Puppy Power

…and I thought babies grew quickly.  Our very frisky Dixie Cotter is growing by the minute.  She is sleeping through the night (mostly), and is even starting to conform to our crazy schedule.  With the exception of her ability to escape from her travel crate - in the car only to appear underneath my feet while I’m driving!, and razor sharp teeth, she is PERFECT.

To prove my point, here are some pictures taken from the weekend.  Dixie had her first trip to Lake Cushman and first of many hikes on the Hoodsport trail.  If you notice that the pictures are better then the norm, it is because I didn’t take them.  I was not in Hoodsport, but parked on the couch eating left over birthday cake and watching Fat Albert with Jack and Amelia.  Hey, hey, hey,  don’t judge me.  That was all I could muster after the birthday chaos of the week before.  No wonder why this week is getting of to a rocky start.  I seriously need a childless vacation.  Back to the pictures, yes the pictures.  Here they are!

Still Adorable, a little less wrinkled

Perhaps, a swim?

I'm the perfect puppy, admit it!

Okay, I guess I should include a cute Liam picture to make me look less crazy and more like a loving mother (though I probably lost all credibility by divulging the cake and Albert tidbit).

"I loved going to the cabin with my Dad, he gave me an enormous piece of cake for lunch!"

"My mom chose a vizsla because they match my hair" 

Have you slacked lately as a parent out of exhaustion or boredom?  What did YOU do?

Crazy things my dogs have done

There is no denying that I have doggie fever.  Sorry, to say that will be reflected in my posts for a while.  Having a new dog is a lot more like having a new baby then most parents care to admit.  Don’t get me wrong, it is very different too.  It is 100x easier.  That said, it has similar challenges and brings up some of the same nostalgia.     The last few days have made me think a lot about all of the crazy dog adventures that I have had in the past 12 years.  Here are some of the highlights.

Areeba Beauty Vizsla

• Somehow opened the refrigerator in search for a stick of butter.  Dined with said butter in comfort on the couch. 
• In the course of one week ate all of my leather sandals.  But, devoured the right feet only leaving the left feet untouched. 
• Desperate to free herself from the kennel unwound a chain link fence with nothing but her teeth.
• Desperate to reunite with her pal Cali chewed through Cali’s plastic crate to free her
• Opened kitchen cupboard to retrieve bag of flour.  Without spilling any flour on the way, brought the bag to the living room to feast.
• Frantically jumped into a stream to save me after I had clumsily fallen in.
• Won a face off with a Great Dane (who later marked my leg for revenge)
• Lived to 18!

“Crazy” Cali

• Had a false pregnancy the week we moved to Seattle. 
• Smelling that she was approaching the dog park, jumped out of the window of a moving car while wearing a leash. 
• Has spent many a sunny morning staring at the wall waiting for a bird to fly by and cast a shadow.
• Long after being house trained, Cali wet the bed.  It was my sister’s bed.  She was in it too.Earned a battle scar from a scrap with a abandoned Alaskan dog we nicknamed “hobo”.

Thankfully, upon writing this, I am reminded of all of the ways that my dogs are different from my children.   The bed wetting scenario did occur with a child.  Only it was me, Amelia, and my sister-in-law's guest bed.  I'm just glad the jumping from a moving car scene hasn't repeated itself with a child...yet.

What is the craziest thing your pet has done?

Presenting Miss Dixie

Saturday was a big day!  Jack and Amelia had their first games of the soccer season and we brought home our new puppy.    

I present to you Miss Dixie Cotter

Our entire weekend revolved around our new friend.  We are completely absorbed with Dixie and all of her adorableness.   

Can you blame us?

We picked our puppy up from Rochester, WA in the morning and got to know her a little better during the soccer games that afternoon.  Amelia LOVED carrying her around during Jack’s game and recieving tons of attention.

She slept a lot

She got lots of Liam love

…and got passed around to the point of delirium.

Dixie was matched with our family based on a series of tests that rate the puppies on their traits and temperaments.    So far, she is a perfect fit.  She is on the mellow end of the vizsla spectrum, and is well on her way to being house trained.  True to her breed she does not do well alone.  Crate training is going to require a lot of patience and maybe some earplugs.

I do need some help.  Maybe from you?  Although we are naming our new dog Dixie, we need a different name for her official registry.  The litter all needs to be registered with spy names.  Never having watched a spy movie (that I haven’t fallen asleep during), I am totally lost.  Even google is of little help.  Do you have a great spy name for our little Dixie?

Dixie spying on Cali (who was chasing shadows)

What is your favorite spy name?