Olive's Story

Olive came to live with us on January 30, 2010. We weren't looking for a dog. Just two weeks before we lost our beloved Scully. My heart was still heavy with sadness at her passing. We decided that we would look for another dog in the Spring and that in the meantime we would start researching breeds, temperments and sizes as a base when we started looking.

Now, I know that I was probably setting myself up by even looking at websites devoted to rescued animals. But I looked at hundreds of dogs and lots of black labs/lab mixes and didn't even experience a twinge of interest.

Then there was Olive. There she was and her story of losing her front leg and her family all in her first year. I was drawn in and went home that night and asked Kevin if when we started looking at dogs we might consider a three-legged dog. His first reaction was no, but then I pulled up her profile and he felt it too. She was the dog for us!

Two days later she came to our house for a "meeting" and she lavished us in love and treated our other dog, Bisou, like a rockstar. The cats she simply sniffed and left alone.

She teaches me something everyday about loving with abandon, trusting without hesititation, and playing with gusto! We haven't found anything that she can't do yet ... she runs, plays, runs up and down the stairs without any problem. She is great with Bisou (they play all the time) and leaves the cats alone. She did eat a library book while we were at work today, but she is new and a puppy so we are just working with her to learn commands (which she takes to really well). Her most favorite thing to do is cuddle. She'd be laying across us all the time if we let her. Most of all I feel the sadness as losing Scully lessening with the love of this incredible dog.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Training ... For Olive and Us

Turns out Olive loves to learn as much as her mom! Well, it's either that or she loves hot dogs. Hmmmm ... I think it might be the hot dogs. We started obedience classes last night with our sweet Olive. She was such a good dog. She sat and waited between each lesson and was able to get everything except "down". Turns out a tripod does down by flopping on her side, and this command requires a forward motion. So, we've decided it's not the most important command. Oh how she loves hot dogs. We had a baggie full of hot dog bits and her little mouth would start quaking and chattering while waiting to be rewarded. After seeing the unruly dogs in our class we came home with a renewed appreciation for Olive. Olive came home exhausted and promptly fell asleep and slept through the night! She hasn't done that in weeks.

Of course, obedience training is just as much about how Kevin and I act. We learned so much and are excited for our future lessons. Olive is already responding to me differently. Though that might be because I'm now "The Hot Dog Lady", but I'm going to stick with the idea that it's because I'm interacting with her differently and in a way she can understand.
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