Update on Phoenix (the new dog)

It’s been a little over a month since we got Phoenix from the Animal Protection Society of Durham. She’s doing pretty great. Put on some weight which she needed and seems content. We’ve been getting to know her personality a lot more as she has come out of her shell. She is still very sweet, gentle and obedient. Well, obedient in the house, if we’re outside where there are squirrels and other distractions it’s a lot harder to get her attention and I am not sure we have succeeded yet getting her to learn her name. Also, when she knows you’re not looking she will do a few sneaky things, like jump on to the wrong couch (she is only allowed on one). She can’t really get away with it because she leaves hair behind. So I’m thinking of leaving some uncomfortable things on the couches overnight so she won’t want to lie on them.

We walk her every day, even if it’s just around the block, although usually it’s a few miles in the woods. I think that helps if their energy is drained to be less mischievous. Not that we usually succeed because she comes back ready to play right away. Robert learned that it’s not good to play every single time she wants to. One night the other week he told her “no” to pulling on the rope and she barked at him in protest! I had to stop myself from thinking it was cute.

Pretty much the only thing that drains her energy all the way is another dog. Above is a photo of Phoenix after playing with Rebecca’s dog Ellie the other week. She came home, got a bath, and was out for the night. Whenever she’s done bathing I wrap her in a blanket because she seems cold and she just lies there until she is dry. Phoenix does loves to play with other dogs and it’s nice to really drain her now and then.

We are going to do obedience training within about a month. I know it is partly me that needs training. It’s taken some time to get it on the calendar because first she needed all her shots, then she needed to be spayed, and now she’s recovering and then I’ll be on vacation for a while. After that, I would like to find a good place.

Phoenix also loves to chew sticks, some of those photos are above. It’s weird, she will chew a bone now and then but she could sit and chew a stick for hours. The other kind of funny thing is her fascination with toads, she will pick them up in her mouth and put them down. This is not wonderful because I think the toads have mild poison and it makes her saliva foamy for about 15mns. She is fine but it’s kinda gross. We are in the process of going on walks where she is not allowed to walk ahead, so this is cutting down on the toad hunting. As a consolation prize I bought her a frog toy with rope arms. She pulled one off within 24hrs and has been pulling string off the others, so I’ve taken it away and tried to trade bones…but for some reason bones are not as fun as eating frog string. That, and as usual, eating grass is pretty tasty. Phoenix did decide to throw up some of the grass yesterday. I am glad for having hard floors, so it was no problem. Also, it’s nice that dogs will just throw up grass in the middle of the hard floor. Cats seem to seek out a soft surface to puke on.

That pretty much sums up the last month. It’s been a very good adjustment with very few problems. The ones we’ve had are either normal for a young and new dog or things we just need training to correct. Glad the spay is behind us, I was nervous about that surgery. But it went well. She regained normal energy in less than 48hrs.