SUNSHINE HAS BEEN ADOPTED

It only took three months to find Sunshine's forever home, but it was well worth the wait.  Kismet played a hand in her adoption and I love it when things work out that way (hmm...Kismet might have been a good name for her too).  I hadn't been taking Sunshine to curling nights because she seemed more comfortable at home but since people like to meet my fosters from time to time I decided to take her a couple of Thursdays ago.  That's where it happened.  A couple that curl in the league after me came off the ice and the husband saw Sunshine first and brought his wife over to meet her.  It kinda seemed like love at first sight.  Things moved quickly after that...application, home visit and meet and greet with the whole family showed me this was Sunshine's home.  She has everything in this home that I would have hoped for her to have.  She is comfortable with mom, dad and their daughter.  They all have gentle, nurturing energy and Sunshine went to each of them very easily.  She has a furry brother named Joey and a great yard to explore together.  And, although it wasn't a requirement, it is definitely a bonus that she now has a very nicely warmed house with heated floors so she can run around inside toasty warm in winter without shirts and sweaters.  I hear she has already found a nice sleeping spot near the back door where she can bask in the sun and look out over the yard.

Last time I checked she was keeping her name too! 

She was with me 3 months and she was possibly the hardest foster to say goodbye to.  It is all worthwhile knowing that she is in the right place with so much love.  Good bye my little buddy...you may have been my smallest foster but you sure have a big impact on those you meet!

SUNSHINE FINDS A FUNGI AT THE BEACH

The last while has been pretty uneventful.  Walks at the beach, a walk at Deas Park, figure 8 zoomies, and a very big beautiful mushroom.

Walking at MacDonald Beach

As we were heading down the back pathway at the beach we came across this:

For reference I took Sunshine's picture next to it.  She may be little but this mushroom was still pretty big!

I think Sunshine is starting to associate the end of a walk with food.  Usually we finish a walk and she comes home to dinner, so when we're heading back in the direction we started from I noticed she starts licking her chops more.  

"Did you say we're going?"

"That means dinner right?"

Sunshine's off leash skills can make it hard to film her walking...I usually have to film beside me or slightly behind (I know, I know...a problem lots of people wish they had!)

After the beach Sunshine demonstrates how much she really loves her comforts!  It was impossible to resist this bed at the thrift store.  $5.00 worth of fluffy cushioning and she can get pressed in there so deep you almost don't see her.  It's a good bed for her as it prevents any draft from reaching her and when she curls up she can press the top of her head into the side and keep her ears warm.

As for the zoomies, she has been doing some running around at home while being quite playful, but when we came home after work one day last week she did her first zoomies in a full looping figure 8.  She did a few laps and then seemed satisfied that she'd burned off her energy.   It sure makes your day when you see a dog open up and do things like that for the first time.  It never stops being entertaining but there's something very special about those 'firsts'. 

WHO DOESN'T LOVE SUNSHINE IN THE FALL?

Although in the last week and a bit it might have been more appropriate if Sunshine was called Fog.  Today, was a break in the fog and we enjoyed a great walk at Ladner Harbour Park.  Sunshine sticks nearby the whole walk and is excellent off leash.

She isn't the biggest fan of the camera...I'm not entirely sure what she thinks its going to do, but she can be hard to capture sometimes. 

This past week has been a busy one, so we haven't been able to get out for too many new adventures.  A few nights ago, Sunshine and I went for a short walk and coming home I couldn't believe how awesome the tree in front of my place looked with the fog and the light.  I went back out and took a picture.

And, then when I came home, thanks to the bright t-shirt Sunshine wears I knew she was waiting by the door for me.  She doesn't make a sound when I leave and if I'm gone long enough she goes and picks a comfy bed to lay on.  When I come back she's always happy to see me.

She gets a treat for being such a good girl and she's learned to sit and wait politely (well most of the time anyways). 

TWO MONTHS OF SUNSHINE??

Okay, so Sunshine has been with me for 2 months as of today!  What's up with that?  My longest fosters have been 10 and 11 weeks long and she's getting up there.  A 6 pound, cute-as-a-button, well behaved Chihuahua is rivaling my longest fosters.   I checked on Petfinder and found out the reason why.  There are 70 Chihuahuas in the Lower Mainland on Petfinder right now!  Holy smokes!  Yes, they are all cute, but I somehow doubt any of them have the amazing personality that Sunshine has (sorry, I could be a little bit biased).

Sunshine rides well in the car, is fine being left at home for a few hours, is easy to take anywhere because she's well behaved and because of her small size.  She is quiet - I think I've heard her bark maybe a handful of times in 8 weeks.   She is playful with me, will do zoomies around the house, is good with other dogs, not too fearful of big or little dogs.  She is not snappy or yappy like some people seem to expect her breed to be.

