New Pictures 6-28-09 Annie Oakley - Page 1

Crys you are a very, very nice person for taking in Annie! It will be great to hear stories of how she progresses and pics to go with. I might have been able to help with her transport to you if I knew where you lived. Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it somehow. I helped to relay a dog from Steph (River) to a friend who lives in Idaho. But a little late now!

CrysBuck25 you have restored some faith in me for the human race . I always thought the pup could take life being blind ,it was the people I thought would never take on the challenge . You are a true dog lover . Dogs are so disposable to some . I am thrilled the little girl has a caring home . Off a bit here, Steve1  I know you did what was best for Hiedi and I wish you all the best with Izzy . I am sure you will take her all the way .Good luck to the two of you  and your new pups . Don't forget the updates .

Soooo happy to hear you all are home, safe and sound from your long trip.  I bet you are exhausted but glad you had company to share the drive.  Yes, the housebreaking should be challenging for both of you since you will have to learn her language which most likely differs from the norm.  You might as well start a daily diary on here (with pix of course) since so many of us are wanting news on Oakley.  Hopefully Misty is forgiving of the little terror and they become fast friends.   Thanks again for taking her on!  I think she has won the hearts of many, and so have you!
Deb

Good Morning All,

Well, I guess it's afternoon for some by now, but anyway, here's an update on the little girl.

We got home last night about 10:30; tons of road construction on I-90.  In some places, the speed limit was clear down to 35 MPH. 

Steph, the angel that she is, waited over an hour past our agreed meeting time at the Missoula Costco.  There was a ton of ATF paperwork we had to fill out on some fireworks we were picking up, and after all that, we finally made it over to Costco, and there was Steph, with two of the most gorgeous German Shepherds I've seen, one a big, retired police K9, and the other, little Annie Oakley.  We enjoyed a nice visit with her, and I fell so in love with little Annie, though I mostly just watched how Steph interacted with her, so I'd know how she dealt with her.

Then it was time to go, and we loaded her up in the backseat along with me, and the two guys in the front.  On the way out of Missoula, we stopped at a Starbucks, and the guys got iced coffees, and I got a strawberry and cream smoothie.  I set it in the console cup holder in front of the backseat, and it wasn't a mile down the road before Oakley was hanging off the seat, licking the straw out of my cup, and licking the inside of the domed lid.  I took it, drank some, and set it between my feet.  That was the end for a while, but when I picked it up and started drinking it again, that little nose hit the air, and she followed the scent to my cup.  When I was done with it, she was all sprawled out sleeping, so I set it back in the cup holder, and in short order, she had the straw on the floor, the top popped off the cup, and was licking the thing clean.  I've got some cute pics of that.

She started out sleeping on the seat facing away from me, but after a while, she moved to the middle, and then beside me, then her head on my leg, then her front paws on my lap. 

When we picked up my kids on the way home, it was a bit crowded with them.  But we still didn't have any trouble, even when we stopped for cheeseburgers at McDonalds.  Oakley tried to get my older daughter's burger, but I told her no firmly, and she laid back down and didn't try to steal the burger I was eating right over her head.  I did save her a little piece as a reward for her awesome good behavior, and she relished it very much.  All in all, she's a very nice pup.

At home, we had sleepy kids, puppy that needed to get on the ground, and things to carry, and I set Oakley down (leashed of course).  Misty came barrreling down, like she always does, and ran smack into Oakley.  Makes me wonder just which one is the blind one???LOL.  Well she startled Oakley, and in true Shepherd fashion, she stood her ground and barked like mad, looking all around for the source of the impact.  Misty was so insulted and shocked, that she ran up on the front porch, peeing all over herself.  She wouldn't come anywhere near Oakley, who was curious, and still barking loudly.

Continued....

Well, Misty just pressed herself as far away as she could, and kept getting away from Oakley, not sure at all about this whole thing.  The little pup, for her part, just wanted to get as close as possible, and not being able to read body language, had no idea that Misty was not in agreement, just kept at it.  Finally I put the pup inside the door and had my oldest hold her leash until I could get my shoes off and off the rug, then I took the pup out the back door and introduced her to the steps on the back porch.  At first, she was really tentative, but after a few trips down the stairs, with me tapping each step below her and touching her nose at the same time, she got it.  She did all her business outside, and then we went back in, got my older daughter into bed (the little one was already down).  Then I set up the crate for Oakley, posted a message here, and put her in it.

