Patty Part 1

So Mike and I really miss Keebler, but since we weren't really ready to adopt him, its a good thing he moved. We didn't get much of a break before Patty came into our lives. We got Patty on Saturday 3/20. She's a small (65 lb) chocolate lab, approximately 5 years old. Her previous owners got a new puppy and thought she might accidentally sit or lay on the puppy, causing harm. I personally think they just got tired of her, or didn't like the way she was and decided to try again.

Patty is a very sweet dog who likes nothing better than to (literally) climb into your lap to be pet as much as possible. She loves to lick, especially the face and ears. Based on how she's thriving on attention, we guess she hasn't had much attention in the past.

She's a pretty low energy and she gets along fine with Sheba and Quinn. She's started to fetch tennis balls outside and she really enjoys it, but she's a bit out of shape. After about 4 or 5 throws, she'll lay down and chew on the tennis ball. We've taken her for a walk and she's not too bad on the leash. Sometimes she'll forget and pull a bit, but she's not a natural puller (except when she sees another dog).

We've been crating her during the day and night and she's fine after the first few barks and whines. As she's been getting more familiar with her surroundings, she's become more confident about being vocal, so when she wants attention, she'll bark. She's curious about absolutely everything! She'll follow anyone around and hangs out really close to you. We've found ourselves tripping over her a few times.

While she's not a hard dog in general, she has some issues that need to be worked out. We're not sure how housebroken she is. We think she might have spent a lot of time outside because she has such a rough coat, and she's constantly stinky (even after two baths). So we're keeping a really close eye on her and making her she gets positive reinforcement when she goes outside. So far its only been a few accidents inside, but she really needs reinforcement.

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