Laps of Love

Angel is clearly in love with her daddy! He doesn't even have to coax her to sit with him anymore. Steve had just relaxed on the couch when she decided to join him. She curled up in his legs and stayed there for a long time.

It is so cool to see how far she has come. From barking and growling at Steve for her first 6 weeks here to now following him around and jumping on his lap, sleeping next to him in bed, and going crazy when she hears his car.

Everyone deserves this kind of unconditional, loyal, puppy love. Whoever gave her up is sure missing out on a lifetime of love. But, whoever you are, thank you....

Angel, sweet Angel

Angel is so obsessed with finding chipmunks that she has dug us a hole to China in the backyard. Not only that, but she dug another hole under my garden phlox by the house! I kept wondering why her feet were so muddy when she came in...then I caught her under the flowers, digging away. Her breed instinct is a "rat" chaser. Maybe she thinks the chipmunks are rats?

If she hears or sees one, she begins to whine. It's terrible that we won't let her just run and chase them, I guess. They make her completely crazy, and she won't listen to us when she's on the hunt. So, she has to "chase" them on her tie out leash. Oh well....

Angel is still a complete joy to have around. As the weather turns cooler at night, she is making her way back into our bed and snuggling right up between us. In the morning, she crawls up beside my face and curls up next to me, making her little happy grunts that say, "good morning".

I can't say enough that this dog has brought us joy each and every day! The girls absolutely love her playfulness and mischievousness! If they don't close their bedroom doors all the way, Angel is certain to visit their rooms and find a treasure to bring downstairs for herself! It's pretty cute, except for the day we found a shredded bath pouf on the living room floor. It was actually pretty funny.  I don't know why I'm such a softie with Angel. Everything she does is cute! I can't get after her for anything!

I think someone previously disciplined her severely, because if I even say something a little sharply, she will cower. It's so sad. I then have to baby her to convince her she's not in trouble at all. I don't know..maybe she's playing me. She is pretty smart. And when it comes to her, I'm just mush!

Either way, I love her to pieces, and hope one day she will stop sounding so vicious when company comes over. It's so contrary to her actual loving personality!

Garden Girl

Angel likes to accompany me to the vegetable garden to pick whatever is ready. It's fenced in, so she's allowed to run and explore all she wants. The garden is full of grasshoppers and toads, so she has plenty of entertainment! She seems to ignore the many bees, thankfully!

Yesterday as I was picking the green beans, I found some that had been forgotten and were way too big to eat. I snapped them in a few pieces and tossed them, knowing Angel would enjoy the chase. She loved the challenge of following the sound of a bean landing somewhere and trying to hunt it down!

She is a joy to watch as she discovers anything new. She has learned the word, "chipmunk" too. All I have to do is say, "where are the chipmunks?" and she runs to the door where she sees them all the time. She'll whine at them and beg to go out and hunt them down. She's quite the hunter, but when she encounters something she doesn't recognize, she's tentative and careful, tilting her head until I tell her, "it's just a leaf, Ang!" or a toadstool, or anything she's never seen before. 

I so enjoy this little dog. More than I ever thought I would. I'm sure I enjoyed Sophie(our beardie) in this same way when she was young, but I worked full time and didn't spend my days with her. Then we had little ones come along. So, in a way, Angel is the new "baby", and I spend my days with her, pretty much involving her in all I do in a day!

Pretty soon the garden will be tilled under and Angel will get her big space to run again. She'll run top speed around that garden, flipping up dirt on the turns. Her hair will fly back off her face and she'll be smiling....can't wait to till the garden under! :) that and I'm sick of picking beans....