The Oprah Winfrey Show is re-running their episode on puppy mills tomorrow (Thursday 5/29/08). If you missed the "most-talked about show of the year" please tune in.

After posting, I thought of one other noteworthy moment from the weekend. Today we walked into town for lunch, and Kat stayed with Mags on some benches along the street while I ran into the deli for sandwiches. I ran back out of the deli to get Kat's 2nd choice of bread, since they were out of choice numero uno.

Kat and Mags were in the middle of a photo shoot on the street. Some photographers were in town and claimed (rightfully so, we think) that Maggie was the "cutest dog they ever did see".

I came back out 10 minutes later with the sandwiches, and several people were surrounding Kat and Maggie on the bench. She's a very popular girl.

Some day she's going to cause a car accident. I can't count the number of people we've seen making "aww, look at that dog!" faces and pointing as they drive down the street.

Memorial Weekend

Maggie's Memorial Weekend started with a spa day with Kat on Friday. She went in for a bath and grooming at Kriser's. We were a little concerned about how much they might take off and that she might look like a shaven poodle when they were done, but they did an excellent job. They even gave her a scarf to boot. She looks better than ever.
Friday night we went up to Michigan - this was Maggie's first full weekend up there. After a stressful Friday with the grooming, and then a new place Friday night, Saturday didn't get off to the best start.

The one big difference in Michigan is that we don't have a fenced in yard, so she's on the leash all of the time. That, combined with the new surroundings, had Maggie a little tense in the beginning. Getting her to relax outside and enjoy the weather was a challenge. We hooked her leash on the leg of our patio table and tried to get her to chill.

First she would only stand, uncomfortably.

Eventually (after like an hour), she decided to sit. She looks happy here, but that's just her playing to the camera. Don't be fooled.

And then, finally, she plopped down on the patio. Though she was going to have nothing to do with her treat (the 'bully stick'). She wasn't quite that comfortable yet. Once she decided to lay down we took her leash off. There's a very high inertial threshold for Maggie to get moving once she's lying down so we were pretty confident she wasn't going anywhere.

We had one incident Saturday morning, shortly after we finished our cereal on the patio. While still in standing-mode, Maggie pulled hard enough to move the patio table. The table isn't very heavy, and the thought had crossed my mind that attaching her to the table might not be the best of ideas - but I'd convinced myself that she generally doesn't move quickly, or with enough momentum to move the table much, so we were fine.

That turned out not to be the case. Maggie didn't pull very hard, but it was hard enough to move the table an inch or two. What I hadn't foreseen was the cycle this could begin.

The table moved. That scared Maggie. The quicker Maggie moved, the more the table chased after her, and so on. The end result was the table ending up dragged through the "landscaping" (ie. mulch with some tall grasses) before I caught ahold of it and the untimely demise of one cereal bowl.

From that point on, Maggie's leash was attached to the leg of a patio chair - and only when one of us was seated in said chair.

By Sunday night, Maggie was exhausted and making herself comfortable on her bed, as you can see in the photos above.

We went on many, many walks in the area - mainly down by the water. By Sunday and Monday, this was all old hat to Mags and she was more relaxed both inside the condo and out. We rounded out the trip with a visit to her new friend Nina. Nina is our neighbor's 11 year old (estimated - they also adopted) Lab. Nina is very mellow, and just the right speed for Maggie. A lot of sniffing ensued and they seemed agreeable enough.

Our biggest concern heading into the weekend was that we'd spend endless hours trying to get Maggie to go #1 on the leash, and wakeful nights stressing over the fact that she hadn't gone in X hours. Right away, Maggie put these concerns to rest - she now is completely cool with doing any and all types of business on the leash. And she's figured out to just pull off into the grass on our walks and go whenever needed. That made the weekend much more enjoyable for us, and now that we're over the first hump, we're sure future weekends will go much smoother.

Next weekend (weather permitting) we're planning on taking her to the beach - stay tuned!

What have you done with the real Maggie??

I think only the words of Harry Caray are appropriate for this evening. "HOLY COW!"

We went to the park to see if we could get a repeat of Sunday's performance from Maggie. We ended up with so much more.

We met two new dogs, Holly and Jackson. Right away, Maggie seemed to take to Holly (and her owner too). We were so proud and taken aback when Maggie approached Holly to follow her around to sniff her - and also walked up to Holly's owner to say hello. She's never really approached anyone other than us.

