Tree Dog

My little puppy is now a full grown dog (lets hope she is close to full grown anyway). She is weighing in at a whopping 53 pounds. She remains a puppy but shows signs of growing up one day.

She eats my parents woodwork and is still enamored with branches. She has yet to master the art of licking and not play biting people and digs holes in the yard. Regardless of her flaws, I already love her dearly.

She is getting better on her walks, though she still cowers when around other dogs. Anyone want to volunteer their dog to help socialize mine? I promise she won't bite your dog, but she might run away from it! She poses for the camera and lays on her back and play with her toys above her head. Both are adorable. I am still working on getting a picture of her playing with her toys though. Apparently her toys are camera shy.


In addition to to claiming the couches, my dog also lives under our bushes when she is outside. All the better to find sticks, I guess. I got a quick video to document her new den. She does have a dog house... But I doubt she will ever use it.

Smarty Pants

Tatum continues to be a pleasant addition to our family but has grown out of her shell a little over the last few weeks. So far:

I have noticed she suffers from separation anxiety. If you are behind a closed door, she sits outside and whines because she can't see you.

She has claimed the couch downstairs as her own. You have been warned.

She is too smart for her own good. We locked her in the kitchen using a baby gate the 3rd night she was home. It took her 20 minutes to climb the gate. When I put her back in the kitchen, it only took her 20 seconds to climb it.

She does not like to bark.

She is scared of cars and dogs. More timid really. I am hoping this will change with time.

She hates the pool as you can tell from the deep scratches on my arms and legs. I drown proofed her today. Needless to say I doubt she will ever be back in the pool on her own free will.

She is definitely a border collie. Today was laundry day for my parents and they only had one load of whites left when they left for the grocery store. We normally keep the laundry room closed but they didn't remember to close it before they left. Their whites were on a pile in the laundry room floor when they left. They were in a pile on the couch when they returned. Good job herding your flock Tatum!

She eats sticks. She will break them off the bushes and chow down. I don't know if it is because she is teething or what but if she is outside, she probably has a stick in her mouth.

She is learning not to jump on people when they walk into the house. I am so proud.

She rings a bell when she needs to go out and use the restroom. She also rings the same bell when she is bored and wants someone to pay attention to her.

She is very cautious on her walks and doesn't seem to love them yet but she is pretty good at heeling without being taught. This might be the fear factor but hopefully it will stick once the fear is gone.

She dug her first hole in the yard today. I am praying this does not become a habit. Anyone know any tricks that work to stop your dog from digging?

She is very cuddly and lovable. I think she even managed to win over my father.

Tatum

This weekend I brought home a beautiful four month old border collie puppy of my very own. Her name is Tatum and I fell in love with her the moment I met her. I got her at the Plano Animal Shelter around closing time on Saturday.

Before our trip to Vegas I finally wore my father down and he agreed to let me have a puppy when we got home (I realize I sound like a child but the rules are a little different when you live under your parents roof. I bought her, but I still wanted to respect my parents and get permission... It is their house after all.). I have wanted a dog for over two years but the timing has never been right for one reason or another. Until now.

So when we got home from Vegas, I convinced my mother to go with me to look at puppies. We spent the day driving from shelter to shelter to no avail. Twice the person in front of me bought the puppy I wanted out from under me. It was actually quite comical. My mother and I eventually decided to head back home and I looked online at Petfinder.com to see if there were any beautiful puppies out there that were meant to be mine. I happened upon Tatum's picture along with several other puppies at the Plano Animal Shelter site and decided to head to Plano for one last attempt before giving up for the weekend.

When I got to the shelter I met Tatum and a male puppy that had similar markings but a very different personality. After about five minutes with Tatum I knew she would be a perfect fit for my family. She was docile but not afraid. Like all dogs at a shelter, she looked at me with those pleading eyes and broke my heart. She was quite charming and I knew she was the one. Luckily, this time no one beat me to her.

On the drive home she sat peacefully in my mothers lap looking out the window. So far I have been shocked by how calm she is. I mean she is only four months old, she should be a crazy puppy. I can't tell if she is just getting used to everything or if she really is that chill. Only time will tell.

My parents took her to the vet today and she should get to be somewhere between 40 and 50 pounds. She is very smart and the vet also commented on her great personality. She is a keeper!

Ignore my appearance, I had just bathed her.