# Ari the café au lait mini poodle's picture thread



## sophie anne

Ari is home! She left Amity Valley Kennels, where she was born, on Tuesday night and spent the night with my pilot friend. She flew from Duluth to Maine on a Delta charter flight.

A little background for those that haven't seen my past threads:
I had a standard poodle, Sophie, growing up, who is now 17 years old and is living out her golden days at my parents' house. In high school, I raised seeing eye dogs. During college, I couldn't have any pets so I really missed training dogs and enjoying my poodle! When I graduated this spring I decided to get a puppy who I will spend the next year training basic manners. I spent about 7 months doing intensive research to figure out which breeder I wanted to get my pup from. I ended up settling on Amity Valley Kennels in Duluth, MN. Ari was born on May 6, 2015 and is 10 weeks old. In fall 2016, it's off to graduate school for us, which is in a city where I hope she'll be able to become a therapy dog.

Ari and I are perfect for each other. As soon as she arrived and I took her out of the bag we both knew that things were as they should be! She sticks with me like velcro when we're outside and has excellent recall, but also settles really well when it's naptime or bedtime. She is smart enough that I can already tell that the adolescent months are going to be really trying though!

Picture time!

At my pilot friend's house the night before leaving Minnesota:









In the Duluth airport:









On the plane:









HOME!









Getting inspected by my landlords' blind and deaf dog:









She is SO good with dog-dog interactions. She stands still to let the other dog sniff her and reads body language very well. She'll play if the other dog wants to, but if not she just goes and finds something else to do. It is amazing. I have never seen a puppy this good with other dogs.

Playing outside on Friday:


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## sophie anne

Continued...

She has beautiful eyes! Blue or green depending on the light. They should darken to amber brown as she matures.

















Learning to "sit" already! She also knows down, spin, twirl, and touch although we haven't named those behaviors yet; she just knows the hand signal.









First sunset at home:
















That's all for now! :angel:


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## Poodlebeguiled

She's a very pretty puppy! Wonderful photos. I'm really happy for you that you got such a nice little pup. Congratulations! I really enjoyed the photos. It will be fun to see how her coat changes in the coming months.


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## glorybeecosta

Beautiful doggy and photos


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## peccan

What a heartbreaker!


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## Chagall's mom

*Congratulations! *What a clever little beauty!  I'd tell you to enjoy her, but you've got that well in hand already.  Please keep the fabulous photos coming! :camera:


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## ChantersMom

Oh goodness!!! So cute!


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## Streetcar

Ari is just precious!! Her beautiful face, those eyes--such intelligence! Love her color and am excited to see her go through the color changes. Congratulations!


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## fjm

What amazing eyes! She is a lovely pup, have fun together.


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## kayfabulous6

Such a soulful face she has. She is simply stunning. Congratulations!


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## Carley's Mom

This is my youngest daughter and her little "Millie". Millie is not a poodle, but she is a cafe au lait Bologna. We drove 12 hours to get her, found her on Petfinder. She is the best dog , my daughter's world is wearing that little pink collar...


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## MollyMuiMa

Oh my! Ari is just gorgeous! Love that face, and her eyes are so soulful! You will have to let us watch her grow.......lots of pictures needed of this beauty!


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## Coldbrew

what a darling little girl! 
she's a beauty and from the sounds of it has the brain to match!
congratulations on your new puppy!


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## Jasper Rules

She is adorable!  It sounds like she is a super quick learner already and is doing well in her training! Judging from their website, Amity poodles look to have gorgeous dogs!


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## sophie anne

Thank you everyone for the kind words about my Ari! I am so glad she can't read quite yet, because all of this would certainly go to her head! :laugh: I call her my poodle cub now because so many people have told me that she looks like a tiny bear.

Ari met 7 kids today (all at once!! eek thank god she is a tiny little trooper!!) and she was awesome with them. After the initial trepidation over their loud voices and sudden movements she even did a few really great tricks for the kids. So now she really does know all of the tricks I mentioned before, because she's proofed them with kids; no easy task for even the guide dogs I've worked with in the past. It was good for the kids too because they got to learn how to handle a delicate little puppy!

That was exhausting, so she took a long nap after that. Here she is snoozin' in her playpen.









This afternoon, I gave Ari her first bath since she's been home because she took it upon herself to go mud-diving at low tide. Eeeeew! She almost seemed to enjoy the bath and held still the whole time, even wagging her tail when I lathered her with the shampoo!

Here she is post-bath:









Then I wrapped her up in some towels so she wouldn't get cold since it was a little chilly here today and this happened:

























She stayed sleeping like that for an hour and a half (propped against the box of grooming supplies) while I cooked myself dinner, mopped the floor and did the dishes. I guess all those children really wore her out! I'm knocking wood as I say that Ari is the easiest puppy I've ever raised!

Since I've only had her for 3 days I can't really take much credit for her awesomeness, but I think it's safe to say that she got off to a really AWESOME start with socialization and body handling at Amity VK!!


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## MiniPoo

Ari looks like a standard poodle in the face. She is adorable! Great pictures.

How much does she weigh now and how old is she?

I like to dremel my puppy's nails when he falls asleep on the grooming table. I did some of my easiest grooming session when Dakota was asleep on the table. I don't know that he would have let me wrap him in a towel like Ari did. She seems a lot calmer than Dakota was when he first came home to us.

I look forward to seeing pictures of Ari as her color changes.

PS - I absolutely love the x-pen you are using for Ari. It looks safe and escape proof. And pretty too!


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## sophie anne

MiniPoo said:


> Ari looks like a standard poodle in the face. She is adorable! Great pictures.
> 
> How much does she weigh now and how old is she?
> 
> I like to dremel my puppy's nails when he falls asleep on the grooming table. I did some of my easiest grooming session when Dakota was asleep on the table. I don't know that he would have let me wrap him in a towel like Ari did. She seems a lot calmer than Dakota was when he first came home to us.
> 
> I look forward to seeing pictures of Ari as her color changes.


Amity's minis look exactly like standards in the face, which is one of the things I love about them so much! Also they tend to be a little more laid back than the high-drive Safrannes, but Ari is 50% Safranne on her sire's side so she's got a bit of both.

Ari has some ridiculously crazy zoomies, she is not always (or even usually) that calm. But she is a fast learner so rewarding her during calm moments has already helped her learn to settle herself when she's being tooooo crazy. On the first day she came, I was asking myself, "Oh my, what have I gotten myself into!" because she is so fast that she can disappear and reappear like she's going through a wormhole when she runs full speed.

Ari is 10 weeks and 4.3 lb as of yesterday at the vet. So she's a bit of a shrimp, but Anne at Amity thinks she'll probably grow to be a lean 14" tall. We'll see!

She's not too sure about the dremel yet. The noise wakes her up every time I try to get her while she's sleeping! Anne just clipped them. So that will be an adjustment and I'm taking it slow.


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## MiniPoo

Dakota was 5 lb 4 oz at 10 weeks and at 6.5 months he is 13 lbs and about 14 inches. I think he might grow a little more as he matures.

Yeah, my PWD Neeka came from a performance breeder, and she was a fast vigorous puppy and a handful to train. Dakota shares a lot of her characteristics.

I personally think the miniature poodle is the fastest of the 3 varieties but I may be prejudiced.

Dakota has dew claws. So I found a small scissor like nail clipper for small dogs and I use that on his dew claws and I dremel the other nails. When Dakota falls asleep, you can practically do anything to him. He is a very deep sleeper and wakes up slowly.

When he is awake, I actually gave him a raw hide to chew on while I dremeled his hind claws and then put him in the grooming noose (looped under one leg and around the neck) while I did his front claws.

You have done so much so quickly with Ari, I am sure you will have the nail trimming done to your satisfaction soon.


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## Tiny Poodles

Ari is just lovely!


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## BorderKelpie

Ari is stunning! What a neat puppy!

(don't want to hijack a thread, but Carly's Mom, how do you pronounce Bologna? I'm guessing not like the Oscar Myer lunchmeat? thanks!)


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## sophie anne

MiniPoo said:


> Dakota was 5 lb 4 oz at 10 weeks and at 6.5 months he is 13 lbs and about 14 inches. I think he might grow a little more as he matures.
> 
> Yeah, my PWD Neeka came from a performance breeder, and she was a fast vigorous puppy and a handful to train. Dakota shares a lot of her characteristics.
> 
> I personally think the miniature poodle is the fastest of the 3 varieties but I may be prejudiced.
> 
> Dakota has dew claws. So I found a small scissor like nail clipper for small dogs and I use that on his dew claws and I dremel the other nails. When Dakota falls asleep, you can practically do anything to him. He is a very deep sleeper and wakes up slowly.
> 
> When he is awake, I actually gave him a raw hide to chew on while I dremeled his hind claws and then put him in the grooming noose (looped under one leg and around the neck) while I did his front claws.
> 
> You have done so much so quickly with Ari, I am sure you will have the nail trimming done to your satisfaction soon.


