RIP Couch

We've been crate training Roxie, so during the day while we're at work, she's in her crate. We're looking forward to the day when we're confident that she's potty trained so we can let her hang out in our apartment while we're away. We've been slowly training her, having a handful of successful 2-3 hour adventures away from our apartment while the two dogs hang out by themselves in our living room. Each time we've returned, she's done really well.

Today, we left her out while we were at work all day. I walked in the apartment after work, and everything looked good upon first glance. Then I saw green stuff all over the floor.

Roxie had bitten a hole through the zipper on the bottom of our couch cushion and somehow "unzipped" the entire bottom of the cushion. Oh, and when I say "unzipped," I mean to say she bit two different tears into the zipper, so there's permanent damage and it can no longer be zipped up.



My first reaction was surprise. Next came sadness, at which time Koda started apologizing by licking my face and jumping up on me. Then I was even more sad, because I could tell that even though Roxie was guilty, he felt bad. He's pretty perceptive in knowing when us humans are upset in any way.

Next came the humor in the situation. Frankly, at least she was polite about it and the cushion is only messed up along the bottom side, and in a straight line. It could have been worse. It seems like everyone's puppy has to do something equivalent to this at least once in their puppyhood. Here's hoping Ro got it out of her system with the trashing of the couch today.



A bunch of hours had passed since discovering Roxie's damage, so I had the dogs pose for a picture. If we think this is humorous today, I imagine this memory will be even more funny as time passes.

I just posted an update over on my wedding-related blog. I worked this weekend on trying to come up with centerpiece ideas, and although they're not perfect, I think I've finally narrowed it down to a kind of vintage theme. Progress!

We've had our new puppy Roxie for 2 weeks now, and we're finally settling in to more of a routine. She is a lot of work, but it's also very rewarding having this furry little creature bouncing around our apartment. She's very clumsy and curious. She tests our boundaries. She's scared to walk by people on a sidewalk, but not afraid to bat Koda in the face with her paw while balancing on her hind legs. She crossed the big bridge last week, and for no good reason, decided she didn't want to walk across the bridge this week. She makes grown men use silly voices. Koda's taught her an amazing number of good things without even knowing it. For example, when she doesn't want to cross the bridge, he walks first and shows her it's okay.

Whereas he wouldn't even look her direction when we first brought her to our apartment, they're now great wrestling buddies! I imagine this will be even more fun once she's bigger and a better match for Koda. Right now, he's 73 pounds, meaning he's got about 60 pounds on Roxie.

What a week! We got the puppy on Saturday, Brandon injured his hand pretty seriously with a knife on Sunday, resulting in a trip to the emergency room and sitches, then he came down with an awful cold/flu-like thing that rendered him in bed for a few days. The first day the puppy was crated, she hopped out and ran wild in our apartment for 4 hours. When Brandon arrived home, it looked like a tornado had hit! Rugs from the living room had been pulled into the bedroom, toy box was overturned, our DVD player was knocked off our TV stand. Did I say she was calm and mild in my last blog? Just kidding! It turns out she must have just been scared and worn out. She's very much a wild little puppy who likes to eat shoes and bite your toes with her sharp little puppy teeth.

Koda wasn't so sure he liked this new little addition the first few days. As a matter of fact, he wouldn't look her way the first few days. Man, was he was mad at us!





After about 3-4 days together, we finally caught them playing together. We were so excited! They still both kind of do their own thing, but they've since found a mutal interest in chasing each other back and forth. He tries to keep her in line when she tries to steal his food, but he'll let her play with his toys now without that sad look he was giving us all the first day.


Dog wrestling!



On Wednesday night, I fell asleep around 8:30. I'm such a night owl, and this is a complete rarity for me. Apparently the pups were tired as well.

Brandon's recovering nicely, and was such an amazing support throughout those first few nights. In spite of him being sick, he came out every night in the middle of the night when the puppies needed to go out, just to make sure I was safe. When he was high on meds, he kept telling me how much he loved me- in spite of the crazy puppy messes, the fact that we said we were going to adopt an older dog, and in spite of the fact that he was going through so much this week.

After going through several name changes, we've finally decided on the name Roxie. I like to call her Roxie Hart.

We got a new puppy today! We didn't plan on getting a puppy, but it was kind of like the Universe was the one who told us she was meant for us. She's super mellow so far- I'm not sure if this is a result of the adventure she's been on the last 2 weeks, making her way from New Mexico to Denver to her foster mom's house, or if she really is this calm. It seems like she's happiest cuddling with people or blankets. We'll see how she is after a good night's sleep.

Koda's not so sure what he thinks about her. He's been nice, but has kept his distance. He now has to share his treats, his favorite spots, and our attention.

Her name was Domino, but we're thinking of calling her Lucy or Aspen.

She's already had 2 accidents today. Thank goodness for hardwood floors.