Meet August!

As you may have seen on Facebook, just over two weeks ago, we recently added another member to the Olsen household...world, meet August!

"Helloooooo!

Look at my ears - 

I can hear your thoughts!"

The two of us generally favor having two dogs at any one time in the house; while we found out that three is A LOT to handle (it gets hard when they outnumber you), one can be just as demanding, particularly when that one is a high-energy, exceedingly driven little maniac like this girl:

"What do you mean you have to work?

You need to be available to play with me

all.day.long."

Since Zoe spent her earliest months with Kaylee (as Kaylee lived out her final days), and she looooves her time at doggie daycare, we knew she'd like having another doggo in the house to romp around with.  

Throwback picture to Zoe's earliest days with us.

Look at how little she was!

Also, that is one reflective collar!

While we're doing throwbacks,

here's our most recent (and hopefully, last)

threesome, in the backyard of our rental house in CA - 

there's Harley, Bella, and Kaylee

I didn't want to leave Luigi out of a blog with dog pictures!
Such a weirdo.

We started looking for an appropriate companion a few months back, but different things kept getting in the way and making it not quite the right time to bring someone else home (trips, construction in the backyard, etc).  I'd been keeping an eye on the websites for several different rescue organizations nearby, and the week after Labor Day, we headed to the HALO Animal Rescue location in MetroCenter Mall to see who might be available.  We met one sweet little puppy named Shelby, but given how small she was, we thought the Panzer tank waiting at home might run her over.  We'd also seen August's picture online, and although she was rather reserved when we met her, she seemed to warm up to me in the short time we were together, and the volunteer there mentioned that she loved other dogs (she'd been in a large kennel with a buddy, and since he'd been adopted about a week earlier, she'd been noticeably gloomy).

After speaking to the volunteers, we made plans to come see August again, the next evening after work, and this time, we'd bring Zoe, to ensure they'd like each other.  The volunteers introduced them, and things seemed to go well, so I filled out the paperwork while Chris took Zoe to the nearby pet store to pick up another crate, bedding, and the like.

We brought Auggie home, and as expected, the first few days were a bit weird as she got used to living with us and vice versa (no one slept particularly well).  Zoe really just wanted to play with her like SO BAD, and she didn't understand why August wouldn't come out of her kennel, even though there was a hyper-excited terrier barking directly at her from close range.

"I just want to loooooove her!"

There's likely some sort of trauma in Auggie's past - she's over the moon about me and other ladies (once she gets to know them), but she's really wary of men, including poor Chris, who just wants to love her as much as Zoe does.  The first time she did her business in the backyard and Chris praised her, she threw herself on the ground, cowering, terrified that she was doing something wrong.  Thankfully, we've already come quite a ways since then; Auggie came to use pretty much kennel trained, which is awesome, and her house-training was pretty quick and easy, compared to some dogs we've trained in the past.  She's still working on learning commands like "sit" and "down," but most of the delay has come from me not wanting to push her past a "this is fun training" and into a "oh, God, now I'm terrified of Mom, too" mind space.

As far as Zoe goes, these two are now best buddies - they tear around the house together, ricocheting off walls and doors, play fighting and stealing bones from one another.

On the way home from a fun dog park excursion

She's continuing to work on building her confidence, and we think she'll make a good addition to the household, once she understands that she's in a good, safe, loving place.  She's been going to daycare with Zoe a few times a week, and she enjoys that, too - Chris normally takes her and says both girls start hopping up and down in the backseat when they get close to the drop off location.

I normally do the afternoon pick-ups,

and things tend to look like this for me - 

two sacked out girls in the back seat.

In the first week of her life with us,

August wouldn't come out of her kennel to

have her collar and harness put on her.

Chris would have to put them on her while she was inside.

Now, she squishes herself against the front door

and lets us get her ready instead.

PROGRESS!

Lots of folks have asked what August is, in terms of breeds and the like, and we don't know for sure - we plan to pick up one of those doggie DNA kits if they go on sale around the holidays - we know she came from Mexico originally, as her early puppy paperwork is from a Mexican vet.  We're thinking she's likely either shepherd or doberman, as she's already as big as Zoe, and she's only 8 months - and she's not done growing yet.  Given her location of origin, she probably also has a healthy smattering of coyote thrown in the mix, too!

I picked this shot, as you can see her funny little neck ruff.

It's a little mohawk that's about one inch tall and

3-4 inches long.

"Mom, show the folks how cute I am!"

Overall, our new baby is a sweet girl who needs a bit more time to settle into her new home.  More updates soon!

Later!

Amy