August 26, 2009

Road Trip!


Last Friday, August 21, we loaded Paz into the car and headed to Dallas to watch Kate play a preseason soccer game. Paz's crate no longer fits in our car unless it's broken down in the trunk, so to keep Paz safe, she wore a car safety restraint just for dogs!  Diana had suggested this as a way to travel with Paz when her crate just wasn't an option.  It's a special harness that allows Paz to sit up and look out the window or take a snooze on the car seat.  We had her wear it around the house a couple of times before the trip and she didn't seem to mind it at all.  Paz had no trouble running around or walking while wearing the harness; actually it was really easy to walk her while she was wearing it (no pulling on the leash!) so that was a plus.  

Paz is great traveler; she basically sleeps the entire time she's in the car unless it's meal time or "take a break" time.  She was full of energy after her 3 hour nap when we arrived at Kate's place- thank goodness for the long lead!  Paz was able to run all over the place at Kate's and we were able to keep her out of trouble.  She was thrilled to see her beloved Kate!  We were able to stay for several hours before checking into our hotel.  

We were a little concerned how Paz would react to being in a hotel room, but she took it in stride.  We took great pains to make sure there were no surprises lurking anywhere in the room before we turned her loose.
She loved jumping up on the bed, which she doesn't have access to at home, and watching TV!  She also had fun jumping in and out of the bathtub.  Bedtime was no problem; we put her crate together in one corner of the room and she crawled right in.  The biggest problem we had was the cricket invasion at the hotel.  Every time we took Paz outside for some exercise or to "take a break" she devoured every cricket she could find, and there were thousands of them.  I'm sure this is really bad karma or something, as crickets are supposed to bring you good luck, but they seemed absolutely irresistible to her! 

On Saturday morning, we drove about an hour from the hotel to watch Kate play soccer.  Paz wore her vest to the field, climbed all over the stands and the practice fields, and tried to run out onto the field to see Kate and chase soccer balls.  Paz had a few new fans by the end of the game.  We had a really good time and Kate played a great game!  Later that night, we crated Paz up and took Kate out for a real sit-down dinner.  We were afraid Paz might bark while we were gone; apparently all went well as there were no messages from the hotel management asking us to pack our bags to check out early!

Sunday morning rolled around and we had to load up to drive home. Kate was pretty sad to let Paz leave!  Paz didn't seem ready to go either, and ran all over on the long lead before we could get her in the car.  She was one tired puppy and slept for almost the entire trip again!  Paz is such a great traveler, and this trip went so well that we'll definitely be taking Paz with us to watch Kate play again!

August 19, 2009

"Firsts" for Paz!

Paz has experienced several "firsts" over the last few weeks - some of them fun, some of them not so fun!

Paz met our friend (and bonded pet sitter) Michelle for the "first" time recently when we had to leave her and Jed and Ding alone for most of an evening.  Michelle came over to feed and play with all of the dogs several times that night, and Paz quickly added Michelle to her list of great friends.  This was one of the fun "firsts"!

Paz also had her "first" trip to our veterinarian.  Unfortunately, Paz developed diarrhea that persisted on and off for a week.  Paz certainly didn't act sick, but we were all getting tired of going outside to "take a break" 3 or 4 times nightly.  Thank goodness
she's basically house broken now!  Diana suggested we take Paz in for a check up to our vet.  She enjoyed exploring the office, smelling all of the new smells and meeting a couple of new dogs. She did NOT like it when the vet decided he needed a fresher fecal sample from Paz!!! This was one of the NOT FUN "firsts"!  After a thorough exam, Paz came home with some new medicine and bruised pride, but overall this was another fun first.

Paz also took her "first" trip to the high school where I work during senior registration day.  She had a blast!  It might be my imagination, but Paz seems to step things up a notch when she wears her red vest. She loved exploring the different classrooms, the cafeteria, the library and the office.  She was very at ease around the hundreds of students lining up to pick up their books and schedules.  She was more than happy to "hup" up on lots of new things too: desks, boxes, library benches, stacked risers.  Her favorite thing was listening to the band practice!  She drug me back to the band hall 3 times and stood there wagging her tail as they practiced!  This was definitely a fun "first".

A not so fun "first" for Paz was saying good bye to her beloved Kate!  Kate headed back off to college and soccer 2-a-days recently.  Paz sorely misses her and runs to her room to see if she's home every time somebody comes into the house.  Combine missing Kate with my going back to work full time (meaning Paz spends more time in her crate each day) and it's easy to see why Kate leaving has not been fun!

Finally, today Paz took her "first" trip to her buddy (and littermate) Pfieffer's house!  We all had so much fun!  Pfieffer lives in what must be close to labrador heaven: he has a huge pond in his back yard, waiting to be jumped into on a moment's notice!  They both had a fabulous time chasing each other all around the yard, climbing on the deck and patio furniture, and of 
course, jumping into the pond!  Pfieffer is a pro at jumping in and pulling water plants out.  Paz gave it a try too.  Pfieffer's foster parents and I sat laughing for almost 2 hours as the 2 dogs played hard!  This play day was the best "first" of all!

August 4, 2009

Paz is 4 months old!  She's looking less like a puppy and more like a grown up dog, even though she still ACTS like a puppy!  She's pretty much housebroken now (we've gone 4 days without an accident!) and she's lost a few puppy teeth, so all the signs are there that our "baby" is growing up!  Hard to believe that 1/3 of our time fostering Paz has already gone by!

Paz has had a great time in the last couple of weeks exploring nearby playgrounds.  We've taken her out several times and she loves running up the stairs and down the slides.  Trying to make it up some of the bigger slides isn't working too well yet...  She's still cautious of the little kids, but I don't necessarily think that's such a bad thing!  

Lowe's is another favorite hangout! Everything there interests Paz, and she really enjoys jumping from bag to bag of bark mulch. Today, the fan isle was a treat- her ears were blowing all over the place but it was so much cooler than outside!

At 4 months, Paz has developed very particular likes and dislikes.  
Paz likes: 
Eating Cicadas outside
Chasing birds
Playing with Jed and Ding
Running 
Chewing
Empty milk jugs, although she thought the full one she grabbed
  was pretty neat too...
Trips to Petsmart

Paz REALLY likes:
Her beloved Kate
Playing tug of war
Sleeping on the coffee table (a big no-no!)
FOOD! 
Water
Swimming
Her squeaky soccer ball and really chewed up buda bone
Playing with Pfieffer!

Paz does not like:
Bedtime (although she goes in her crate with no fuss and now sleeps at least 6 hours)
The word NO!
Anytime Kate leaves (we're in trouble when she goes back to college next week!)



Our family continues to enjoy being a foster family for Paz.  We'd forgotten what it was like to have a puppy in the house!  Things are much more lively now!  We're more active now; we're out and about with Paz instead of sitting in front of the TV and we're all getting more exercise too!  We really enjoy being ambassadors for TSA and the puppy program- we've met some really neat people who have taken an interest in Paz and her bright red vest.  It's been a very rewarding experience for our family and we're looking forward to what the next 8 months are going to bring!