What's Going On? AKA Why I've been a bit MIA...

In some ways this is going to be a hard post to write. I was tempted to just go with some shows I've been watching but I'm going to tear the bandaid off and just get to it.

In May I lost a member of my family. My sweet girl. You've only seen her a few times on the blog and she was very loved. She was only 13.

My Sweet Girl

She was an Alaskan Malamute and I got her when my cousin passed. He had 2 and his mom couldn't take care of both where she was going to live (she lived with him previously) and his brother could only take one. She did not get along with either of my parents dogs and when my big pup worked his magic, she accepted him as her minon. She got a bit nervous as he grew but he had no problems accepting her as his queen. They got along famously. In fact if he got scared she came running to make sure he was okay. She was his rock in life. I can't share more or I'll cry again. 

She left a huge hole in the house and my big pup really got depressed. So much so I started to worry. I had always intended to get someone for him to play with since my sweet girl couldn't with her arthritis and pain especially in the last year. She didn't care for other dogs so I wouldn't stress her out with another dog. However, I knew my big pup would need a companion of the puppy persuasion sooner rather than later. As his depression got deeper (even my mother commented on it) I knew I had to look for a dog sooner than I had intended. It was too soon for me, but I just needed to get over myself. So I started looking for female who was either a doberman pinscher, a pittie (as sometimes they are hard to place), or a black dog. All rescues if you were wondering but no judgement here because I only care that you provide a good forever home for it once you get an animal.

Then I saw...

Pictures from EAPL

and

Pic from EAPL

With that face I knew I found the perfect one to drive me and the big boy crazy for the next few months. I figured a pup would be best to easier get them together or otherwise I'd have to pick something closer to home for more than one "get to know me" session. Sadly, I didn't see one that looked to be compatible nearby. 

The monster... I mean pup *cough* 😜 was from the Evergreen Animal Protection Services who gets dogs from shelters in CO and neighboring states into foster homes for adoption. She was the last of her litter to go (black dogs don't often get picked). She is a Shepard mix (momma was a Shepard mix and daddy was a high fence jumping salesman). The big boy simultaneously loves and is annoyed with her. I expected that, but he isn't depressed!

Before the pup was picked up to go to her forever home, I did whip up something for the little monster... uh... pup. The font is small and I added a paw prints design which I combined in a program for machine embroidery. I tinted some muslin fabric with a fabric paint (just slightly to give it a bit of an aged look) before I embroidered on it. I then put it on top of some nylon webbing and made the collar.

I didn't realize how accurate this would be...

And her sporting it on a rare down time...

Everything wasn't totally smooth sailing as I did have some problems allergy wise. However, I have found it can be remedied by what you feed and bathe dogs in (Side note: I have a cousin who has a an allergy to dogs but has very little problems with my dogs). She had a med quality puppy food they were feeding her which wasn't exactly bad, but obviously not compatible with me. I carefully looked around (dogfoodadvisor.com) and found one that was "clean" and simple ingredients out of all the ones this brand had. I also trust the company and had researched it previously and it didn't seemed to have changed since the last time I looked at it (Merrick if you were wondering). My allergies cleared up shortly and I think she even feels better with the change. Now she is more of a handful than ever. LOL If you are wondering my big boy is on a homemade diet due to his specific medical problems.

She is now 3 months old and is already learning sit and come with pretty good accuracy. That can be a good thing and and bad one. It tells me she is smart but hopefully I can keep up. We will see (help me? LOL). 

I'll always miss my sweet girl and nothing will keep me from missing her a lot, but the new pup (which I'm not unconvinced she didn't send to me to keep me on my toes) will help with the sadness. She is not a replacement but an addition to the family. She has already helped my boy who is having fun playing with her and watching her drive me insane. INSANE!

So I've been preoccupied at the moment, but it is nice that it isn't all bad news (I think). Now I have to go yell at a pup who just got something she shouldn't have gotten....

🐶