blue heeler – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

Welcome Home Brinley!

Published on May 11, 2016July 20, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

This weekend we brought little Miss Brinley home! We flew down to Portland to pick her up and bring her back to Alaska and had a great few days away from work and projects to get to know her and bond before introducing her to her siblings. We were too busy playing and getting to meet her when we first met with her to get pictures but on the ride home she slept in my lap quite content to snuggle.

We stopped to pick up puppy food and dinner for us, so while her Daddy and Mimi went into the store I stayed outside to let her stretch and play in the sun with her new toy.

And she snuck in a few belly rubs too!

Once at Mimi’s house she investigated the basket of toys that belongs to her Aunt Honey. Honey didn’t seem much amused by this but didn’t voice any objections either.

After playing for a bit her Daddy shared his water with her for a quick drink and then everyone watched the animals on the TV for a few minutes.

All that playing made for one tired puppy, so she had to take a little nap.

And so did Daddy. Having a puppy sure wears you out!

Daddy took her out to go potty a few times overnight and by morning she had somehow moved into the bed rather than her kennel.

The next day was spent exploring Mimi’s garden. There was lots to see and explore including every inch of the area under the plants and the hose that made fun puddles on the patio!

Every so often we’d take a break to rest and just enjoy the view. But soon we’d be on the go again.

Eventually she needed a nap to recharge while us humans enjoyed some lunch.

After the nap she tried to play with Aunt Honey, but she wasn’t in the mood.

So we played with some of Honey’s toys instead. A family friend came over for dinner with their dog but she was older and didn’t want to play even though Brinley did her best to say she was friendly over and over again.

All that excitement sure wore her out so she slept pretty well that night.

SLEEPY

The last day included more exploring in the garden, a couple quick trips in the car and lots of snuggles from Mimi.

She loaded up in Aunt Honey’s carrier to make the trip to Alaska and was a hit with everyone who met her, from the ticket counter to security.

She was still very tired from the excitement of the day and fought to stay awake, even if that meant just letting her head hang on the opening so she could see what was going on in the terminal. She eventually fell sound asleep and slept for the majority of the flight home!

Since she’s been home she’s getting to know her siblings who were very excited to meet her. With a moving mass of 4 canines this is the best picture of the interactions I could get thus far! There have been a few moments of learning who’s alpha and who’s not, but it’s going well. Sometimes her brother and sister tire of her insistence to play but her new friend Paige – a friend’s dog we are watching – has been exceptionally patient and gentle with her so they have cuddled quite a bit.

Her kitty sister has met her briefly, but is in hiding until Paige leaves in a few days. I’m sure there will be a period of adjustment for both when that happens. For now, she’s coming to work with me during the week so she can have quick potty breaks and walks every two hours along with a romp at the park during lunch. There will surely be many more pictures taken in the coming days and weeks so stay tuned for those! 🙂

Our Family is Growing by Four Paws!

Published on April 15, 2016April 15, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Pup By the title of this post you can guess what the big announcement I promised is! We’ve been talking about adding a third dog to our family for a few weeks now. We’ve had time to grieve the loss of Bacardi and feel ready to welcome a new heeler to our home. For us, pets are family and that means they stay until their last days so we always make sure that any new addition will get along with our other fur babies and be able to adapt to our busy lifestyle before we commit.

We started looking around locally for a young heeler that we could adopt who would be a good fit. Since most heeler owners in Alaska brought their dogs here from the lower 48 and cherish them dearly there aren’t many who end up needing a new home. Although we found a couple, there wasn’t a perfect match so we started looking at breeders as well. We contacted several and found one that we liked in Oregon, just a few hours from the hub’s mom’s house.

This breeder matches puppies with new families based on personality and what is desired from the pet – companion, working dog, etc. She had just had a litter of pups when we contacted her so we put our name on the list and eagerly awaited the puppies 4 week birthday when the breeder starts to pair pups with prospective families. Luckily, because we were very open in what we wanted we were matched with this adorable female blue heeler, who will be joining our family Mother’s Day weekend! How perfect is that?!

