A pretty typical situation last night: Den went to bed, so Zeeke went with him, and Zoe stayed with me. While I watched TV and puttered on the computer Zoe napped at my side (moving whenever I got up, of course). The other day Den went to bed in the middle of the day, and I tried to keep Zeeke with me so he wouldn’t bother Den - ha! Barking, chasing cat, fighting with Zoe. Put him in with Den and he fell asleep. That figures.

Zeeke is still getting snarly with bones. Even with Den. But we’re both changing how we approach him about it. He gets protective, but, he will sit/come and leave the bone behind, then we can grab it. But we still want to work on the behavior. I brought a cracker out to my desk just now while Zeeke’s chewing on a bone. First time I went over to him he kept his head low and ears back in that defensive pose of his. I reached down gently and gave him a piece of cracker, then went and sat back down. Now I walk over, reach in, pick up the bone, give him the cracker. He’s now jumping up when I walk over, eagerly. I can’t believe we were so stupid with him. If only we’d done this two years ago. Live and learn, I guess.

I stayed up later today than I had intended. I was watching TV on the couch and Jojo jumped up behind me, then beside me, and curled up and fell asleep. That made me smile. Zoe walked over and I ended up pulling her onto my lap, where she layed down and fell asleep. Her bum was on my lap, with her front legs on my arm and her head resting on a pillow beside me - she’s a tad too big to lay entirely on my lap. She was so adorable. It brought me back to when she’d sleep like that on my lap when she was a pup. I felt so happy and at peace, with one darling on my lap and the other snoozing beside us, well, I just couldn’t get up and disturb them! So I watched another show before going to bed.

My Zoe… she’s everything I ever wanted. Ever being worried about her bonding more to Zeeke or Den seems so silly now… she is fully my dog, she’s my little shadow. I thank the light that she came to me. I think about how lucky I was - to have found her photo up on Petfinder and known then that she was meant to be mine, that I was lucky enough to have been approved and be the one to bring her home! I can’t bear the thought of the possibility that she could have gone anywhere else.

By the way, Zoe’s new collar arrived today. She looks absolutely beautiful in it.

Zoe has officially reached adolescence. I know this because she’s started totally blowing me off when we’re outside. And I don’t mean in the sniffing so much she’s sidetracked kind of way, but in the I’m staring right at you and am thinking about it, but I’d much rather not come right now kind of way. Arg. So we’re going to leash-only and we’re going to be practicing our recalls and sits and other fun things until she remembers that mom’s in charge.

In a way though her independence is a good thing - which is an odd thing to say - but with a dog as shy and anxious as Zoe… at least she’s gaining confidence, and that’s a good thing.

Random side note: I’ve noticed I call her Missy Poopy Head when she’s being naughty. I think it started when she was whining constantly needing to go out.

On the good side of behavior, today she became a cat catcher. Dang Jojo pried open the window again (the one with the AC in it) and jumped out - my fault for leaving the office door open. I went out and did a quick search for him, but he wasn’t in sight. So I took Zoe outside and let her off-leash. Within minutes a black furry crooked-tail blur came shooting across our lawn to launch at Zoe in glee. And then Zoe ran circles around him and pinned him to the ground until I walked over and picked him up. I don’t know how many times that would work until the cat wised up to it, but it sure was easier than hunting him down! (Zoe just thought it was cool that her buddy was outside to play. Snort.)

Did I mention that Zoe is now one year old?? Yep! *sniffle* My baby’s all growed up! On her birthday (which was saturday) we took both dogs over to the park and walked them along the hiking trails for an hour. They loved it. Those were two happy dogs, let me tell you. Zoe looked very confident, tail up and everything, trotting along beside Zeeke. Zeeke enjoyed the creek, splashing his way through the water, but Zoe picked her way along the dry shoreline with me. I guess I got another dainty one here… that figures.

One of the best things about Zoe is how she always wants to be near me. She and Zeeke have been trading off on this kong for days now, it was once filled with peanut butter (and now they only think it still has some crumbs left). Zeeke just gave up on it and layed down, so she immediately jumped off the bed to get it. She brought it back up here and layed down against my side, and started licking. She always brings her bones and toys over to where I am - not to give them to me necessarily, but just so she can enjoy it while laying right next to me. That’s sweet.

Another thing I love to do is snuggle-attacks. I can’t help it - she’s just too snuggly. Every night if I put her in the bedroom first she takes my spot up against my pillow. She’ll normally move soon as I walk towards the bed, but sometimes I tell her not to, then I snuggle-attack her. She flops on her back and wiggles around and I kiss her head and cuddle her and scratch her tummy. She loves it. And I just adore having such a cuddle-bunny!

She’s just such a great little dog. And she’s charmed many people. Online I have several dog-people aquaintances who are in love with her and keep trying to convince me to ship her over to them. And at the bbq on monday my sister-in-law said, “I want one of these now!,” meaning Zoe. I just laughed and said that would be tough to do, since she’s a mix of who-knows-what. I’m just glad that people see even a little of the great little dog that I do.

Oh, and a benefit of having a smaller dog: I can pick her up and carry her around. It’s amazing what a 10-15lb difference makes. Oreo could be picked up, but she was pretty heavy to carry and she really hated it. Zoe doesn’t feel totally comfortable when picked up, but lets me carry her around. Things like needing to get by the baby gate? I don’t bother to move the gate… I just lift her over. Easy as pie.