Daycare May 29th

This beautiful little thing is Izzie ;) Today was her first day at the Paw and she did great! She was called by one of our premier trainers "one of the bravest Chihuahuas he has seen" and he wasnt kidding. She came into the daycare with her tail held high, faltered for a moment when she saw her mom wasn't coming in with her and then proceeded to mission impossible it up the wall so she could sit on the window sill and view the world from this new spot curiously called Metropawlitan Dog.

Izzy is only 10 weeks old and teeny tiny. I tried to take some pics of her near a Dr Pepper bottle to show perspective but no matter how many pictures I took (we are talking thousands) I just couldnt get one that truly showed how utterly small she is. So lets just say no matter how small you are thinking.. think half that size!

She spent most of her day in the daycare room playing with Shaak Ti (see previous post for pics of this stunner) learning the ropes. As far as I could tell Izzie was all Q's "Who are you?, What do you do here? What if I have to pee? What if I have to...ya know.. number two! Do I let myself out? Is it through the window? Where'd my mom go? Should I worry about her? Who are all those people going GaGa over me?" etc, etc But Shaak Ti had no problem dishing back the answers "Im Shaak Ti. This is where we play. If you have to pee, dont fret, someone will be in soon to take you out. You can try to let yourself out but you'd be the first to succeed and then you'd be a hero and we'd have to throw a party and it would get all crazy .... so until that happens, no. You dont let yourself out... not even through the window (though if you managed that Id buy you the biggest steak you've ever seen). Your mom probably went to run some errands and is perfectly fine sitting somewhere wondering if she should worry about you. And all these people, as insane as they look and sound right now swooning over you, are the humans that make this play time possible, so they're alright in my book... ... Any more questions, or can we play?"

Eventually Izzie got all the answers she needed and settled in to daycare life. By late afternoon she even managed to rest her eyes for a bit. What an angel! I definitely cant wait to see this miniature doll again soon!

Daycare May 28th

Meet Nobel... Nobel is owned by our newest employee, Michael, and is a pure bred Malinois. He was a police school drop out and is now Mike's number one companion dog. He speaks dutch fluently, has a beautiful fawn and fluffy coat, and is extremely energetic (despite his advancing age.. he's eight!). Today I found out just what "energetic" actually means to a Mal.

Nobel started out at the Paw waiting for his bath. His turn came and he bravely tackled the disgrace of having a human scrub him clean in places he had already cleaned thoroughly himself. He survived all the rubbing, blowing, and spraying and gratefully stepped off the grooming table. Thats when the energy level sky rocketed. Tina recognized immediately that he would need more waiting room than a kennel and placed him in the small daycare room until Mike returned. Well! This just would not do! Apparently, when faced with a less than desired amount of space to frolic (ie less than four acres), Malinois' simply begin exerting their energy by moving in constant circles, one after the other and never getting dizzy! I figure its a lot like pacing for humans.

All I can say is, all you people out there with your puggles and IGs and border collies... feel good about your choice, cuz you really dont know never-ending energy until youve met a Mal. I should have known when Meagan nonchalantly told me about the five miles a day her dogs run on the treadmill but I guess I had to see it to believe it! Good for you Nobel!