A little while ago, I created a post that compared Baby Ginny to Bigger Ginny by comparing old photos to current photos. She continues to grow, so Scott and I tried to reenact a couple of photos with her from when she was really little.
Little sleeping puppy:
Bigger and awake puppy:
Tickling Scott's neck:
Keeping Scott's neck warm:
Ginny is officially taller than both Cirrus and Nimbus, and will probably keep growing for another couple of weeks. It's amusing, though, because Ginny's head/skull is smaller than the Whites', but her legs and body are longer. It's a good thing she's so adorable, or else we might think she's funny looking with her proportions - she's kind of like a gangly teenager. I'll try to get a photo of the three of them standing next to each other soon, but it's difficult - puppies don't like to stand still, especially when you're paying attention to them!
In the morning if I'm working a bit from home before heading to school, I generally like to leave Ginny confined to the kitchen so that I can fully concentrate and not worry that she's misbehaving. However, she's not thrilled to be locked in the kitchen by herself, especially when she'd rather be playing. So to pacify her, she has a special rawhide spiral chew-thing that she only gets when she's alone in the kitchen. And she LOVES this chew - it will occupy her for so long that she will wear herself out and take a nice little nap!
Getting her paws around it:
Got it:
Really getting into it (check out those little teeth!):
We took Ginny for her first grooming appointment last Tuesday. Her hair was really long around her legs and head, and it was getting difficult to keep it from getting matted. So we took her to get groomed, and I think I was more nervous than she was - it was her first time away from us and the pack, and I didn't know how she would handle it (she has quite a voice when unhappy!). Fortunately we've been brushing her regularly, she's had a few baths, and we've been trying to wipe her tear stains, so she's gotten used to being groomed a little bit. Everything went well, and they say that she did great!
We haven't made any effort to teach Ginny that walking on the coffee table is unacceptable behavior. In hindsight, perhaps we should have. She's getting a little too comfortable with it:
But again, when something this cute looks at you with those little brown eyes and little underbite, how can you possibly get mad?
We've been playing a new game with Ginny. Well, we think of it as a game because it seems to entertain her. It could instead be that she is just neat and tidy in a dog-sort-of-way. Awhile ago, I posted a photo of Ginny in the kitchen surrounded by all of her toys on the towel. I was amused and thought this might entertainingly be some sort of OCD dog behavior. Scott argued otherwise, and suggested that it's just warmer and more comfortable to play with the toys on the towel. Ok, reasonable explanation.
I'm not sure what the explanation is for this similar and continued behavior. We have a small bucket of dog toys in the kitchen, and every now and then we have to put the toys back into the bucket that the dogs have played with. We as humans like this better, because it doesn't hurt our feet as much as we walk around (rawhide can be sharp!). Ginny doesn't care for this method of storage, however. At first we thought she might just be excited and curious and exploring, as she took 70% of the toys out of the bucket and over to the rug within 20 minutes. Well this behavior continues, and I managed to catch her in the act. She literally removes a toy from the bucket, takes it over to the rug, drops it, then returns to the bucket for yet another toy. Sometimes she'll chew on one of the toys for a minute or so, and then return to the bucket for a new toy. I really do wonder what she's thinking...
Ginny isn't always a crazy maniac who terrorizes the other dogs, our hands and feet, the grass, and her dog toys. Sometimes she's perfectly content to just sit and enjoy the breeze.
The weather has been really really beautiful here lately, so we've left the sliding doors open. Ginny spends a lot of time smelling the breeze, and often has a buddy to accompany her (although I don't have any photos of that, yet).
I convinced Mr. Conley to let us grill burgers again this weekend in honor of the amazing weather. The dogs were quite happy to join us. One in particular (you can guess) was very pleased to romp like a possessed beast through the grass:
And my personal favorite:
It's hard to appreciate her speed in these still photos, so I've included some video for your amusement. Here is Ginny unleashing her terror on the grass - basically just running in circles as fast as she can (it's really quite hilarious in person, and apologies for the harsh sunlight):
Ginny chasing Nimbus chasing the ball (again) - but Ginny is bigger and faster now:
And finally, if you blink, you might miss this one (again, apologies for the harsh sunlight):
Too much fun in the sun makes for one tired puppy:
Before she had teeth, Chani would sometimes let Ginny play with/chew on her tail. However, now that she has teeth, it's fairly uncomfortable to let her bite you. Chani used to be able to just stand up and be out of the reach of the Pig's mouth, but not anymore because Ginny has grown quite a bit. And now that Ginny is no longer confined to just the kitchen, Chani's tail can't ever really escape the clutches of the Pig's Jaw:
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, our training with Ginny is going very well. She responds very well to Sit, Come, Come with leg tapping (stand on her hind legs like we're going to pick her up), and Room. Room, as you might have deduced, means to go into her crate on command. As you can see, she's VERY responsive when there is hope of getting a treat for good behavior:
Sometimes there's a bit of confusion, and we're all entertained by her attempts to follow directions:
Uncle Russ visited the weekend of 2/27. We had a great time relaxing at the beach, sorting, er playing with LEGOs, and eating. He has an AMAZING camera and got some fun shots while here. I've included some of the best below, in no particular order.
He caught Ginny "yelling" a couple of times (feel free to insert your own caption here):
More bathtime shots:
Just looking cute:
The night before he left, Ginny fell in love with Uncle Russ and gave him lots and lots of kisses. Eat your hearts out, girls! ;)
The weather finally warmed up here, and we spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the backyard. It felt a little bit like we were on a picnic in Prospect Park - but more comfortable and easier to get to. Chef Conley grilled some amazing burgers, and we threw the football and played with the dogs while the coals got hot. Ginny LOVED romping through the grass with the other girls, and unfortunately I missed the chase between her and Chani. Next time...
Chasing Nimbus:
Listening intently to Dad Conley:
The Chase (apologies for the Blair Witch-like photography - she's really fast!):
I know this isn't Ginny related, but how many of you had a view or weather like this while eating your lunch this weekend?
This week is Spring Break, so I've been delighted to work from home. I've been working at the kitchen table so that I can keep an eye on the Pig, and correct any undesirable behavior. I happened to look up from my work at one point to find this:
This is technically classified as "undesirable" behavior, but I haven't made much of an effort to correct it because she's just so darned cute!
We recently decided to expand the area of the house in which Ginny is allowed to romp freely. She's been very good about using the outside "facilities" (versus the inside "facilities") to relieve herself, and when inside has been very good about using her pee pad if necessary. So instead of enclosing her in the kitchen area, we have moved the gate so that she can run in the family room as well:
She is supervised in this new expanded area, especially since we have a rug that is more difficult to clean than the tile. She is also surprisingly good about only playing with her dog toys, and not chewing on the furniture, or my school bag, or any other things we leave within her reach. So far so good, and she is quite happy to always be part of the pack:
Ginny is really playful, and makes some ridiculously cute "growling" noises when she really gets going. Mr. Conley is especially skillful at bringing them out of her:
We recently gave Ginny her second bath. She wasn't really that dirty, but we want to get her acclimated to getting a bath so that we can take her to get groomed soon. She did pretty well overall, but as you will see, she didn't care for the experience.
Entering the sink:
Immediately trying to escape:
Fully drenched, and looking nothing like her normally cute self:
