Millie Meets the Ocean

We had heard there are several beaches around here that allow dogs in the off season. I'd been dying to take Millie but things had been the usual hectic, crazy, non-stop and we hadn't had a chance.

Jane had a play date scheduled and we didn't have anything pressing during that time, so I decided to toss Emily & Jacob in the car with Millie and go to the beach.

She's totally a chicken when it comes to water - hates her bath, doesn't like to go out in the rain, jumps over puddles, etc. It was funny to see her reaction to the waves. She was fascinated by their sound, smell and movement but at the same time kind of freaked out by the fact that it was water!

The beach was empty and it was fun to watch the kids amble along and explore with her.

LOVE this girl. She is always so happy and up for anything.

My kids are always especially happy when we are at the beach!

Millie loves being off leash and we love taking her anywhere we can all go together, so it was a great outing.

No trip to the beach is complete without a little shell collecting - even in the dead of winter.

We stayed until the sun set and it was getting dark, then headed home to get Jane and dinner and warm up.

Our "House"

Today we stopped by our land to check out the tree clearing and look at where the house will be.

The girls running up what will eventually be our driveway.

Jacob & the stream.

Jacob after jumping the stream asking if he can go through the woods.

Jane & her BFF Ruth dancing in the meadow.

The very back (the shiny strip in the background is the river.)

This is NOT our ribbon, or the builders. He couldn't get it off when he was there but plans to cut it before they start clearing. I think this oak is almost as big as the one in our backyard - it's off to the side of the property and will be a great shade tree.

We love all our space.

 The road.

The "meadow" a view from the road.

At least we already have a fire hydrant.

Reading Together

Some days when I am busy, I need Jane to just entertain herself for a few minutes. She mostly does that by playing with Millie, one reason we got Millie sooner, rather than later.

They run and wrestle and play hide & seek (our dog can actually play hide and seek!)

You have to admit that what I saw as I came downstairs was pretty cute.

Maybe if Jane teaches Millie to read she can be like "Nanna" in Peter Pan and put the kids to bed for me!

Absence Makes the Heart.....

Man, Millie hates it when anyone leaves without her.

She is actually very good at staying in the doorway if we go in and out & not leaving the house until we tell her "OK." Unless, she sees the car door open. Then she realizes that there's a chance for her to stow away and quick a a shot she's out the dor and has leapt into the car. Sometimes I take her on errands with me, just because I can't face those sad eyes at being left!

This day, Rick and the kids left and I stayed home with her. I was trying not ot be offended that she so clearly wanted to go with them!

She's a good dog!

More Snowy Fun

We got about another foot of snow last night. I love snow - but even I am wondering when it will stop. We are simply running out of places to put it! In the city, they have been filling big trucks and taking it to the river to dump it.

Bless Rick - he dug us out before heading to work. He cleared the car, driveway space for the car & walkway. It was a LOT of hard work. He made it all nice & clear for me so I could head right out to ski with Jane.

My neighbor took this picture out of her window.

Millie loves the new vantage point she has now that the snow is higher than our fence!

 

See that little dark figure in the middle of the picture? That's Jake - wading hip deep to his friend who lives behind us to ask if he wants to play. They built forts over at his house and shoveled the neighbors driveway. He earned $6!

Emily spent most of the day building forts, sliding and climbing.

 

When we got home from skiing Jane was happy to join in the fun.

Climbing & sliding / jumping over the covered fence was the hit of the day.

My kids love to make snow tunnels but they actually terrify me, because I have images of my children suffocating silently while I am oblivious in the house! I made them limit the length of this one & had one kid stand guard while another 1 or 2 were in it.

Back to school tomorrow (although we are supposed to get more snow for the next 2 days.)

Amphibious Boomerang

Millie has destroyed several toys within minutes of bringing them home - which is why I now have several brands that I will buy exclusively. Kong, Nylabone, ORKA and Chuckit all seem to hold up pretty well and be well liked by Millie.

When I saw this toy by Chuckit I couldn't resist - a boomerang, are you kidding me? We had to have it. It's actually designed to be a water toy & will float - but I thought the water resistant nature of it would make a great snow toy for outdoor games of fetch. It has been great.

Jane & Millie trying it out.

Millie LOVES it.

