We have had a wonderful week getting Moxie settled in.  We have changed her name to Pixie, and she responds to it as if it has always been her name. She is a happy girl, following me constantly and
wriggling with happiness when I come home after an outing.  She has bonded quickly with everyone but especially me, she follows me everywhere!

She is very playful.  She rejected a rope toy, but has two favourite balls.  She loves to roll around in the yard, throwing her ball up in the air, pouncing on it and batting it with her paws, more like a cat than a dog.  We are teaching her how to play fetch down on the beach where there is a lot of space for her to run.  She's good at the chasing, but would rather have a good roll with the ball than bring it back.  She also enjoys lying on the deck in the sun.  We have kept the patio door open so she can wander onto the deck when she likes. 

She visited the vet and had her stitches out, and got a few new vaccinations beyond the ones given at the SPCA.  We continue to feed her high calorie puppy food, 4 times a day (6:00 a.m., noon, 6:00 p.m., and right before Kieran's bedtime around 11:00 p.m.).  She is gaining weight - her SPCA vet report said she was 21.6kg, and our vet appointment had her at over 26kg.  She loves feeding time - we have bought her a puzzle bowl to slow down her eating, otherwise meal times would last about 15 seconds.  She often wakes me at 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. to see if it is breakfast time - she has no interest in going outside, she's just checking to see if it's breakfast time yet. 

We had a wedding to go to on Saturday and left her at home, loose for about 4 hours.  When we got home there were no messes, and the cats, the furniture, and everyone's shoes were all just fine.  She doesn't seem to chew on anything or get into garbage pails, or any of the trouble that younger puppies find.  She is just such a good dog.  She knows the commands to sit and lie down, doesn't really jump up on people (except me, she has started jumping up when I arrive home, we are working on that) but she doesn't bark or jump when new people come to the house.  She's quiet and calm and gentle and laid back with everyone.

We have only one serious problem with Pixie.  She is very spooked by other large dogs, both male and female, even if they are neutered.  She lunges at them with a very aggressive snarl/growl/bark.  Sometimes she wuffs in curiosity and even wags her tail, but inevitably that turns to her aggressive bark.  We are working hard on this issue, exposing her to the neighbouring dogs (Kaylee the gentle Boxer/Lab across the road, Blue the Collie and Max the German Shepherd next door, and most often with Guinness the black Lab that my friends own).  We have taken her on several walks with Guinness, hoping to form pack bonds, and we have tried having me pet and handle Guinness or Kaylee and letting her smell my hands.  We make her sit, and tell her "No!" and "None of that", and pull her back when she is having her aggressive episodes.  She clearly has conflicting feelings because she also whines and wags her tail after we've calmed her barking.  If we stand around talking (with both dogs on leads) she will even lie down patiently - then if the other dog catches her attention again, she'll leap up and bark or growl.

If you have any suggestions on how to deal with this issue, please let us know.  It is more than just curbing her behaviour - we'd like to help her feel safe around big dogs, and eventually become playmates with Kaylee and Guinny.  Guinness's owner is willing to keep her if we ever need a weekend pet sitter, but only if she and Guinny become friends.  She is also hoping to come camping with us, but only if she can handle strange dogs.  She has no problem with small dogs - we met several during our
"test drive" with her at the SPCA, and we've met a few small dogs on her nightly walks as well.  She sniffs noses and wanders on, with little interest in small dogs at all.  But the aggressive barking and lunging happens with every large dog we come across.  (We are prepared for this, and she is not strong enough to pull out of a shortened leash.)  If you have ideas for how to help with this, I'd love to have them. 

We're very happy to have her in our family, and she is a very happy and loving girl.

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