Wow! So Ari is quite a little shrimp. She was the smallest in her litter which is good because I wanted a small miniature and minis at Amity run tall. I was a little annoyed when they kept calling her a toy poodle at the vet but maybe I will forgive them now since she is somewhat petite for a mini. They also definitely do not see very many well-bred poodles at her vet because they kept commenting how leggy and short-backed she is (and asking if that was normal) and to me she doesn't look leggy at all.... I actually think she has exceptionally good conformation which we will see if she keeps as she matures. I think they're used to dachshund-shaped poodles.

*On the topic of that vet, I am not sure I'll be staying with them and would appreciate opinions on whether I should switch:*

Important to this story (although I don't think it should be) is that I'm a petite 22-year-old woman, a recent college graduate, and used to being taken seriously despite my small size and youth. Especially when it comes to pets-- I worked as an intern at a vet clinic all through high school and have even helped with some spay/neuter surgeries. I know what I am doing when it comes to puppies and dogs.

I brought her in for her checkup the day after I got her and the technician kept calling her a toy poodle and was giving me the general spiel of "new puppy" info for people that don't know what they're doing (ie don't let her chew electrical cords, feed her 3 times a day, don't feed her table scraps, take out frequently to go potty, etc) which is sort of fine since I do "look" young and naïve, despite the fact that I had very clearly explained that I have raised several pups before.

Then the DVM came in (a middle-aged to older man) and took one look at us and immediately smirked and said, "You girls love your fluffy little dogs don't you?" and did the exam. I was annoyed but bit my tongue because Ari proved that she was more than a fluffy little dog by sitting quietly as he looked her over and not even nipping him. I wanted to nip him for her though.

Then when he was done with the general exam and gave her a clean bill of health I asked about her breathing, because she had a whistling sound in her nose and I thought maybe she'd inhaled some grass clippings in her excitement when I first let her out the day I got her. He rolled his eyes and said that she sounded totally normal and that she might get hiccups too and that shouldn't scare me because she is, and I QUOTE, "A dog and not a teddy bear, and dogs make noises." UM EXCUSE ME?! But feeling belittled and put in my place, I just paid the bill and left figuring I was just being too overly concerned.

WELL, on night two, the whistling in her nose got much worse and she started coughing and seemed to be having a hard time breathing through her nose at all. NOT NORMAL. I laid in bed with her holding her in my arms and wondering if by not arguing with that vet I had doomed my little dog to slowly suffocate!!

So it was back to the vet in the morning after a very long night of putting her in steam from the shower and trying to keep her calm. The DVM tried to refuse to see her, telling me that it would be a waste of money to look because he'd seen her just the day before and she was fine. I insisted, and said that if he didn't take her in at his next available appointment that I'd be taking my business elsewhere. Annoyed, he finally took us in after an hour wait even though he didn't have any appointments during that whole time.

He listened to her using the stethoscope and asked me, "I'm not sure what you want me to do here? She is fine. I could do another fecal if you want?" No, I want you to look in her NOSE!! How hard is that to get across! AGH-- I have never felt so completely dismissed especially since I was paying a pretty penny for this exam!!

So finally he looked and then suddenly his whole demeanor changed. He got a light and looked closer and then called his tech. Turns out, Ari DID have grass clippings up there which he irrigated out with some saline. And guess what? She's breathing just fine now, no whistling! Turns out that puppies don't whistle when they breathe (how surprising... NOT). He wasn't the least bit apologetic and asked me when he was done if I needed anything else. I wanted to say, "Maybe you could comp this exam since you ignored my questions yesterday?" But I wasn't brave enough :argh:

Is this a typical reaction to a little poodle? Is she always going to be written off, or should I seek a vet that will give her (us) more respect? There isn't a lot of choice around here since it's so rural so I think the DVM thinks that he's got us trapped. I might go interview some other vets (all over an hour away) to see if they are nicer? I just would like to be able to talk to my vet as equals, which I don't think is too much to ask!


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## MiniPoo

I would not want to deal with a vet who is dismissive of me and treats me with such disrespect. I can see you have limited vet options. Can you treat this vet like an emergency clinic and only use him when time is of the essence? Then look for a regular vet further away for most of your vet needs?

When I express concerns and possible problems I see in my dogs, the 2 vets I see research the problems and send me a detailed email with possible solutions. I did have to search through about 4 vets in the area until I found ones that didn't overvaccinate and treated my dog and me as I wanted to be treated. So sometimes you do have to search.


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## MiniPoo

This is Dakota's vet. She loves poodles and treats us both very well. Find someone like her.


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## Poodlebeguiled

I would soooo lose that vet! He sounds just awful...probably burnt out or having some kind of issue at home. If I had to drive a long ways, except for emergencies, I would. In fact, I sort of do. There are vets very close, right in my city but I drive a good 1/2 hour for the vet I like best. But he's no good for emergencies because he's too booked up all the time. He's super, most of the people I know in my Poodle club here use him... and he has a Poodle to boot! He's respectful about my vaccination protocol and anything else... and just very nice and a good vet. So, I'd say it's time for you to do some shopping and interviewing before you make an appointment.


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## sophie anne

MiniPoo said:


> This is Dakota's vet. She loves poodles and treats us both very well. Find someone like her.


I'm so jealous! My old spoo Sophie's vet is like that. She absolutely loves the poodles and is so good at listening to both me and Sophie. It's almost 3 hours from here but I think I might have them do at least her spay surgery because I frankly don't trust this local vet with Ari since she's so delicate. I'm so annoyed that this guy turned out to be such an a** and in such a way that it seems he'd be useless in an emergency! I can't wait to move to the city for grad school and have more options and more competition between the clinics so that the standard care will be better.

She did the funniest thing while I was trying to get her to fall asleep for her nap... Ari has Himalayan Chews which are way too hard for her puppy teeth right now so I break them into pieces and microwave them into puffs and soak them in chicken broth to soften them. Usually she chews the puff and falls asleep in the process, so I gave her one today and she started to chew it and then decided she wanted to hide for later since she was too sleepy. She started tearing around my apartment and when I wouldn't let her stick it in the bedroom under my bed she threw a full-on temper tantrum, rolling on the floor howling and barking! I've never seen a dog behave this way but I'm proud to say I didn't give in. She eventually gave up and fell asleep. I think she was overtired. She is going to be a difficult teenager.

Here she is zonked out after a long play session with some more children and that temper tantrum:


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## sophie anne

Poodlebeguiled said:


> I would soooo lose that vet! He sounds just awful...probably burnt out or having some kind of issue at home. If I had to drive a long ways, except for emergencies, I would. In fact, I sort of do. There are vets very close, right in my city but I drive a good 1/2 hour for the vet I like best. But he's no good for emergencies because he's too booked up all the time. He's super, most of the people I know in my Poodle club here use him... and he has a Poodle to boot! He's respectful about my vaccination protocol and anything else... and just very nice and a good vet. So, I'd say it's time for you to do some shopping and interviewing before you make an appointment.


Vaccine protocol was the other thing that bugged me about this vet office. When I expressed a desire to give rabies later (legal in Maine) the tech went on a spiel about the importance of vaccinations and how Ari could die from a preventable disease if I didn't vaccinate early and for more things than I wanted. It felt manipulative. I am by no means an "anti-vaxxer" for humans or dogs because I'm a microbiologist but overtaxing a puppy's immune system with excessive vaccines is obviously stupid, makes her more vulnerable to other illness and reduces the efficacy of the vaccines themselves... I bet it pads the pockets of the vet office though!

I'm going to look elsewhere. Thanks for weighing in. I was pretty sure that I should but sometimes I think I am being oversensitive to people dismissing me, and since this is now going to be a pain in the patootie to find another vet I didn't want to over-react.


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## lily cd re

Congratulations on that pretty girlie!


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## LEUllman

Ari is utterly gorgeous; the vet, not, so much.


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## patk

ari has so much personality, besides being very pretty. i laughed at the temper tantrum, though i'm sure in your place i would have been tearing my hair with frustration. thanks for sharing that, though, as if it ever happens to me, i will know my dog is not an aberration.

good luck on finding a better vet. from what you've said, he even hires obnoxious techs!


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## Tabatha

Ari is a cutie! Leeloo is also a squirt, she was only 3lbs at 10 weeks.

Separating vaccines 2 weeks apart, i.e., parvo. wait 2 weeks, distemper, wait 2 weeks, etc... and only vaccinating for diseases relevant to your area I think, is the best way to go. I'm also waiting until later to vaccinate against rabies since it is so rare in Southern Ontario, Canada. There were zero cases of quadrupedal rabies last year.

Also consider waiting for her to fully mature before spaying, allowing her growth plates to fully mature and close. There is growing evidence that early spay and neuter is not necessarily in the best interest of your dog.

Negative Effects of Early Spay & Neuter


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## BorderKelpie

I thought I was the only one with a disrespectful vet. In my case, the vet keeps telling me that if I got rid of the dogs, I could find a man. (I have been happily divorced for 13 years and love having just me and the kids and dogs). The last time I was in there, he went so far as to tell me I was a questionable mother since I didn't go out right away and find my babies a new daddy. 

