Stevie saw the vet for another set of puppy shots yesterday and she weighed in at a WHOPPING 4.25 LBS! She's growing like most children do, seemingly daily. Her legs are so long and she can reach many more things than she used to be able to. She can almost jump up on the bed, if she could just figure out how... :)

I made my nearly weekly trek to south Austin this morning to visit Megan and Stevie. I kept Stevie entertained while Megan did some other things around the apartment. Quite by accident, we discovered that Stevie has a strong affinity for coffee... I had brought a mug of coffee from my house (of course, it had cocoa and tons of creamer in it -- I can't drink it "straight") and Stevie was dead set on getting some. I finally had to dump my coffee and rinse the mug out so she would focus on something else. Wow, can she be obsessed! My brother's dogs (Min Pin Elvis and Golden Retriever Zeus) sent Stevie a toy hedgehog for Christmas, so we gave that one a good work out instead.

Megan and I had lunch with my best friend Danielle, and afterward, we introduced her to Stevie back at Megan's apartment. Stevie was utterly and totally beside herself to have not one, not two, but THREE whole people to run back and forth between, with more pants legs, sweaters and shoestrings to play with. Danielle, was (huge surprise) completely enchanted by Stevie and her antics. We all had late Christmas gifts to open, and Stevie was more than happy to help remove gift wrap, ribbons, gift bags and tissue paper. What fun!

I'll be uploading new photos in the gallery here next, so be sure to check them out. Stevie was intent on destroying my camera's strap, so one of the photos is pretty blurry, but still funny, so I put it up, too. Enjoy!

G

You may recall me writing about Stevie's version of "fetch" with the ball that has a bell in it. Megan said they played fetch for over a half hour yesterday. She'd throw the ball, and Stevie would "follow" it and find it and bring it back. They did it over and over again. Megan commented that Stevie wore herself out playing it. That in and of itself is pretty funny...

...but today when Megan was working at her computer, she felt a bump up against her ankle. She looked down and there was Stevie with the ball. At first, Megan thought Stevie was just moving her toys around again and had run into her (we joke that her middle name is "Bonk" because she does sometimes run into stuff -- I know it's not PC, just true). Anyway, she thought, "Well, that's cute." And went back to working. A couple of minutes later, she felt another nudge. It was Stevie again, and she was NOT "bonking" into things, she was trying to get Megan to play fetch with her!

Megan is a smart human and recognized when she's being directed to do something. So she shut the computer down and got on the floor to play "fetch" with Stevie. That dog is already training her well!

G

YAY, the new pictures are up at http://foreverwidget.photosite.com! That little Stevie is just so funny and cute; I just can't seem get enough pix of her.

Megan had to head back to work today, after 11 days off between semesters. Classes don't start until next week, but she works in the Student Services office when she's not teaching, doing academic advising and stuff.

She said Stevie's den (the bathroom) was completely rearranged when she got back. Needless to say, Stevie was ecstatic when she got home. She was gone for years and years, ya know.

:)

G

Megan phoned to let me know she's having difficulty getting all the new pictures up on http://foreverwidget.photosite.com. So if you've checked it lately and didn't see anything new, know that she is working on it.

Megan took Stevie on another [short] walk today. She's still not convinced the concrete sidewalks are safe, and Megan had to do quite a bit of coaxing to get her to overcome her hesitation. We think it has something to do with the light color of the concrete (as opposed to pavement - black or grey - or the grass). I suppose it doesn't give as much optical feedback - however much she gets - as other surfaces. I'm sure it feels different, too, but since she doesn't have any problems with the pavement or crushed granite trails, I tend to think it's the color. I guess that proves that she does have some sight, however limited. Megan still says we will take Stevie to an eye specialist after a few other items are completed. It will be interesting to hear what s/he has to say.

I talked to my brother-in-law about Stevie over the Thanksgiving holiday. He's the vet in El Paso. He didn't get an opportunity to see Stevie in person, but looked at all the photos I had of her. He said it's possible she has congenital cataracts, not a good thing, especially in such a young pup. However, he also said that canine cataract surgery has become fairly common and can be very successful. He also said it might be something else -- sorry, I don't remember what it was -- but it will all have to be determined by the specialist. It will be a couple of months before we can visit the specialist, but we will definitely keep you all posted on any new developments.

Meantime, enjoy the new photos on Megan's site and don't touch that dial! More adventures of Stevie will be here soon!

G

Happy New Year!

Last night was another first in the chronicles of Stevie, the blind wonder puppy: she slept her first full night in the bed with Megan (yes, they did get up once to potty).

Now, I know some of you out there probably are saying, "It's not good for people to allow their dogs to sleep in their beds; it presents dominance issues." The rest of you are doing the Min Pin dance for Megan and saying, "Woo hoo!" because you have one, two, three or more [some of you LOTS more] sleeping with you already right now. Megan seemed really pleased; believe it or not, this was one of the milestones she was looking forward to. Blind or not, I can attest to the greatness of Min Pin snuggles (oh, sure, other breeds, too, but come on, this is about Min Pins and I am admittedly somewhat -- just a little -- biased).

During the daylight hours, Stevie is still trying to find new ways to get to and chew on Megan's hair. What is it about hair that dogs -- particularly puppies -- find it so appealing to chew on? I've noticed that when Newton and I "wrestle" on the floor, he loves to get his face and nose and teeth into my hair. It's really funny. Anyway, Stevie has figured out how to crawl around behind Megan's neck, kinda like a scarf. Megan said at first, she thought Stevie was just cold, but then she felt the little tug of puppy baby teeth pulling her hair... That Stevie is relentless in her pursuit of puppyness!

Megan has promised to post the photos from our Saturday visit at http://foreverwidget.photosite.com with the next day. I told her to hurry it up; I keep checking because mine won't be ready until tomorrow...

G