Rose Update

Well, after a tough day, Rose is doing much better. She spent most of the day sleeping and cuddling with us on the couch while we were watching TV. She was curled up next to Patrick sleeping for hours. She's even stopped shedding, mostly. Must have been just nerves yesterday. She even smells better today, which is good. With the nerves and the carsickness yesterday, she wasn't smelling like a rose!

When we went for dinner, we confined them to a hallway, by blocking it off with a baby gate and put out some toys and a bed and blanket. When we came back, they were cuddled together, sleeping. They ate from their own bowls (although Rose prefers to eat from Scarlett's old bowls and Scarlett eats from the new ones we got for Rose) and played outside and inside for a while. Scarlett is still a bit more rambunctous than Rose, but it is nice that she is coming around so quickly!

We took her to PetsMart today to pick out some toys and treats and she was carsick again. Looks like something we will have to work on. But we already have another super-soft squishy bed on order for her and I am picking out a new collar from Patience's site. (Nevermind she doesn't really *need* one. Patrick won't let me get an expensive collar and lead set for Scarlett until she s her adult size, which is reasonable, so I am thrilled to have an adult whippet to spoil a little!)

She walks beautifully on a lead, even with Scarlett bouncing ahead and behind and running around. She also really likes Bil Jack and was doing lovely obedience commands for some. She already knows sit, come and down. She sort of knows stay and mostly follows Scarlett's cues. Scarlett is cute with the competition in the house for best obedience dog, because she will do "shake" and offer her paw after the "sit" command, because she knows that Rose doesn't know shake yet. And for down, Scarlett will then roll over and play dead, since Rose doesn't know that one either. It is like Scarlett is trying to top Rose's lovely sit and downs to get more treats and attention. Rose doesn't mind letting Scarlett be the superstar, though. She is very low-key and would rather sit and be cuddled while Scarlett steals the show.

Margaret gave us a gift on her birthday.

Patrick and I have been looking for a sister for Scarlett, since she just loves having another dog to play with. We've been looking for a 1 or 2 year old female to add to the family. We figure that's young enough to keep up with Scarlett, old enough to be through with the puppy stuff.

When we contacted Margaret of Kemar Whippets, Scarlett's breeder, she mentioned Roseanne. Rose was bred by Margaret, but the owners got bored with her and turned her into rescue! Luckily, the rescue folks read the papers that were surrendered with Rose and saw she was supposed to go back to Margaret. Margaret got Rose back in the family in February and now she looks great: she's got some weight on her and her fur is glossy and lovely. When we asked Margaret about getting a sister for Scarlett, she thought of Rose. But Rose is at the very top of the breed standard for whippet height and Scarlett is a delicate little thing. Would Rose trample all over her? There was only one way to find out.

They got along perfectly! And so Rose came along home with us. Looks like Margaret gave *us* a gift for her birthday!

Unfortunately, poor Rose was really nervous about all the changes. She loved having her littermate Nell to play with and adored Margaret. What if we treated her like her last family? She began drooling and was carsick most of the way home just thinking about it.

When she got home, I had to give her a bath. Between the carsickness and the drooling, she was a mess, but I felt just terrible putting her through another nerve-racking experience. I guess that was a bonding experience though, because she stuck to me like glue the rest of the night. Here she is, telling me all about everything she is worried about. Notice Scarlett taking advantage of the free food in the background.

I gave her a hug and told her tomorrow would be a better day.

Here she is, having a great time before leaving Margaret's.

She reminds me a bit of Vesta, with her red brindle and split face. She sort of looks like a mirror of Vesta, since her brindle patch is on the other side. Hopefully we will have some happy pictures to share soon, as Rose gets settled in.

As for Scarlett, well, she can't wait until Rose wants to play again. She even slept in the crate with Rose for 4 or 5 hours at bedtime. Wish us luck as we help Rose make this tough transition!

Lure Coursing

My mom was in town visiting and we talked her into going to see the whippets lure coursing. She brought her dogs, who enjoyed the day out but didn't participate. Mike, her Australian Shepherd, wondered what all the fuss was about. Mom wondered how he would do as a lure courser and she could have let him do a practice run, but he pulled a muscle in his leg and so he sat this one out.

I was able to meet up with Melissa, one of the people I know from Whippet World because I recognized the collar on her dog Piper as a Patience original. I saw that gorgeous bumblebee collar and thought, "She must be a Whippet Worlder!" so I went over to say "hi," and am really glad I did!

Melissa introduced us to Marina and Tim, Vesta's mom and dad, who were eager to meet Scarlett, having followed her adventures on Whippet World.

Tim and Marina with Vesta's siblings the Dobermans. Vesta must be rubbing off on them, because they really seemed to love coursing!

Melissa and Jack. Jack did great, until he realized how far he was from his mom. He turned around and ran for Melissa with just as much enthusiasm to be back next to her. He loves her more than bunnies; that's true devotion!

And then it was Scarlett's turn!  She was a natural and Patrick got some great shots of her. Tim did too and uploaded his photos to Patrick's computer so we can put them up. These are both Patrick's pics:

On the way out she was running on pure "what's that?!?  I think I can catch it!" On the way back she really seemed to get it after catching those bunnies once.  She seemed to be enjoying herself.

Melissa, Tim and Marina all make us feel like part of the family and Patrick loved having someone to talk cameras with.  We can't wait to go up again for Memorial Day.

 

--Erin

Posted by Erin Doyne at 23:08

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