Wow. I can't tell you how overwhelmed with emotion I am after reading all of your amazing comments regarding "Laura's New Ewok" entry about the pup I recently acquired through United Rescues of Kentucky. My heart is truly full of warmth and good feelings right now. Thanks too for sharing your rescue stories. I love reading them.
I picked up Mirabelle (who is now called "Bella" which is getting her attention much quicker!) from Nicki who transported her to Louisville from Lincoln Co. Friday evening. Nicki had also transported about 5 or 6 other puppies in that trip so her and her husband's hands were full to say the least! They had bathed all the puppies and had them in their basement when I arrived. When I got to the bottom of the stairs I was greeted like a rock star with all of them jumping all over me. It was quite joyous and fun. There's nothing like puppy love especially when it's multiplied by 6! And then I saw those Ewok ears and it was love love love for sure. Mirabelle, my new light.
She is actually much smaller and more petite than I thought but the Vet thinks she'll end up being near 50 or so pounds. My Vet also thinks she's about 4 months old and mostly Australian Shepherd and in good health. My biggest worry was how my other two dogs, Kona & Eli, would receive her. They've been the only two for quite some time and Eli, the giant Malamute, is not too fond of other dogs. I am so happy to report they are all getting along great! Kona, the lab mix, loves her and they are playing a lot, wrestling & chasing each other.
Eli butts in once in awhile like a boxing referee to calm them down with a big howl and growl but that's as aggressive as he gets. He's black & white and literally looks like he's a ref! Then he goes and lays back down, situation controlled, his job done. But my work has only just begun as we are now working on house training, jumping on people, knocking mommie's hot coffee into her lap, chewing on Mom's hands and everything else and responding to voice commands such as "NO!" (Truly, I don't want her to think her name is NO).
So far, Bella has learned to sit and shake hands..er..paws. My goal is to get her into an agility class so I'll be investigating that soon. Any training tips or stories are welcome. I'd love to hear from you and I will share more soon. Hope you enjoy these pictures which feature Bella as she was being transported and Nicki who drove over 200 miles to save her life. I am so grateful.
Laura