We've been on some good adventures in the last couple of weeks.  Sunshine loves the beach, she's been to the adoption drives with me, to the Turtle Gardens reunion where she was off leash all day and stuck around.  Everyone that meets her falls in love with her personality and I hear quite often that there's 'just something special about her'.  She melts my heart the way she tilts her head to listen to what I'm saying.

She is still working on shyness with strangers.  Some she approaches easily and others she needs a little more time.  I would like to see her in a home where they will continue to socialize her as I see she continues to improve all the time and I would hate for someone to accept that she is shy without trying to help her past it.  We are looking at having Sunshine go to the Seniors Assisted Living home next week for the day and we'll see how she does.  If it is too much she will just continue with daycare instead.   I think it will be a good experience for her though.

I have to admit I'm really not relishing seeing that perfect application come in for her.  She is an easy foster and a joy to have around.  She is always making me smile with her quirky little grin.

SUNSHINE UPDATE

I know it's been a while since my last blog post, I ran out of room on my memory card (the camera's, not mine) and writing blogs without pictures isn't nearly as inspiring.  Sunshine is still with me and I'm more than okay with that.  She's such an easy little dog to have around.  I'm glad she's still here because after what was probably a pretty crummy sheltered life she's learning about so many new things and she's building confidence all the time.  I've been noticing for a few weeks now that her color seems to be changing and I think its because of all the new growth of fur.  When she came to me, her coat was really thin and her ears were almost bald.  She now has fluffy fur on her ears, which you can see if you look at the first week photo vs the photo from last night.  It wasn't until I put both pictures together that I noticed the fur hanging out of her collar, so her fur is getting thicker everywhere....such a good, happy sign of a healthier dog.   Makes me smile!

Photo from Sunshine's first week in Richmond

Photo from last night.  

Another awesome thing is that her ears are smooth on the ends now.  I was told that the damage on the ends of both ears was frostbite, and those dead pieces have come off leaving healthy ears.  She still has the split in one ear but that's the last reminder of her cold days.

I suppose I'm sensitive to the fact that she had a cold life so I broke down and went clothes shopping!  Yes, for a dog....me, shopping for a dog.  For those that know me, it will bring a smile as I'm not a frou frou purse carrying, dog dressing kinda gal.   But with Sunshine there's no denying she needs some layers to keep warm now that Fall is upon us.  So I bought her a $1.97 t-shirt which is the one in the picture.  This is her indoor sports lounging wear.  I also bought her a red cable knit turtle neck - very appropriate for a Turtle Gardens dog.  Here she is at daycare with her personal body guard:

Now I don't want people to get the wrong impression about Sunshine.  She is happy to be cuddled, and enjoys the warmth of her sweater, but I don't carry her around everywhere in a purse or in my jacket.  I remind myself several times a day that she needs to be treated the same as all of my other fosters no matter what weight they were.  So she is four on the floor, learning to sit and wait for her dinner.  She sits and waits on her bed in the truck until she's invited out.  And, the two times she tried snipping at another dog that approached when she was on my knee, she was put back on the ground.  Afterwards she turned her head away instead of snapping - lesson learned.  So she can learn like any other dog, any other size and she also needs the same expectations, which can be hard to enforce on a 6 lb cute-as-a-button little thing like Sunshine.

Sunshine is still shy when meeting people.  Some she goes right up to and asks to be petted and others she'd just as soon stand back.  She is improving though and I want her to always be building confidence so she doesn't have to live a life in fear of new people and new places.   She is off leash quite often and she sticks very close to my side as we walk and when we pass strangers she likes to move away about 5'.  By having her off leash I get to see what her comfort zone is and it has been lessening.  A few weeks ago she would move off the path at least 10' away.

She came to the curling club with me last week and she fell asleep on my lap and hardly anyone noticed she was there.  She's very well behaved, not barky and not snappy.   I'm not sure if those traits are that typical of Chihuahuas, but people quite often comment on how nice Sunshine is and how she doesn't behave like other Chi's that they know.  Either way, she's a gem in a small setting.

If you see me skip a blog for longer than 10 days, you know I've whisked Sunshine off to Mexico so she can bask in the sun and visit where her ancestors came from.  Come on!  It's not as frou frou as buying her clothes to keep her warm, and she'd make it on the plane as carry-on. 

WHY FIGHT IT?

As I was looking through Facebook tonight I noticed a post by one of the daycare staff on her own Facebook page and had to share it.  I think if Sunshine stays in daycare much longer a couple of the staff are going to be pushing for someone to adopt her just so she can continue to come and brighten their days.

