Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Minnie Recommends...

I decided I'm going to do a weekly post about something (a toy, treat, etc) that Minnie really loves.  Although she's a dog, she really does have preferences about the stuff she plays with and the things she eats!  For example, I found out that she does NOT like these organic pumpkin pie dog biscuits I got her...yeah, I don't really know what dog would like something like that, but I thought I'd try it (mostly because the packaging was cute!)


So we discovered that Minnie goes CRAZY for the Target brand (Boots & Barkley) of chewy training treats. I tried to find a link for them on the Target website, but didn't see anything. They are just tiny bits of chewy, stinky, meat treats that we give her when we're practicing sit and stay. They're the perfect size and judging by Minnie's reaction, the flavor is pretty tasty too! She even knows the sound the bag makes when we're opening it - she'll come running in from the next room!


The bag comes in 2 sizes and I believe 2 flavors (she likes the beef). These treats receive 2 paws up from Minnie!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Minnie's Big Adventure - Part II

So the little rascal did it again....she got out of our fenced in backyard!


This morning I went to let her in, and again she was nowhere to be seen. And just like last time, I started to freak out! After about 5 minutes of agony, I saw her climbing back under the fence (she actually looked like she was trying to sneak in - she probably thought she'd get away with it!) I think what happens is when the dog next door comes out, Minnie thinks that is her cue to go play. Regardless, Minnie's escape route is going to be blocked off somehow!


Although she scared me and made me really mad, that furry little face and sad puppy eyes got to me! Ha.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Minnie's Big Adventure

The other morning we let Minnie out in the backyard like we normally do, so she can have some playtime before we go to work. When it was time for her to eat her breakfast, we called her inside...but no response. She normally comes barreling in so she can wolf down her food - but we got NOTHING. We called her, we searched the backyard for her, even checked her favorite spots (behind the AC and next to the woodpile). Minnie was nowhere to be found.


This is when I began to panic. Visions of a furry puppy wandering the streets of Kirkwood flooded my mind. I pictured her scared and lonely, pawing through trash cans trying to find her next meal. Ok, I got carried away, but my furry friend was gone and I was worried!


I decided to check the front yard, even though it seemed like a dumb idea, since our backyard is completely fenced in, and there's NO way she could get out. But I was wrong! I looked out the front window and there was Minnie, hovering on the front porch shaking and pawing at the door. 


How the heck did she get there???? And how did she know to go to the front door? We have no idea what happened, and it's a mystery that we'd like to figure out! If only she could talk and tell us how she did it! 


We now refer to the event as Minnie's Big Adventure - from the backyard to the front porch. For a little 3 month old pup, that's a scary journey! Poor Minnie. Now she's getting less "unsupervised" playtime since we don't trust her! Oh well...I'm just glad nothing happened to her! That would have been HORRIBLE.


Another big event for Minnie this weekend - her first bath! (Minus the one she got at the breeder before she came home.) She actually did pretty well - I  hope she doesn't mind how much we laughed at her because of how silly she looked all drenched!  She somehow managed to climb out of the tub and up on the toilet, but besides that, she was a good girl.


Minnie had yet another vacuum encounter yesterday - she HATES that thing! She was in her "house" when I was vacuuming, but she was so scared that she climbed up on top of the boxes we have in there (since it's too big and we needed to block off some space). We called it her loft. Ha!
I solemnly swear I won't escape my yard anymore!

I like sitting like a person


Nothing wrong with a nap before it's time for bed!

My mom always has to pick me up...sheeesh

Monday, December 12, 2011

The Minn in the Mirror

Minnie had a very eventful weekend! She had a lot of visitors, met some new faces, and even had playtime with another puppy and her 10 yr old Golden cousin, Jack! Here's a couple of things that happened:

  • She took a small tumble down the basement steps...she usually doesn't go down them but she couldn't handle it anymore, so she tried going herself...didn't work so well!
  • She ran away from the "vacuum monster" again!
  • She got her head stuck between the slats of the fence in our yard....now that I've typed these 3 things it doesn't look like Minnie had a great weekend, ha!
  • She discovered the mirror - it was SO hilarious. She barked at it, pawed it, licked it, gave it confused looks, then walked away and whipped around real quick like "why are you following me?" We call it the "Minn in the Mirror" when she does that!
  • She had another try with the leash - it didn't go so well but we'll give her time!
  • She has been very good at "sit" so now we've been working on "stay." She's doing great! 
Minnie is such a good little girl! We love her!

