A weekend with Gracie

Gracie

Taking on the task of watching Gracie for the weekend had many
unknowns. I have raised 2 puppies myself and even worked with others
on picking out the right puppy for their family. Yet a blind puppy
raises some questions. As mentioned in the previous post I have had
the pleasure of meeting Gracie before but now she is on my turf.

Day 1 - The Drop Off

Kelly showed up friday afternoon as expected a worried mother. I felt
as if she was dropping Gracie off for her first day of school. After
receiving the Gracie to go bag and introducing the other royalty
(Princess our current WRNT foster) in the house to Gracie, the
adventure begun.

I made sure to take time to properly introduce each dog to Gracie.
Princess was curious. Jack the puggle wanted to play and made his own
version Marco-Polo. We will come back to that. Jase and Torro gave a
sniff and walked away.

Gracie had tons of land to survey and didn't waste any time exploring
the house. Once she got the lay of the land we headed outside.
Outside was prepared for Gracie's arrival. We put up the fence around
the pool. We watched as the other dogs lead her around the pool and
once confident the running began. Jase and Torro fled to dad and laid
down to watch the excitement as Jack, Princess and Gracie started to
play. After an eventful day and a hearty dinner Gracie passed out for
the evening.

Day 2 - Let the playing BEGIN

The day would normally start with a subtle nudge to head outside.
Today you could hear the jingle of collars and a puggle howl. Gracie
started the morning by trying to cuddle with a puggle. The pack ran
outside did their business and they waited patiently while each member
was fed. As the other weims settled down for their morning nap, Gracie
had other plans. As she weaves in and out of dog beds you could she
her starting to rile the troops up. To try and maintain the normal
routine, I headed to another room with some toys to entertain Gracie.
Well Jack just couldn't handle it and wandered in to observe. After
moments of watching, Jack had seen enough. He ran in the room and
stole the one toy that squeaked. As he ran out of the room Gracie
dropped to the ground as if in a play stance. Her butt was high in the
air as her little docked tail furiously wagged as if locating the
squeaking toy. Marco-polo had begun. She was OFF as if this was the
only toy left on the planet. Jack was at least 2 rooms and 3 turns
away. Gracie navigated these new rooms very quickly. Gracie was now
in the same room as Jack and the toy. He looked up and squeaked the
toy then ran out of the room. As you can guess, this game lasted for
almost an hour and ended with two sleeping dogs and one slobbery toy.

The day passed. There were some puppy naps on the couch while
watching TV. As dinner time approached, the dogs migrated to the back
door. I forgot how much a puppy can eat. I think Gracie could give
most dogs a run for their money in an eating contest. She seems to
enjoy her dinner and really appreciates the post meal nap. As the day
comes to a close another hide and seek game with Jack begins. Soon
the pack has settled into their beds and the night comes to a close.

Day 3 - Gracie heads home.

Today began the same as yesterday, a morning playtime gets the pack
fired up. Some mornings we have some of nature's wildlife in the back
yard. Normally I know the wildlife is there due to each of the pack
of four staring out a separate window at the invader in the yard. It
is fun to watch the pack shuffle windows as if getting this new view
will give them a leg up.

Well, with the new addition Gracie, this signal was missed. As I walk
to the back door, the pack follows. When I open the back door the
flood of weim's and puggle head in pursuit of a rabbit. Weims for the
most part seem to have a high prey drive which makes them great
hunting dogs. As the team heads out around the pool, they split into
three groups. Princess and Torro head around the pool to the right.
These two are very docile dogs but look at this as a game. Jase and
Jack take this job very seriously. These two will even bark at the
others if they fall out of line. As Jack and Jase creep closer to the
frozen rabbit, there was a forgotten variable. Gracie had wandered
behind the group confused about this new game. Gracie wandered behind
Princess and Torro and had no idea what was going on. As Gracie
wanders toward the rabbit, Jase begins to growl. Gracie, now concerned,
lays down about three feet from the rabbit. This event only took
about 30 seconds but seemed to last forever. As Torro lunges for the
rabbit and Jase and Jack move in for their prize, Gracie jumps up and
runs. The rabbit, this whole time, had not moved an inch. The rabbit
jumps up and slams into Gracie. You hear a squeal and the rabbit
doubles backs and heads out the small hole under the fence. All the
dogs sprint to the spot where the rabbit had once been and stop in
front of Gracie. Still confused on what just happened, Gracie jumps up
and starts trying to play with the other dogs. In disgust, Jase, Jack
and Torro walk away and head inside. Princess stayed behind as if
empathizing with Garcie and showing her own lack of enthusiasm for
this carnial game.

As the two girls take their time outside they finally wander back
inside. Jase growls as Gracie walks by, still upset about the flawed
attempt this morning.

As I write this blog, each dog is passed out on their bed and Gracie is
cuddling up on the couch. This was an eventful weekend to say the
least. Normally we have a low key house. Gracie had provided
companionship for Jack and Princess while the jury is still out for
Jase and Torro.

Gracie was fun to have. You find yourself watching and observing
Gracie as you are so amazed with her abilty to naviagate a new house
and interact wit the other dogs. You almost have to force yourself to
realize she is just another dog. You know she will get into trouble
or eat something she shouldn't just like any other dog. It was great
to help out and watch this little trooper for a weekend. Now I hope
Gracie's family is prepared to watch our four pups for the weekend :)