SUNSHINE THE LITTLE GARDEN GNOME

I did some gardening yesterday and Sunshine came out to 'help' me.  She quickly found a nice warm spot to snooze in the dirt between plants.  She was so sound asleep I was able to go inside, get the camera and snap a pic before she moved.

 

Gardening is tiring work



"I wasn't sleeping....just closed my eyes for a sec"

I'm on vacation right now and Sunshine came with me last week to my favorite cabin by the lake.  I went with my cousin and his wife and their dog Walker.




Walker getting ready to go fising in the lake.

 On my first trip down to the lake I put Sunshine on a 20' leash and she absolutely floored me by following me straight into the water and right into a swim, without any hesitation at all.  What a brave little thing she can be.   Of course the next day when I actually brought my camera with me the water was a little colder and she would only wade in without swimming. 

Sunshine was a great companion on the trip.  She slepts in the truck for most of the 4 hour ride and at the cabin she hung around on her bed, enjoyed some good walks (on and off leash) and is a good cuddler watching a video at night.  She is starting to get more comfortable with me and although she can still be shy in some circumstances, especially with meeting new people, I'm seeing less and less of that.    

We got back from the lake just in time to go to the Pedigree Adoption Drive in North Vancouver on Saturday.  Sunshine was nervous with so many people around so I only allowed people to crouch and hold a hand out to her.  She will sniff most extended hands and give a couple of licks in greeting.  With some people she must sense an easy energy about them and she will go right up for a pet without worrying.  Her confidence is building day by day and I think we might even be able to turn her into more of a social butterfly.

Sunshine looks a little worried because I stepped away leaving her with someone new



Supervising the donation jar...

THANK DAWG!

I thought you loved me!

Something unpleasant happened yesterday but I have now found two reasons to be thankful for it.  I took Buffy and Sunshine to the school field for their second walk of the day and for Buffy to have a good sprint because our first walk was on leash.   So we got to the middle of the field and I started to run circles to get Buffy going (we run circles so Sunshine doesn't have to try to keep up) and all of a sudden Buffy does a wide loop pretty far away so I ran the other direction so she'd have more distance to run back to me but what I didn't realize was that either someone had dumped fish oil or fertilizer on the field in one bit spot or there had been a bunch of fish guts that someone had picked up but leaving the stench behind, and I looked back to see Buffy rolling to her hearts content.  I ran back to her but it was too late...her whole back, leash and collar were all covered in the stink!   Why was this a blessing?  Well, I was less than impressed with her and her new smell and she was certainly less than happy with the bath she got so as of today we're just a little less in love with each other which makes parting ways a tad easier (actually that's not true...she was extra playful with me this morning and extra cute darn it!).  The second thing I'm grateful for is that I found that spot before flight day today.  If I'd taken her to the field today for a run before her flight she would have had to fly to her new home like a stink ball. 

'Please don't make me have a bath too'

Buffy 15 lbs + Sunshine 6 lbs

LEAVIN' ON A JET PLANE

Guess who's going on a plane?  Buffy has been adopted and she will fly to her new home tomorrow.  She will have a 4-legged sibling and two humans to love her to pieces.   She will get to go on some great adventures and I already can't wait to see the updates and she's not even home yet.   So I wish safe travels to an adorable cuddle buddy.  This is the benefit of two fosters...I won't be without!  Sunshine and I will be going on some adventures of our own in the coming week and I will blog about them soon. 

SMALL AND SMALLER

Buffy seemed so little to me until Sunshine came along.  Sunshine is half her size.  The two dogs get along but haven't been overly interactive with each other.  They both still need a little more confidence and also seem to be more people than dog motivated.  There was a moment last night when they both play bowed but that's where it ended.  With a little more time they will probably play.  Buffy in her first two weeks has shown zero interest in toys but this week is starting to bat the ball around and has chewed on a rope toy a bit. 

With Sunshine just having her spay we haven't been going for too big of a walk.  To keep Buffy happy we walked to the school field and put her on the 80' line so she could get some energy out of her system.  She will go for as long or as short of a walk that you want and if given the chance will rip off some energy, which doesn't take very much.  A few laps running around me and she's happy.

I had to pick up Sunshine while Buffy was running circles around us so she wouldn't get wrapped up in the line. 

Buffy would like a home where she can be with her people/person most of the day, go on some adventures and she loves car rides and snuggles on the couch. 

