Abbey- a baby in disguise…
Well as most regular readers know we picked up our new puppy last Saturday so we have had her for a week now! I have finally updated some photos but it is very hard to take photos of a constantly moving bundle of energy!
She is adorable though and we all love her. A lot of people (in real life) have asked about what we will do with her when we go back to Japan next year but in fact she is actually a dog for my dad as he has always wanted another (we had one briefly when we were kids!) blue heeler cattle dog! He is very happy to finally have a puppy and loves to play with her when he is home- doing silly stuff. On the first night shumpei said to me ” This is what he is going to be like when we give him grandchildren, hey” and he is right….he loves to be silly and puppies and kids definitely bring the silliness out of him more!
Having a puppy is like having a baby though- although she can move a lot more than a new born! But she does poo everywhere and will pee wherever she is standing at the time. And lets not forget the biting- she is teething and tries to latch onto anything she can get her mouth around. We have tried chew toys, balls etc etc yet her favourite things to bite are my hair, shumpei`s toes and sandles and my dads pants!
She loves her food and has already mastered sitting and waiting when we get her food. Usually she sits when she sees us coming with her food because she knows now she will get it quicker then! She also loves her bed, and because she is an outside dog, she will always return to her bed when we go upstairs, jump up and (For the first couple of days we had a box next to her bed because she couldn`t jump in by herself and needed a bit of a lift!) snuggle down with her towel! Her bed is under the house in the garage so she can come and go outside as much as she pleases and lucky for her under the house is even warmer than upstairs!
She now recognizes my car too so will come to the fence when I come home even if Shun is playing with her in the yard at the time! She is a good puppy and if we can just get a handle on the biting/chewing she would be a very well behaved dog. She is starting to understand “no” and “dame” and will respond well to hand actions (like come here, palm down for sit etc)
She can`t really seem to bark yet- I have heard her kind of bark once. I didn`t realize that she wouldn`t be barking when she came home but I guess it takes a little longer yet! We will be taking her to the vet in a couple of weeks for her final shot and will ask the vet about it then but I think it is fairly normal!
She also pretty much refuses to go for walks- we have tried just to take her across the road the park (on the lead) but she isn`t interested. We know not to take her for big long walks but we thought she would want to get out a bit but no, she just lies down and refuses to move. Oh and of course she tries to chew on her lead. It is all a bit of a game for her!
Shumpei tries to speak to her in English- it is so cute! He says “Abbey- no!” and “Abbey- come here” or “good girl” but I know he also speaks to her in Japanese so we might have a billingual dog on our hands! haha!
And here you go- some photos!
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Oh, she is just so sweet!
I just love the idea of a bilingual dog, that’s so awesome
I think her not liking walks might just be the fact she just doesn’t know what going for a walk is all about yet, once she realises there is cool stuff to do beyond the fence I reckon she will like going.
Can’t wait to see you and Shun tomorrow! xx
Hi!~ Thanks for the Abbey update! She’s adorable
It’s really cute that she is bilingual!
Lying down when you don’t want to go for a walk must be a cattle dog thing! My bluey used to do exactly the same thing, even as an adult dog. Cattle Dogs have such great personalities and they are very particular about what they do and don’t do. I love the white spot on her forehead, my dog had one right there too! We’ll have to catch up sometime soon!
Katie M xxoo
Awwwwwwwww!
She is so cute!!!!
I just want to scruffle her ears from side to side :o)
oh my she is just soooo adorable!!
ditto to everyone else’s comment!! Abbey is just gorgeous. Your right - a puppy is like a baby, and you wouldn’t believe how soon they come part of the family, an addition that you can’t live without… my only regret of moving to Japan in 2005 was having to give up my dogs…
Can’t wait to meet Abbey when I get back to Australia!
…Puppy love!!! <3<3<3
awww she’s the most adorable thing!!! what a cutie.
i think puppies, when you first leash them up, they hate it and don’t want to walk anywhere. i guess you have to be patient and let them get used to the collar and stuff! i used to leave the leash on them even when we weren’t going on walks, until they got used to it. then they realized that leashes = outside freedom. haha!
Abbey is just gorgeous! You know Lulu…my last dog was a Dalmation, however. We had a blue heeler once! Seriously! And I can only say blue heelers are *so* smart!!! They really are highly intelligent dogs! No doubt you know this though, lol. : ) And very loyal and loving as well. I love looking at the pictures of your little Abbey girl!!! Love all her markings on her face!
Have you ever seen a red heeler? I did once. But I prefer the blue heelers better! Like your little pup! : )