Dog Blog

When you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
The moster's gone,
He's on the run,
And your [mommy's] here,
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful [puppy],
Darling, darling, darling [puppy].

John Lennon...kind of
An adaptation of Beautiful Boy

Introducing.....drum roll... Tricksie! Ta da!

Tricksie, or at least Tricksie for now, became a member of the Launder residence at 534 W. Hackberry Street last night. She is a rescue from the Boulder Valley Humane Society, shipped from Nebraska where she was found (people don't refer to puppies as "stray", they say "found"). To think that we may have been just miles apart during our recent trip across Nebraska. Miss Tricksie is a 3-month-old Australian shepard mix and first was known to us by the name Trick...her brother was Treat. Her name became it's current iteration in partial reference to a Vaudeville character.

I have found adopting from the Humane Society to be a challenging affair. Don't get me wrong, the volunteers and staff are amazing and knowledgeable, but Humane Society dogs go like hotcakes around here. Coloradans, and Boulderites in particular, love their dogs. Steve and I have done our share of looking, meeting sweet dogs that were destined for other homes and dogs who weren't quite right for us.

When I arrived at the Humane Society yesterday, I had one goal in mind: to meet Tricksie, who I saw listed the night before on the Humane Society website. I figured that the odds were against us, since, she was so cute and my Tuesday morning art class didn't allow me to arrive when the Humane Society opened. I just decided to go with the flow and see what happened.

Sure enough, when I arrived, she was meeting with another family. I peeked through the glass meeting room wall and saw her cowering under the bench and the humans that were "meeting her" looking sorely disappointed. Good Tricksie! Despite her adorableness, the family decided not to adopt.

My turn. A volunteer brought her out to meet me. I asked if I could pick her up. It was cold out - perhaps 35F - and she was shaking, but not from the cold, from nerves. I just sat, pet, kissed and hugged her and soon there were breaks in the shaking. Soon ears perked up when humans, dogs and cars passed. Soon she looked me in the eye. Aussies give this look that I call "the eyes of love". She did it.

I placed her ON HOLD. After work, Steve visited her, holding her on the same bench and went through the same steps. "She's really sweet," he announced and the rest is history.

Once at home, she hid behind the sofa. She barely walked. She tucked herself into the far reaches of her crate. We asked, "Did we adopt a retarded dog?"

This morning, I took her into the back yard. As I was walking, she anxiously pawed at me and jumped. I sat down in the cool grass and the warm sun. She sat down, too. Pretty soon she sat up more, attending to her environment. Listening. Watching. She explored and bounded back. She snapped at dandelion heads and nibbled leaves and my shoelaces. (Yes, I realize that's bad in the long run.) She ate food. For the first time, I heard her yip. She smiled the contended doggy dog smile.

Here are a few pictures taken before the camera battery crapped out. I promise better ones once the camera recharges.

Oh, and I think she'll be fine.

Truffle Dog! Did you know that some dog breeds do hunt truffles?