As I so often do on my free weekends, I drove into Austin to visit Megan and Stevie, good sister and Aunt that I am. Stevie is, of course, as cute and rambunctious as ever. The proof is in the photos -- see new ones posted in the Gallery.

I could be wrong, but it almost seems that sometimes her eyesight is getting better. Both Megan and I wonder if her visual acuity, whatever it might be, is getting a little better. Although the consensus is that there is no surgery that will help her, who knows neurologically if she might be able to "get better" without human intervention.

Oh, yes, and about those photos: Note to self: Do not wear white t-shirts when visiting, hugging, playing and otherwise frolicking with black and tan puppies.



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Visits to the apartment complex office are fairly regular occurrences which, because of the prospect of the dog treat jar there, Stevie is always up for. Remember she recognizes the sound of the lid coming off the jar and grabs it with both front paws... well, now she's gone one step further: She sticks her whole head inside the jar.

I guess she wants to make sure she gets at least one treat.

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Stevie has been urinating in her crate for the past couple of days. Not sure why. I reminded Megan that she is still very much a puppy at not quite 9 months old and subject to occasional set backs or regression, although it is unusual for a dog to soil its den. Megan suggested the very distinct possibility that Stevie is getting too excited when she hears her coming home from work. I'm not sure... but told her to keep track and note any changes in other habits. If it continues, I will recommend that she take Stevie to the vet to rule out some kind of urinary tract infection.

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Megan was awakened last night by some very strange, repetitive noise. She was a little groggy and couldn't identify it. Then she recognized what was undoubtedly the sound of something repeatedly hitting Stevie's crate in the bathroom. She thought, 'oh, my god, the dog is having some kind of a seizure in her crate'.

She fumbled for her glasses, stumbled to the bathroom and flipped on the light... only to find a startled Stevie, now standing stock still inside her cage... with the neon stuffed frog (one of the toys that foster mom Cathy had sent home with her) dangling from her mouth. She cocked her head, worry wrinkles, frog and all and looked at Megan as if to say, "Quoi?" (that's French for "WHAT?!") "What?! What's wrong? Can't you see I'm busy in here?"

Stevie had obviously decided that sleeping was too boring, so she got up (like any good Min Pin, she sleeps in the bed with her human), found the frog and decided to "shake its brains out".

All Megan could do was stand there and laugh.

After some gentle half-hearted scolding, everyone went back to bed and slept the rest of the night without further stuffed neon frog brain shaking interruptions.

With dogs, ya just never know. Cheap entertainment! And to think, it's all my fault!

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Another visit with Stevie and Megan today. Stevie rediscovered the wonderful world of high tech when she found my Blackberry (my boss insisted I needed it more than a regular cell phone). I don't know if she can sense the electronic hum that must emanate from cell phones, digital cameras, and Blackberry devices or what, but she is definitely drawn to them. Of course, as a puppy, she firmly believes that everything on earth was put here for her to play with, even more so than most dogs. [See new photos in the Gallery]

She has an extremely keen sense of... something. Smell, hearing, some combination thereof, whatever. She knows when someone else is around. Megan and I went to lunch and when we came back, I was very quiet. Didn't say anything or make any noise. It took her about 10 seconds (or less) to know that I was there and to come straight to me. We walked out to the mail box and there was another lady there who had gotten her mail and was watching us. Stevie made a bee-line for her and wanted to snuffle, nuzzle and generally make all kinds of cute.

She's still as cute as ever and I swear she's not growing at all, but she runs around so much, she must burn about a million calories an hour. Wish I had her metabolism (not to mention her energy). Or even if I could just bottle that energy and sell it... I'd be able to retire early and have tons of $$$ to rescue more dogs.


Hey, I can dream, can't I?
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