The hubs and I will fly down to pick her up and have a quick visit with his mom while there. The breeder has already been taking the pups on car rides and starting house breaking with good success so hopefully she will adapt quickly to us and her new siblings.

While we wait we’re trying to decide on a name to continue our alcohol theme. A few of the current contenders are Brinley (from Brinley’s Goldcoast Rum), Brandy and Julep. We’ve also considered Grenadine, Hennessey, Disaronno, Grigio, Kahlua and Chardonnay but decided they don’t quite fit her. I also like the names Mojito and Martini but they both sound like names for small dogs to me. We’re still considering other options so if you have a suggestion we’d love to hear it, especially if it’s rum related since that’s my alcohol of choice on the rare occasions we do drink! It is pretty ironic that we have alcohol named pets since we aren’t big drinkers, but they are strong lickers! 🙂

Welcome Home Baby Bacardi

Published on April 18, 2014December 4, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

Last night was our new fur baby’s first night at home. She’s fitting right in, playing with her siblings and checking out her surroundings.

She’s already bonding with the hubs and I as well. We seem to have another snuggler on our hands, which should prove interesting when she’s full grown!

Everyone is getting along pretty well and both Tequila and Stoli are already protective of her, although they’re not so sure about sharing things all the time.

She’s also met the cat, which although it was a brief encounter, went better than we anticipated. Perhaps Luna wasn’t sure what to think of someone smaller than her!

Of course there are plenty of teachable moments like nipping and a couple of accidental tinkles on the floor, but that’s to be expected. We’ve directed her chewing toward the bevy of toys available, and she’s pretty keen on tennis balls. So much that she threw a fit when hers went under the couch and she couldn’t reach it!

She does love to be outside, but she’s not too keen on the doggie door just yet. Instead she likes for Tequila or Stoli to open it for her so she can sneak back and forth underneath them! Smart cookie. And when they aren’t willing to do the work for her, she attempts alternative methods.

But all that adventure makes for a tired puppy. She tries so hard to fight it, probably thinking she might miss something fun.

But eventually she gives in and finds a comfy spot to rest, even if that means claiming the biggest dog bed in the house all to herself. 🙂

Bringing a Little Bacardi to the Party

Published on February 28, 2014March 11, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

Our little family will be growing by four more feet in a few weeks when we adopt a new baby blue heeler! A woman we met through a local buy/sell page had a litter of blue heeler puppies and was expecting another, by accident.

We contacted her about the dogs and got good feedback so we made arrangements to meet the expecting momma dog and see what her personality was like. Although she wasn’t very social with our dogs – who could blame her a week from her due date – she was well behaved and definitely people friendly, especially when those people gave ear rubs.

The woman who owned momma dog was excited to hear that we had a Rottie as well, which is the other breed in their home. She also liked the fact that we are previous heeler owners so we know what to expect and have plenty of space for such an active breed. She liked us so much that she told us we had first pick once the litter was born!

A little over a week later she emailed me to say there had been 3 boys and 3 girls born the day prior. We knew we wanted a girl, so she sent pictures of those three. One was all white with just a snip of black on the tip of her ear. Another had a black mask on her head, but no other spots. And the runt had a black mask with several body spots. Including one shaped like an upside down heart on her side.

We discussed it and unanimously agreed we wanted the runt. As you can guess by the title of this post, we decided to continue our alcoholic theme and name her Bacardi.

She will be ready to join our family in mid-April and we’re excited to see how everyone reacts to her. Baby momma’s owner says momma and the pups are all doing well and although little Bacardi is by far the smallest, she’s a fighter and does get some one-on-one time with mom. Sounds like she will fit right in around here.

Hopefully, the Alaskan spring will appear soon after she comes home and we can get the yard finished so everyone has plenty of space to romp. Regardless of weather, I foresee many puppy photos in the near future! 😉