Lizzie

"Hi, Virginia! I've been meaning to drop you a line to let you know how things are going. First I want to let you know that we renamed little Lizzie to Sammy. Lizzie is a good name, but I thought she needed a name that's a little stronger, to go with her ragamuffin appearance. Since she didn't answer to Lizzie anyway, I figured she'd be okay with the change (though she doesn't answer to Sammy yet, either!). I hope you all are okay with that, too! We love this little dog! She's so loving and adorable and hasn't been any trouble at all. She's only had two accidents in the house...one the first evening and then one the next morning. After that, she figured out the routine and which door to go to to go outside. Very smart puppy! Andi seems fine with her now. She established dominance early on and Sammy got the message. They mostly leave each other alone. Andi's just happy to have someone around to divert Sasha's attention from her, so she can get some rest! Sasha, on the other hand, started out well and played nicely with little Sammy until she realized she was here to stay. Now she's acting very jealous. We've had a couple of minor altercations but nothing huge and they do like to chase each other around the fenced yard. I worked from home the past couple days so that I could be around to see how things go. As of yesterday afternoon, Sasha was starting to thaw a little bit and has started herding Sammy down the stairs, so that's a good sign. We're pretty sure she'll come around. We tried Sammy out in the big yard this morning without a leash and she and Sasha ran around and chased frisbees. Sammy then ran over to meet the neighbors and their dogs and explore their yards. It took us a while to catch her again, especially since she doesn't respond to her name yet. We'll keep working with her. She's learning a lot by following the other dogs' lead. I've attached a picture of her that I took a few minutes ago. She'd just heard a fly in the room. Thanks for checking in and feel free to do so any time. You'll probably also be able to find updates about Sammy on Sasha's blog (www.blogdoggy.typepad.com) or on her Facebook page (Blog Doggy). She (I) started the blog when Sasha was a baby and have kept it going, although I don't have nearly as much time to write as I used to since I went back to a corporate job. Sasha has a lot to blog about now! I'm glad we found Sammy at the home show. I feel like she was meant to be ours. Thank you!"