Has it really been two weeks?

I know I don't have any readers yet but blogging for me cheers Mama up so I'm complying. It's been two weeks and two days since I came home and it has been AWESOME.

Since my last post we've done leash work, sit, down, up, stay (even if Mama only makes it a few steps away!) recall work (I have some selective hearing if I'm herding my pals or tracking something,) den introduction (Mama calls it a "cage" but I think its just a fun bedroom *most* of the time) and starters agility. YES, AGILITY. *wiggle*

I was a little wound up Saturday and Mama wanted to burn off some of my energy before she had to meet with her set manager for that play thing she does. We were outback in our yard and she thought, "How can I tire my perfect little princess out?" The next thing I knew she had had built this:


Mama sez: "Why yes that IS an agility jump made out of two empty Tidy Cat kitty litter containers and a broken shovel handle I found in the woodpile."

Mama was very impressed with herself. I thought nothing of it. All I knew was I jumped, she clicked and I got a treat. Works for me!

When I was finally getting tired and kept flopping down to nibble the grass, Mama decided I should have one more jump and then it was inside with Nanny, Grandma and my pals while Mama went to her meeting. Mama thought she was being tricky by turning the thingys on end so that the jump was almost as tall as me. If I could have shrugged my shoulders I would have. I just jumped right over, got a click, got a treat and waited for her to say we could go inside. Mama seems to think I'm some kind of jean-yus. I just like treats.

Also? That clicker thing is COOL. Every time Mama takes me outside to potty I sit down (without being cued) and look up at her like, " Yo. Ma. Let's work!"


I also got to meet some of my Aunties, Mama's cuz-ins. (I was hoping they were those Cuz toys some pups mention on their doggy bloggies but alas they were not.) I decided last night when we were celebrating the health care stuff that I should attack them and show them HOW FUN hair chewing is. Mama was not impressed.

Well, Mama says it's time to go outside once more before she begins organizing her scrap booking stuff. I am unimpressed with this because the way it is now my kitty pals occasionally knock stuff over for me to play with. Granted Mama doesn't find that as COOL as I do but come on. That stuff is way better than any of my toys!


Peace Out!
--Stella-spaz

What a diference a week makes!

Well it's officially one week and one day since my Gotcha Day and boy have I had fun!

The first day the other doggies (Sarah and Maddie) and the kitties (Belle, Emmy, Muppet, Bootsie & Oz) were all really cool with me and actually kind of ignored me. Then too I was pretty laid back. That night, though, Sarah and Maddie kind of went, "Wait. You're STAYING?!" Needless to say the next few days were interesting.

Sunday I learned how to play with toys and chew bones. I also learned how to run in our fenced yard and was quite intrigued by some things in the backyard that I immediately tried to climb. Mama wants to try some agility with me. She says I have to go to puppy kindergarten first though. *sigh*

One super awesome thing is my Mummy picked my name. Mama figured since Mummy is a gazillion miles away, she should get to chose. They were joking about "STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAA" from A Streetcar Named Desire and Mummy said, "That's it! I know what her name should be!"

One of Mummy's favorite books when she was little was a book about a baby bat named Stellaluna who loses her mommy bat. AND Stella means Star which is what my doggie mommy and daddy's parents were calling me. How cool is that?!

Together Mama and Mummy decided my middle name should be Shelia after Shelia Franklin in HAIR. Shelia wants to change the world, just like me!

Monday was AWESOME because Mama didn't have to work her day job so we got to hang out ALL DAY. We did some leash work and more learning how to play with toys.

The best part was going to rehearsal. Mama is directing a play (I think it's like what my doggie daddy does on the farm.) I went with her and got cuddles from a whole bunch of people and then I went to sleep in my bed for the rest of the time. Mama was impressed that I slept through all their barking... er, laughing she calls it. The play is named FOOLS which I think is appropriate since humans seem to be pretty foolish sometimes.

Tuesday, I was a little bummed. I had to stay home because Mama had some places to go that I couldn't yet. She said I can go eventually but there are things I need to learn first and I have to go to some vet thing. I've never been in the military. I'm not really sure what that means.

Anyway, I got to hang out with grandma (she's actually Mama's grandma.) I also spent time with my Aunt Jackie and got a little more acquainted with the other doggies as well as the kitties. It wasn't too bad but I did cry for Mama for awhile.

Wednesday Mama was home and we did some more leash work. Thursday she had more "non-Stella" work. Friday she was home again!

Yesterday was REALLY cool, though. I got to go with Mama, her Mama and her Grandma in the car. They had errands to run Mama said. I found out errands means FOOD. I like food.

We also worked on learning how to sit and Mama says I'm doing a GREAT job. When we worked on it this morning, Sarah and Maddie joined in! Maddie has always known how to sit but Sarah never cared to learn. Mama and her Mama almost piddled on the floor when the saw all three of us sitting patiently in a line waiting for our treats! When they had to leave the house for a little bit Mama put us all in a sit and we stayed and didn't charge the door!

Aunt Jackie thinks that means Armageddon is coming. Mama thinks it's just plain AWESOME.

