Six Months and Counting: As Told by Athena

Hi guys!  Athena here.  Did you know that this week I celebrated my six-month adopt-a-versay?  Yep, I sure did!  I think six months is a pretty long time especially for a Thean Bean like me who has been bopped around a few times in my short life.  So, you might ask, what's it like to live in a forever home for six months?  Well, I'll tell you!

Hi Bloggyland, it's me, Thean!

I'm Gettin' Trained:

My parental figures seem to only be concerned with one thing: training, training, training!  I always have to sit for my breakfast, sit for an afternoon snack, sit at the door before I can go outside and use the doggy potty.

Sit, sit, sit!  That's all I do!

Then there's the walking training where they use this funny clicky thingy and squeal "GOOD WALK!"  I mean really, these people should know by now that I'm not really that interested in walking.  Walking is for boring dogs.  I'm a dog filled with curiosity, so clearly I'm only interested in sprinting to a bush or a pole and getting my sniff on.

Reporting for sniffing duty!

I would however like to do a little bragging about myself because I've learned a lot of tricks since I got to my forever home (I only knew sit when I came home from the shelter).  Here's what I know now:

• Sit
• Down
• Stay
• Come
• Treat party (emergency recall)
• Wait
• Heel
• Off
• Up
• Leave it
• Let's go
• Spin
• Jump
• Crate
• Bed
• Touch
• Bring it
• Watch
• Find it
• Hup (I'm still workin' on it!)
• Drop (I'm still workin' on it!)

I've completed Basic Obedience, Beginning C.L.A.S.S., tried out Intro to Nosework, and I'm in my beginning flyball class right now.

I'm Kinda Pop-U-Ler:

One of the best things that has happened in the last six months is that I've started to go to "Crazy."  That's what my mom calls it when we get in the car and drive to my daycare.  I get so excited when I hear her say it that I whine and snort all the way there!  The people at "Crazy" are the nicest and I love my doggy friends too.  My mom gets pictures e-mailed to her all the time of me and my friends playing together.

Me and my buddy, Monty!

I've made some other doggy friends too like my little corgi friend Bingley and my cousin Maya the big yellow lab!  Sometimes I get to play with doggies at the dog park too (that's a rare occurrence though).  I'm so glad that everyone finally figured out that I'm not aggressive, I actually LOVE doggies!

I LOVE friends!

I've Been Eating A Lot:

I looooovvveeee food and my mom and dad have been trying hard to find the best kind of food for me. I've tried Blue Buffalo Wilderness (salmon), Natural Balance L.I.D. (fish, duck, bison, chicken), and NutriSource Pure Vita (bison).  Even though I thought the chicken flavored food was delicious, we found out that I'm actually allergic!  Yep, I got the itchies all over and my belly got lots of red bumps on it.  So no more chickens for me!

I've also discovered the world of TREATS!!!!  I really love them all.  My favorites include my mom's homemade dog biscuits, Leanlix, bully sticks, and banana/peanut butter/blueberry/yogurt filled Kongs.

Mom and dad say these stink, but there's no stoppin' me!

Just because I've been eating a lot doesn't mean that my food comes free.  I have to work for every-single-itty-bitty piece of kibble!  But, I think it's pretty fun when I get to play find it or eat out of one of my food dispensing toys like the Contempo Tessa or the Hol-ee Roller.  My newest favorite toy to eat from is the Magic Mushroom.

Carrying my mushroom around

My Toy Box Has Expanded:

Nowadays I have my very own toy box where I get to keep lots of my favorite things to play with like my Loofa Dental Chew, stuffies, balls, and tug toys.  Whenever I have the urge to play (which is pretty much every 20 minutes) all I have to do is find a toy and fling it up to my mom or dad.  Lots of times they will play with me, but sometimes they say "all done" which I think is suppose to mean that I play by myself.  This Thean Bean will get the hint (sometimes) and zoomie around the house with all of my toys until I get exhausted and have to take a nap.

Meet Alvin- he's no longer alive.

I Need Another Closet to Fit All of my Clothes:

Boy have I accumulated some stylish outfits in the past six months!  I've got my Tiennot Knits Sweater, custom Sirius Republic collars, fleece pullovers, rain poncho, winter coat, and loads of other accessories like Doggles, tutus and collar flowers.  I also have two new favorite accessories that I will be sharing with you next week (Hint: they are both somehow connected to my besties at Our Waldo Bungie!).

Stylin' in my Tiennot Knits!

Overall Experience:

I would say that my overall experience at my forever home has been EXCELLENT!  Even though I have to go in my crate sometimes while my parents leave the house, I know now that they are always going to come back home to play with me (I haven't ruined a crate bed in 5 months!).  They must really love me because they even bought me my very own human bed to sleep on!  They call it a daybed, but I call it a "Thean must be a human if she gets to sleep on this bed- bed."  I also think it's pretty cool that there are so many people out there in the bloggyland who read this blog and follow me on Facebook.  Thanks, guys!  Here's to another fabulous six months!