Penny's New Life

I am so happy to report that I have heard from Penny's new family (3 people and another dog). Penny's new owner is a veteran of the Iraq war. She's now his constant and close companion.

She's eagerly trying out a new role to serve (possibly) as his service dog. I always knew in my heart that Penny was destined to do something important. I truly believe she has found her calling. I could not be happier that the 2 of them found each other. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Here's some cute photos of Penny in her new home:

Halloween 2012

Napping

Getting into trouble ;)

                        










New housemate

 

I can't wait to hear all about their family's adventures together!

ADOPTED!!

I just heard that Penny has been adopted! I am so happy for her and I am so happy for her new family! I hope they keep me posted on her new life.

I also just got the link for her first TV appearance on Fox23 in Maine:

http://www.myfoxmaine.com/story/19883371/animal-welfare-society-halloween-tips-for-pets#.UIgQoVMl8hg.email

 

I think Penny is destined for great things!

I am so grateful for all the people who helped in some way Penny find her new family. This is just a partial list as I know there are others:

Lauren
Harriet
Ruffus Rescue
Save a Litter Pregnant Dog Rescue
Heather
Road Trip Home
Animal Welfare Society
Her Maine foster home
Carol
Gail
Fox23 Maine

I will forever love my little "Henny Penny"

First Foster Mama,
Kathy
ksrakestraw@windstream.net

Penny is a Star

Penny is now at Animal Welfare Society (AWS) in Kennebunk, Maine where she is up for adoption. They have some new photos of her up. She's growing up fast.

Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. She has even been on a local news show - TWICE! Here is her second appearance, helping to model pet Halloween costumes. She's dressed as a pumpkin about 2:50 mins into the video: http://www.myfoxmaine.com/category/203817/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7872574

Here's her bio page at AWS: http://animalwelfaresociety.org/adopt/adop_dog_penny1012.html
There's a video there of her playing in her foster home in Maine.

The shelter thinks she would be a great therapy dog and I totally agree! Penny is quite the busy girl. I understand her social calendar is pretty full while she looks for a loving forever home!

I'm so proud of my foster pup and look forward to hearing that she has found

Penny Photos

Got some fun, cute photos of Penny today that I wanted to post.

 

 

 

Here she's posing and showing off her cute sit.

This is a cute close up of her face

Penny in action--pouncing on a toy












Cool whirlwind shot of Penny running with a tennis ball

I love this action shot of Penny running (notice a theme here?)

 

Penny LOVES to play with toys and this toy is one of her favorites

One more close up photo--she's so stinking cute!




I hope I get to see photos and hear about her in her new home as she grows and develops into the great dog I know she will be!

Learning About Polite Play

Penny is STARTING to learn she needs to play more gently and more politely. She's not there yet, but getting better.

She absolutely ADORES meeting people. She went with me on a walk on my street late this afternoon. All 16 lbs of her tried to drag me to meet every person that was within her eyesight. She met and played briefly with a 5 and 6 year old little boy. She still is a little to mouthy with those sharp little puppy teeth.

She met some teenage boys and all kinds of adults. When she seems someone, she gets the cutest happy face. She starts bounding over to meet them trying to pull me with her leash. I'm trying to work on her not pulling. We have not made much progress there though.

Penny has started playing with one of my adult female Greyhounds, Cori. Cori has decided now that Penny is learning a TINY bit of manners that she's not so bad to play with after all. Today, I actually was able to video a little bit of their play session. It's very cute to see this little squirt playing with a large dog. They both were clearly having a blast!

Exciting News for Penny

Penny has been accepted into a cool and special program with Road Trip Home Animal Rescue. She will be heading to Maine next week to begin her new life! Road Trip Home transports dogs to top notch shelters up in the north where there are shortages of puppies. These shelters carefully place dogs in loving homes.

This Maine shelter is a privately run group. They charge a pretty hefty adoption fee in order to make sure the adopters are serious about making the commitment to the dog they are adopting. This shelter also offers obedience classes to adopters. They always take the dog back should the adopter not be able to keep the dog or should the adoption not be in the best interest of the person and or the dog.

I would have liked Penny to be adopted in the area, but I think this opportunity will give Penny the best chance at a great life.

I have written a bio about her and a little info guide about her for her new adopters about her schedule and her experiences thus far with me. Kind of a "Penny Instruction Manual" :)

Some family is going to be very lucky to get such a smart and awesome puppy like Penny!

Penny's First Shopping Excursion

Penny went to Petsmart with me this evening. I'm telling you, nothing bothers this little girl:

Riding in the truck - she loves to travel
Pottying in a strange place with lots of dog smells - no worries
Automatic doors - piece of cake
Slick floors - no problem
Sights and sounds of a store - just lots of fun
Meeting  new people - Penny is a social butterfly
Sitting at the register for treats from the cashier -such a smart girl!

Penny is pretty unflappable. She wants to see and do everything. She adores meeting new people.

It's amazing how a 14 lb puppy could practically drag me over to meet every person-- young, old and in between who was in the store. She LOVES people.

We're working on her puppy biting. She's getting better, but those puppy teeth are like needles. A well meaning clerk told me to squeal when she bites too hard. I told the clerk that in a highly excitable dog like Penny, that just gets her going more. I've been working on a firm NO and if that doesn't work, I move away from her. She's getting better, but we still have a ways to go.

There were other dogs in the store too. She tried to convince me that those other dogs would LOVE to play with her--but on that one, I held firm. I just don't want her to have any bad dog experiences while we are working on her socialization.