But then everything we knew about Maggie went out the window. She started running around and playing with Holly like we'd never seen before. Thankfully, this was the first night in a long time we've remembered to take the camera to the park. We captured some video of Maggie playing. I've posted two videos below. Yes, this is the same dog that we picked up just over 3 months ago and up until a few weeks ago hadn't run or played at all.

After quite a while of playing, we finally had to stop Maggie. She was frothing at the mouth, breathing so heavily, and so drunk on fun we were afraid that she was going to collapse. It was like Norm getting up from his bar stool and suddenly deciding to run a marathon - maybe a little too much all at once. She definitely had a blast and we can't wait to get back to the park tomorrow!

Holy cow!

Unleash the hound!

We took Mags to the park again today. She watched her new friend Chip play with the tennis ball. We met Chip yesterday at the park - Chip is another F1 (50/50) labradoodle and is full of energy.

We did our usual run back and forth in the park. Keep in mind when we first started this a couple of weeks ago, Maggie would lag behind and eventually give a few gallops to catch up and that was it. Then she started about a week ago running with us a few times.

Well, today, Maggie outdid herself again. Not only was she running with us, but she was running ahead of us and all around us. She was, literally, running circles around us - skidding in the dirt, doing 360's, running between us, jumping all around. And she did this many, many times. This was the first time we were worn about before Maggie. She was having so much fun, and so energetic, we just kept running back and forth, back and forth.

So, while everyone else's dog will chase a ball, ours will only chase us. At least we'll be getting our exercise too...

We'll have to get a video of her running and playing in the park soon - you wouldn't recognize her! I can't express how great it is to see her coming out of her shell like this and having so much fun.

Ruh Roh Rorge

About a year ago Steve and I watched Bailey (from the photos below) run right thru the screen door at Dan and Pam's house. The screen split right down the middle. Luckily, Bailey was not hurt.

This week Maggie went right thru our screen door. She's fine, too.

Our painters started Monday and all the furniture is moved around - - it has Maggie out of sorts (to say the very least). In a moment of nervous confusion Maggie went right thru the screen. She's ok and that's what is most important. The screen needed to be replaced anyway.

While the accident is similar, the circumstances are not. Bailey was happily playing and bouncing around when she blissfully ran thru their screen. Maggie, on the other hand, was anxious and nervous and frantically scrambled thru ours.

We talk a lot in the blog about Maggie's accomplishments, but even after three months of being safe and well cared for in our home she still can't let go of her past and relax in her new environment.

When we're out and about everyone who meets Maggie comments on her beautiful eyes and timid nature. Those are two of the many things that make her so sweet (another word often used by people who meet Maggie). But, it's the fact that everyone focuses on her timid nature that stands out to me - - it reminds me that Maggie still has a lot of progress to make.

We took Maggie to the park again tonight and went through what is now our standard routine - we take her off of the leash and we walk around the park while she walks between us. Over the past few trips, we've started doing a sprint and eventually Maggie will fall far enough behind that she'll run to catch us. Her run is pretty amusing as it's more of a series of bounding leaps.

Tonight Maggie surprised us by not falling behind and she ran (bounded) with us the length of the park. It's absolutely hysterical to watch her run. And, she managed to do this more than once. During the third run though a playful mastiff thought it would join in the running fun and jumped (playfully) on Maggie. This startled Maggie - and us - so that was kind of the end of running tonight. We look forward to our next trip and hope this becomes part of the standard fun at the park. We'll try to remember the video camera so you can see a few seconds of the playful side of Mags.

3 months and counting . . .

Today marks three months since Maggie joined our family. We celebrated by giving her a Jumbo Spring treat - YUM! I can't even remember what life was like before Maggie. Actually, I don't even want to try to remember what life was like before Maggie.

May 2008 is full of milestones for our family. Not only does it mark three months with Maggie, but on May 31st Steve and I will celebrate our five year wedding anniversary. Marrying Steve was the smartest decision I've ever made. Adopting Maggie has been the most rewarding decision I've ever made.

For those of you who have been following Maggie's progress, thank you!! Whether you've rescued a pet, are considering rescuing a pet, or are just a Maggie-fan, we hope you've enjoyed this blog.

We saw so much progress with Mags at the park the other day when she was around the other dogs, that we finally had to try to get her to meet her cousin Bailey (not genetically, but if it's Uncle Dan and Aunt Pam, then it must be so).

First we went on a trip to Kriser's - the pet food store, where she also gets her nails done. We thought it would be good to take her there and not get her nails clipped, so it wasn't always about something she didn't really want to do.