I was FURIOUS!! My personal life is none of his business, my kids have done well enough already - both have recently been promoted to managers (the youngest at 19) and have plans for their lives - no drugs, no grandkids yet (not that that is a bad thing, but they both want to be secure first and not struggle as they have seen me do), they are (mostly) respectful and I am quite proud of them. I finally lost my temper and asked if I would have been a better mom in his eyes if I ended up on the Jerry Springer or Steve Wilkos shows because one of the string of men that I was auditioning for a new baby daddy molested one or both of them. He shut up at that point and I have since found two new vets to interview. 

Follow your gut with your vet search. I put up with this one faaaar too long, to the point where unless it was dire, I wouldn't bring the dogs in. I really like the new vet I have discovered. The place is clean, they treat exotics, too (good thing, because I want a python again, the boa is cute, but I am a python person lol), but he was very good with my cranky parrot and is willing to deal with my spoiled pig. 

I know it's frustrating and I am so sorry you experienced this. I am glad you brought precious Ari back - see, we as pet parents know our babies. Good on you for just dealing with it. I hope you find the perfect vet for you because I am wishing you a very long, happy, healthy lifetime partnershipship/friendship with Ari.


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## Carley's Mom

Arti is so cute ! I am sorry for my earlier post, I somehow read this as a cafe au lait thread .... so sorry.


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## sophie anne

Tabatha said:


> Ari is a cutie! Leeloo is also a squirt, she was only 3lbs at 10 weeks.
> 
> Separating vaccines 2 weeks apart, i.e., parvo. wait 2 weeks, distemper, wait 2 weeks, etc... and only vaccinating for diseases relevant to your area I think, is the best way to go. I'm also waiting until later to vaccinate against rabies since it is so rare in Southern Ontario, Canada. There were zero cases of quadrupedal rabies last year.
> 
> Also consider waiting for her to fully mature before spaying, allowing her growth plates to fully mature and close. There is growing evidence that early spay and neuter is not necessarily in the best interest of your dog.
> 
> Negative Effects of Early Spay & Neuter


Wow! Leeloo is so tiny! Does she have some toy in her pedigree somewhere?



BorderKelpie said:


> I thought I was the only one with a disrespectful vet. In my case, the vet keeps telling me that if I got rid of the dogs, I could find a man. (I have been happily divorced for 13 years and love having just me and the kids and dogs). The last time I was in there, he went so far as to tell me I was a questionable mother since I didn't go out right away and find my babies a new daddy.
> 
> I was FURIOUS!! My personal life is none of his business, my kids have done well enough already - both have recently been promoted to managers (the youngest at 19) and have plans for their lives - no drugs, no grandkids yet (not that that is a bad thing, but they both want to be secure first and not struggle as they have seen me do), they are (mostly) respectful and I am quite proud of them. I finally lost my temper and asked if I would have been a better mom in his eyes if I ended up on the Jerry Springer or Steve Wilkos shows because one of the string of men that I was auditioning for a new baby daddy molested one or both of them. He shut up at that point and I have since found two new vets to interview.
> 
> Follow your gut with your vet search. I put up with this one faaaar too long, to the point where unless it was dire, I wouldn't bring the dogs in. I really like the new vet I have discovered. The place is clean, they treat exotics, too (good thing, because I want a python again, the boa is cute, but I am a python person lol), but he was very good with my cranky parrot and is willing to deal with my spoiled pig.
> 
> I know it's frustrating and I am so sorry you experienced this. I am glad you brought precious Ari back - see, we as pet parents know our babies. Good on you for just dealing with it. I hope you find the perfect vet for you because I am wishing you a very long, happy, healthy lifetime partnership/friendship with Ari.


You have quite the menagerie going on with poodles, a pig, a parrot and possibly a python! All P's! hahaha! :laugh: Who needs a man when you've got all of those companions plus two great kids to boot!

That vet sounds at least as awful as Ari's! I've got some recommendations from people in the area on new vets to try. Turns out this guy has upset more people than just me... Wish they'd thought to tell me BEFORE I burned up $200 at his clinic... :alberteinstein:


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## MaceeChocKisses

Hello Ari you are such a beautiful smart girl! Looking forward to seeing more of you to come!


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## sophie anne

Well, Ari and I had a difficult couple of days.

I went back to work on Monday for the first time since she's been home, and a dog walker (who I interviewed, background checked and had come and meet Ari twice) come let her out to play for an hour in the mid-morning. I came home at lunchtime to give her her mid-day snack and bring her back to work with me for the afternoon, and she seemed off. Couldn't put my finger on it, but in addition to not eating her kibble with her normal gusto she seemed whinier, sassier and less obedient than usual. Brought her back to work, afternoon was OK, but still off.

She ate dinner, albeit without enthusiasm, and had one soft stool before bed. Uh oh. I made sure she drank plenty of water and offered her some pumpkin but she was not interested, so we went to sleep.

Around 1 AM she woke me up crying (unusual; she sleeps like a log all night) so I took her out of her sleepypod and lifted her off my bed as usual. BIG MISTAKE.

The slight pressure on her ribs/tummy caused her explosive, putrid, foul, awful diarrhea to shoot out all over my bed, across the room about 6 feet, onto my walls, my lamp and bedside table, everywhere. I rushed her outside, leaving a trail of horrible diarrhea behind me as I went. I sat her on the ground and it just kept coming and coming! I have no idea how so much fit in such a little dog; she must have been full up to her ears with diarrhea. Finally she stopped and I rolled her over and gently felt her stomach to see if she was bloated (she wasn't) and just the pressure of my fingers pushed some more out.

Back inside, I offered her food and water (which she refused) and put her back in her pod with her favorite towel so I could don my hazmat suit (I wish!) and begin cleaning up.

After that she had horrible diarrhea every hour or so and refused to drink water herself, but I got her to swallow a little mixed with Karo syrup by using a dropper on her tongue. Straight to the vet first thing in the morning once they were open. By the time we were there, she was already in and out of consciousness and really in serious trouble.

The vet (same one that was so rude before) at first suggested that she was OK because she was able to keep herself awake and that maybe we should wait it out, but of course her apparent alertness had more to do with the fact that she was in a strange room with strange people than her actual vigor. Then, as if on cue, she exploded out both ends all over their table and walls and suddenly he took me pretty seriously!

She got IV saline and dextrose because her blood glucose was so low (unsurprising in such a small dog even after a brief bout of anorexia and diarrhea), an injectable anti-nausea medication (I can report back on which one later, don't have the paperwork handy), some oral anti-inflammatory for her bowel once the anti-nausea meds kicked in, and a lot of snuggles from me while we sat there for 2 hrs waiting to see if she turned a corner or if it was time to consider more extreme intervention.

Thank goodness, after about 1 hr 20 minutes of IV she started to cry about all the needles in her and it was the best sound I've ever heard! Yay, no more apathy!!!! She exploded out the rear twice more while we were at the vet and then I think she was finally empty.

We were discharged after she finally peed, was able to walk around, and ate some rice off my fingers. We left with more of the bowel anti-inflammatory and some probiotics. There was a steady improvement after this, and today she's eating a bland diet of chicken and rice, playing as normal and passed her first solid stool at 2 PM. She didn't drink at first but she started at about 10 AM this morning- probably when the SQ fluid I had the vet put in before we left the office ran out.

So, that was the scariest misadventure I've ever had with a puppy. ACK!

I called the dog walker to see if she had been strange when he came, and he said, "No, but she didn't want many of my treats." Um, what treats?? He fed her cut up hot dog pieces because he thought it would be better than the plain kibble I had instructed him to use. I did not hire him to be a freelance dietician!!! Given the onset of symptoms I am 99.9% sure it was that hot dog that did her in and very nearly cost Ari her life. Needless to say, he will not be allowed anywhere near her ever again and I am not sure I will ever trust anyone with her besides my family after this.

In better news, she's enjoying playtime outside with my sister who came up to care for her full-time while I'm at work for the rest of the week. Here are some more recent pictures of the lucky little survivor.

I think her face is already noticeably more mature than when she came home last week.

















Meeting my landlords' grandkids and staying in a perfect "down":








Enjoying the sunset on Monday night, which was happily not her last sunset...


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## Coldbrew

i am so glad that your misadventure seems to have a happy ending!
i'm so sorry that you (and Ari!) had to go through that 

I have no idea why anyone would think it was okay to give a dog in their care food other than exactly what the owner had given them without first checking with the owner! that more little girl - a cup of hotdog is a lot of food for a little dog! and you don't even known what kind of hotdog so it might have been the very worst kind :/

also, i have to say that I completely understand your frustration with not being taken seriously by the vet because of your age. I too am in my twenties and i went to talk to a potential vet (i don't have my pup for another week and a half) and he seemed very dismissive of all my questions and concerns. Understandably i didn't have an actual animal there to see him, but i had made an appointment,so i the least i expected was for him to listen. Guess I'll be going to another vet!


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## N2Mischief

OMGosh! If this "walker" was licensed and bonded I would make him pay your vet bill! Why would you feed someone else's dog ANYTHING without asking first...just dumb!

I am so sorry this happened, and so happy she is o.k.!


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## Tiny Poodles

Wow, sorry that you two had to go through this, but happy to hear that she is better.
Sorry to say that You just reaffirmed my feeling that I can't trust anybody, no matter who they are with my dog...
Hotdogs instead of kibble - outrageous!