While we were checking out, the cashier wanted to give her a treat. I told the cashier Penny had to sit for the treat. I think the cashier thought I was kidding, but Penny sat. I thought the lady was going to fall down. She couldn't believe that such a little squirt was so smart.

Penny will be such a great dog for an active family who will respect Penny's strong will but not let her walk all over them. Penny reminds me of Stewie from the cartoon Family Guy. Smart little thing who wants to take over the world :)

Penny's Best Day Ever (So Far)

Penny had her best day ever so far in her little young life. She accompanied me and one of my dogs to a local agility trail.

Penny met LOTS of people and LOTS of dogs. Everyone who met her exclaimed how cute, adorable, playful and friendly she was--aside from those sharp puppy teeth of hers. She met lots of puppy friendly dogs who would tell her when she was getting carried away without hurting her. Hopefully those little wheels in her head are turning and she is starting to learn some manners.

She watched everything and everything and didn't want to miss a thing.

She had a blast playing with the people, the dogs and she even found a border collie puppy to wrestle around and play with.

I think if Penny could talk, she would say it was the best day ever. She was wiped out by the time we got back home. It made for a nice relaxing evening with a puppy who was worn out and slept the entire evening.

A tired puppy is a good puppy :)

Penny Loves to Play

Penny LOVES to play. It's hard to get good photos or video or her because she so stinking fast :)

Here's a little video I shot. I had to delete the other 6 because she'd run out of view and she'd bounce around like a rubber ball. In this video, she's actually being slower and calmer!

She also likes to tug, grab, shake, jump and roll all over toys (or you if you let her). Oh, if a toy makes noise, she really goes crazy. Most of the photos are a blur. Here's one that's not.

I need to get some photos with her ears a-flying and running around. She's so funny. After a good play session, she's ready for a nice nap.

This little girl is a barrel of fun. She will make a great addition to an active family who will not let her push them around. She'll try if you let her :)

Potty Training Penny

Penny's potty training is going well. I take her out frequently and we stay outside until she potties. I can to you one thing, she's not a fan of wet grass or the rain. She tried to tell me that little pittie puppies just don't simply walk around on wet grass to potty. I had a heart to heart talk with her and said yes they do.

She begrudgingly went (kicking & screaming initially), but lo and behold, once on the grass, she pottied. Then she high tailed it back to the deck, pretty much much pulling me with her on the leash. Amazing how an 11 pound little puppy can pull that much.

Anytime we go out and she has pottied, I let her tell me when she wants to go in. When she's done if she wants to stay out outside for awhile, we do. If she wants to go in right afterwards, we do. I don't want her to think that once she potties, we go back in right away. Some puppies learn that if they don't potty outside, they can stay out longer. I don't want her to fall into that pattern, so she actually gets to call the shots on how long we stay out AFTER she potties.

We've only had a few accidents and they are always my fault because I didn't keep better track of time. She's doing REALLY well with crate training. Only one accident in her crate. Again my fault for making her wait too long.

In the middle of the night, if she wakes up and cries, I take her out to potty. She does her business and we go right back to bed.

She's a very good girl. As I've mentioned in previous blog entries, she's so smart. She blows me away with how smart she is for an approximately 9 week old puppy.

Bold and Sassy

Penny is about as cute as they come. She's bold, confident, curious and sassy. She met my 4 large dogs today and wasn't the slightest bit concerned.

She LOVES to play. If you give her a toy and play with her and the toy, all is good. If you don't she'll just try and play that you are toy! They don't call puppies land sharks for nothing. We're working on that. A little lady needs manners after all.

She loves for you to tug with her. She'll shake and throw her toys. Sometimes she'll just pounce if the toy is just laying there.

She's also so smart. She has blown me away with how smart and easy she learns. She's learning to sit for her food. She has also figured out that if she's carrying on in her crate, she's not coming out, BUT, if she sits and is quiet, she gets to come out.

She also learned how to drink water of out the big dog water fountain all on her own. She's tackling steps--including scary deck steps with open backs. She's learning how to walk on a leash and enjoys exploring. Penny is just amazing!

It's probably to early to tell, but if she keeps up like this, she might even end up being a good performance sport dogs (such as agility & obedience/rally obedience). I think she will also like hiking a great deal. I think she's going to end up being a pretty active dog. Again, time will tell.

I wouldn't be very surprised if this cutie pie gets adopted quickly.

A Penny Saved

Today a Penny was saved. This was not just an ordinary Penny. This Penny is an adorable Pit Bull puppy with not much hope. You see, in today's world there are to many people with not good intentions looking for Pennies like me. Because of this, even as little puppy, Penny was not considered adoptable and it had nothing to do with her personality, temperament or anything of the sort. It was all because of some bad people looking for Pit Bulls for all the wrong reasons.

So, poor little Penny was only allowed to go to a rescue/adoption group. Well, due to so many things like the economy and the over population of dogs and cats, all the rescues and adoption groups are bursting at the seams. No one had room for Penny.

It didn't look good for this little 8-10 week old puppy who was turned into the shelter when the people, on impulse bought her in a parking lot at Walmart's only to find that their apartment complex would not allow them to have Penny.

Then through the power of the email, the Internet and modern technology, Penny's plight was heard. Someone stepped up to foster her if a group would put her through their adoption program. Then another person involved with a local group said they would go get her from the shelter and got her admitted to their group's adoption program since she had a foster home.

All the pieces fell into place. Penny was pulled from the shelter where her days were limited and is headed to her foster home. She's well on her way to starting her new life that help her become a much loved pet in a much deserved forever home.

Stayed tuned for future updates and photos on this little cutie!