Auneli

10/20/07: Check it out. Nellie's forever family has made her a new website so we can all see just how wonderfully things are working out for everyone. http://mysite.verizon.net/vzenw9p1/nellieitsallaboutnellie/index.html

9/08/07: Auneli will be leaving for her now home on Sept. 17th. Her new family is so excited. Here is just one of the many emails I have gotten. It is so delightful, I wanted to share.

The three of us needed a dog 'fix' today and remembered that this weekend each year the local public pool has their annual dog swim before they shut down for the season. It is 94 degrees outside and humid! A terrific day to play in the pool. Noah had a friend over this morning so we decided to visit for the afternoon swim session which started at 1pm - what watery fun!

In attendance this afternoon were about 30 pooches of all shapes, sizes and colors accompanied by their owners who were ALL smiles. The dogs ran, chased & bounced over one another, many wading into the pool after floaties of various types. A cool selection of dog toys was provided free. Many courageous tails threw themselves into the watery bliss only to find themselves swamped by waves of wet tails, floppy ears and panting muzzles. JOY!

Jeff, Noah & I watched from a shady spot near the refreshment stand and found ourselves frequently visited by many a wet mutt, confused by our dryness and puzzled by our jumping back to avoid the wet spray of shaking dog...throw the ball...do you have a snack for me...throw the ball...scratch my ears...throw the ball...cool stainless steel legs (Noah's crutches)...throw the ball...scratch my butt....throw the ball...

It was amazing to discover how many dogs needed encouragement to get wet - but the labs, huskies & small Shepherd's were in the water before you could yell catch.

The lady behind the snack counter said the afternoon session wasn't nearly as crazy as the morning was...she said "chaos ruled" and that the afternoon session was so much more calm! Wow!

Harry (A great pyr) was there with his mom - just watching - he has no interest in getting himself wet - he's a local dignitary and encourages other pet owners to join Pets on Wheels in the county...bringing friendly, healthy pets to visit residents at local nursing homes...We hope Nellie will be interested in participating with us in this program.

Well after a good visit to the pool we wandered down into the 'old part' of Ellicott City town for ice-cream and to browse the old stores before heading back home for some much needed r&r...

I have cancelled appointments on Tuesday/Wednesday to be available to pick Nellie up whenever she arrives and will then take the rest of the day off to be with her - Wednesday/Thursday she'll have a quiet day at home, Jeff will come home for lunch to visit, and I have taken Friday off to be with her - Noah too wants to take a day off from school, but he cannot, although on Friday Nellie & I will go pick him up once school is out at 2:30pm so they can hang out early together.

Once Nellie's vet records arrive we'll get her licensed and may then apply to doggie day care...our neighbors with the 14 month old doodle are excited to have another young medium/large dog across the street so their Clancy will have a buddy to play with...

Tell Nellie we are enthusiastically awaiting her arrival.

Needless to say, I am confident I made a good decision selecting them to adopt Auneli.

8/22/07 Auneli arrived yesterday. So far she is an absolute delight. Here is what I have observed: (1)She gets very excited when she sees me. Her whole body wiggles in delight. She has a loving disposition. (2) She will sit when told when the leash is to be put on. (3) She will roll over and want her belly rubbed when you walk by. (4) She is fine if you mess with her while she eats or even take food away from her. It's no problem for her. Actually she eats better if you stay by her. (5) She was very excited to have a new canine friend join her in the yard. She was happy when he stayed, and got sad when he was moved. (6)she is about 1 1/2 years old. She has the double dews indicative of Pyrs.

She has been groomed as she was pretty matted and stinky. She now looks beautiful. She was great for the groomer. She said there was absolutely no sign of aggression. When the groomer got a little rough, Auneli would just turn her head away and look down. She stood patiently for an hour at a time having mats combed and cut out so she would not lose her coat. She enjoyed the bath. She was fine with the nail trim. The dew claws had started to penetrate the pads so the trim was just in time. Her ears were really bad, but after cleaning, it looks like there is no mites or any problems with them. She does not scratch at them, either.

She is very smart. Keeton, her new buddy, had an accident because I had not gotten down to the shop in time to let him out. As soon as I went into the shop, where they stay during the heat, Auneli walked over to the first poop and sat waiting for me to clean it up. Then she walked over to the second one and sat! She did this with all 4 little poop piles. Guess she was tattling on him!!!! I let her out and she had a real look of satisfaction on her face when she did her job outside.