The nice weather continued -- it was over 70 today. Megan and Stevie took another walk. They met a little girl on her way home from school who thought Stevie was the smallest, cutest puppy she'd ever seen. Megan kept Stevie close by on the walk out, then as a reward, allowed her to run most of the way back. If you knew my sister, you'd know how funny that really is. When they got back, Stevie was so tired that when she got her dinner ready, she tried to do her "dinner dance" (she spins around in circles really fast), but it was in slow motion. Megan laughed and laughed. She said she knew what Stevie was trying to do, but it just wasn't the same.

On another note, Megan made the appointment for Stevie to be spayed and microchipped on Friday, February 16. She'll drop her off in the morning on her way to work and pick her up around 3. She wanted to do it on a Friday so she could "hover" over the weekend to make sure everything is okay. She's turning into such a great dog-mom-type-person.

Megan and I have decided there is a niche market out there for owners of blind animals or animals who are going blind. We have plans for a special t-shirt and are trying to come up with other ideas for folks who have these special babies in their lives. We'll keep you posted...

G

RE: [TXIMPS] New Stevie pix @ www.thesteviechronicles.blogstream.com

Stevie is just the cutest! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy keeping up with her growth. She has the best min pin walk from that picture. Wow we wish they all were like that!

Joan

The weather here in central Texas has been wonderful the past two days with temperatures in the 60s and sunny skies. Just beautiful. Megan has taken Stevie for walks and is working more on "step up" and "step down" as well as "right", as she wants Stevie to learn to walk on her right side. Megan is pleased with their small progress in just a couple of days. This weather pattern is supposed to hold through Friday, so she's looking forward to more walks and more learning.

Another new twist on the "fetch" game: Stevie will have a toy already in her mouth. Megan will say, "Are you ready? Are you ready?" and Stevie will take off running with the toy in her mouth, make a full circuit of the play area, and come back to Megan, toy still in her mouth (having never touched the ground), anxious to do it again. Megan is pretty sure Stevie wants to know what's so damned funny that it causes her to laugh so hysterically. Megan thinks it's great, because it's less work for her and Stevie still thinks they're playing regular fetch.

Megan has been a little concerned about whether Stevie barks or whines when she's gone. Today she asked one of the apartment complex maintenance engineers if he'd ever heard anything while working nearby or if any of the neighbors complained. He reassured her that he'd never heard anything at all. That's nice to know. Stevie is such a good, well-adjusted puppy.

Just another happy puppy day in Austin, Texas!

G

Another visit today. Stevie and I played and played and played. And played. And then we played some more. Megan said Stevie likes me better than her because I don't tell her "no" as much. Guess I really am that aunt who spoils her niece. :)

It was a nice enough afternoon that we decided to take Stevie for another walk. The unusually cold winter weather here in Central Texas has meant they haven't been able to do as much leash training as Megan would like. The apartment is too small to do mucheffective training inside.

We worked with Stevie on "step up" and "step down" in "the real world", i.e., the apartment stairs (okay, well, just a few of them) and the curb and some other steps around the complex. We met with limited success, but there were lots of distractions and most of the stairs had a taller rise than Stevie is used to. But she did really well and had a blast experiencing outdoors and all the new smells and sounds.

We also trimmed her nails again. Note to self: do not wear loosely woven clothing when attempting to hold very squirmy puppies who are pretty sure they do not want their nails trimmed... I am now in need of a new brown turtleneck sweater.

It was another terrific visit and even though she's still a little less than 5 lbs, it's very evident that she is growing. And she's a pistol, let me tell you.

New photos are in the gallery. Hope you enjoy!

G

Stevie is doing much better being on her own since Megan left her crate where she has access to it. Megan said she felt bad about Stevie being in the crate (the door is always open), but I tried to explain to her that many dogs think of it as their "den" or "sanctuary" and feel safe there. Dogs think humans are crazy because our "dens" are so big and roomy.

Anyway, they have been working on "step up" and "step down" as verbal commands with the stairs at the end of the bed. Stevie is great at going up: as soon as she realizes she's there, she bounds up two at a time. If Megan throws her toys (to play fetch) and Stevie realizes they aren't on the bed, Megan will tell her "Step down!" and she'll go find the stairs, make her way down them and go get the toy. She's really something!

G