Our picky picky dog: will eat anything, but it turns to goo. Only the Royal Canin Sensitive Stomach kibble will do. (It breaks mommy's heart, and all her natural, home-cooking leanings; it's not even high quality kibble! We had wanted to, as soon as the poos stabilized, switch her over again to Canagan, but she gooey yellow+black pooed immediately after a 1/4 mix on Sunday.)

On a side note, Lily's paw wound healed on its own in a week. As soon as there was a scab forming, she RIPPED it off. Man, our dog is hardcore.

She's getting two hour+ romps morning and night, plus 2-3 40 minute walks in the afternoon, every day. Most days her walk/runs total 3.5 hours. So much that her nails are all worn down too close to the quick, and I'm considering issuing a rest week just to let her nails catch up growing.

Mommy would keel over and die from all this super tiring running around, but happily/sadly, she's worked me up into too good cardiovascular shape for that to happen.

Slowly recovering, but we need to be careful

On nothing but Royal Canine (Sensitive stomach) Lily's poos are getting better: has shape, less often.

But last night, she gobbled up something in the rain/dark before I could grab it, and today, after doing a perfect recovery poo at 7am, she circled the living room several times at 1030. Luckily I got the message this time, and we went out for an emergency poo. GLOPPY!

Then GLOPPY again. And AGAIN.

Whew.

No shortcuts or exceptions allowed on the road to recovery.

She's always full of energy though. We've had 2 jogs/run/power walks of 50 minutes each, and it's not even noon.

Week 2: Personality Quirks

Now that she's settled in, Lily's funny personality quirks are showing up.

1) She's fascinated by water and boats. She stops and stares at the water when we're on a bridge or walking next to a canal, and yesterday, we ran next to a family going by in a boat before it got really weird.

2) She likes chasing birds. Chickens and ducks get her into a frenzy. It was cute at first, but now it seems to get her over-excited and all over the place on our jaunts out. We're starting a week of controlled even-paced jogging. I'll have to think about running her next to my bicycle.

3) She started barking sometimes over the weekend. I think she feels comfortable now, and knows this is HER house. So, we're going to start stop/re-direct training when she starts.

4) She marks like a boy. As in lifts one leg and tinkles over things she finds interesting, or (and this is funny) other dogs' poo in the street, as if to say, 'huh, you think you own this place? well, I'm marking your poo.' Good girl. I really hate it when people don't pick up after their dogs.

5) She has an issue with a mole on my shoulder. She thinks it's a bug crawling on Mommy and gnawed on it once. She tried to lick off a spot on my knee, too. Cutie.

Her Doggy Ride is arriving today. I've scoped out the nearest trails and beaches, yay.

Week 1: Lazy Sunday?

This is the face that blitzed through our one hour run, dug under hedges, jumped in a canal, and played power fetch.

I just live in my gym clothes now.

Week 1: Free run

One thing I said I wouldn't do for at least three months is a free run in the big field in the park. But this morning, during our hour-long morning jog, I figured, better find out how good her recall is in a manageable space.

It's away from immediate roads, and surrounded by woodsy park trails.

She ran, I ran, I ran in the other direction, called her, she stopped, came back. We did four to five sprints and recalls before I called a stop. A bit risky, but she was very good. It helps that every time she comes to me she gets love and praise. We're checking out a more secure free-run area for regular training.

Plus, this morning, she had half a boiled egg while we did breakfast training. This won't sort out her solid poo any time soon, but she's getting 20% of her meals in human grade food (chicken, eggs, ground beef, sardines), ultimately working up to 50% balanced real food diet (plus calcium etc).

The vet's closed over the weekend, so we're making an appointment on Monday.

[Tired dog is a happy dog: we brought the spare double mattress downstairs for her to plop down on]

Day3: some rhythm, some fail, mostly good

She escaped the higher barrier by squeezing through the cracks,  and jumping up to the chair.

I have to remember: Lily's a tough little survivor.

No accidents in the house,  though.

We started out this morning with a pee/poo, followed by a gentle  3.5k jog to siphon off her morning energy, then came home to a brushing session in the patio,  while she tried to figure out where the baby was. (4 stories up)

Then I shook out and beat all the cushions,  blankets, and throws, then vaccumed the house. She's okay with the vacuum cleaner,  but prefers to watch from the sofa.

We did a breakfast training session with Canagan kibble. She doesn't get Sit yet, unless I crouch down with food in my hand. (Confusing signals. She's probably associating different things, like motion with Sit.)

Now she's being super mellow while I have some coffee.  Such a perfect wonder dog.

[ETA] pre noon walk was 6km run (jog, sprint, chase, powerwalk) through the park and back. We're settling in for a quiet afternoon. She doesn't know it, but there's a frozen Kong with her name on it.