Gratuitous cute picture of Jane.

This dog LOVES the snow and she LOVES fetch.

Millie & Cody

One of Millie's littermates (a brother) lives in Manhattan. They were born in Colorado & we live 30 minues away from each other - we HAD to make the most of that.

We got in touch & made a date to meet at the dog park on Sunday afternoon.

Millie has lots of "dog friends" in our neighborhood, but has never been to a dog park so I wasn't sure how she'd do. When we first arrived, this black & white dog kept bugging her & nipping at her - but I just watched and waited to see if she could work it out for herself (the other dogs owner never seemed to intervene, which is probably why he was like that.) Finally, it was my kids who stepped in. I think they were worried about her. I could tell the other dog wasn't really hurting her - more just bothering her. The kids started to put themselves in his way & then he left her alone.

Milli's brother is named Cody & he is delightful.

He was so much like Mille - only he's bigger because he's a boy!

Jane & Cody waiting for newcomers.

Jane & Cody wrestling - they really hit it off.

  Millie (left) & Cody (right).

 

A kind lady offered to take a picture of all of us.

 Cody

Cody, Emily & Millie.

It was seriously cold outside, so we stayed at the dog park for a little over an hour. Then Cody's super-nice "parents" asked if we would like to come back to their apartment, where they gave us hot chocolate & cookies (& homemade treats for the dogs.) Anyone who's lived in NY knows what a big deal it is to invite six people and their dog to your apartment, so we really appreciated it.

(Sorry, my camera is having flash issues - so this is a bad picture.)

Thanks for the fun play-date Cody! We had a great time.

We definitely plan on getting together (+ some other Entlebucher's we know) for a BBQ or something at our place in the spring!

Playmates

One of the reasons we got Millie this year (rather than next year as I had originally planned) was to be a playmate for Jane now everyone else is at school.

It has really worked out well. Jane loves to play with her and work on her training and Millie is super patient with Jane and has also learned that Jane is a great friend - because she is very generous with the dog treats!

They are great buddies!

Boundaries

Millie has a few boundaries in our house - she's not allowed up on furniture and she's not allowed in my office. I'm really pleased with how well she's learing them. She never jumps on furniture and I have been able to leave the gate open to my office lately and she will stop at it. She just sits there (or quietly lays down) and watches me.

{iPhone photo}

Good Dog!

Fetch

What I am doing at night when the kids are in bed (and I really should be doing laundry!)

Really, I could play with her forever! We went for a 45 minute walk right before this, but I needed to let her really burn off some energy as she was in her crate a lot today (2 swim practices & a swim meet!)

We got this new ball today that she really likes. It's lighter than a tennis ball and that seems to help. I am also "trading" her a piece of kibble for the ball when I say "drop it."

Still shooting myself, and the light isn't great (since the 3 little monkeys were in bed.)

Maybe I'll have Emily take some video of us in the next day or so. It's still cutting off the right side of the video (even though I used YouTube to upload instead of Yahoo video.) Anyone know why?

Or how to fix it?

Millie's Training.

I have been having issues loading video to blogger.

I have wasted literally HOURS on trying to figure it out. I kind of wish I had never updated to the new version ....

I have more to post about the kids and Millie - but thought I'd just try this to see if it works. It's not good quality video. Rick is in Chicago & Bek is in Costa Rica, so I am shooting myself - wobbly when I move & praise her!

Millie is doing VERY well with her training. She can -

come

sit

down

wait

let's go (leaving from wait)

OK (release word from wait)

walk beautifully right beside me on a leash

We're working on -

stay

leave it

drop it

fetch

We're still having a bunch of issues with her biting the kids. I am hoping that a lot of it will go away when her baby teeth fall out (which I think I read is at 3 months??) For now, I just have to be super on the ball with watching her & giving her a correction - and protecting them.

If you notice in the video, when I say her name she sits. It's been great - as soon as she knows I want something from her, she sits and watches me. She is really eager to please and likes "working".  She is a super smart dog - really, she's only 11 weeks old and has already learned so much.
I am SO in love with her!

Since I made this video I have taken her out the door a few times without saying either "sit" or "wait" and she has done both - which is of course, our end goal. As Cesar would say "An open door doesn't mean go out, you have to be invited." She really is a wonderful puppy!

