Curie

 There has been some excitement at the Keeley house of late. 

We have been talking about getting another Greyhound since Zelda died in 2019. We've looked off and on, but they are much harder to come across then the used to be. The track where Zelda had raced closed, and that was a major source of greyhounds for California. Florida also outlawed dog racing (yay!). Which means, in the US, West Virginia is the only state that allows racing. So there are a lot less retired racers around. Some are imported from Australia. And some are used as blood donor dogs for a time and then retired. Others are rescued from China or Korea. So, I had kind of put the idea of getting another Greyhound away, because it seemed unlikely without having to buy a purebred (which I am against). In fact, the agency we got Zelda from has since shut down, because they had no more dogs to help.

But earlier this year, we started looking again. There are still 2 greyhound adoption agencies in the Bay Area. The first one said our house wouldn't be a good fit for the dogs they get (mostly Australian) because the have a high prey drive, and we have cats. The second agency accepted our application and said they'd contact us when they had a good fit. We waited and followed up after a couple months. They said they had 2 greyhound puppies, would we consider a puppy adoption? We had previously said no, because puppies are a lot of work. But we thought, why no consider it. We decided to go visit the puppies, and see if either were a good fit. 

On Sunday morning, we drove to Santa Rosa (2 hours north) with Nana, Bronwyn and Monty in tow. Bertram refused any part of getting another dog. (He is a staunch cat person). Our main aim was to see if Monty would get along with a new dog. He is not usually very friendly with other dogs. Not aggressive, but likes his space. The ride was uneventful, if not long. When we arrived we met Marni who is fostering several dogs, including the two Greyhound puppies, who was 6 months old. Aaron and I met the dogs first, who were all riled up. Then Bron tried to meet them, but they were too jumpy for her. Then we met the dogs one on one. Lyra had A LOT of energy and really wanted to play. She was not as good on lead as the other puppy. Monty didn't like her, she was too playful. And didn't understand what his low growls meant. So she was put away, and Ursa came out. Ursa was calmer. And when Monty met her, she understood he didn't want to play.

They were happy to exist near each other. So we decided to take the leap. She has had all her puppy shots. She'll need to be spayed in a couple months.

She didn't want to leave or get in the car, so Aaron carries her. Then she didn't want to be in the bed in the back of the van. So she crawled up and sat in my lap.

After a short while, we switched spots. Aaron sat in the third row with her and I drove the two hours back home with Monty on my lap. 

When we got home we introduced her to the family, who were all down the street. Aaron walked her a few times that evening. She ate, but didn't potty until 1230am. But she went outside, so that was fine. She likes the paddle pool.

She is very strong on walks, but doesn't walk very straight yet, so that is a work in progress. And she wants to have everything. Anything she can get she'll pick up and take the her bed. (While I've been typing this, she picked up 2$ and brought it to her bed). She is food motivated, which is good, it makes training easier. But we had to move Monty's food and the cat's food where she can't reach.  None of our other dogs have been interested in toys, so we only had a couple things for her. Yesterday, I went to Ross, Home Goods and PetSmart and bought a plethora of soft toys, chewy things and treats, so we are now well equipped.

After going through a few names, we decided on Curie. Though, today I was thinking Laika would have been a good fit. 

She went to the vet for a check in yesterday. She looks good, except her ear need a little cleaning. She weighs 36 lbs, which will probably be close to  half of her adult weight. She starts puppy class on Saturday.

So far, no accidents 🤞🏽 and she already learned to use the bells to ask to go out. (Something Monty has yet to learn). The cats are getting used to her. Waffles is kind of a badass and just does what she wants, nonplussed about Curie. Oona and Shy Guy are much more circumspect. But everyone is adapting. 

Bron has done amazing with Curie. She knows not to run, or the dog will chase her. She doesn't panic if Curie jumps up on her. She pushes her and tells her down. Bert has had very little interaction with the dog, which is how he prefers it.

She goes in her crate at night and when we leave the house. So far, the longest we've been gone is an hour or so. She's not too fond of the crate over night. Actually, that's not true, she sleeping in it right now. But if I close the gate and go back to bed, she starts whining. So for now, I'm out here with her (and Monty, the Velcro dog). 

