Foster Family Update

Everyone is envious of "our dog" at the dogpark. She runs faster, frolicks cuter, and plays nicer than any of the other dogs. Everyone asks about her and tells us how pretty she is.

She needs:
1) a single dog loving home and needs to be treated like a member of the family not a dog
2) plenty of exercise every day and a solid dependable routine
3) someone who will cherish the gift that she is
4) someone who will continue her training. she is extremely smart. we had dog gates up in the house only for her first few days until she figured out where she was not to go. she can sit, lay down, and come on command. those things are harder at a crowded dog park, but we work on them "under stress" situations. She can also woo woo in response when I woo wooo for her. She is required to lay down on her bed when we eat dinner.
5) she has zero diversions to going on a walk around the neighborhood, and ZERO scardy-cat stops anymore. If she stops, she's usually sniffing, and a quick "uh uh" and collar pull will get her hound nose up, and we're in "on a walk" mode again. She stops at every street intersection and doesn't go until we say OK again. This is a huge accomplishment. She likes being out and about now in the city!
6) Nutmeg has only met one dog she doesn't like. I was able to tell immediately by her body language that she didn't like that dog - as it was much different than any other time. It was a little boy dog, and I was able to take her away from the situation before her barking and baring teeth led to anything else. Upon meeting him she immediately jammed her entire face up his backend, where usually she just politely sniffs and the other dog is dominant. p.s. he started barking at her first. After twice a day, without fail, at a dogpark for over a month, that's a pretty great accomplishment I think.

Call me Meggie!

Hi, it's me again. I am really glad you came back to see me. I have been wanting to tell you about all the new things I've learned at my new foster home.

I was one heck of a bouncy girl when I got here. I was so excited when it was time to eat, that I couldn't hold still. I would leap into the air and twirl around while I was in the air. I thought I was dancing. My foster mom said I had to learn how to control my body better when I dance, though. She said it wasn't fair when I body-slammed the other dogs or her. She also didn't like it when I would land in the water bowl and splash water all over the kitchen. I thought it was FUN - but she taught me some ways to wait for my food so that everyone is happier.

First, she taught me to "sit". Of course, I knew how to sit before, but I didn't know what it was called. I never knew that it was the polite thing to do when you are waiting for your food to get ready. It was pretty easy to learn, once I got over being stubborn about it. Now I sit even when there is no treat - just for praise!

Next, she started to teach me "stay". This was kind of confusing. She would ask me to sit, and I would do it. Then she would say that "stay" word, and step away from me. I thought it meant that I was done sitting. But a quick "UH-UH" from my foster mom told me that there was something else to this trick. I noticed that my foster sisters always stayed sitting down whenever she said "stay", so I tried it, too. Voila! Praise! I'm starting to get it!

I thought I probably deserved a college degree for all that learning, but my foster mom said that there is actually more to learn. Sure enough, there was a HARD thing to learn: lay down. She says "down", and I'm supposed to lay on the floor???? when she has a treat in her hand??? Come on, I WANT that treat! Ok, ok, I get it. I'm supposed to lay on the floor and then I get the treat. As soon as it's in my mouth, I BOUNCE back up! Is that right??? My foster sisters do it differently. They stay down even after they get the treat, until she says "ok". Maybe I'll try that after a while. We'll see. I DO stay down for longer than 1/4 second now. Since I LOVE to eat treats, it has been pretty easy for me to learn these new things

I always thought it was cute when I Wooo-woo-WOOO'd when I wanted something. My foster mom says it's cute, but not so cute when I SHOUT it. So she is teaching me to ask politely for things that I want. Now I try to remember to sit for toys or treats.

Of course, there is learning to do outside, too. I am learning to walk next to my foster mom without pulling on the leash. This is EXTREMELY hard for a bouncy girl like me, and we work on it every day.