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## MaceeChocKisses

WOW! What a couple of days... So happy it has turned out good!


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## MollyMuiMa

So very glad Ari has survived her 'hot dog itis' I know hot dogs are used by many as a high value training treat....but the size of the 'treat' is usually smaller than your baby fingernail! And to use a certain treat without asking the owner is really irresponsible...what if the dog is highly allergic????? 
I hope you find someone who follows your directions to a tee and no further harm comes to lovely Ari!!!!


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## Jasper Rules

Oh no, poor Ari! I hope your little girl is feeling better now! That was clearly an awful experience for both of you


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## Mfmst

What great pictures of an adorable puppy. Love her little fast asleep face peaking out of the towel! I know she's going to be great company for you!


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## mom2Zoe

Yes ditch that vet!!!
Love all the pics!
I apologize for laughing at the hot dog story, geez what a moron!


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## BorderKelpie

How is Miss Ari feeling today after her (and your) traumatic experience?


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## sophie anne

BorderKelpie said:


> How is Miss Ari feeling today after her (and your) traumatic experience?


Thanks for checking in BorderKelpie and sorry for not getting back sooner! The little stinker has been keeping me busy. She is not an easy puppy... although I think that "easy puppy" might be an oxymoron! See my other thread about her swallowing a rubber band today for an example...

BEFORE the rubber band thing she was back to herself and has added "dance" and "crawl" (army-style) to her vocabulary. She is a lot of fun! Keeps my floors clean too.........................

Sophie, my parents' spoo, came to visit me at my apartment with my dad the other day and we got some shots of the two of them together.

That's a pretty good sit-stay for an 11-week-old puppy huh? :wink:









I like to imagine the conversation happening in this photo:
"Ari, you're such a big squirrel!!"
"Sophie, you're such a tiny horse!"
Sophie is 46 lb at her last weigh-in and Ari was 4.5 lb which means that Sophie is almost exactly 10x Ari's size!









And that night the extra nice sunset that I ordered for my dad's visit came in right on schedule:


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## sophie anne

Ari is no worse from wear from the rubber band swallowing incident, despite the fact that it hasn't reappeared out the other end (that I have seen).

On Monday her "potty bells" came in the mail from a shop on Etsy. They're just bells that hook over the door and she rings them to go outside. The bells are helpful because she had begun signaling me when she needed to pee by stopping our activity and barking, but I wasn't getting the message every time. Now we have a clear signal that says unambiguously "I need to go out" and not "I like to bark."

I helped her push her nose against them for two potty trips on Monday night, and then she ran over and rang them herself for potty trip number 3!! I was so proud I had to snap a picture before quickly scooting her outside, where she piddled right when I gave the "get busy" command. Good girl!!!










We're now on day 3 of potty bells and also on day 3 of no accidents in the house. I definitely recommend bells to anybody who needs to improve dog-human communication!

Any bells on a string would work, but the very well made and aesthetically pleasing ones from Etsy cost only slightly more than the component parts to DIY in my area. I can PM the name of the shop if anybody is interested!


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## Tabatha

I got potty bells too and ring them every time we go out to no avail.  I know I have to do more training with her but I've been insanely busy and/or exhausted from this heatwave!

Ari is gorgeous!


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## LEUllman

Beauty and brains!


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## sophie anne

Tabatha said:


> I got potty bells too and ring them every time we go out to no avail.  I know I have to do more training with her but I've been insanely busy and/or exhausted from this heatwave!
> 
> Ari is gorgeous!


Don't worry Tabatha, Leeloo will get it; she might not be quite as pushy and high drive as Ari but that is really a good thing for most people. My sister was horrified by Ari when she puppy-sat her for only 8 hrs because of how demanding she is, physically and mentally. Ari is a quick learner but also quickly figures out ways to manipulate the rules. She will trick you and if you resist her our outsmart her, she will stare at you and bark demandingly. NOT an easy dog, but I do love her! Her drive makes her learn quickly, so she is already "getting" that if she barks at me I will immediately lose interest in her and that the only way to get my attention is to do a "sit" or "down" and stay there quietly. She will be awesome at agility and other performance sports but is probably not going to be a calm dog for a very long time, or maybe ever.

Here she is "begging" for attention in the socially appropriate way... quietly in a down-stay.









She gets her food out of a variety of different things, like egg cartons, milk jugs and I have a Kong wobbler on the way. The milk jug was tricky for her because even the half gallon size is big for her, and it took a while to figure out how to hold it and shake the kibble out of the opening. That gave me some time to get work done:









Ari and I are now at the stage where she rings the potty bells to go out to play. If I ignore her (because I know she doesn't need to potty) she pulls them right off the door handle and runs around my apartment dragging them and growling like a crazed badger. Between the bells smashing on the floor and walls and her super loud growls, it is VERY hard not to yell at her. But getting my attention is totally her goal so I pop in the earplugs and get very interested in something else until she drops them and sits... Which has taken 15-20 minutes the past couple times. I think Ari is lucky she came home with me because her attitude would be a bit much for many people!

*Edited to add: 6 days potty accident free so far!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOO! :happy:*

She came to work with me every day last week because my sister has gone home and I don't trust the dog walker. She stays in a large crate in the shade for 1-2h while I do lab work, and then I come out to check on her and do some obedience practice for 15-20 mins. She spends lunch on the patio with all of my coworkers, so she socializes with ~40 people for an hour M-F. My coworkers have also started "pupnapping" her into their offices sometimes, so I'll get a text telling me Ari is in the Admin building with Mary if I need to come get her etc. She gets a lot of different experiences every day. Everyone loves her. She is, luckily, always on her best behavior away from home.

This past week was very hot and I have had a really hard time getting her to swim in the ocean here because Ari would rather chew seaweed and barnacles than go in the water. So, I got her a kiddie pool which she instantly loved. I threw about half of her dinner portion of kibble into it with it empty and she jumped in, sniffed around and ate it. Then I filled it slowly with her standing in there and she started splashing around and growling at the water spraying from the hose. She loves her pool!

Playing in the pool:









The pool is on my patio and visible from the front door, so that is what she is trying to get out to when she rips the potty bells off the door and has a tantrum. If I open the door and let her out without a leash, SPLASH straight in the pool. Even at 2 AM.... oops.

She also likes to sit and watch the boats on the water, and is getting much better about not eating sticks/dirt/flowers/beetles, but she is determined to bite the bees off of the flowers so I have to be careful about that.

Watching some kayakers:









She is awesome with recall, and sits at my feet with her head cocked when I call her back over to me:









Yesterday Ari went to the vet for her second DPP shot and to have her hips and patellas checked for PetPlan.

While we waited for the vet we practiced obedience commands on the table, particularly down-stay since that's handy for exams. She is a whopping 6.1 lbs now!

Relaxing on the exam table:









Ari wagged her tail all through the exam and immensely enjoyed a peanut butter Kong while getting her shot. She didn't even seem to notice! Yay!

And as I post this, she's taking a nice long nap on my coffee table which is apparently pretty comfortable:









Still no rubber band sightings, but she's clearly happy and is finally delivering nice normal poos (none of that nasty liquid or pudding stuff) so I think we're on the right track. And clearly her food is agreeing with her since she's growing and putting on weight! Hopefully there will only be minor puppy annoyances for at least a while now and no more major medical scares! :clover:

That's all for now!


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## MiniPoo

Ari and you both are leading very interesting lives. I especially like that you get an email telling you which office your dog has ended up in. 

I agree that Ari is lucky to have you.

I was wondering if you were going to groom her yourself or use a professional. With all the water diving, she is getting quite a long coat to take care of. At that age is when I clipped Dakota's coat down because I don't have the patience to keep a longer coat tangle free.

Your pictures of Ari and the landscapes are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing more.


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## sophie anne

MiniPoo said:


> Ari and you both are leading very interesting lives. I especially like that you get an email telling you which office your dog has ended up in.
> 
> I agree that Ari is lucky to have you.
> 
> I was wondering if you were going to groom her yourself or use a professional. With all the water diving, she is getting quite a long coat to take care of. At that age is when I clipped Dakota's coat down because I don't have the patience to keep a longer coat tangle free.
> 
> Your pictures of Ari and the landscapes are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing more.


I comb her and grind her nails with a dremel every night when she's sleepy... thanks for that tip earlier MiniPoo! Her puppy coat is so loose and flowy right now that I have no trouble keeping it tangle-free with a slicker and a comb with this amount of brushing. Every couple nights I turn on my old and dull clippers and practice having her hold still with them, and hold her paws near them.

She has an appointment with a professional groomer on August 15. She's an old friend of Ari's breeder actually; groomed poodles for show for years before retiring to Maine and opening a small shop here. The shop isn't a traditional grooming kennel in that she only takes one customer at a time and prefers that the owner stays and watches. She has a nice waiting area with internet, cookies and coffee plus a couple of friendly cats that are pretty well-groomed themselves, lol. She's going to help me learn the different poodle cuts and techniques and promises that Ari's experiences with grooming will be totally positive.

