meta : pup

It was just about one week ago that we first picked Frankie up from Lynn and Gardner Gray’s beautiful ranch in the remote Black Hills.

Since arriving here and starting to get used to her new home, she’s picked up on things very quickly:

She knows her name
*mostly* comes when called
Sits via verbal and visual command
Ss crate trained during the day while Pollee and I are at work
and is coming along nicely with her potty training, especially after having sat by the front door last night, waiting for us to notice she wanted to go out.
She’s met her new vet and begun the menu of vaccinations recommended for city pups.
She sleeps at our feet each night with Meta as they continue becoming tight pals who share everything and play mighty hard.

The images above illustrate just a slice of the new richness she has brought to us. Thank you, Frankie.

Welp, we made it back with Frankie Hula and the little girl hasn’t (as of yet) had a single accident. She goes more or less right away when we go outside and is starting to respond to her name, come when called, walk in/out by herself on leash and stick around us when we take her off leash.

Meta is a huge part of this success as she is a great role model and sets a great example for Frankie to follow. Who knew having two pups is easier than one?

Now that we’ve had a day or so to settle in and bond a bit, it’s time we begin the part that isn’t always as fun: kennel training.

Today, Pollee and I put the pups in their kennels and stood outside the door in the hallway at CW, listening for the unhappy sounds pups make when kenneled against their will. Frankie was making some light yelping noises 10 minutes later so we decided to go on a long stroll alone and see if she wasn’t quiet by the time we returned.

Over an hour later, after a 4 mile walk, we returned to find the girls hunkered down in their kennels, quiet as could be.

Tomorrow we will continue like this in the hope that it will get smoother and smoother as it goes.

Ah, days spent just hanging out with the pups:

Pollee, Meta and I drove into the Black Hills on Thursday to go to visit Lynn and Gardner Grey of Bluegrass Kennels, where we met the newest addition to our family, a black-tri pup we named Frankie Hula:

Meta took to her new little sister pretty much right away. The ride home was smoov and uneventful. We spent the night in a hotel together and Frankie Hula didn’t make a single peep. We take that as a very good sign, indeed.

Welcome home, little girl.