Saturday, August 2, 2008

meet Rosie.

Rosie Marie
current weight: 2 lbs, 10 oz
favorite pastimes: bugging her brother, pouncing, eating, chewing, snuggling

Wow. Well, it's been quite the week, to say the least. I think we were fairly prepared for another little dog in our home, but it's still come with some adjustment. (As a side note: Anyone who has been bugging us about babies can just CHILL OUT because this has been a good reminder that we are NOT ready to selflessly give up our lives and our money for a kid just yet.)

My biggest fear was realized when she came home... Bailey thought she was fun for a while, until he realized that she wasn't going to stop pouncing on him trying to play. Bailey has been a sweetheart to her, never anything mean, but spent the first few days trying to avoid her as much as he could. I'm pretty sure he was thinking: "What in the heck is this thing, and please tell me it's not staying here. Simmer down whippersnapper!" That's kind of funny because HE was once the little puppy, and I know Riley (my parents' dog) felt that way about him. Ah, how the tables turn.
This was way closer than Bailey wanted to be for a few days...

So I spent quite a while worrying that we made the wrong choice. But a few days, a visit to the vet (Rosie's first check-up), and a lot of googling later, they started to warm up to each other, and I started to learn that it's normal for it to be like this for a couple of weeks whenever a new dog is introduced. We are making sure that they get plenty of seperate time with us, and Bailey gets tons and tons of love and praise when he's sweet to his sister. Every day, it's getting better, and I'm hopeful that someday they'll be buddies.

Rosie is... well... I think the best word for it is a spitfire. :) When we brought Bailey home, he was shy and didn't move around much and took a week or two to really "blossom" into his true personality. This little one showed up ready to party.
Rosie already telling us what's up.

Rosie will sprint around the house and is a ball of energy. That said, she does calm down and snuggle up in a sweet little lump:

She (as Evan put it) "runs on the same batteries" as Bailey- one minute super-active (though at 3 1/2 he's calmed down quite a bit!), then next, asleep. Rosie also LOVES to eat. It was hard to get Bailey to eat at first (small dogs are prone to hyperglycemia and it's important that they eat fairly often as puppies), but Rosie dove right in and has been chowing down ever since. We've been calling her Miss Piggy and Little Fatty. :)

Rosie has been great at crate and potty training so far-- she only cried her first night, and ever since she's been sleeping through in the crate with only a small whimper here or there. She hasn't quite mastered going potty outdoors yet (the grass was tall last week, but J cut it short and we think that will help), but she's a pro at the potty pads we put in the kitchen with her, so it's all good. She's quite content to spend a nice chunk of her day like her big brother, curled up in her bed in the study, but she always needs some toys to chew on.
We've been taking both dogs on a walk every night to help with their bonding (working well!) and wear them down before bedtime each night, and were surprised when Rosie DID THE WHOLE WALK on her first try! Granted, it wasn't a long walk, but getting Bailey to do a cul-de-sac in the beginning was hard. Most of the time she doesn't really run/walk, she hops and pounces, and frankly looks like a little frog. :)

We're very happy (albeit adjusting) as a new little family, and I think I'm going to like this feisty little girl... :)

Rosie's "baby" picture


For comparison, Bailey's baby picture:
Aw! He was so little!!

PS- Rosie got a haircut last night, and looks different now. :) I'll try to take some pictures and post soon! (but don't hold your breath...)

1 comments:

mGk said...

She is so cute! I can't wait to meet your new little girl! Madeline can't wait either. She is sitting on my lap saying "uuff, uuff" (woof, woof) at your sweet babies!

love, een