I'll continue to practice on my parents' elderly spoo, and then hopefully by next year Ari will be ready to let me give it a try and I'll be more practiced. I don't want to nick her or burn her early on and have it become a lifelong problem. Sophie holds so still that it's very easy for me and I know I won't hurt her. Given that Ari learns things pretty much instantly, one mistake would be a big deal!:alberteinstein:


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## zooeysmom

Ari and the landscapes are a treat for my eyes! I'm really enjoying this thread


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## MiniPoo

You continue to amaze me. First, you find a charter pilot to bring Ari home to you from MN, then you have work mates that help you dog sit during the day, and it sounds like you found the perfect groomer. I'll bet she will give you grooming advice. Cudos!

PS - plus you do these fabulous pictures!


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## Tabatha

Wow, you are an amazing puppy parent!!! It's true, I don't know too many people who would be able to handle Ari's energy, myself included! Brains, beauty and energy, a triple threat.

And thank you for the amazing photos though they portray Ari as being an angel. ;D That last one of the boat on the water is amazing!


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## Streetcar

I'm loving all your photos and your precious little Ari, Sophie Anne. Awful about the hot dog "treats" and the arrogance of feeding them without asking you in advance. I wouldn't let him near my dog again, either. You always hear about using hot dogs, but I would not feed them to my dog. The fat content is so high and they have nitrates. Heck, my own stomach cannot tolerate hot dogs and sausages.

Ari is really a beautiful and oh so smart little girl, and how lucky she is to have become your puppy. And it sort of sounds like the vet's office might have become somewhat more respectful, but maybe I'm reading too much into things.


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## sophie anne

Long overdue update! Lots has happened since I last posted...

After days of fighting with Ari over whether or not my curtains are to be tugged, I made her a tugging stand that has since been dismantled because she got strong enough that it made me nervous that she'd tip over the shelf:








I'm going to resurrect the tugging stand by tying a rope around the post in the picture.

Ari frolicked with the one remaining toy that came home with her from the breeder (she's... murdered... the rest):









She learned to stay in her sleepypod with it cracked open, and eventually completely open (it's not strapped in correctly here, I know, but having it face off the end of the car seat helped deter her from climbing out as she learned):









She learned to climb the scary spiral staircase in my apartment! DOH! I was hoping she'd never learn! Now it's gated off to keep her from falling! :afraid:









Ari made friends with a pair of yorkies, Buster and Charlie:
















Ari and Charlie:


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## sophie anne

Ari declined to comment on the Great Peanut Butter Heist of 2015, saying only "Woof" in our interview:









She enjoyed rolling in low-tide mud and splashing in her kiddie pool, making her increasingly scraggly:

























Ari also got her final Distemper/Parvo shot at the vet and weighed 7.1 lb today at 14 wks, 3 days old! (no pictures of this)


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## sophie anne

Then, to refresh after all of this adventure, she spent a couple hours at the spa today and ate so many treats she didn't even want dinner :aetsch::









But she did enjoy a pig ear afterwards! She only ate a tiny bit off before I took it away... the ear is almost as big as she is!!









And Ari patiently humored me while I took her picture after the grooming appointment:
















^^ I think she looks like a total mean girl in this picture, haha! I swear she isn't snobby!

















Sort of off topic, but big sister Sophie also got her first shave-down since she was a puppy, but I did that myself. Here's a before/after:








She's a pretty poodle under all that hair! The new, shorter 'do will make it so much easier to manage her aging skin problems.

That's all for now!


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## Streetcar

OMGracious, is THAT your GROOMER????? Daryl C? She is world famous and followed by so many of the grooming cognoscenti (of which I am not one). I recognized her and her porch instantly and desperately envy you this incomparable opportunity!!!


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## sophie anne

Streetcar said:


> OMGracious, is THAT your GROOMER????? Daryl C? She is world famous and followed by so many of the grooming cognoscenti (of which I am not one). I recognized her and her porch instantly and desperately envy you this incomparable opportunity!!!


LOL, yes, it is, Daryl Conner... I thought maybe a few of you poodle people might recognize her :angel:

She only books out two weeks in advance which is rather surprising! I guess it's the rural Maine location... There's coffee, cookies and lots of poodle memorabilia on the porch too to peruse during the appointment if you aren't interested in actually watching the art take shape. She has a couple of goats, a horse, and three delinquent ducks who dabble in the road and hold up traffic... haha. It's really a very special little place.

Daryl wants to steal Ari! She had me give her all the info on her breeder and bloodline because she wants another poodle in the future. Dary was facetiming all of her friends during the appointment to show off Ari's conformation and nice thick coat. There aren't many non-dachsund shaped mini poodles in Maine! I am so thrilled to have her be the one teaching me how to groom my poodles!!!


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## Chagall's mom

Awesome photos! Love how Ari is coming along and enjoying each new life adventure. BTW, peanut butter suits her, she's sweeter than Reese's Pieces!



Streetcar said:


> OMGracious, is THAT your GROOMER????? Daryl C? She is world famous and followed by so many of the grooming cognoscenti (of which I am not one). I recognized her and her porch instantly and desperately envy you this incomparable opportunity!!!


Sure looks like Daryl Connor to me. (But my reading glasses are in the car, dang it!) What a groomer to score! _Wowzer!_


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## sophie anne

And here she is helping me post on PF! Houston, I think I've found Ari's "off" button!!

The magic formula: get up at 6 AM to drive to vet appointment for a vaccine, do an hour of puppy playgroup, take a two hour nap, enjoy an hour drive/nap to the groomer, spend two hours getting groomed, spend an hour playing with the ducks and goats at the groomer, another hour napping in the car on the way home and a nice long play session with the Yorkies to round out the night. Yeah, I can do that every day! :2in1:


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## Streetcar

I remember reading as her grooming "room", that gorgeous porch, took shape. Not sure if I was reading during or after the fact, but it was a blog (I think) and it showed the progression. She created such a lovely "room" for anything that it's stayed with me, as you can clearly see!

You truly have the opportunity of a lifetime to learn from her.


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## Poodlebeguiled

Wow! I get so little time on the Internet usually these days but did get some time today so thought I'd pop in and see your Ari. Beautiful! And that is so cool that you got hold of this groomer. It looks like a lot of people are drooling. lol. I didn't know about her but if she's super, then you scored. I so enjoyed seeing your photos. What a cute dog and Sophie looks like, "say what????" Happy looking dogs. And what a great place to live where they get to play in the mud flats. Funzies for you. :bathbaby:


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## Streetcar

Chagall's mom said:


> Awesome photos! Love how Ari is coming along and enjoying each new life adventure. BTW, peanut butter suits her, she's sweeter than Reese's Pieces!
> 
> 
> 
> Sure looks like Daryl Connor to me. (But my reading glasses are in the car, dang it!) What a groomer to score! _Wowzer!_


Yes, I wasn't sure if it was okay to put her whole name here, but recognized her immediately. Wowzer is right. And doesn't sweet Ari look adorable after her gentle and successful groom! The peanut butter episode is a hoot.


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## patk

sophie anne, love this thread. thanks for sharing ari's puppyhood with us. it's so easy to see how much you love her.


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## sophie anne

Ari and Dug the dog from the movie Up have similar "squirrel" faces:









Trying (and failing) to accurately capture her eye color, which is a silvery sage green right now:

















Sunset pup:


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## Chagall's mom

Ari is a super model, and an absolutely splendid looking little poodle girl! I do believe the sun rises and sets just for her.


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## Poodlebeguiled

A-h-h...those are nice photos! I especially love the bottom one. She looks so thoughtful, looking out on the water. So pretty she is and very prettily colored eyes. My goodness. It will be so neat to see how she changes. She's a beautiful color right now and I know she'll be lovely later.


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## sophie anne

Blooper from the post-haircut photoshoot. I had Ari "stand" in the baby's breath because I thought it would be a cute shot. She decided to do a little weeding for me, and also to "sit" and then "down"... And then run off and steal the cat food but I don't have a picture of that...

This is her "I know that you told me to drop it, but I'm having a LOT of fun here!" face....










:cow: Moooooo! :cow:


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## MaceeChocKisses

Oh what a beautiful shot! She's such a cutie pie with so much personality... I love it :laugh:


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## Chagall's mom

sophie anne said:


> Blooper from the post-haircut photoshoot


Beautiful blooper, and pupper!


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## sophie anne

Lunchtime walk along the shoreline with Ari, who is growing into a trustworthy off-leash trail dog:









This is a lobster pound (sometimes called a lobster weir), where lobstermen store lobster for days or weeks at a time to take advantage of price fluctuations. There's a fence at one side and a net at the other to keep them penned. The tide going in and out keeps the water clean. It makes for a fun place for a puppy to sniff around at low tide!









Ari flushed a turkey out of the bushes too... lol the poor turkey was very confused.


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## sophie anne

Ari's had an exciting couple of weeks.

At the end of August, I spent a weekend (Saturday-Tuesday morning) hiking in Acadia National Park with some graduate students in the PhD program I'll be starting next year. Since Ari was barely 4 months old, she had to stay with a sitter for the weekend. We hiked about 8 miles per day over rough terrain, too much for her at this age! I didn't want to stress her little growing body.