All things considered, she has been very easy so far, especially for a puppy.  (I said I would never have a puppy. Never say never, I guess).

Mid December

 Everyone has been sick. It started with Bron and went to my MiL and FiL, then Aaron, Bertram, and lastly me.  Aaron has been sick for almost 3 weeks at this point, since Thanksgiving. He still has a cough, but aside from that is nearly back to normal. Bertram has been sick for a week, decent fevers, coughing, stuffy nose. I had it as well, but only had a real fever for a couple days. Now, I'm just run-down, and stuffy. We finally got Bert in to see the doctor today, and it looks like it's the flu. Even though we all got our shots, we got it anyway (for the first time ever). He has to be 24 hours fever free before returning to school. So hopefully he can return on Tuesday.

So Bertram was home all last week. Aaron was WfH all last week. Bron went to school at usual.  I worry Bertram will have a hard time catching up, as school work isn't his forte to start with. We've been working in his math book, and online program. But we have a lot of writing to do, which is his weak point. He missed a lot of fun stuff too, his last anime drawing class, the regular art class, science at school, his class musical performance, the book fair. It was not a great week to be sick, though, there is rarely a good time to be sick. 

Bronwyn had her book fair this week as well, and enjoyed getting new books, she chose one for Bert too, which is really nice. She had her musical performance as well.  A little holiday musical. I couldn't go, I was sick, and I needed to stay with sick Bertram. Aaron took her. And everything was too different: school at night (especially school at night), no backpacks, parents being there. She ended up not participating, and sat in the audience instead.

Waffles got spayed at the beginning of the month. She still has her cone on. She hates it, but is navigating a little better.

Monty is still being a good boy. His first training class on Saturday.

I finished the subway quilt, but I hated the binding, so I tore it off, and need to buy a new one.

I'm slowly getting the quilting done on my sister's quilt. I am doing some by hand, much to me chagrin. But the quilt is so large, it's very hard to maneuver in the machine, and my machine is running a little loudly. I think we need to get it looked at. 

3am catch up

 We had conferences with both kids (it' that time, it wasn't a special conference). It really cemented, to me, that Bertram has the right teacher this year.  We found out in his DreamBox (online math), he'd never finished second grade.  So we've been playing catch up on that.  I told him once he's caught up, he can enroll in coding.  So we've been working on that a few nights a week.  He told me he is caught up now, but I need to find out from the teacher.  Bronwyn's conference was fine.  Nothing too surprising there, except she has an enemy, Wilder.  They do not get along.  I think he is an ASD kid as well.  But her teacher said she's very smart, but she's working on her fine motor.  I've been thinking that I maybe need to ask Kaiser for private OT for her, but with our current schedule there is no where for it to go.  But there has been talk about Bronwyn graduating from ABA.  I don't think Bertram is too far behind her.  So once ABA is done, we'll have a very open schedule.

Bertram has started 2 art classes.  An anime drawing class at the community center, and a regular drawing class after school.  Both are one day a week.  He's been enjoy them, and I love seeing his skills grow.  I think he has a lot of potential, especially when he slows down.  He's always in a rush to get things done.

Bertram had his walk a thon at the beginning of November.  He did 6 miles.  I think he could have done more, but he was just done.  So really he walked 8 that day, since we walked there and back.  I walked all the laps with him, per his request.  All Bert wanted was the Kona Ice snow cone.  Once he got that, he was ready to leave.

My dad is finally starting to feel well, after his surgery.  I was getting worried, because he was kind of despondent.  But he seems to be on the up and up now.  My mom's cancer wasn't quite a simple little cancer, as she needs radiation therapy as well.  It's hard because I had accepted this small, easy breast cancer, and now it's not that anymore.

