Go ask Alice

Alice has now been with us for just over a week, and she's fitting right in.  We did a hike in Lowell Dracut State Forest today, and a walk on the Vandberg Esplanade, and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.  And here she is, all tired out:

I know, right?  Ridiculously cute. And curled up so tiny!

Some back story for Alice: She came to us through Canine Commitment of New England, a rescue group we found on Petfinder.  She was in a shelter in Tupelo Mississippi since she was a puppy, when she was apparently brought in as a stray.  The folks in the shelter asked if the rescue group would bring her up before she got much bigger, thinking she had a better chance of getting adopted as a pup.  She's about 5 months old.  She's likely part lab, as she has webbed feet.   But other than that, we don't have much to go on.  She's almost 30 pounds.  The head vet at our vet office said she wouldn't get much taller but should/would fill out a bit, likely topping out around 36 or 38 pounds.  But we've had random strangers tell us she could make it to 75 pounds!  Eek!  Is she part great dane?  Who knows!

So far it's been a bit chaotic adapting to life with a puppy.  Thankfully, she is mostly house-trained, and we've had very few accidents.  Also, she's been a good sleeper at night (or maybe we're just too tired to hear her).  She stays in the downstairs hallway without protest (although with plenty of barriers keeping her from other areas).

She's a bit rambunctious in the morning, which is a bit frustrating when all you want to do is quietly make a caffeinated beverage and quietly check e-mail and quietly wake up.  But we're figuring it out.  We've been seeing a lot of our neighborhood in the early morning.

This is my first puppy experience.  People keep reminding me that she is still a puppy, and I can't expect grown-up dog behavior.  There is a lot of chewing.  Do not leave shoes lying about.  Do not provoke her with shoelaces.  Or the swing of a swingy skirt.  All will be chewed.

I was weary of her earlier this week, and complained to our friend Paula (keeper of all dogs).  I foolishly compared her to our previous dog, when Paula told us that we didn't have a dog before, we had an animated rug.  "Animated rug" is an oddly apt way to describe Carter.  I know I have to stop comparing the two, but it's hard to avoid it.  Here's a shot of Alice with a toy she inherited from Carter:

That's Big Mean Kitty.  She was in pristine shape when Carter received her as a present soon after his arrival here.  Carter was never much of a chewer.  There's a hole in Big Mean Kitty's side from when our guest, Mackie, chewed him, but we sewed it up, and Carter never inflicted any real damage on Big Mean Kitty.  I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but Big Mean Kitty no longer has ears.  And I imagine she will soon lose other appendages, too, to the ravages of Alice.

But she's been very sweet, loves people, and moves quite a lot faster then Mr. Carter did.  And we're very glad to have a furry creature among us again.