The sitter was recommended by a friend and seemed really nice. The husband works and the wife stays home all day with their small mixed breed rescue dog. I gave them all of her stuff and a sheet with her schedule, commands she knows, and potty habits. Also gave them contact info for her vet, and 2 emergency contacts in case I was unavailable since cell reception in the park is iffy.

I headed off on the 3.5 hr drive to Acadia biting my nails... not fun to leave my little pup behind! We hadn't been apart for more than 5 hours at a stretch since she came home in July.

First day of the trip was uneventful. I drove into town morning, noon, and night to check my phone in case they called, and didn't get any messages so I figured "No news is good news."

WELL. On Sunday morning (day 2) I dropped into town to check my messages and there was one from the sitter, saying that they forgot that they had a family function in Connecticut on Monday, so I needed to come get Ari ASAP so they could leave. UGH! I seriously have the worst luck with dog sitters and walkers! :2in1:

So I packed up my camping stuff and set off to drive down to pick Ari up from these bozos, while calling all of my friends in the area to see if maybe they could take her. Luckily, one of my friends from my time as a guide dog trainer knew a friend who had a friend that loved dogs and was hoping to start a small-scale one-dog-at-a-time daycare/overnight sitter service.

We got in contact (at this point I pulled off into a rest stop, no worries about distracted driving haha!), and she was genuinely nice and very concerned for poor Ari and volunteered to pick her up from the bad sitter's house and keep her through Tuesday morning (two nights) for no charge as an emergency trial run.

I wavered a bit about having her moved to another house, but the new sitter gave me multiple references who I called. They recommended her highly so I decided to go for it-- Ari really needs a safe place to stay when I travel, and this looked like a chance to establish a relationship.

The new sitter, Jenny, picked her up, and spent the next two days loving her to pieces. She has a fenced in yard with a way for the dogs to let themselves out at will (but she stayed with Ari the whole time since she's a naughty puppy) and a kiddie pool to play in, plus she has two friendly shih-tzus for canine companionship. Jenny called me twice a day with an update on Ari!

So I got to enjoy Acadia, knowing Ari was safe and happy with a great sitter after all.

























When I got back to pick her up from the sitter, Ari was glad to see me but clearly also in love with her new friends. I tried to give Jenny some money, but she wouldn't take it. She invited Ari back anytime as a paying customer, though! So, I have a safe place to send her next time I need to be away. I'll pay her extra next time.

Here's Ari, snug as a bug at the sitter's house:








And in my car after I picked her up... She thinks she is about old enough to drive with some accommodations to help her reach the pedals and see over the dash board...









Ari graduated from her first puppy class last week, called "Good Pup," which teaches basic obedience skills (sit, down, loose leash walking) and helps with socialization.
She celebrated by playing with her classmates:








The graduation was about as formal as you could make a puppy class graduation. The pups walked up to the instructor doing their best imitation of loose-leash walking as "Pomp and Circumstance" played over the speakers, sat in front of the instructor, offered a paw to shake hands, and received a congratulatory biscuit. The handlers got the diplomas so they didn't get shredded! :lol:









She also relaxed in the sun a little while we were at work:


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## sophie anne

It's been hot this week so Ari has been loving the a/c in the car!









And, we also cooled off by heading out into the mountains and checking out a lake. Ari learned to kayak and swim. She loves kayaking...









She jumps right into the water to swim, too! She likes to swim between my legs and then have me pick her up for a rest before heading back to shore.









That's all that's new for now in Ari-ville!


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## Chagall's mom

It's so good to be Ari! And so lucky for her she's_ yours._ What a fun, exciting life you both lead! Glad everything worked out so well for all. (Please forgive me this, but the irrepressible Jewish Mother in me wants to see her wearing a life vest while kayaking.) She looks as happy as a clam, a very pretty, cool, wet clam to boot!

Congratulations on her puppy school graduation! Well done!!:whoo:


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## sophie anne

Chagall's mom said:


> It's so good to be Ari! And so lucky for her she's_ yours._ What a fun, exciting life you both lead! Glad everything worked out so well for all. (Please forgive me this, but the irrepressible Jewish Mother in me wants to see her wearing a life vest while kayaking.) She looks as happy as a clam, a very pretty, cool, wet clam to boot!


I'm not Jewish or a mother but I 100% agree about the lifejacket :amen:

She was leashed to my life jacket while kayaking. I had a lot of anxiety before heading up there about whether to get her a life jacket, but decided that her harness + a leash to my life jacket is an OK temporary solution for short trips to practice manners in the kayak. It looks like we were far from shore in that picture, but we were really only about 30 feet from the shore behind me! Also, my dad was with us in a kayak, too, in case I needed help.

This weekend was about combining the practice she's been doing on land (sitting in a kayak in the grass, laying down in it, and staying put when I get in and out) with some shallow, flat water on a lake I know well. We hadn't attempted any kayaking before this because my apartment is on a tidal river/harbor that I'm not completely comfortable with yet.

I'm going to get her a life jacket when she gets closer to her adult size, and introduce it slowly. She's picky about wearing anything, even a collar at first, so it's going to be a process. It'll go something like: life jacket sitting on the floor in my apartment, life jacket touching her back, life jacket over her head, life jacket strapped on, walking around in life jacket, playing in life jacket, sitting in kayak on land with life jacket, then more kayaking on water wearing the life jacket, probably next summer.


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## patk

such a good grounding you are giving ari in being a companion dog for all seasons. she is so lucky!


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## MaceeChocKisses

Ari is such a cutie and quite the little swimmer :smile:


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## MollyMuiMa

WOW! What a great little swimmer She is!!!!


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## sophie anne

Thank you all so much for "positive reinforcement"! I'm trying to do all that I can to make sure that Ari has a long and happy life with me, and that she'll be comfortable when we move to the city next fall. She's a great little pup, so she makes it as easy as a pup could be!

Last night, Ari and I went shopping and I found a really cheap Halloween costume/socialization opportunity for her that I couldn't resist. I'll let you guess what she's going to be...

So far, we've just practiced "leave it" with the two pieces of the costume touching her front paws (there are 5 pieces altogether). I'll upload progress pictures as she gets used to it! Hopefully she'll be ready for the "big reveal" by Halloween!









And just as we were climbing in bed, I noticed a spot of blood on one of Ari's toys so I checked her mouth to see if she'd lost a tooth. Sure enough, she lost one of her lower incisors! It was stuck in the toy.
This is her first lost tooth! Lil pup is growin' up!


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## Chagall's mom

Seeing Ari's Halloween costume reveal with be a real sweet treat!umpkin: But I see first a visit from the Tooth Fairy is in order.


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## sophie anne

*Proposed name change: Miss Mariana "Toothless Bigot" Frizzle*

Haha, couple of funny recent happenings with Miss Mariana "Toothless Bigot" Frizzle in the past couple of days:

*Toothless*:
Teething has progressed rapidly. She lost her first tooth two nights ago, and has now lost at least 5, maybe 6!! Two big adult incisors are visibly coming in on the top. Yeowza, I bet her gums are sore. She has slightly soft poos and isn't really very hungry, even for softened pudding-texture kibble with chicken broth. Poor babe.

Also, bite inhibition is coming along nicely:

















*Bigot*:
Ari growls at people when they are speaking German. Not Spanish, not French, not English. German.

Ari is very talkative, and her growls are not, so far as I can tell, aggressive (no curling of lips or hardening of expression) so much as inquisitive, curious growls. If there is such a thing? I've never seen this before in a dog.

Many people might never know if their dog reacted strongly to a certain language but because I work at a lab with many international scientists and visitors, Ari is exposed to a lot of people from around the world.

This afternoon there was a postdoc outside on the sidewalk who we regularly sit with at lunch and Ari knows by sight and surely by smell after two months of near-daily contact. She was talking on the phone in German to her husband as Ari and I walked by. Ari stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment, and then growled a little. So I kept walking and Ari looked over her shoulder the whole time we walked away doing little huffy, annoyed-sounding growls. 

Then the postdoc came over when she got off the phone and said "What's the matter Ari, you liked me at lunch yesterday!" And Ari was fine again. We chatted for a couple of minutes and then the postdoc said, "I wonder if it's because I was speaking German!" She asked Ari, in German, "What do you think of the German language?" and Ari backed up looking offended and growled a little!!!!

Then the postdoc, who also speaks French laughed and asked her what she thought of French and Ari wagged her tail and became her normal self again. And then when she said in English "I guess you really don't like German!" Ari acted normal too. I've seen Ari interact with a person who was speaking Spanish and she didn't seem perturbed, either!

Just German. Sooooo, that's weird, but I guess that postdoc can help me with some counter-conditioning! :laugh: hahaha

*Anxiety*:
I'm very paranoid that Ari could become a reactive, snappy dog, because when I was a tot my family had a horrid West Highland Terrier that would just about rip your face off out of nowhere, and I'm terrified that Ari could become that since she's also small. It has taken me 20 years to even be able to look at a dog under 20 lb without flinching after that evil creature. Amazing how deeply ingrained early childhood observations can become, even though I know this one is pretty irrational.

