Elfie is not a flower

Meet the newest little girl in the barn - Elfie.  She's sweet enough to make your teeth hurt and during my first shift with her, I saw her blossom like a flower in the morning sun.

It was her 2nd day at the barn; she was a little shy and barked uncertainly at me (stranger, stranger!!).  I "ignored" her so she watched me as I interacted with the other barn pups, greeting each of them, praising them for good kennel manners and rewarding them with a little kibble and some petting when they showed off their obedience skills.  She watched as Beetle and Darla and Booberry each greeted me happily, as they left their kennels for play-time in the yard, and as they returned, tired but still happy. 

By the time I finally approached her kennel to meet her, Elfie had decided that MAYBE I wasn't a scary person.  She dropped to her belly  when I opened her kennel door, but she was willing to greet me, and after a few treats and pets, Elfie decided that Aunty Barn Lady was her newest friend and crawled onto my lap for a cuddle. 

After our introduction, Elfie and I explored the yard, played together a while, and then it was time for Elfie to earn her kibble and start the work that would help to make her someone's newest family member.  Yup, time for basic obedience lessons.  So, to help boost Elfie's confidence, we focused on two commands - look and touch.  Here's Elfie at work.

 
Look....

Touch.....

Look........."OK, and can I please sit on your lap?"

Look............"Sure, and could I have one of those yummy treats you have in your pockets?"






Later in the shift, a suitor came by to visit Darla.  Elfie, in her neighboring kennel, was curious to see the visitor and stood on her hind legs to get a better look.  And when she got to meet the visitor, Elfie immediately gave her kisses and begged for a belly rub.  Yup, Elfie's no flower but I sure saw her blossom.

Eye Candy

Here is your weekly dose, courtesy of Faline. 

She's getting her beauty rest and looking forward to partying the night away at Gund-a-palooza. 

Kasbah, unleashed

My first morning with the pony that is Kasbah - I have to confess - the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh No." He was big and bouncy and immediately climbed me like a jungle gym and held my arm in his big sloppy mouth like he was holding my hand on a first date. Oh noooo...

He got knocked out of the adoption program at his Yolo County shelter for being a "little too much" for his handlers. Right. So gluttons that we are, we said Yes! - especially since Rhonda was a no-go for bigger dogs when she first came to the barn and needed someone who was oblivious enough to be her first friend. That would be Kasbah.

He was perfectly innocent in his affections - he was just trying to enjoy the best kind of contact in the only way he knew how. Even so, we walked around with a squirt bottle for two days so Kasbah wouldn't be tempted to monkey his way up to the top of our heads. I amazed at the nice green bruises I got from those fun first days together.

And then the inevitable happened. His brain clicked in: "Four on the Floor - Yes!" and we all started to fall in love with the bigger than life kid. Love, I'm telling you ... Love!

I think Rhonda may have wanted to eat him the first couple of days - I really can't remember how it all went down, except that he tried so so so so hard to make her love him that eventually she caved and they became buds.

"Play with Me! Play with Me! PLAY WITH ME!"

By the time we made this video, Kasbah had earned the award for most improved barn pup and we hated the thought of seeing him go. But go they must do.




And now, he has his very own home with his very own mom and dog family and ... his very own blog! Lisa Harrington was kind enough to take me seriously when I mentioned that the world deserved a little peek into the adventures of Kasbah and Company. Enjoy!

Three Dog Nights

shhhhhh.....

Another midnight shift at the barn, so the four barn pooches got to practice doing some house-dog things.

Booberry of the little pink moustache decided he'd rather play with toys outside in the dark for a while, so his picture is MIA.

Tip Little isn't too sure what he's supposed to do while practicing his lap dog skills.  Don't worry guy, you'll figure it out soon enough.

But Beetle Juice and Darla Dickens sure know what to do!






Shhhhh.....don't wake the puppies. 

Faline's to-do list

 1. Look adorable for the people

2. Make Beetle smile

3. Convince Uba to love me

Check, check and check.