Sunshine needs to continue building her confidence, but so far has been pretty good about meeting people and other dogs.  With meeting dogs she might need to be picked up from time to time if the dog rushes up to her.  Once the dog is relaxed she is happy to meet them and seems pretty confident with big or small dogs if they are gentle.  She is probably the first dog I've had that's made me want to 'baby' her.  I finally get why people are the way they are with the little Chihuahuas.  She walks really well on leash and is great off leash too.  

I don't usually have treats on hand for dogs.  When I foster I like to keep their food pretty consistent to start with so after a week I start to try them with things like carrots, cereal, etc.   Sunshine LOVES food!  She gets very excited when I bring my own dinner out of the kitchen and for the first few times she pestered me to no end, just about turning inside out to get some people food.  She has since figured out she won't get anything off of my plate so she has relaxed about it more.   I love watching dogs eat corn puffs though ...so I thought I'd share the view.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

When I heard that Bamboo the big dog was coming to the Lower Mainland and was being driven by Vicky I figured there had to be extra room for a 6 pound chihuahua so Sunshine came on the trip too.  I'm sorry that I didn't have my camera because you really had to see how funny it was ...the well over 100 pound dog beside the 6 pound dog.

Sunshine needed her spay which was done in Vancouver on Wednesday and she's recovering from it very well. The vet said she is in good health.  

Sunshine is such a pretty color.  She looks almost black and tan in her pictures but she is more like a chocolate color.  I looked up Chihuahua colors and she seems to match what is called chocolate blue.  I'm told the tips of her ears were probably frost bitten so she has a tear in one ear and the tips of both are a little rough on the ends.  I find it hard to not feel sorry for how that would have happened.  Her right eye looks forward but sometimes she shows a bit of white...which is pretty endearing.  What a cute little dog she is.  She really deserves a new life with someone that will love her forever.

Today, we went to Delta to run some errands and stopped in at Nancy's place to say hi.  Sunshine showed us how much she liked the soft grass and for once I had my camera ready for a spontaneous moment.

In case you're wondering, I do still have Buffy and her nose is just a little out of joint with having to share her foster home with another dog.  She bumps Sunshine out of the way when we're walking and practically sits on her in the truck trying to be in the spot closest to me.  I'm hopeful in the next few days after Sunshine is healed up that they will discover they can play together. 

BUFFY - 1 WEEK UPDATE

Buffy has been a complete joy to have around.  She is happy and cuddly with those that she knows and is learning to enjoy meeting new people and dogs.  She sleeps on the bed all through the night, never attempts to push me off, and is happy to sleep in to a reasonable hour on the weekend.  When we go for a walk her tail is wagging the whole time and she has the cutest bounce in her step.  She likes car rides and sits up for most of the trip to watch the road.

She has had a couple of off leash walks and she was best when we had another dog with us.  We went to the beach on Saturday.  She was nervous about all of the dogs that she saw when we first got out of the truck but she quickly realized most dogs were going about their own fun.  She seems to find it easier to meet dogs her own size although if the dog is gentle in their approach she was curious about bigger dogs too.  If any dogs approached too quickly I just picked her up so she didn’t have to worry about what was going to happen. She wasn’t bothered by the water at all.  So I put her in the water a few feet out so she could swim and once she got to shore she looked quite happy about it.   

 

At the waters edge

When we got to a quieter part of the beach I let her off leash and she got the zoomies.  It was awesome to see her run full tilt and burn off some energy like that.  We had a couple of moments where she was maybe 25 feet away and she had that look of decision on her face...’will I come back to you, or not?’...so I ran the other direction and she gave chase until she caught up.  She was clipped back on leash and we finished our walk. She was happy whether she was on or off leash.

 After walking the length of the beach and having a good run, we sat in the sand for a bit and watched other dogs running and playing.  Buffy is relaxed and happy to keep you company whether its on the go or sitting around watching the world go by.

I had some plans on Sunday that couldn’t include a dog so she went visiting with my friends (thanks Maggie an Roger!!) and I was told she behaved herself very well.  Asked for the door when she had to go out and made herself comfortable on their couch in between the walks she was taken on.  They had another dog over and she was a bit grumbly with the pup's approaches for playing but eventually started to become a bit playful with him. 

On Saturday we discovered that Buffy is good with cats too.  She met about 5 or 6 cats and she was mostly curious, wanted to go up to them to sniff, but was cautiously hanging back to figure them out.   So not much more you could ask for in a dog than what Buffy has to offer.  I think Buffy would suit a home where she can be with her people most of the time.  I haven’t had to leave her alone yet and I don’t get the impression she would have any problems with it, but I think she would prefer to be with her people or person. She is not overly playful yet and I'm not sure if that's from lack of confidence, that she's never learned, or that she's a bit more of a serious dog.  Only time will tell.