This is normal "puppy stuff" right now, correct? I try to imagine what I'd do if it were one of my labradors, but I've never had one of them do this, so I am just out of my comfort zone here.


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## Chagall's mom

sophie anne said:


> ...Ari growls at people when they are speaking German. Not Spanish, not French, not English. German...
> 
> Ari is very talkative, and her growls are not, so far as I can tell, aggressive (no curling of lips or hardening of expression) so much as inquisitive, curious growls. If there is such a thing? I've never seen this before in a dog...
> 
> *This is normal "puppy stuff" right now, correct?*


Yup, normal puppy stuff I'd say. (Though Ari is atypically off the charts clever and cute!)  My guess is the guttural sound of the German language with its harsh consonants might have caused her reaction. My dh speaks five languages, one of which is German. Chagall has never reacted with any alarm or confusion, but he does seem to like Italian a lot! Maybe he knows I was considering getting an Italian Greyhound before we got him? BTW, you are spot on about how lasting early life encounters with less than friendly dogs can be. To this day I am leery of German Shepherds because of a menacing one that lived in our neighborhood when I was a child. And that was six decades ago!


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## sophie anne

Ari has had a very exciting September, between turning 5 months old, losing even more teeth, growing teeth, beginning her Canine Good Citizen certification course, and romping with her friend Sophie!

She's really been developing her legs and coordination this month, as demonstrated in her flying leaps and newfound ability to jump onto the couch.
Sophie thinks that she is nuts.








I kind of agree.








And here's a shot of Sophie, still bouncing despite her age!









Ari camouflages very well with the driftwood.








She was 9.4 lb here and heavy in the body, kind of short in the legs. This was 3 weeks ago, and now she's grown in legs to match her body. Good thing, because I was starting to thing that she was going to be a poodle noodle!









Her adult teeth are growing in more perfectly straight than any other dog I've known. They're like a work of art!









She went back for another groom with Daryl and got a lamb cut because she was tired of sitting through all of that brushing on the puppy cut! And she got an adorable fall bandana that coordinates very well with her color.








Eating a pine cone (one of her favorite naughty snacks! I think she is part squirrel!) and showing off her just-grown-in long legs in their new 'do:


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## sophie anne

Ari went to college two weekends ago so that I could get together with some of my old professors and see some friends who are still there:









Then, this last weekend, both Ari and Sophie headed down to Massachusetts with my family and I to visit my sister at college. She just started as a freshman this fall, so we got the whole tour of the campus and her dorm room. Then, we went out to brunch and the dogs came in with us because the city is very dog-friendly. Ari was very quiet and settled right on the floor underneath the table.

After that, my sister and I went to the mall because she needed to do some clothes shopping. Ari came in to the mall while Sophie and my parents found quieter things to do. Ari loved every minute of it, and did a great job loose-leash walking and settling even with a lot of distractions and tons of different underfootings.
She is in F21 in this picture:









We spent that night in a hotel before journeying up to Maine. Both Ari and Sophie slept in my bed in the hotel room, peacefully I might add. Then I took them out bright and early while my parents were still in bed to catch the sun's first rays and let them check the pmail in an exotic new location. It is a blessing that Sophie is so well-mannered on the leash because otherwise managing two dogs would be a disaster!









Ari and Sophie are beginning to get along quite well. Sophie definitely makes an effort to play with Ari by bounding around and mouthing her very, very softly. Ari harasses Sophie sometimes, by zooming around her in disorienting circles like a dervish while barking obnoxiously.

Sophie thinks it is very hilarious to sneak up on Ari while she is distracted or sleeping, and give a BIG BOOMING BARK right into her face.

So it's a "give and take" kind of relationship!

This is a video of Sophie and Ari playing together. Sophie is a little kooky in her old age and at the beginning of the video she's actually asking Ari to throw the ball for her (??) and then in the middle of the video she starts forgetting to come back to me with the ball and just drops it in the middle of the yard to bark and wag her tail. Ari runs out to try and herd her in the right direction, but ends up getting distracted by a pine cone. lol :alberteinstein:
[click picture below to see a video]
Sophie and Ari playing

We went on a few short walks with Sophie while I was visiting my parents after returning from Massachusetts last weekend. Sophie gets to walk without a leash around the neighborhood because she has perfect recall and is the 'queen;' keeping the leash on Ari means that Sophie can move out of reach of those sharp puppy teeth if necessary.
[click picture below to see a video]
Video of Sophie and Ari walking together

Ari also finally not only understands how to retrieve a moving object (like a ball) but also how to retrieve a stationary object after I set it out for her while she waits. This video shows her doing it in my living room. We haven't proofed it outside of the house yet, but I am very pleased because there are multiple skills at work here: sitting, waiting with a distraction as I move away, (which I use as the foundation for a longer "stay" later), waiting even when I am far from the toy and she could steal it, and then getting the toy and releasing it back to me rather than running off to hoard it. I am very, very proud of her.
[click picture below to see a video]
Ari send out and retrieve

Eventually this will turn into putting away her toys, finding a hidden object, and knowing her toys by name (one can dream, right!).

Her strange reactiveness has decreased since the beginning of the month. I think it was a puppy stage that she has thankfully outgrown. Right now she is all about nipping people when they try to touch her, which made grooming her a total blast for poor Daryl... Daryl was very nice and understanding about it, and let me help her by holding Ari's head when she was having a particularly horrific tantrum. I'll keep working with her and I'm sure that this will change with time despite how frustrating it is right now! I bet that by the next time she is groomed, Ari will have found a whole new surprising thing to be upset about. Puppies!

Toodles for now!


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## Poodlebeguiled

Oh goodness gracious! She is such a cute dog and so is Sophie. I never get enough time to look at all the pictures in the picture forum. I just decided to take a look and this is what I saw. What a treat to behold. Your little puppy is becoming such a nice little doggie gal. It sure looks like a fun time was had by all. And the shopping. I think she's just so well behaved. I don't think I would have dared do that with my monsters at that age. They probably would have marked a very expensive dress or dragged it off the hanger to carry it around. :ahhhhh:

As far as that biting being normal...yes. Just be sure that it's gentle mouthing. Anything anywhere close to ouchie needs to cause you to stop that play. That way she'll learn very well how to regulate the pressure she exerts and that too much hurts people and makes them go away. She is one cute little puppy. Thanks for sharing!


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## sophie anne

Poodlebeguiled said:


> Oh goodness gracious! She is such a cute dog and so is Sophie. I never get enough time to look at all the pictures in the picture forum. I just decided to take a look and this is what I saw. What a treat to behold. Your little puppy is becoming such a nice little doggie gal. It sure looks like a fun time was had by all. And the shopping. I think she's just so well behaved. I don't think I would have dared do that with my monsters at that age. They probably would have marked a very expensive dress or dragged it off the hanger to carry it around. :ahhhhh:
> 
> As far as that biting being normal...yes. Just be sure that it's gentle mouthing. Anything anywhere close to ouchie needs to cause you to stop that play. That way she'll learn very well how to regulate the pressure she exerts and that too much hurts people and makes them go away. She is one cute little puppy. Thanks for sharing!


After dealing with labrador retrievers in public settings (while training guide dogs) anything Ari could do feels so manageable and low-risk. Nobody would notice her naughty damage if she did manage to sneak some in, but my labs could have SWALLOWED or fully shredded something in the time it took me to blink my eye. The experience with the labs has given me lighting fast reflexes. She had been fully emptied toilet-wise before we ventured inside... an important but sometimes overlooked step! lol I did carry her (in her Sleepypod, gotta rack up that advertising $$ lol KIDDING) through the dress section of Neiman Marcus. There are some risks that I won't take no matter how well-behaved the puppy. I LOVE being able to give her a scoop to safety/out of trouble when necessary! That's something you can't do with a labrador or a spoo!

I think she is so good in some ways that I forget she's not even 6 months old yet. Ari has very good bite inhibition, but she is flashing her teeth more than I like. She didn't actually hurt Daryl while she was grooming her, but I do not want her teeth ever touching human skin, least of all when she is expressing displeasure. Something to work on. She is mouthier, I think, than other pups I've trained but I might also have blissful amnesia!

She went to happy hour at the bar with me and some friends from the lab today and did great for almost two hours (it was happy two hours I guess lol scientists take their alcohol seriously and the napkins are graph paper so we were busy) but then she said "Time to go home!" with a loud, whale like moan. At least she's communicative! :act-up:


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## 67x

Fantastic contribution, I enjoyed it and thoroughly appreciate the effort. Ari is a little cutie. Looks like Colby but I could be wrong. No matter, love the local flair.


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## sophie anne

A couple shots from our blustery lunchtime walk today:

"Say cheese!"









Checking out the wind on the water:


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## Shamrockmommy

I love her! I love the cafe au laits too, as Jack is one as well  He has a nice silvery tail back and the front of his head and ears so far at age .


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## MollyMuiMa

I love Ari's eyes!!!!!!!!!


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## sophie anne

*Ari's first autumn*

We headed back out to the Maine mountains this weekend to admire the foliage and take in the cool, crisp air that arrived in the state last week.

