The lovely Miss Stella had a busy week. As she continues to excel at weight loss (down to 103 pounds), she is much more agile and joining in with the rest of the pack. In the morning, our resident dogs all thunder out of the house first thing with the idea that they might get to see a deer or something on the other side of the fence. Stella now thunders along with them, although maybe not quite at the same speed. Still, if there's something exciting going on, she wants in on it. She is very engaged.

This week, we put out some antique metal dogs, maybe around a foot tall. We put them up on the bookcase and thought nothing more about them. Stella, however, could not take her eyes off them. She got up in the chair to get closer to the bookcase and was thrilled when we took the 3 dogs and put them on the floor so she could see that they really weren't all that interesting. That only worked for a few minutes - once they were back on the shelves, she did everything but go on point for them. They're the last thing she looks at before she goes to bed and the first thing she checks on after breakfast in the morning.

Stella's sister had a pretty good week, actually a very good week until this morning when she woke up sick. Stella moved into Big Sister mode and was on watch, staying close to sister Molly until Molly perked up after some medication kicked in. To see the relationship between these two sisters is really one of the most heart-warming experiences in all the time I've lived with dogs.

Here are some pictures of Stella from this week.

Stella is doing great on her diet -- she's dropped another full pound, and you can tell this weigh loss feels good to her. She is still loving her car rides as well as any snack you'll give her, but it's clear that her favorite time is with Molly. Last night, Molly was outside and somehow Stella missed that opportunity, so they were on opposite sides of the sliding glass door and Stella was trying to lick Molly's face. They were both doing power sniffing, trying to locate each other's scent. They are adorable. The other exciting thing that happened is that they were introduced to the vet's cat to see just how friendly they really are with a cat, and it turns out that cats just aren't that big of a deal to these sisters. The cat and dogs did some serious sniffing, and then the dogs turned to the closest people they could find for some petting and the cat jumped up on the copier. I think they're good with cats! I've included two pictures -- one where Stella is watching TV -- actually barking at animals on TV, and the other where she's playing with our youngest dog. Stella is twice as big as Winnie, but they are fast friends!

Another pound lost!  Stella is looking good and getting slimmer and trimmer every day.  She spent a few days separated from her sister Molly and really wasn't her usual happy self except when it came to time to eat.  That girl is a happy eater for sure.  She has a *lot* of bounce in her step at meal time and shows some pretty fancy footwork on her way to her food dish.  Now that Molly is back home (Molly spent some time at the vet hospital this week) all is back to normal and the two girls are once again inseparable.  Where you find one, you find the other.  Seeing them together and happy just warms your heart.  Here are some pictures of lovely Stella from this week.  In both pictures, Stella is the one in the back.  As you can see, the sisters like to be together!

Stella is the kind of dog that just makes you smile.  She and her sister Molly 16-277 both enjoy a good nap but Stella also enjoys play time and that's really fun to see.  As she loses weight (another pound this week!) she's more energetic and much more playful (between naps).  Right now the highlight of her week is going to the vet for her Friday morning weigh-in where everyone makes a big fuss over her.  With the weight she's lost, her face is starting to change shape and her chubby little cheeks are making way for a sleeker profile. We can't wait to see what she'll look like when she loses another 10 pounds; that should be phenomenal!
Here's a picture of the two sisters getting some attention from foster dad this morning.  Stella is the one in the back and Molly is the one in front.
Lovely girls!

Big week for our exuberant Stella -- she sailed through her spay surgery and is enjoying life with reckless abandon once again.  When we loaded her up in the car she was thrilled until she realized that Molly wasn't with her.  Our happy dog turned into worried dog.  We had Molly in the car with us when we went to pick Stella up so all was good.  Stella slept for hours and needed minimum pain meds.  What a trooper this big girl is. Her spay surgery was just in time as she was getting ready to come into heat.  We didn't get to weigh her but we're confident she continues to lose weight; we'll report on that next week.

 
She and Molly have earned full-house privileges now and sleep in the bedroom with all the rest of the dogs.  We had been keeping them separate but they are pretty reliable right now so we've welcomed them into the fold.  I have to admit that Stella's snoring makes me laugh -- she is just hysterical!  And loud!  But if you just say her name, she stops snoring at least for a while!

More info on Stella next week.  We're going to start her on some meds for her thyroid and other conditions.  I don't believe either of these are long term but we'll know more next week.  Thyroid medication is cheap and she's very trusting -- she'll eat anything you give her.  You know how it is when you're on a diet.  Things that normally aren't all that exciting look *very* different when your intake is a bit restricted!