Millie

Last week was the last week of school for my kids. It was a crazy week - ending with me hosting a dinner for Rebekah's high school teachers at our house on Thursday & holding a Harry Potter themed 1/2 birthday for Emily on Friday. I spent Saturday morning at my last composting class and the afternoon trying to make some sense of the house and clean up a little before taking off Saturday evening, when I flew to Colorado to get our puppy!

I was fortunate to spend a few days with my dear friend, Melissa, and her wonderful family. I slept, I read, I hung out by the pool. It was really relaxing and a wonderful start to summer.

The best part though, was on Tuesday evening when the breeder (Wendy) met me at Melissa's to bring me Millie. I have poured over pictures of this dog - but she is even more beautiful and so great in "real life." Seriously, have you ever seen a prettier puppy?

Wendy's daughter Grace, had a hard time saying good-bye. I don't blame her! I promised we'd keep in touch. I'm really glad they had a kid in their house, so Millie could get used to kids. Millie was clearly loved and a part of the family before she came to us, which I'm sure has helped her adjustment.

Me, Millie and her Mom, Lilly.

So, now you have a good idea how big Millie will get - a perfect size!

After they left, I fed her. She LOVES to eat.

Then she went to the "bathroom." (aka Melissa's flower bed.)

Then we played in the backyard.

She seemed tired, so we stopped and I rubbed under her chin and she fell sound asleep against my legs with her little paws in the air. She is a darling!!

About 10:30pm we left for the airport and the red-eye home. I was a little nervous about how she'd do on the flight - being only hours after separating from her mother & litter mates. I reminded myself that I have flown with my kids dozens of times (I am a pro) and that I'd never see any of the other passengers again ...

 Once I'd checked my bag and got my boarding pass I took her outside for a little walk and to see if she'd "go" again (she didn't). I went through security and headed to the gate. It was after mid-night and I thought the poor little thing was probably tired.  I walked around, back and forth in front of the gate carrying the bag until she went to sleep.

She was an ANGEL on the flight. I kept the bag on my lap after we had taken off. Not a single sound out of her. She slept until about 20 minutes before we landed (I think the change in in altitude probably woke her up) and then just sat quietly in the carrier while I patted her. I had unzipped the top, so she could poke her head out while I did that, but the flight attendant came by and said "Ma'am, you're going to need to keep that closed." I did think to myself "Why, to keep this vicious puppy from attacking anyone?" - but I zipped it mostly closed and just kept my hand in so I could keep stroking her. As I was getting off several people who had been sitting around me commented that they'd had no idea I'd had a dog with me.

Rick was outside waiting for me, so I let her out to see if she needed to "go" (still didn't) and then handed her to them in the car while I went back in for my bag.

If you ever want to make your kids deliriously happy - bring them a puppy!

We got home and got out of the car, took her to the spot we want her to use as her "potty" and she went right away. I just kept thinking to myself - we have the perfect dog!

She has blended into the family beautifully. She follows me wherever I go and flops on the ground by my feet when I stop to do dishes, laundry, etc. We just keep her wherever we are and she has been great. The toughest part is keeping the kids away from her when she is sleeping. Jacob & Jane just love hugging her and kissing her so much!

Eventually I chase them away and she gets a quiet nap.

Her first night home she cried a lot - on and off most of the night. We got 2 crates and put one in our room, at the foot of our bed where we want her to sleep. (The other is in the dining room for when we have to leave her at home and go out - which we have so far only done for 1 hour.) Rick complained that she kept him up, which I thought was hilarious because he has had no problem sleeping through our kids all these years! The second night & last night she slept through without a sound.

She has had a few accidents in the house, but I think those were mostly our fault - not reading her cues or getting her out in time. She's still just a baby and we're all learning together.

The kids are just loving having her to play with - it's so much fun to have her hanging out with us.

Although there have been some issues with "sharing" and I have said to Jane 5 million times

"Jane, don't pick her up." On the whole, everyone is sharing in her care (under my supervision) and getting lots of play time with her.

So, she cleans her plate at every meal, sleeps through the night already, comes when I call her and follows me when I leave. Already she is so much better behaved than my kids!

I am totally in love with this dog!!