She started in with some very loud whining, but the crate was in the dining roon, all of four feet from my computer, so I told her firmly, but quietly, "Hush."  After a few times of this, she settled onto her bed and was quiet, and I shut off the computer, and went to bed.

When my hubby got home from dropping off the other guy that rode with us, he came to bed, and told me that Oakley was whining quietly, like she was lonely, and I knew she was, because I could hear her.  I told him she'd be fine.  He said she was really lonely, and needed to be in the bedroom with us, because she needed it for bonding.  I told him I was tired, she'd be fine, and I was going to sleep.  He said he'd go get the crate and bring it in.  Finally, I gave in, and he brought the crate in the bedroom and it's now beside our bed.  I did make her sleep in the crate, but she never cried about it.  Just being right there was enough, and I think she would have been fine out in the kitchen, too.  Oakley slept all through the night, from about 1 AM until about 8:00 when I got up, and I took her out to go potty.  A little nervous this morning about the stairs, again, but I tapped the stairs to tell her where they were, and she went down them, and did her business.

Misty was a little better today, checking noses and butts, and all that, but Oakley remembered the barking episode from last night, so I had to calm both of them so they could check each other out, and within half an hour, they were running around, chasing each other and knocking each other down, nipping at each other, and all that puppy stuff.  I'm careful to watch body language with the other dogs, because Oakley can't see it, and I have to watch out for her.  But we've had no troubles yet, at all, and I'm on the ball about it when she starts walking around whining, because she's telling me that she needs something.  When she was ready to eat, she scented the air, found where her food was, and started carrying on, letting me know it was time.  Same with needing outside.  She barked at me, to let me know.  So far, no mistakes.  I was also careful when my little one got up this morning.  Excited kids make excited puppies, and that's when the nips start, so I was right there to be sure to correct the little nips ("No Bite", thanks Steph).  We have to be careful about toys, shoes, any thing left on the floor, but that's a good reason to be a tidier housekeeper, so that's a good thing.

So far, I'm loving her to death, and so is my family.  Misty not so much, but she's getting better already, running and playing in the yard, with supervision, of course.  Right now, she's laying on a pile of old sweatshirts, making sure to touch my foot at all times.  If I get up, she's right there, either in front of me, or bumping into the side of me to make sure she knows where I am.  In the kitchen, she's sitting right there

Oops, got cut off...

I was saying that Oakley sits right by me in the kitchen, ears cocked and ready for whatever movement I might make.

I just tried to upload pictures, in both ways I know, but for some reason, they aren't uploading, so I've got to try again later.  In the meantime, I've got to get Oakley and my youngest daughter both down for naps, one in her room, one in her crate.  Oakley's been out playing a lot this morning, outside, and she's getting quite dirty.  She was clean, yesterday, but today, she's quite dirty.  I'll brush out what I can, but if she's too dirty, I might have to give her a bath again:-)  What a little love. 

She's learned my yard already, and she's already bonding really strong with me, which is so neat, always right there.  I love the little thing already.

On another thread, the subject was "Why do people breed without titles??".  I guess I'm titled, after the fact...A certified Service/Seeing Eye Human!!! LOL!

I'll try the pics again later.

Crys

Sounds like she is going to fit right in. There are bound to be blessings for you and your big heart and willingness to take on this obviously special girl.  Get  busy and get those pics posted!

Okie...

I was able to change my avatar to include Oakley, but for some reason, when I try to upload pics, it aborts partway through uploading.  I was able to upload other pics the last time I tried, but not this time.  Something's weird here.  I'll figure it out:-)

Her left ear is mostly up today, and the right one about half.  Steph says every day the up ear seems to alternate, so tomorrow, it'll be the right:-)  We're having a ton of fun, and Misty's accepted her pretty much, already, so things are going quite smoothly.  She likes to chew shoes, but we just make sure to keep those put away and keep toys she can chew where she can reach them.

Crys