Wet Concrete Floor? Never Again!

I found this picture online of Jenny from right before she was rescued. It breaks my heart to know that she was on a wet concrete floor for over 2 months. It also makes me sad to think of all the other dogs who need homes in shelters, especially around the holidays. Please ADOPT, don't shop!

I can not say this enough - I am SO INCREDIBLY thankful for Ready Pet Rescue for saving her from the shelter and for her foster mom Nadia for taking care of her during her first month out of the shelter.

She will never again have to know what it is like to sleep on a wet concrete floor.

Now, she sleeps right next to me on our bed, curled up in her blanket.

Or on me!

California Girl

Jenny got to enjoy the sunshine today  - its been in the 70s all week!
When I first saw her listing online, it said that her favorite pastime was sunbathing - they were not kidding!

Merry Christmas!

I was away in NJ from Dec 22-25 and of course was a nervous wreck that Jenny would not do well without me since she is quite attached to me. But...she did AMAZING!!!! No accidents and she adjusted to a new schedule quickly! My husband works nights, so he was unable to keep my usual schedule - but Jenny figured it out! (I'm just hoping she didn't get used to a 2am walk!)

Enjoying the homemade treats that Aunt Christine sent!

Béla guarding her gifts!

"Ooh! A Kong!"

Béla loves treats!

"OOOOH! Thank you Aunt Susan!"

"Thanks Aunt Susan!"

Santa left them notes...

This is what Jenny thought of hers! It read "Do not pee on the upstairs carpet anymore"

Pooped after opening gifts from Santa Paws!

Random pictures

In the car

With Dad on pier

Stalker Bela....I now put Bela upstairs during Jenny's mealtime

CUTE!

Once again, I am sorry for anyone I ever made fun of for putting clothes on dogs. Its been COLD here in CA!

First and last time for her!

V-Dog!

Today I made my first batch of "canned" food for jenny! She LOVED it!

I have been slowly transitioning her to a vegan diet after researching it and talking a lot to others who do it, and she is loving it so far! I am using V-Dog as Jenny's kibble, then adding a few spoonfuls of either canned food (Natural Balance Vegetarian / PetGuard organic Vegan) or homemade mash.I also use VegePet as a supplement.

before blender - lentils, brown rice, quinoa, oats, kale, carrots, green beans, sweet potato, flax, nutritional yeast.

After blender

She gobbled it up and looked for more!

SO rewarding to see her enjoy her homemade meal! :)

"This says V-DOG not V-CAT!"

Thank you Aunt Susan! My first piece of mail..and gift card! :)

Snugglebug

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that she is a snuggler!

We had 6 other people over for Thanksgiving. Jenny was VERY shy around them all, so we didn't push her. We just let Jenny do her thing and I told guests to just let her observe and see that nobody is a threat. She eventually accepted treats from Sara and Nancy, but spent most of the night here:

At the end of the night John did try to sit by her and pet her but you could tell she was uncomfortable :(

We had a fun walk on the dog path (Greenbelt) in Hermosa Beach today. Jenny needs a little coaxing to get walking, but once she does, she enjoys it! She has a habit of stopping to "yield" to runners on the path, though. So needless to say, we stop a lot on our walk on the dog path!

I was so excited to bring her there. Ever since I moved to CA in 2003, I have always wanted to bring a dog to the dog path for walks.

"I just LOVE to SNIFF!"

"So much better than the shelter...."

Autumn leaves in SoCal

Cats and Dogs

 Jenny and Béla have been peacefully coexisting, which is all I ever asked for from Béla. She has been the queen of the house for the last 6 years, so I wasn't expecting her to want to be best friends with Jenny right away. 

Béla will sometimes still swat at Jenny if she gets to close, but luckily it is nothing that makes Jenny yelp or anything. It almost seems like more of a playful swat without claws.

Béla is starting to spend more time downstairs with Jenny, which is great! I feel terrible because Jenny has taken over 2 of her favorite spots- the kitchen rug and the top of the couch. I am hoping that in time, Béla starts to use those spots more if they are unoccupied. 

Jenny is definitely intimidated by Béla a bit. If Béla is blocking her pathway (especially in the hallway or on the stairs) Jenny will whine to get help passing.

We still keep them separated when we are not at home using a baby gate on the stairs....just to be safe. 

"No matter what, this is STILL my castle!"

The closest pic I could get of the 2 of them together

Today Jenny met my friend Amber's dog Moose. Her dog, Moose, is bigger and a bit more aggressive so we had to watch them carefully when they were outside off leash. I don't think Jenny enjoys playing with dogs who are larger than her, though. It must feel threatening from her point of view to have a larger dog want to play, so I am not going to push her into it if I see she in uncomfortable. She did sit on the couch with me while the grown-ups watched the USC game. Moose behaved inside like a gentleman!

Jenny and Aunt Amber

Terry and Nancy also brought Maybe over yesterday. Another bigger dog, which I think Jenny has problems with. Perhaps she was beaten up on the streets by an older dog and is very careful? She is also very cautious with guys so we wonder if she was abused by a man in her past? We kept a close eye on Maybe and Jenny. They got into one little scuffle outside (Jenny got scared and growled at Maybe and they had to be separated) but when we were inside Jenny stayed on the couch with me and things were better. Maybe is used to playing rough with a pitbull mix friend, so I am not quite sure she will be a good playmate for Jenny off leash, but you never know!

Only pic I could get of the 2 of them...

Playdate!

Jenny had her first playdate today! We went next door to Edith's house to hang out with Molly. Jenny did AWESOME! They ran around the yard and played like buddies!

Edith and the girls...

Jenny and her new buddy, Molly!

Checkup time

First Vet visit today! Dr Hutson REALLY took her time with Jenny to make her feel comfortable. Everything went well and Jenny was a trooper!

On the way...

"Where are we?"

Today Jenny also walked with me and Craig to have lunch at The Source! She did great although she is still quite shy around new people, especially men. She let a woman come close to her, but not her husband.  She did make some doxie friends, though!

Doxie friend!

THIS makes me so happy....LOVE!

Bathtime!

Today Jenny had her first bath! I brought her into the tub without water at first to give her treats and show her it is a "safe place" and then BELA jumped in!!!!! It was crazy! Bela stood right next to her and just sniffed around, like she didn't want to miss anything. It was super cute but sadly my camera was not nearby.

I just made the bath a positive experience for Jenny even though I could tell she wasn't enjoying it. I'm glad I got her used to the hair dryer this week while I was drying my hair - she let me dry her hair, too! It is incredible the amount of trust she has with me.

I wish I would have gotten pictures, but I was too worried about making sure she wasn't scared in the tub - I wanted it to be as positive as possible for her so I couldn't stop to snap pictures. Maybe next time!

Post bath sulking. Béla even felt bad for her and was there to comfort her.