I still get scared at new things. One day on our walk, I saw something that terrorized me. I stopped dead in my tracks. My foster mom had to drag me beyond it, so we could go on with our walk and she could go to work. Even after we were past it, I had to keep looking back to see if it was following me. It was REALLY scary-looking. My foster mom said it was something called a "mailbox". What the heck????? It was going to get me, I know it was! Amazingly, it didn't follow us, so I was a little reassured. A few days ago, she took me for a walk by myself, and we went past the mailbox. I was not quite as scared, as it never did follow me the first time. She let me approach it very slowly this time, and I was brave enough to sniff it. It didn't smell like much. No food inside. After that, we went on with our walk Not too bad.

Feeling a little pensive, thinking about that mailbox

I was getting couch privileges all the time until I made a mistake. I mistook the couch cushion for a stuffy toy. Anybody could make that mistake, right? Well, my foster mom got pretty upset over that. She took it away from me, and wouldn't let me finish tearing it apart. Then she hid the torn part so no one could see my work. I got a time-out for that. Phooey. I think I understand now. I haven't done it again.

I've been here for about a month, and I'm starting to get along better with my foster sisters. I've discovered that sometimes they can even be nice! Here we are hanging out together on a warm, sunny fall day. I'm the beautiful one on the far right, closest to the fence.

Below, you can see me playing in the yard. I am really FAST!

One day my foster mom brought home some really strange things for us to wear. She said they were costumes. I don't know what a costume is, but I really didn't like it much. She said we were supposed to be stylish French Poodles in our curls and fuzzy hats and scarves. I didn't approve at all, and we all REFUSED to wear the hats. You have to remember, I am an ENGLISH Pointer (American Field-bred Pointer). I don't do French. My sisters put up with it longer than I did. Lots of kids came to the door, and my foster mom gave candy to the kids. I wanted some of the candy, but she gave me doggie treats instead. I liked the doggie treats just fine.

By the way, I have decided - don't call me Nutmeg. I like being called Meggie! Well, I'm off to curl up inside for a while. Stop back and see me soon!

Love, Meggie

Nutmeg is now a Minnesota Gal!!!

Wow has my life ever changed in the last few months! The most recent change is that I went for a long car ride in a crate with a lot of other dogs. I was really scared. When we stopped, there was a beautiful dog park, and lots of people and birddogs. I heard someone say that we were having a big party called Birddog Balooza (BB4). But I wasn't feeling much like partying. I was SCARED! There were a few people who were nice to me, and petted me. I didn't trust them at all! There were some nice dogs, and a few I was scared of. There was one Nice Lady who kept coming back to me and telling me I was a good girl. She petted me a lot, and told me I was safe. I still wasn't very sure.

I didn't want my picture taken - I was scared.

Here I am with some of the dogs at the dog park where the party was.

I was put into different cars and different crates during the day, and taken out lots of times to run at the dog park. Finally, the Nice Lady told me it was time to go. She put a leash on me and along with two other dogs I had met that day, we went to her car. They got in, so I got in, too. There was no crate, and I didn't know where to sit, so I decided to lay on the floor in the back of the car. It got dark, and I slept and slept. When we finally stopped, we were at someone's house - and I recognized the dogs there from the party! It was GREAT! I was really hungry, though, and the Nice Lady gave me food. Then she set up a crate for me in a bedroom. She and the other girl dogs slept in the bed, and I got to sleep in the nice crate, where I felt safe.

The next morning, we said goodbye to the people and dogs where we slept. We went to another big dog park, and then we got in the car again. The Nice Lady said that I was supposed to come with her. She said we were going "home". We drove for a very long time before we got to another house. This turned out to be the house where we are all living now: me, and my Nice Lady, and the other two girl dogs - and some kitties. It's in a place called Minnesota.

This is me at the back door of the house in Minnesota.
Other foster dogs before me made it dirty like that. Honestly, it wasn't me!

Somehow or other, it got to be fall.

It's a nice big yard, with lots to sniff.

Now I know that the Nice Lady from the party is my new Foster Mom. She can be very strict sometimes - she doesn't let me eat the socks from the laundry basket. But she is very loving, and she gives me treats when I do good things, and she lets me play with lots of toys. She still tells me that I am a good girl like she did when I first met her. I think this is going to be a good place. My Foster Mom says that there is another home - a real Forever Home - out there for me. She says that there is a family that is just waiting to find me. She says I should learn lots of good things about living in a house and being a good dog, so that the family will recognize me as the good dog they are looking for. So I am trying very hard.

