Pupdate: Mesquite

Mesquite is now called Helo and he has continued to be an active busy guy. His parents do a great job at keeping him exercised and are planning on teaching him the treadmill since things are getting snowy where they live.

Running in the snow

If you remember, Helo was quite a timid boy when he was with us and he really needed to go somewhere where he could work on gaining confidence. Well I'm happy to report that he is no longer an axious barky little pup. He still is nervous and barks at the horses but they haven't started working on that yet and his mom is sure with more practice even the horses won't make him nervous.

Lettin' it all hang out

I was a bit worried that he might be drive his feline sibling crazy. Boomer the cat has shown herself to be amazingly tolerant and will let him be his puppy self around her until he gets to be too much. Luckily she is bigger than Helo so if he needs a smackdown, she isn't afraid to offer one. All in all though she is a great big sister and really puts up with the little spotted hooligan who has joined the family.

Boomer and Helo - what a long suffering kitty!

I'm guessing that Boomer wishes Helo spent less time attempting wrestling matches and more time snoozing

So a very happy pupdate. Little mister has hit the jackpot and is a very loved and well cared for dog.

Full Sail

Guess who's looking all grown up - it's Mesquite!  His mom sent me a photo and let me know his ears popped up all of a sudden and have stayed up for the last several days. Isn't he just the cutest little guy!

Pupdate: Mesquite's first camping trip

Little Skeeter's new parents just adore him. While they are at work he gets puppysat by his grandma and hangs out with her pack, but at home he gets plenty of attention from mom and dad.

Over the last weekend they took him on his very first camping trip and he had a blast - tents, campfires, fishing, lots of laptime and plenty of his favorite game: fetch!

Mesquite had a blast and check out his cute little coat!

He has his own little tent to kick back in and warm up under the blankets

Or at night he snoozed in the tent with mom and dad

Fishing was pretty interesting

And so was sniffing along the lakeshore

Of course he made sure fetch was regularly played

Although he's a plenty active pup, he's also an expert snuggler. Here he is with his dad.

So happy this great little dog ended up in a family who has made him a beloved member of their family and part of all their adventures.

Heading for Dry Land with Mesquite

Sweet little Mesquite headed east yesterday to his new home in eastern Washington where he'll get to enjoy a much bigger quantity of blue skies than he would get in Western Washington. We set out on one of the wettest, stormiest September days in recorded history to cross over the Cascade Mountains and meet Skeeter's new mom, Shelli, near Vantage Washington.

There was rain, rain and more rain on the west side of them mountains which made for not-so-fun driving but also made for beautiful, ethereal misty clouds floating around us and gushing waterfalls down the sides of the mountains.

As per usual, as we crossed to the eastern side the rain let up, the clouds cleared (as did the green and the trees) and we enjoyed an hour or so of what could be our last bit of blue sky for several months.

At the rest area where we met Mesquite's new mom, he danced around, excited to be out of the car and still not getting the hang of what a leash is for, other than getting tangled in. He didn't bark at his new mom or grandma once (a rare thing for Skeet since he can get a bit nervous meeting new people) but instead covered them with puppy kisses. So it was a happy hand off and he got to have a good chewy and some more play time before they finished the last 3 hours of his drive home.

I have no doubt he'll have a happy life filled with tons of love and attention.

Mesquite's Adopted!

Little Mesquite has found his home! He'll be living in Eastern Washington where he'll have some great neighbor doggie friends as well as parents that can't wait to welcome him into their home. They will be getting a great little dog who is incredibly sweet and will be an amazing addition to their family.

Good love sweet Skeeter! We will miss you!

Big Boy 'Skeeter

Mesquite is sure growing up. After potty breaks he loves his time tearing around with the big dogs although the feeling is not really reciprocated. Yesterday he tried to get Frodo to play but Frodo was having none of it.

Bored, bored, bored

Mesquite: "PLEEEEEASE play with me?!"

Frodo inspects the spaz

Frodo: "Make it go away"

Bored, bored, bored

Fun times at the Rat Terrier Meetup

The foster dogs and I greeted autumn with a meetup event at one of the Robinswood Park off leash areas in Bellevue. There was a great turn out of dogs and I saw many former New Rattitude dogs attending - June, Corwin, Rain, Maddie - as well as many new pals too who we hadn't met at meetup events before. Along with Chima, Salinas and Mesquite, New Rattitude foster dog Annie was there too.

Everyone had a great time

Corwin and Rain have a conversation

Mesquite attempting to get a dog to play with him. She wasn't so sure about the little masked hooligan.

Mesquite was busy practicing polite greetings with other dogs, jumping up for loves from people, fetching tennis balls and pretty much non stop tearing around.

(Mesquite, Annie and Chima) Annie gets a bit nervous around new dogs and tends to want to meet face to face. Here Chima is looking away to diffuse things. The longer Annie was at the park though, the more playful and at ease she became.

Salinas and Chima did wonderful and kept busy following around people with treat bags, sniffing lots of people, and then more searching for some sucker who would feed them. While they were a little stressed with so many new humans milling around, they did great and as per usual showed their great dog to dog social skills which is helpful to dogs who are working on bettering their skills.

Chima and Sal, on the move

The weather ended up being great - mild and dry - and didn't start pouring until the drive home so we all kept dry. Once we were home all three dogs took a quick potty break and then immediately crashed, worn out from their big adventure.

Thanks to all who helped me manage my motley crew when we changed sides of the dog park and helping make sure no one escaped when new dogs arrived at the park. There was a schnauzer meetup and since the last time the events coincided a few of the schnauzers were constantly trying to pick fights we just moved to the other fenced half of the park. I have to say I was quite proud of all the attending terriers and their parents. The dogs got along and dog parents were attentive and made sure to help keep all the interactions positive. Great time!

