Hi Sue!
Bailey had her final series of shots yesterday. Dr. DiMayo is crazy about her. He loves her temperament. After he finished his exam, he took some time to talk to me about our routine. He was very pleased to hear we continue to go for three walks a day and that we've begun using sleigh bells to potty train. He said he's recommended them to many clients, almost always with great results, which is the case here (although there is a down side-Chica can hear them from anywhere in the apartment and comes running, so it's harder to sneak out with just Bailey.). He thinks she might hold on to her puppy teeth for a bit yet as they didn't finish coming in until about two weeks ago. He gave her another clean bill of health. She's up to 11.6 lbs now. Before we know it she'll be as long and tall as her big brother.
We continue going to puppy socialization on Wednesday nights. She is most comfortable with the dogs who are about her size and like to roam around and smell things, but sometimes she gets sucked into a game of tag and then I've got the noisiest kid on the playground. Everyone there loves to pet her and hold her and are always telling me how soft and cute she is.
Alex took her for her first haircut two weeks ago. They said she loved everything but the blow out. Since we don't use my hair dryer on her I wasn't surprised to hear this. She came back smelling wonderful with the cutest red bow in her hair. I just wish it had stayed in longer than an hour. After it fell out I put one in that I bought with clips instead of a rubber band so I could get a few more pictures of her.
We haven't decided what we want to do with her coat yet. Alex says he wants to keep her in a full coat, but he also says he wants to train her to flush out birds and I think she'd be excellent at it. She's always tracking when we go on our walks and she watches and studies Chica and Curley so intently, then mimics what they do, especially Chica. We'll see...but I think she'd look so stunning in a full coat. Her color is just gorgeous, Sue!
She has long since mastered sitting, but is not very interested in "down", at least not on command. She does it most when we go for a walk. If Chica and Curley get to sniffing a tree or are taking care of their business, she'll take the opportunity to lay down in the grass and take in the world around her, at least until something moves. Once or twice now she's seen a blowing leaf and it's fascinated her, so I'm really looking forward to taking her to the park this Fall. It's going to be so much fun to watch her play in the leaves. I can only imagine what the first snowfall will be like (although I hope that's far off yet...). On our morning walks she likes to lick the dew off the grass blades as she strolls through them.
That's about it for here. We hope all is well with you, Mike and the family!
'Love,
Sarah
