Update on Momma Dog

First before I give the update about Momma dog I must thank Anne for emailing me and offering to adopt her.

She helped renew my faith that there are still good people out there.
People who care and love animals and are willing to go the extra mile.
She and I exchanged several emails and while I know Anne's would be a wonderful home, I had become very attached to Nora. I emailed my thoughts to Anne and she felt like I was the perfect home for her.
Nora? well, Momma dog's name was actually Mya. But I started calling her Nora.
It might sound silly but I wanted her to feel like she got a new life, so I gave her new name.

I call her "Nora" now and she comes racing to me. I think she really likes her new name.

Ok, at first I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that all of this happened at the start of my vacation.
But during that time we really bonded.
Blue sleeps on the sofa ALL day. I know he's a senior but he just loves sleeping.
He turns 7 this November. I had someone tell me recently that a lot of Danes only live to 7.
I listened and then talked with the vets about that and they see no reason for him not to have many years ahead of him. Although they did say that Giant breeds don't general live as long as smaller ones.
I secretly dislike people who feel the need to always point out the possibility of something awful happening.

Anyway, Blue likes to nap a lot and my little ones like to run after each other and play.

In the past if Jimmy would jump in, they would scatter.
He's just too rowdy for them and too big even though he's not even 20 lbs.
So now with Nora, Jimmy has someone to chase and take toys away from.
Nora likes to run and retrieve non-stop.
I will sit at the computer or be cleaning a room and throw and throw and throw her rope toy.
I've even pushed back the kitchen table so that she has a clear shot through the house.
And Jimmy sits and watches.
Every now and then he leaps forward and grabs the rope-toy or whatever.
So the other night I was throwing the toys over and over and over again and Jimmy started taking them ALL from her.
She would let him take the toys and then go search for another.
Finally Jimmy had himself quite a pile.
Then Nora figured it out and when he went to get the latest thrown toy, she ran over and grabbed one from the pile.

I didn't mean for this to happen but it's working out awfully well although it was never my original plan.

I know this sounds insane.
But when I think about the fact that several of my pets are elderly....
 

Then there's the thing she did the other night.

She doesn't bark, or so I thought.
But in the middle of the night I woke up with a start.
She was barking like crazy and had pulled the bedroom door open and I could hear her racing down the steps.
I sat up and of course Blue was still sound asleep, but given the fact that he's deaf, that's pretty understandable.
But everyone else was sound asleep too.
As I sat up Jimmy jumped up and looked at me like "What's going on?"
So he and I ran down the stairs and found Nora in the kitchen.
My cats stay downstairs during the night (and when I'm not home) but I guess I didn't "click" the door completely shut when I came up from doing my nightly "scooping". One of them had pushed the door open and everyone was in the kitchen munching on the plants.
Wow. How had she heard that?
So I got out the kitty treats, made sure everyone was back downstairs and went back upstairs.
Blue was still asleep and the little ones blinked at me and as if to say - "Turn off that damn light!"
OK.
I've always felt pretty safe in my house, mainly because I think it's kind of obvious that there's not much to steal and also because I'm surrounded by much bigger nicer homes probably filled with "good" stuff.

And also anyone casing the joint would see the HUGE dog.

and Blue would take someone DOWN....
if he was awake.
I don't know but Nora really did make me feel more secure.
 

She's been so sweet and mellow. She paces in the kitchen when she has to go potty and she runs out and does her business even in the pouring rain. I must admit that some of my little ones have to be shoved out the door into the rain and then there's Poppy who just refuses and instead goes to her "pad" and squeezes out a tootsie roll.

Nora sleeps under my chair while I'm at the computer unless I'm throwing her toy.
But if I tell her "Enough. Go lay down" she does.
She gives me kisses while I bathe her and she let me cradle her in my arms as I trimmed hair on her belly where there were some mats.
She doesn't bother the little dogs and tiptoes around Blue. If the cats walk past her she backs up and if they approach her, she turns her head and looks away.

So I was surprised Friday morning.
I arrived at work and was walking up to the clinic in the drizzling rain with my boys and Nora when one of my co-workers who had just gotten out of her car, came walking up to us. It wasn't really light out yet and my co-worker had her shoulders hunched in the rain and wore a big coat. She started calling a greeting to Blue (even though he can't hear... but everyone always does that) and Blue did what he usually does. He took a firm stance and I braced myself in case he decided to leap forward. He looked at her and then at me, still undecided. Meanwhile Jimmy was bouncing at the end of his lead "Hey! look at me! look at me! look at me!" and she started to laugh when all of a sudden Nora raced forward and I had to pull back on her lead. All the hair on her back was UP and she was barking with all her might and she meant BUSINESS.
My co-worker backed away and went in her door.
I took my gang inside my boarding door and told Nora what a good girl she was. She ran around my office in happiness. I went up and apologized to my co-worker, who replied "Boy! She REALLY wanted to get me!" I told her it was probably the coat and the fact that she didn't know who she was.

Later in the day when it stopped raining, Nora and Jimmy raced in circles around the big play area. I had to wake up Blue and he just followed me around. Maybe I will start leaving him at home, since he sleeps all day and my bed is most definitely cushier than his bed in the kennel run.

So there you have it. I'm insane.

I always adored her when she boarded with me and now after spending all of my vacation time with her...
and she's so good. Only barking those 2 times. Both times as protection.
At night she sleeps at the end of my bed, but when I wake up, she's next to me.
How stupid were all those other people?
and how lucky am I?