For a little while now, I've been telling Sammy that he needed to get his very own pup. After experiencing the love I have for Leo (we joke that he is my 4-legged soulmate, hahah), I really felt like Sam needed that as well. So off and on for a little bit now, I'd see a dog or pup post and I'd casually send it Sam's way. He would look at it and be like yup, cute dog, but then let it go as there wasn't any pull to check the dog out.
Finally, a few weeks back, I saw a post about a litter of puppies that were rescued off of the Yakima reservation. There was one in particular I thought Sam would like, so I sent him the post and told him to check the pups out, especially the tri-colored one. He did his usual, yup, cute pups, but then didn't say anything more. A day goes by and I'm sitting in the kitchen when he sends me a photo of the tri-colored pup and just brings it up again. I knew then that he really did like the puppy. He'd never brought the same dog up twice before. So I could tell he was feeling it.
I wrote to the lady, Valarie, who lives on the other side of town from us, to get more info about the puppy and wound up scheduling an appointment for that evening for us to go see her, haha.
Sam was so excited when I told him!!
Just in case......I got the house ready for a puppy.
The moment we saw the litter of puppies was magical. They were all soooo cute!!! The tri-colored one Sam was interested in came right up to him and it was love at first sight. It didn't take long to realize we were not leaving there without the puppy, haha!
So meet Chunky! Sam's pup! She is really something else. We've had her a week and a half now and Sammy has declared that he loves her. My job is done! LOL
The poor thing, along with her litter mates, were pretty much starving when they were taken from the reservation, so she was really sensitive around food. We have since been able to correct that food aggression by giving her access to food all the time. She's learned the food is not running out and she doesn't have to worry and be aggressive.
In true puppy fashion, she is 100 miles an hour for a little bit, and then crashes into nap time. Unfortunately, Sam can't take her to work with him because of a no-dog policy they have (it would have been soooooo nice if she could have gone to work with him!), so I babysit during the day and try to work on her training. Lets just say I love when it is nap time, hahaha. I've raised two other puppies in my life time, Daisy and then Leo, but Chunky is definitely the most spunky. When she is in chill mode, she is so lovey and snuggly! But when she is awake and ready to go, watch out! She always needs a toy in her mouth, otherwise it's you that's going to be in her mouth! She loves to play with toys and chase the cats around too, lol.
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At first, Daisy and Leo wanted nothing to do with her. They were like who in the hell is this? And when is she going home? They were barky and growly and poor Chunky was so sad they didn't want to play with her. I get it. Eventually though, Leo started to warm up to having her around. He is such a good boy!! He is very tolerant of her puppy antics, giving a soft growl here or there when he's had enough, but otherwise so good about her being in his face and crawling all over him. I think he finally realized she could be another play mate for him, so he finally caved and quit ignoring her and started to play. It's cute watching them play together and how patient my good boy Leo is with her! The only thing that is still a problem is that Chunky will sometimes come on my side of the bed at night time and that makes Leo upset. I think he gets jealous and is worried about her taking his place. I tell him that Chunky is Papa's and I love him more than words can express and no pup could ever come close to taking his place.....but I think he's still worried, lol. So we're working on learning personal space on the bed at bed time, but otherwise Chunky and Leo are now friends and that makes Sam happy.
Daisy, on the other hand, is all sorts of sad and mopey and still doesn't want a thing to do with her. Instant barks and growls the second she even approaches her. So that relationship will take some more time. I think Daisy just needs some special one on one time with Anthony and/or Papa so she understands she's not being replaced or forgotten.
Training is going well. I have successfully taught Chunky how to use the pet stairs to get up onto the couch and the bed in one try. I also successfully taught her how to use the dog door to get out to the fenced back yard within one try as well. She is a smart cookie.
We are still, however, working on potty training. I didn't have such a hard time with Daisy and Leo.....but for some reason she can't quite put it together that outside is the only appropriate place to go potty. For now we have to keep all the bedroom and bathroom doors shut to prevent accidents on carpet. For the most part, she is doing good. I make sure to rush her out the second she gets up from a nap, and then periodically during the day, especially after she's eaten. But sometimes she just can't seem to get herself out the back dog door and will squat on a bedroom floor if the door is accidentally left open. Annoying.....but we will get there. The puppy stage only lasts for so long, and I've had success with two other dogs, so I've got patience.
Anyway, that's Chunky. Sam's very own 4-legged soulmate. We are looking forward to her settling in and becoming one of the family.
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