Ok, so is this the right way to use a couch? Am I allowed to chew on the blue towel?

Am I getting closer? Is this right?

I think I'm starting to get the hang of it...

Ah, now I've got it!

Come back and see me, and I'll tell you how I'm doing in my new foster home! Maybe when you come back, you'll see that I really AM the girl for you!

She's a Chow Hound!

I bought the dogs a Tug-a-jug today, and Nutmeg's foster brother Rowan promptly chewed through the rubber "rope". However, it functionally still did the trick - kept them occupied. Here, Nutmeg demonstrates the "roll" technique, as opposed to Rowan's "brute force" approach.

My New Jogging Partner

Hey it's me again - Nutmeg!!!

Wow today was a really fun day. My mom and foster sister and I went exploring! We drove in the car for a little while, which of course is one of my favorite things, and then when we got out we followed this trail called a "Greenway" for a really long time! Here's a few shots of me and my foster sister Rosie as we were going along the trail! She used to be really grumpy with me, but I think she doesn't mind me so much anymore, we are becoming the best of friends since we always get to go on adventures together!







We saw lots of people and other dogs when we were on the trail, it was really fun! There were also these things called 'bicycles', I was a little nervous when I first saw those, but after a little while, I didn't mind them at all! Check back soon for news of my next adventure!

love,

Nutmeg

Another Visit

Hi everyone! Nutmeg here. This week was really important for me. I went back to the Paw Patch and had an operation. I was very brave and mom says I am such a good girl for being so brave! When she came to pick me up afterwards, the people there said I was so sweet, they didn't want to let me go!
Here I am in the car on the way home, I was really, really tired!

Well, even though I was a little woozy that day, mom says it's a good thing because those stinky boys won't be bothering me anymore! Whatever that means, but I'm glad!

Hazy Dayz

Hi everyone! Nutmeg here. I'm so excited to tell you all about how my life has been since my last update. I am feeling so good, my cough is completely gone and I am back to my normal happy bouncy self! I am the life of the party over here at Point O' Woods, if I do say so myself!


I am really starting to enjoy this cuddling thing, it was new to me at first but now I can't get enough. I love to snuggle up to my foster mom and get pets and kisses. When we're inside, my favorite thing is to collect all the stuffies and toys in the house and make piles with them. Later on, I usually move the piles, just to make sure I can keep track of everything.


My foster mom and I play some really cool games, she throws this blue disc in the air and I run after it. Usually the blue disc falls to the ground and that's when I run back to my foster mom. Then she goes and picks up the blue disc! I think there might be something else to this game, but I'm still figuring it out...my favorite thing is to play with my duck outside. I like to run fast and keep it away from my foster brothers and sister, it's a lot of fun!

I know I make her laugh a lot, I really like doing that. One of the things that makes her laugh the most is when I practice ballet. I am so graceful! I lean up against the cabinet for balance and then I do the most graceful arabesque with my back leg, I am really talented!

I'm having a great time with my foster brothers and sister, although sometimes my foster sister can be kinda grumpy. I think she doesn't like other girl dogs, especially happy, bouncy, affectionate ones like me that steal the show! The other dogs seem to bark a lot but not me! I'm a good girl and I don't make a peep! I know that makes my foster mom very happy and I try really, really, really hard to make her happy, it's what I like best! I also love to take rides in the car. Every time we go outside I run over to the car and wait there, in the hopes that my foster mom will get the idea, but she rarely catches on, I will have to keep working on that with her!

I am having so much fun here, but I know there is still something missing...my foster mom tells me that there is a family out there, waiting just for me. She says they are looking for a special girl like me to add something sweet and spicy to their lives! She says that they will be super lucky to get a cute little pointer with all the great qualities that I've got! I'm hoping they will have kids for me to play with, and maybe even other dogs. If they have cats, that's ok too - hopefully they will take me to the park and for jogs and on trips. Most of all, I hope they will love me forever. I just know they will find me, and I'll be here waiting until they do!