Rolling Around

I sure love seeing puppies discover the joys of all things dog. On Thursday Mesquite learned the deep happiness that can be found in a good roll in the grass when a nice stinky spot is found.

Mesquite spied Salinas rolling around in the grass

So he figured that he'd give it a try

Salinas went back to sniffing but Skeeter was having so much fun he just kept rolling around

He rolled so much that the girls were wondering if he had found a good stinky spot that they might have missed

Solo Wrestling, the Mesquite Way

After Tilly made it quite clear to Mesquite that 12 year old dogs do NOT like to play with 4 month old puppies, Mesquite decided that he was okay with checking out the bed across the room from hers.

He thought it was quite fun as a wrestling arena and tossed and tumbled in it.

Later he brought a bone into it for a good chew.

And then he was a typical puppy, bored and ready to move on to his next adventure.

Ear Wars

First it started with Juniper. A couple days before she went home her left ear popped up.

On Sunday it was Mesquite's turn and up went his right ear.

Looks like our pups are growing up!

Hangin' with the grown ups

Since Juniper has moved to her new home, Mesquite is the only puppy in the house. He's actually taking it much better than I expected he might, keeping himself busy with toys and chews. But since one puppy is much less obnoxious for the adult dogs to deal with than 3 puppies, he's been getting to spend more time with the grown up doggies.

Just hanging out and keeping tabs on what's going on in the kitchen

As long as interaction is carefully supervised, I don't think there can be any better learning experience for a young puppy than to hang out with some adult dogs who have a good dog to dog social skills. While Chima and Salinas are quite leery of new humans, their social skills with other dogs are pretty great. Of course, everyone has a limit to their patience so I try to make sure they get plenty of puppy-free time.

Muzzle licks are Mesquite's specialty

Mesquite does a pretty good job and will eventually listen to Sal and Chima, but sometimes the girls will have to ramp it up to a growl or even a pin if he's not listening to them tell him to take it down a notch. These are great lessons for our little puppy boy and he is good at showing them he heard them loud and clear by giving them a muzzle lick or at times rolling on his back or crouching down low.

"I come in puppy peace!"

He's a great little puppy though, and learns quickly. He's going to be a spectacular furry friend.

Spay day!

It's spay and neuter day for Juniper, Mesquite and their visiting sister, Bailey. We had them at the vet at 8 am for their drop off and Bailey and Mesquite had a LOT to say about the Springer Spaniel and 2 cats who were in line to be checked in in front of them. So much to say in fact, that everyone decided to bump me to the front of the line so we could get them out of the waiting area and have some peace. This is a high volume, affordable veterinary clinic so it is saying a lot that they those two were loud enough to get people to give up their spots in line.

While they were having their surgeries, Chima, Salinas and Frodo joined me on the couch for some glorious quiet time. I'm pretty excited that Chima is now relaxed enough with being around humans that she'll share the couch with me. In fact last night she slept next to me while I was watching TV - still 12" away from me, but this is big progress for my big terrier girl. Chima, we are proud of you!

Chima and Salinas, taking it easy while the puppies are at the vets

Anyhow, the pups came home pretty stoned on anesthesia and pain medication. Poor Mesquite was not only neutered, he had an undescended testicle they had to dig around for AND he had an umbilical hernia repaired. On top of the surgeries they also had their rabies vaccinations so they had a nice quiet evening of recovery.

Mesquite, a bit stunned

Juniper, standing in one place at last, and Frodo impersonating a gargoyle

Something only possible when pups are drugged: three puppies fully in one photo frame and all somewhat in focus

Today I'm sure they will think they are ready for full speed so I'll be busy keeping them calm, coned, and separated - no easy task with three puppies who have the energy to wrestle and play for hours at a time.

Back at home

We had a fun vacation full of sightseeing, hiking and delicious green chile. The foster dogs had their own vacations but seemed happy to see us when we went to pick them up. We also picked up one of Juniper and Mesquite's siblings, Bailey, who is staying with us for the week while her foster parents are on vacation. 

Salinas, excited and a bit overwhelmed while we gather her and her things to head home

Bailey, Mesquite and Juniper wondering what is going on

Chima - home at last - and conked out on her favorite bed

But now things are back to business so today the three puppies headed to the vet for their spays and neuter. Mesquite will also have his umbilical hernia repaired and all of them will get their final vaccination, needed prior to their adoptions being finalized. It's a big day and I have a feeling they are going to be glad when today's adventure is all over with.

Foster Dogs' Namesakes: Juniper and Mesquite

While we are in New Mexico visiting our son, our foster dogs are staying with other foster parents. They are all settling in and having a blast, and so are we. Over the course of our trip we'll be visiting the namesakes of all our current foster dogs and Junie and Skeeter are no exception.

While I can name the trees of Western WA with the best of them, I'm horrible about identifying the trees of the Southwest and can't pick out the mesquite tree from the other trees. However, we did pass by the town of Mesquite when we were driving to El Paso, TX.

Not a whole lot going on in Mesquite, NM

But here's Mesquite the pup and I hear he's had a lot going on - so much that he's worn himself out and likes to catch some snooze time in his temp foster dad's lap.

It's hard to miss juniper trees in central New Mexico since they are everywhere. Here are some near the Gran Quivira Mission and Pueblo Ruins:

Juniper trees around the Gran Quivira Mission ruins

I hope the Pueblo mothers also made up some diaper rash ointment from the Juniper berries since I'm pretty sure juniper bark would chafe. Ouch!

Miss Juniper the pup - hanging out in a harness since she's getting ready to go for a trail walk with her temp foster family

Stay tuned for a post about Salinas' namesake place in New Mexico...