By the way, I measured Ari yesterday and she is now 13.5" tall at the shoulder and 10 pounds at nearly 22 weeks old. I think she's just about finished growing, because she's only put on a half a pound in the past 3 weeks.

Her little paws are the absolute cutest thing ever! They remind me of kitten paws.








Gnawing some birch bark... yum! Look at her deep chest that's grown in since the last photo shoot.









Here's a chickadee freshly molted into his winter down!









Somebody got a moose! We were walking along the road and they drove past us. The head gets removed after the moose has been weighed and tagged at a warden's station, and is then taken to get stuffed which is where I assume this truck was headed. The dogs thought it smelled pretty good (eeeew)!!









Some foliage:


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## Sayde

Sophie Anne, Thank you so much for sharing all the photos of Ari. She is so beautiful ! I keep looking at her photos and wondering / hoping if I will be offered a puppy like Ari. I recall reading in one of your other threads that on the day Ari was born you got a call from there breeder who told you that she thought she had the right puppy for you. How did she know? Was it from all the discussions you had previously had? Were you looking specifically for a puppy with Ari's coloring (cafe)? Had you specified what kind of temperament you wanted? I don't mean to hijack the thread but would love if you would describe what your process was for communicating what you wanted and how the breeder selected for you. As you know I am hoping to get a girl from the same breeder. She has two, may-be three litters on the way.


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## Poodlebeguiled

What wonderful photos! Maine is where I use to spend some of my vacations when I was a little girl and we lived in NJ. My brother lived, went to Colby College, (among several others) and my sil and family still live in Maine. My brother died some years back. It's a beautiful state. And I do remember vaguely the unbelievable fall colors back east. (down east to be exact) Eya? lol. I still buy all kinds of things from LL Beans. Whenever I speak with someone there on the phone, they're so awfully nice. (Of course, it's Beans) But anyhow....a great state it is. 

Anyhow...loved your photos. That's a great one of Ari in the wind where she is moving! I did one like that once, but don't remember how I did it. It's been a long time. It was of my Chihuahua and Doberman playing. haha. Ari is a beautiful dog and it's such a pleasure to see her photos! That little chickadee is too cute for words. And the moose! There aren't that many states that have a lot of moose. Maine is one of them and north Idaho is another. There are probably others besides. I remember the guys drawing from a lottery to see who could hunt for a moose. Not everyone could. Is that how it is in Maine?


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## Streetcar

Wow, truly beautiful and sweetly intense puppy with gorgeous Poodle feet, in a superb New England fall setting.

Just doesn't get better than that . Thank you for letting us all share in the beauty surrounding you, Sophie Anne.


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## Shamrockmommy

I love her! Of course I'm partial to the cafe poodles! She is about the same size as Jack, 14" Amd 10 pounds and just a lovely size!


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## sophie anne

Ari has had another interesting week.

She developed a mysterious limp on her hind right leg on Monday that lasted through Wednesday. The vet couldn't feel anything obviously wrong on Tuesday, and it cleared up, so hopefully she just overdid it with the zoomies.

I also got a rather scary email in my inbox from my boss, titled only "Dog," with the text saying only "Please come chat with me." Sure that I was going to get in trouble for bringing Ari to work somehow, I slunk over to his office to find out that he wanted to give me formal permission to continue bringing her to work for the rest of the year, provided nobody had any objections. We had a sort of unofficial agreement before, where he had told me it was OK as long as I was discreet, but it is nice to have more official permission now. Phew! Scientists and their lack of interpersonal (inter-email?) skills!

Ari has decided to claim my pillow and side of the bed as her own.









She loves baby carrots as a snack!









Aaaand she's a mouser... Backstory:
I live in a basement apartment and it's the time of year when critters are coming inside for shelter. I'd been hearing some rustlings for a while inside the walls so I knew that there were mice around, but I hadn't caught any in the traps I laid out (far from puppy reach, no worries!) so I thought maybe they weren't in my actual living space.

Well, I was in the shower on Wednesday and Ari was in her playpen eating breakfast when all of a sudden she started barking with her territorial bark. I was really confused and a little annoyed, thinking that maybe it was just demand barking and that she wanted out of the playpen. I ignored her and finished showering. She stopped barking after about two minutes.

While I was drying my hair she started barking again, so I peeked around the corner to look into the living room without letting her see me. Well what was trapped in the corner next to the playpen, held there by Ari's furious barking? A MOUSE!

I came around the corner and scrambled to find a disposable cup to catch it with. Ari kept barking at it like a pro every time it tried to run away, so I had a super easy time catching the little booger.

I delivered him in the tupperware (with holes for air in the lid because I'm a softie) to my landlord.

Now I know that she is a good warning barker! Adding it to her long list of useful (and not so useful) talents! Relatedly, Ari and I are signed up for a Barn Hunt clinic in a couple of weeks. Safe to say she's going to be a natural! :angel:










Here she is at the dock at the lab. The docks are built like this to accommodate the ±12 ft tide. The "ramp" on the right is almost level at high tide:









Here is Ari, camouflaging well in her natural northeastern jungle habitat:









Gnawing a salmon skin:









Aaaaaand a video of her eating bread because the DOOFUS somehow got ahold of a chunk of aluminum foil from the lid of a peanut butter container and snarfed it down. The vet thinks she'll be fine but we did the mineral oil/bread routine just in case it helps. She ate the foil this morning and already passed a little tonight, so hopefully this was just a false alarm.

Of course my spoiled dog got fresh bread from the local bakery to wash down the foil. I've had to buy it enough times to wash through weird stuff that she has eaten that I just walk into the bakery, hand over my 50 cents, and get a slice of wheat without even having to ask. Today the manager came out and said, "I'm sure she'll be fine!" without any background. She's a tiny labrador vacuum in a poodle body! :lol:
[click the picture for a video]


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## sophie anne

Ari made a new friend!

His name is Schooner, and he belongs to a coworker. Schooner weighs 190 lb and is a Saint Bernard. He thought Ari was a little too fast-moving but he enjoyed her during the brief moments where she held still for him!


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## MollyMuiMa

I think Ari deserves a white coat now that she's officially your Lab Assistant!
And yay! for her mousing skills!!!!!


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## confetti

She is gorgeous! What beautiful eyes!


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## janet6567

Ari is such a beautiful dog. Really one of the prettiest I've ever seen.


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## Redcoats36

@SophieAnne WOW Ari is so beautiful! And it really is freaky how much she and Juni look alike - some pics I swear it could be my dog haha. It looks like they are also around the same age so it will be really fun to see how their colors start differing as they get older. I love cafe au laits and I can see the lighter cafe color in Ari's face even though she is just as dark right now as my brown.


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## sophie anne

Here's another very overdue update to this thread!

Ari has matured a lot in the past two months. She is no longer puppy crazy, and transitions between adolescent naughty and mature dream dog depending on her mood. :aetsch:

She dressed up as a stegosaurus for Halloween:









And met a scarecrow that wasn't so scary, after all!









She enjoyed the fall foliage on her 6 month birthday (November 6):

























And captained her own mighty vessel, the R/V Buttsniffer!









She and Sophie got matching holiday sweaters:









Featuring squirrels instead of reindeer!









Ari loves frolicking in her sweater:


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## sophie anne

Here are some videos... Click all of the images below to see the video for each one. I don't think there is a way to make them play natively in the forum.

Ari demonstrated her knowledge of more complex cues:
[click image for video]
Put it back

And started to learn the names of different objects. This was our very first training session with this.
Naming toys, attempt #1

She loved watching a documentary about lemurs over Thanksgiving, and was positively enthralled by their fluffy tails on the TV!
Lemur love

Pictures again now...

After all of this adventuring, Ari needed another haircut, which she got under the gentle care of her groomer, Daryl.









She left feeling positively radiant!









That's all for now! Things are good in Ari-ville, to say the least. :biggrin:


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## Locket

Ari is all brains and beauty! 

Love the matching sweaters, the squirrels are the perfect touch!


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## Streetcar

I'm so in love with Miss Ari's bold, interested, and brave eyes, which show her temperament and the results of your training style in her every photo. Just stunning, and what a phenomenally lucky puppy is your darling girl! (Plus I *still* can't get over you have DC, _THE DC_, as her groomer! )


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## sophie anne

Streetcar said:


> Plus I *still* can't get over you have DC, _THE DC_, as her groomer!


lol, Ari is pretty naughty about her grooms (at least by my standards... she does a lot of thrashing and moaning but fortunately no snarling or biting) and I keep telling her... Girl, get it together, DC has better things to do than deal with a little brat! :ahhhhh:

Luckily we have been getting invited back so I guess that she isn't bad enough to get expelled!!


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## Poodlebeguiled

I agree, beauty and brains. I so enjoyed your videos and pictures.


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## coffee&curls

She is stunning, I just love her eyes and her coat looks so soft! I think she needs a lemur toy now


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## Kassie

I so enjoyed reading this entire thread, and seeing photos of the beautiful Ari as she developed from puppyhood. Those eyes are so entirely captivating!!


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## ashcash

Hey sophie anne! What has Ari been up to?


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## Pamela

she is beautiful


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