It’s me, Ava, with an update from my foster home. I had a big outing last week to the dermatologist. Everyone was hoping I could get off of my limited-ingredient food and my daily zyrtec and go with allergy shots instead, but alas, it isn’t to be. I was a brave girl, though, and I rode in the back seat with just resident dog Oliver and no humans back there at all! I did great!

There really isn’t much new to report for me. I continue to be a happy, happy girl and I get braver all the time. I’m still a little afraid of the humans we encounter on our walks, but not as afraid as I used to be. If they don’t look at me while they hold their hand out, I’ll sniff it. And I’ll sniff their little dog too!

The resident dog and I have become quite the hunters. We tag team it. We were so successful last week that we each got a bird at the same time and the human didn’t know who to chase first. Hahaha. Sadly, now there’s a big plywood barricade protecting the bush with the bird’s nest so we’re back to watching for pesky wabbits.

In case you’d like a glimpse into my life, it goes something like this:

Early morning:

1. Wake up next to the human, give chin kisses, stretch.
2. Go outside to check my pmail, update my status, and look for vermin.
3. Back in the house for breakfast and my allergy pill.

Mid-morning:

1. Hang out loose in the house and snooze.

Lunch time:

1. One of my humans comes home to let us out then we hang out loose in the house and snooze some more.

Evening:

1. We all go for a walk around the hood where I sniff everything but pee on nothing.
2. Supper time.
3. Play time in the backyard where I get the zoomies, roll around on my back, and annoy the resident dog.
4. We all go for a walk around the hood where I sniff everything but pee on nothing.
5. TV watching time where I get lots of pets and hugs while I amuse myself with a toy, bone or Kong.
6. Bed time where I snuggle til morning.

And here is a picture of adorable me!

Don’t you just love life? I do. I want RAGOM to know how grateful I am that they rescued me because I had no idea things could be like this! I’m learning more and more about what life can be outside of a puppy mill, and I like it!

We have a new routine when we go for walks now. We used to walk out the front door and I got pretty used to that, but now we have to go out through the garage. That means I have to walk all the way across the kitchen, into the oh-so-small laundry room, and out into the doesn’t-have-much light garage. Kinda scary!! I’ve done it a few times now and it’s getting easier. We started out with my Foster Mom putting my leash on me in the family room and walking me through all those other rooms. She won’t do that anymore. Now she stands by the laundry room with my leash and makes me walk over there by myself. The first time she did that, I stood my ground in the family room. But she started walking out without me!! I hightailed it across that floor so fast I blew the papers off the counter. Sometimes you just have to put your big girl collar on! Walks are my second favorite thing, so there was no way I was gonna get left behind. In case you’re curious, bedtime with my human is my very favorite thing. My third favorite thing is getting kissed. I just LOVE kisses. If you throw in a belly scratch, I’ll be yours forever. I like to give kisses too. My Foster Mom gets a kiss on her chin every morning when I hear her eyes open.

I still have playdates with the neighbor dog and we have a blast. They have a new grandpuppy so he came over too. I walked right up to his humans like I wasn’t scared at all. They were surprised to hear I came from a puppy mill because they thought I looked so brave. Me!

I’m getting more and more time out of my kennel when the humans are gone too. I haven’t done anything naughty. I like it best, though, when everyone’s home. We have our little routine that includes the humans watching TV and me throwing the kong around or chewing on a bone. Unless, of course, there’s a dog show on TV. Then I make a better door than a window.

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays as much as I did. I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to my four-legged foster cousins. They were so nice! I got a whole bunch of toys and bones and scarves and collars.

I'm still making progress here in my foster home. My Foster Mom has been home for a couple weeks so we've spent lots of time together. We take walks and play on the floor with the resident dog. And we cuddle. Sometimes we have grooming sessions and I get brushed and get my nails trimmed. I don't mind at all. In fact, I like it!

Here's a new picture of me. This scarf matches the collar I'm wearing. How cute is that!

Do you like my new picture? My Foster Mom says my scarf brings out the color in my eyes. I think she could be right.

I want to say thank you to my puppy mill sister, Betty, for buying the icon on my webpage. Wasn't that nice of her? Maybe she gets to have a paper route in her forever home. I know she got really lucky with her humans. I gotta say I'm starting to think humans maybe aren't so bad after all. Dennis and Joanne were nice enough to sponsor me and they don't even know me. And I got help from the Golden Retriever Foundation, too.

