Ohhh Freesia. Lessons learned, greyhound on the way.

Two weeks left with one of the highest maintenance dogs I've cared for. Freesia has continued her everlasting energy stream (with the exception of after midnight, where she is difficult to even move across a room) but has also learned some lessons along the way. Over the past month, she has learned during her visit(most of them the hard way):

1. We NEVER jump on counters. Ever.
2. This is also true of couches, baby gates, and people. Never EVER.
3. Jumping for a ball or toy is also completely unacceptable. Particularly when it leads to knocking people over.
4. When I say sit, or down, it means you stay there until told otherwise. None of this "Yeah, I'll do it for a second...then I'll get up again and go do what you didn't want me to do in the first place!"
5. It's important to whine, pace, or do SOMETHING when you have to pee. Just popping a squat after waking up after a nap doesn't cut it.
6. You must stop panting excessively before you can be fed. Meaning, no more running around and playing until food comes. Otherwise, it will never come.
7. After you greet people, you come lay down. And no, you don't need to show them every toy in the house just because they're there.
8. We DO NOT lick Niles in the face.
9. Bring the ball back, or there will be no game to be had.
10. Staying in a kennel means you are quiet. You'd better be dying or have a serious problem otherwise.

Some things I wish she would still learn:
1. NO bones in the kitchen. Ever.
2. Grass is not something to be eaten every time something exciting happens.
3. Your butt is NOT that itchy.
4. Wiggling your foot at the last possible second when getting nails clipped is the worst idea ever.
5. No matter how many times you reluctantly stand 15 feet away from the bedroom door, I will always ask you to come in.
6. You do not need to stand and stare at me when you want to be fed. Yeah, I know. I'm waiting for you to settle so you don't throw it up from eating too fast.
7. You do NOT need to have something in your mouth every time someone enters the room. This completely excludes shoes, paper, garbage, and BONES.
8. No one will play with you if you have a bone in your mouth. They also HATE it when you drop it on their foot.
9. Walking 3 miles a day is a luxury. Not a given requirement.

Luckily, the list of learned things is greater than the list of un-learned things (slightly). Needless to say, I've been rather busy and feel like I'm on house arrest, since Freesia barely tolerates being left for more than three hours. Though all the dogs I've worked with have been a considerable commitment, I never remember feeling as limited as this...all the more love to the potential greyhound.

I know that she is still a puppy, but she seems to have way more anxiety than any other dogs I've had that takes double as long to work out before she can come close to normal, which also needs to be kept in check twice as much to not let her stress take over. This, my parents fail horribly at understanding, and I am quite tired and annoyed at being called "the fuer" because of the amount of direction I have to give to her. I am exhausted, and, while I always enjoy having the dogs for company, am quite looking forward to August 13th when she'll head back to her raisers.

In other news, greyhound plans are well on their way. Though my 21st birthday (the 24th) was lame in the sense that I picked out all my gifts, I am almost finished collecting all necessary greyhound items. These include:
1. A giant kennel
2. A dog divider for the station wagon
3. A squawker
4. A fancy raised feeding set
5. A gift card for toys (well, maybe one or two. They are quite pricey at the place Sarah got the gift card from at the Yuppy Puppy Pet Boutique). )

I have yet to get the greyhound sweater, but wanted to know the size of the dog first. I've decided to adopt from Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue, and the dog will come an adoption package, so any left over stuff will be covered (though let's face it, I've probably got enough dog stuff here to last the pound a few months!). It's quite obvious I'm very excited. I'm also curious to work more on positive reinforcement techniques (they don't go that far with Freesia) and socialization for the new dog (aka, teaching them how to be confident, rather than trying to curb over-excitement all the time). My boyfriend Eric and I settled on a name after weeks of disputing and are going with "Winry" if the name she comes with doesn't fit (it was take that or settle with "Desu," "Nagisa," or "Tiaga.").

Everything is all set! Now all I have to do is...wait. This will be far easier to do at school though, since I will enjoy myself up to the time she comes. I'll also be sure to get a cute picture of Freesia before she leaves. In the one I found, Freesia and I are with Bill and Godiva when we met them for lunch after Alabama. I sure do miss my Godiva <3 But she is still a happy girl! Anyway, enjoy!

Freesia for the Summer

Gerta's other raisers have again headed to Texas, so I get their "new" puppy, Freesia, for the summer. Freesia is 8 months old (almost 9 now) and is a black lab related to both Gerta and Godiva. She is similar, but different in other ways.

Specifically, Freesia is fantastic at all the hard stuff; meeting people, being calm in busy situations, and walking on a loose leash, are a piece of cake to her. However, she is not a fan of being left alone, tiny random plants, and licks waaaay too much. Furthermore, she is the most resilient dog when it comes to exercise. Doesn't matter if she gets 30 minutes or 2 hours, as long as she gets a power nap, she's good to go in about 20 minutes. Honestly, I hope she does make the program. Otherwise she'll drive someone nuts as a pet! Just today, I was sick most of the day, but still got her out for 2 miles of walking throughout the day. But, that wasn't good enough, and she became easily bored about sitting around the rest of the time. If she doesn't get out to do something cool within 3 days, she's a pain to live with.

Though she's sweet, Freesia reminds me that a Labrador really wouldn't be the best dog for me as a pet. Greyhounds sound better and better. With that in mind, lets hope Gerta stays in her autism program (yes, she was dropped from guide training in the last stage due to "lacking motivation"), and that Yarmouth finds himself a home in the adoption program.

These guys leave me exhausted at the end of the day!