Here's some photos from this weekend.

Intensely watching tv...Hart of Dixie I believe!

Playing with her cousin, Jack!

"My jerky parents put me in here!"

Monday, December 5, 2011

Learning and (kind of) growing

Minnie's a pretty small girl (when we got her she only weighed in at 6 lbs, even though she was 8 weeks old). This weekend we took Minnie to the vet, feeling confident that she weighed at least 10 lbs. She's been eating 3 meals a day, eating treats, and getting a little thicker (although we're not sure if it's fat or fur!), so we were sure she's made progress.  Unfortunately, she only gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks, and weighs in at about 8 lbs, which is pretty small for a 10 week old golden. The vet didn't seem to be concerned though, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing and make sure she stays healthy!


Other than that, little Minnie had a great weekend (minus the 2 shots she got!) She met some more new people, had plenty of backyard playtime on her own without getting in too much trouble, met a dog that weighs 10 times more than her, practiced "sit" and "fetch," ate dry food without the stinky wet food mixed in, and was accident free! She also seems to like climbing up on things (maybe she thinks she's a cat?) such as the dishwasher, kitchen drawers, the fireplace, and random furniture.


Minnie also seems to "sleep in" on the weekends until 6:30 am....but whenever the work week rolls in, she keeps waking us up between 4:30 and 5:45! Minnnieeeeeeee!


Something Minnie learned this weekend - she does NOT like the vacuum. Or the Shark floor steamer. But since she's the one causing the need for the vacuum and the steamer, she'll have to get used to it! :)



Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Lowdown on Minnie!

I feel like a very neglectful blogger...Minnie has been here for almost 2 weeks and I didn't post any updates about her! So I better get to it...here's what's been happening with Minnie!


The day we got her she was SOOOO adorable. I mean a tiny, fuzzy, furball that was so precious and awesome. The breeder mentioned she was a lot smaller than her brothers, but we didn't care - we loved her already!


The first night with her was NOT fun. She cried, whined, and barked the ENTIRE night. She was in her kennel, which she HATED. However now she goes in there with just a little crying here and there. We call it "Minnie's Condo." She's got it decked out with her bed crammed inside, a bunch of towels, a baby blanket, and her BFF Lambchop. 


We took her to the vet the next morning, where she was such a good girl! She went and laid on my purse next to the wall and took a snooze while we waited for the vet to come in. No shots that time...but she's got that to look forward to this weekend! :)


I'll sum up the first week we had her by saying this: she was very tiny (only 6 lbs), very fuzzy, did very good with housetraining, started sleeping through the night in her kennel on about day 4, hardly ate her food, slid all around our house because her tiny paws weren't worn in enough yet, ran laps around the yard, went to her first Thanksgiving (where she threw up in the car ride all over me), busted down her baby gates a couple times, found her favorite spot in the kitchen (next to the wall and my rainboots), had about 20 people over to see her, got a bunch of new toys from people, loves her blue Nylabone, liked to lay under the coffee table (she can't find there anymore!), and was overall a very cute and adventurous pup!


The second week she gained more of an appetite (she still gets a combo of wet and dry food), she figured out how to tell us when she has to go out (by scratching on the door), goes out by herself, is still afraid of the chocolate lab next door, has started biting us (playfully), loves playing with all of her toys, has gotten a little more rambunctious, likes to put her paws up on the dishwasher when we're loading it, climbs up on the hearth, jumps off the back steps onto the table sitting next to it (she kind of acts like a cat!), gets VERY excited when we open the refrigerator or her bag of beef training treats from Target, still takes a lot of naps, accidentally sat down in her water bowl, comes barreling at us in the morning.


Here are some pictures of Minn from the day we got her up until this week. Enjoy!