Things are going good for me here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the snow. I could play outside for hours. I just love it when Sam, the Golden Rretriever from next door, comes over cuz we wrestle hard. My humans say I've gotten so brave that I'm oh-so-close to being like a non-puppy mill dog. I'm really just a happy girl who loves to chew on peanut butter filled bones, go for walks, and cuddle with my peeps. I still get a little shy with strangers but when it's just the humans I know here, I'm perfectly comfortable. There have been lots of different humans in and out of here this past week while my Foster Mom is on vacation and I haven't freaked out at all. I just lay quietly in my corner and watch the goings-on.

I was hoping I would get to spend this Christmas with my brand new family, but alas, it's not to be. I'm not discouraged, though. I know there's a family out there that will be able to look past my puppy mill past and fall in love with adorable, loveable me. I'll wait.

It's me! Aivee! I've made so much progress since my last update I don't even know where to begin! Life for me gets better and better with each passing day. I no longer have to be led by my leash into the house and sometimes I go in even before my BFF Oliver! I now LOVE to get petted by the humans that are around here. Not any other humans though. We're still working on that. I let my Foster Mom cut my nails again and, while I didn't love it, I didn't hold a grudge this time. She can brush me too. We're still working on clipping and unclipping my leash from my collar. When I master that without freaking out, I won't have to trail it anymore. And, my allergies are all cleared up now that I’m on a limited ingredient food. Yay! So that’s all the good stuff. Now I must, in the interest of full disclosure, reveal that I had an accident in the house this week. That’s the first one in a long, long time though.

Here’s me:

Aren’t I simply adorable? My once green teeth are now pearly white and my fur is just lovely!!

Sometimes, usually after I've had a case of the zoomies, Oliver and I chill in the grass and chew on sticks while we tell each other stories. It looks like this:

Hey Oliver! Did you hear the one about the collie that walked into the bar? The bartender said, “So…why the long face?” Hahahaha. I crack him up.

I still have some things to work on (like car rides, strangers, eating when the humans aren’t sitting perfectly still, etc.) but, all in all, I am a pretty happy girl. My humans love me to pieces and they kiss on me all the time. Not so much after I stole the eye glasses and chewed on them but otherwise all the time.

TTFN!

P.S. I want to thank Dennis & Mary again for their generous sponsorship and, to Hattie Pie, your mom misses you.

Hello.  Now that I've been in my foster home for a while, I thought I'd give this update thing a whirl. 

My name is Princess Avery of Stonebridge but my friends call me Ava.  Or Avery.  Or Peanut.   I've been told that, having escaped the horrors of a puppy mill, my name symbolizes what's in store for me from this point forward.   I hope it does cuz I would very much like to live like a princess! 

I would like to thank my sponsors for their generous donations.  I know that without your support I wouldn't be here so thank you Dennis and Joanne for your gift.   If I had any babies left I'd give you one.  And thank you too to Hattie Pie for being so lovable that your memory is inspirational. 

I have to say things are going pretty well for me here.  I'm less scared than I was when I first came.  My BFF Oliver has helped a lot.  We play endlessly.  He wrestles with me, plays tug and chase with me, and chews on bones with me.  He served as my buffer with the humans here but even that's gotten better.  I used to accept pets only if Oliver was in the middle but now I'll accept pets when it's just me.  Mostly.  I still get scared sometimes if someone moves fast.   Oliver has helped me learn that it's not so scary to be away from my safe spot. Here's a movie of him being my mentor. He has a big butt, doesn't he?  Hahaha.

Outside, I am one happy girl.  I love to run and toss toys around and do a little gardening (the good kind.  You know, pulling off dead sticks that the humans would pull off anyway).  I hold my head and my tail high and I prance around like I own the joint. 

I had to make a trip to the vet last week because my stomach was upset.  That was scary!  I was a brave girl though and let the vet examine me and give me fluids.  No one's really sure why I got sick but I've bounced back on a diet of boiled hamburger and rice and I'm slowly transitioning to a new limited ingredient, grain free food.  That's to hopefully mitigate any allergic issues I may be having cuz I've been kinda itchy.  I have to go back to the vet next week to be spayed.   Wish me luck!!  Paws crossed that I can be a brave girl again cuz it makes my humans pop buttons with pride. 

I have a ways to go still on my socialization before I'm ready for adoption but my humans are confident that I'm up to the task.  Tune in next week for a new episode of Life with Ava.  And thanks again to my sponsors!