Oh, but let's back up - her safety harness (ie. seat belt) for the car finally showed up. Maggie is now officially safer in the car than any kid in the 70's. We put the harness on her in the house first to let her get a little used to it. We got the evil eye for quite a while while Maggie stood there like we'd just wrapped a cold, wet jacket around her.

Once in the car, she became her old "I love the car"-self, so at least we have that going for us.

Anyway, she was fine at Kriser's and I'm sure happy that she didn't have to get her nails clipped for a change. They gave us some raw beef to try as treats for her. Kat's still cringes a little at the raw thing - she can't bare watching her little girl tear away at meat, bones and tendons like... some kind of animal - but we'll give it a shot.

So then we were off to visit Pam, Dan & Bailey. Their yard is fenced in, so we decided to put both of them in the yard while we sat just outside the fence to let them bond. Both dogs are pretty chill, so they did the obligatory sniffing (remember, Maggie just started doing this a couple days before) then kind of stood/sat around.

Maggie went both #1 and #2 in their yard (again, sorry guys!) which was kind of a surprise. Mags doesn't really like going #1 except in her spot here (she's never done it on a walk) and generally has stage fright, so with 4 of us plus Bailey, it was a little unexpected. Maybe it was a territorial thing, who knows.

The dogs got along really well, and we all ended up hanging out on their deck. Maggie was great, following us around and being very brave. She even drank some water, which she also doesn't like to do except at home (one of our future problems in Michigan, I'm sure). She's come a long way since the day we got her when Dan & Pam first met her!

We went to the park later, and Mags did her follow-the-leader routine. We ran again and watched her bound playfully behind us. The bounding usually only lasts about 15-20 seconds though, and then I think she gets worn out so that's all we can get out of her now.

Later that night we went to a bar & grill where they let us sit out on the outdoor patio with Maggie and our waitress was nice enough to bring her a bowl of water (not surprisingly, she didn't drink it). She was perfect sitting next to the table and we can't wait to take her out again.

It was all a very big day for Maggie, so of course she slept like a rock.

Tonight we went to the park again and met two new dogs - Morgan and River. We found out River is somewhat famous - if you recall a few years back the helicopter over-head footage of a stray dog stuck on the ice on who was rescued by a police officer - that's him. He was very friendly - and his owner was great to talk to about his experiences with River and the stages of progress he went through. At one point River was maybe a little too friendly and was bothering Maggie. She spun around and let River know that he'd crossed a line. She wasn't aggressive beyond that, she just let him know, he backed off and that was it. It was good to see that she at least had the confidence to do that much.

Tonight it was so nice we had dinner out on the deck. We decided to try to get Maggie to eat out there too, as a practice run for Michigan since she'll have to eat away from her usual spot. She wolfed it down in no time, so hopefully that won't be a problem. Of course that was all a lot of excitement today, so she's back in her usual spot, nearly passed out.

Just a few days ago I reported that Maggie still has two obstacles to overcome - our backdoor and standing up in the morning to go outside. Well, standing up in the morning = DONE. The very next morning she got up on her own and today makes three days in a row. Good girl, Maggie!

Thursday night we took Maggie to the park and it was busy with people and pets. As soon as we arrived a friendly lab came right up to introduce himself and to chat Maggie up with a few friendly barks. The crowd looked friendly (both people and pets) so we headed over to introduce ourselves and to see if we could entice Maggie to play with her peers. She stood firmly planted behind us watching the other dogs play fetch and run around. Her big moment came when she sniffed another dog who trotted over to say hello.

Actually there were two big moments at the park. I have to set up the 2nd . . . Maggie likes to walk right in the middle of Steve and me no matter if she's on the leash or off the leash. If we take a step, Maggie takes a step. If we stop, Maggie stops. If we accidentally get out of formation Maggie freezes - it must be a comfort thing for her. Well, to get Maggie her exercise sometimes all three of us run around the park (the things we do for this dog!). Well, it started to drizzle Thursday night and we needed to head home so we did our group run on the way out of the park and all of a sudden Maggie was running / jumping / leaping. It was like she was trying to mimic what she'd seen the other dogs do. She was playing!!!!

Ok - so now you're all thinking, "I can't believe they run like that in front of everyone else." No, no, no. Other pets and parents were already gone because they get to use the convenient entrance where you walk under a simple arm-gate that prevents people from parking in the school lot over night. Maggie doesn't like to walk under that gate so we have to walk all the way to the other side to use the "open" entrance. Some day she'll learn that that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line (or, if she's bad at math like me she won't).

This morning we went to the park and got Maggie to run / jump / leap again. Progress!