So yeah, that was my first week. I'm really loving this place especially now that Maddie and Sarah are starting to play with me lots! I can't wait to see what happens this week!

Peace Out!

---Stella

Hihihihihi!

Hello there and welcome to my blog! My name is... um well I don't actually have an officially name so I'll just go by Star, the name my doggie mommy and daddy's parents gave me.

I guess you probably want to know a little bit about me, eh? (One of my new humans is Canadian so expect a lot of "eh"s)

But yes, I was born in a hot-bed in the Bronx!

Okay, I wasn't but Mama thinks it's funny. She says she always says that and it is from A Core Us Line whatever that is. Just ignore her. I'm the smart one here!

Let's try this again. I was born three months ago (in rural Northwestern Pennsylvania) to my Beagle mama and my Australian Shepherd/Border Collie daddy. Their human parents let us all live in this really cool place that they called a barn. There were all kinds of amazing smells, plus my brothers and sisters and kitties! Mama says they make maple syrup there too and I'll probably have to taste some some day since Mummy is a Canuck.

But back to my parents that aren't missing legs. My beagle mommy, Suzy, showed up on her human's door step six years ago. They tried to find her humans but didn't. They think she liberated herself from an Amish Puppymill which are (or at least used to be) very prevalent in our area. Mama says thank goodness for the new laws about breeding here in PA!

As for my Australian Shepherd/Border Collie daddy, the humans got him to help take care of the farm. He's super smart, loves his job and is learning it really fast! He is about 16 months old now. The humans said my brothers and sisters and I were a big surprise! (Mama thinks there were six of us but she can't remember 'cuz she's OLD.) They didn't think our doggie daddy was old enough to help make puppies. I guess that just goes to show what a fast learner he really is!

Now for some sad. A few days just before or after Christmas (again Mama's forgetful old brain) my doggie mommy Suzy got out and was hit by a car. They said she went to the Rainbow Bridge and that it's nice there but I didn't care! I wanted her with me still! I was just a little baby!

The humans were very sad when mommy Suzy went to that Bridge place. The human mommy decided she wanted to keep one of my sisters. A couple of my other siblings went to some of the humans two-legged puppies. (And can I just say how confused I am? I don't get it. How can humans have puppies that are as big as them? My brothers and sisters and I were MUCH smaller than our mommy and daddy. I mean, we're bigger now but... The world is a very weird place.)

Anyway apparently there were some other humans that kept saying they wanted the rest of us but never came to get us. So two days ago mommy and daddy's human mommy called the newspaper (What IS that? Is it like pee mail?) and said to tell everyone that she had Australian Shepherd/Border Collie/Beagle puppies free to GOOD homes. The newspaper told everyone yesterday morning. My new mama just so happened to be up early feeding one of the kitties here and giving him his insulin. (She says he has Die Uh Bee Teas. I have *NO CLUE* what that means. I'm not sure I want to know.) So Mama gets the message from the newspaper and she says her heart started to pound. Here's why:

Mama works in the Mental Health Field as a Peer Support Specialist. She says that means that she helps other humans who are very sad or confused or many other things. The reason she can do that is because she's been that way too!

Well Mama has been thinking a lot lately, specifically about how much doggies have helped her her whole life and also about all the therapy/emotional support/assistance dogs. She says that she thinks "Canine Mental Health Professionals" are the wave of the future. (Again, no clue what this means.) It was her plan to one day get a puppy, go through all the trainings and some day user them with her Peers. She says her big goal is to some day run a program of therapy/emotional support/assistance dogs staffed only with rescue dogs. How cool is that?! I mean again I'm not *really* sure what it all means but I know that rescue is a REALLY good thing!

Basically though, when she saw what mix my brothers and sisters and I were she knew immediately she wanted to assess us and if any of us passed she was going to make some phone calls to see about getting us into some kind of training. She was NOT planning on bringing one of us home.

Well, we all see how that worked out, eh?

When Mama arrived my doggie parents humans walked out with me and said, "She's the last one." Mama was shocked. The newspaper only told everyone about the puppies just that morning!

So Mama asked if we could go into the barn and do the assessment. She was very surprised how relaxed I was because the human daddy had said there was one boy and one girl left (when she talked to him on the telly fone) and that the boy was the more mellow puppy. She was also shocked at how AMAZING I did on the assessment. She said in all the assessments she's ever done or seen, mine was the best.

Then came the moment of truth. Mama couldn't stand the thought of me missing my brother that night and I was so docile and so smart. She knew with the right training I would be the perfect support dog. The next thing we knew we were in her car!

About a half an hour later we arrived at my new home. There I met:
Mama's Mama
Mama's Grandma (She doesn't feel so well sometimes so Mama helps take care of her)
Sarah -- Mini Dachshund/Chihuahua, 10 years old (she was fine with me at first but now she's not so sure)
Maddie -- Cocker Spaniel, 8yrs old (She was just like Sarah but she's warmed up some. We played in the back yard today. It was FUN!)
Belle, Emmy, Muppet, Bootsie, Oz -- The kitties!

I'd write more but it's nap time. Thank you for stopping by. Maybe next time you're here I'll have my official name!
Until then,
The puppy currently known as Star