Dogs:
We had to put Fiona down.  She was doing more and more poorly, and losing more weight and bladder control.  It's hard because there is never a "right time" to do it.  I just kept hoping she would die at home, so I wouldn't have to make the decision.  I started looking for a new dog almost immediately.  As I had a dog-shaped hole in my heart.  We went to the first shelter on a Saturday.  It was a really nice shelter, we visited all the cats, and looked over the dogs.  We met Honey, who was nice, but huge.  And she got too excited for her size (based on the size of the kids).  When we left the shelter Bron was very upset that we didn't leave with a dog.  The next day we went to the city animal shelter, where there were a lot of Pit mixes and Shepherd mixes.  Both breeds are generally bad with cats.  We met a smallish dog.  But he didn't warm to us, and didn't seem like he'd be a good fit for the family.  We went to the last local shelter the same day, and there we found Monty.

Monty has found his niche in our home.  He and Waffles get along, or tolerate each other.  Oona is still a little on edge when Monty is near.  He doesn't particularly care about either of them.  He has been my constant shadow since he came home.  He generally doesn't let me out of his sight.  He is fine with the rest of the family, but really, he only has eyes for me.  He's gotten a little more barky with people and other dogs.  He barks at someone when he meets them the first time, then usually not again.  He walks well on lead, but we're still working on "sit". I've signed him up for training classes at PetSmart (PetsMart?)  That will start in a few weeks.  But he is doing well.  He pees when he gets up, then we do a morning walk, a mid-day walk, and a quick outside in the evening.  We're not walking very far, because when we tried to do that before, he refused to walk any further, and I had to carry him.  Since I was carrying him, I figured I'd order a bag to put him in.  I assumed he'd tolerate, but not like the bag.  But he really enjoys being in there.  He's a snuggly dog, and generally speaking a good boy.

refusing to walk further

happily in his bag.

The kids got their covid boosters. Bert put on quite a show, crying, and falling on the floor.  We had the screamingest kids.  

I donated whole blood last Saturday.  I felt fine afterwards, which is unusual.  Usually I feel fine after donating platelets,  I really enjoy donating blood and platelets. I feel like I'm doing some good in the world, without actually doing anything.

I've been doing a lot of quilting recently.  My cutting skills are improving slowly.  I cut rectangles for a quilt, I have yet to start sewing it.. I made a quilt from scraps.  That turned out really cool.  I still need Aaron to do the binding. I cut the squares for Christmas quits for Aaron's mom and bio-mom.  Aaron got the top of the first one put together last night.  It's a little small, so we're going to add a couple inches of sashing to all the sides.  I worked on Rebecca's quilt some, but that is easiest to do when no one else is home.  It's a big quilt and takes up a lot of space (the whole dining area of the kitchen).

scrappy quilt, before it was done

close up.

rectangle brick-y quilt

fabrics for the Christmas quilts.

Monty

 

Meet Monty. He's a good boy. We adopted him from the Humane Society (the 3rd animal shelter we'd visited). He was shy at first, but he glommed onto me pretty quickly.  His name was Oscar. We were going to get a bigger dog, because our good dog was a big dog. One we saw bowled over both kids, while playing, another was not good with cats. 

Monty was fairly new to the shelter so they didn't have a lot of information on him. We know he came from Tulare county, and he was intact. He's likely a Chihuahua terrier mix. He's a scruffy boy. He did not like the car ride home.

Once we got home he filled me everywhere I went. We had dinner, did laundry, snuggled on the couch and watched TV. He peed outside. He sniffed all around our carpet (because Fiona peed on it), but didn't mark. He doesn't like his crate. He is not interested in people food, except cereal milk and melted ice cream. He is interested in the cats, but this far, has left them alone. But I'm not concerned about them, they had to deal with Yoie, they can hold their own.

When I told him it was bed time, he hopped right up onto the bed, and snuggled under the blankets. He snuggled with me all night. The cats came and went without incident.  He went out in the morning and went pee. 

He doesn't want to be alone yet, so he walked with Bron and me to school this morning. He is a good walker. He walks in the heel position, and doesn't pull at all. He was fine in the school scrum, not bothered by the crowd or noise.

I was nervous about getting another small dog, because Fiona was a bad dog. But I haven't had to worry about him charging, biting, excessively barking (so far), peeing inside, and just being a jerk.

I need to call the vet and set up a meeting, plus he's been sneezing a bit, so I want to get that checked out.

We're going to PetSmart in a little bit to get a new collar, a harness, some treats, some more food and some shampoo.