't getting her bone, but I couldn't resist that sweet face and she got it anyway! I was in such a panic when I was afraid we'd lost her...twice, at that. I just could not imagine life without Angel! She is my little buddy, my lovey, and the sweetest little stinker! No more freedom for her for awhile. Maybe a big fence?

Training: Amateur Style

I've been working with Angel a bit on some tricks, and let's just say she's not into it so much! She's really good on "come", "stay", and "let's go". She can sit, but has no clue what "shake" means. She just stares at me and looks annoyed when I reach for her paw to shake it! She does lots of "tricks", just not from commands! She's actually pretty unpredictable and funny. That's just her personality, so I just go with it. I tell her "let's go outside", and she leaps into the air super high. If I tried to teach her that, she wouldn't get it! :)Like most dogs, she's incredibly motivated by food. When trying to get her to warm up to new people, I have them give her treats, as Nancy showed us when we got her. Funny dog...she growls at them as she's chewing her treat and sometimes coughs it back up at them. Sigh...we're still working on that! She hates "wiping her feet" when she comes inside, and has started sneaking around the table before i can get her to do it! I guess she's pretty smart after all. She has US all trained! I'm no dog trainer, but I like a challenge, so she's not off the hook just yet. Now if I could just teach her to do laundry....now that would be awesome!:)

I'm Free!

Angel ran around loose today like a crazy dog! She absolutely loved her freedom, and it was nice to be able to let her go a bit. I should have taken pictures, but I was actually playing Badminton with my family. It was so nice to be able to have Angel sitting in the shade watching us and being able to go wherever she wanted to go. She's been with us for 3 months, but sometimes it feels like she's been with us forever. Now that she trusts us more, we'll be working on some grooming. Judging by her reaction to her bath, I'm sure it will be interesting! :) Each day we are more and more grateful that we were able to adopt Angel. She is such a blessing to our family. It has been a great healing for me as well, having lost our dog last year. Angel has been loving us all back to a good place again!

The Many Names of Angel

Angel has lots of nicknames around here! The latest one is "Lamb Pants", coined by her daddy after I said it looked like she was wearing fuzzy pants. And of course, she gets called "fuzzy pants". So here is a partial list of Angel's many nicknames... *"Chooks", "Chookalooka", "Angie", "Jilly", "Stinky Stinkerkins", "Sneaky Ferret", "Angelica", "Ang-a-lica", "Angelina Ballerina", "Sweetie Weetie", "Love", "Baby", "Baby Girl", "Ang", "Arctic Fox", "Esky-nose", "Cutie", and her complete name: Angelina Bella Sophia! Our beloved Sophie had many names too, and like Angel, she came to every single one!

Fun Pup

No ball is safe in our house or yard with Angel around! She loves to play ball anytime, anywhere, with anyone! She loves to go down in the basement and chase golf balls and ping pong balls around. She bats them around like a cat! She found this U of M basketball in the kids' old toys and it's become her favorite. It's just squishy enough for her to pick up and carry around, but it won't pop. Yet! Ang is our constant source of entertainment. She makes us laugh every single day!