Minga's 1st Weekend

We've had Minga for only 4 days now but she has learned so much in that time! She has definitely learned the word NO and for some reason when I say no she jumps away from the forbidden item, but not when Craig says it. It's probably because he's more playful with her so I guess she sees me as the disciplinarian (I'm usually a softy).

I'm slightly allergic to Minga so I don't wrestle around with her and kiss her like Craig does. I let her lick my face Saturday and afterwards it was red and itchy with a couple of mosquito-like white lumps. The same thing happened to my arms when we first met the puppies because they had licked all over my arms. We were outside so I just thought I had been bitten by mosquitos. But now I'm thinking my skin doesn't like dog saliva. Eek!



Below is a picture of Minga right before she tackles going down the stairs for the 1st time. She was afraid of them at first and stumbled quite a bit when finally going down them. It's really funny to watch her go up and down the stairs. She isn't phased when she falls or trips or runs into things. When we go on a walk she stays so close to our heels that we often trip over her because she goes between our legs and we can't even see where she is because she keeps changing sides. She isn't bothered by our tripping over her at all.



Saturday we ran with her all over the property. She went in the field that was partly like a small pond from the recent rain. She had no problem going in the water.







We really wore her out so she slept for most of the afternoon. When she's really tired like that she will sleep in any position and you can do just about anything to her and she won't wake up or care. Here are some pictures of her sleeping in various positions:











On Monday, I took Minga to Craig's work to meet everyone during lunch.



She is a very friendly dog and loves people. She is becoming more comfortable and confident each day so I don't think she will stick so close to our heels when we go on walks for much longer (we will have to start using the leash we bought). The first 3 days she didn't pay any attention to other animals such as dogs and ducks. When another dog approached her she just stood there, slightly afraid I think. But on Monday she actually starting playing with our neighbor's dog.

We bought a child/doggie gate to keep her locked in the kitchen while we are at work. It didn't fit tightly at the top and bottom between the cabinet edge and the wall because the kitchen wall is crooked (who knew?!) so we put chairs on the other side to prevent her from pushing hard and knocking it over. I still suspected that she would find a way to get out soon because she is a smart puppy and was the one puppy who snuck through the fence at the ranch she came from to be by her mom when she wasn't supposed to be.

Well, she quickly proved my suspicions to be valid because yesterday morning when I came home for lunch she was loose in the apartment. She had somehow pushed the gate enough for it to knock the cabinet side loose and then she slid it over (in spite of the chair leg) so there was a small gap that she could squeeze through (so she didn't actually knock the gate over like I thought). She left a nice brown present on the carpet but luckily she hadn't chewed anything (and luckily the stool was nice and firm and didn't leave a mark). Good thing we had picked up a lot the night before in an effort to make the place a little more puppy-proof! Otherwise, the place would have been a mess for sure because she really likes biting the plants we had on the floor (and spilling the dirt). We are going to have to return that gate and either get a different one and/or use several of the huge Rubbermaid tubs (full of books and are heavy) we have as a barricade (or backup barricade) or lock her in the crate/kennel.