First off Happy Friday! Second.. Meet the Lursa!! She’s a 3 month old American Bulldog, fawn colored, and very mellow for a puppy. Also very smart! We’ve actually had her for a week now, but I wanted to save this for my diary this week so I’ve been bursting at the seams and not telling you all.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Monday
Crimson Quillfeather alternate with
ZenTrainer
Tuesday ejoanna
Wednesday Pam from Calif
Thursday art ah zen
Friday FloridaSNMOM
Saturday bigjacbigjacbigjac
Sunday loggersbrat
She and Sophie get along great. They play and sleep together, and will even share a plate to lick off. Sophie’s already teaching her things, like how to bring a pill bottle from me to Dad and how to nudge Dad when he’s having trouble breathing and hasn’t noticed it yet. Plus there’s the potty training. We were told she wasn’t at all when we got her, but she’s only had three accidents all week, and one of those was when I was too slow getting dressed in the morning to get her out on time. So I don’t think we’re doing badly. She already will go to the door, ring the bells, then sit and stare at her leash until you take her out.
She also has a really good ‘sit’, though not so much on the stay yet. She does have a pretty reliable recall though, and she’s good about opening her mouth and letting you handle her feet and such.
I’d have more pics for you, ones with her and Sophie together, but my camera has decided it doesn’t want to connect to my computer anymore. I’m hoping it’s just the cord, because I can replace that for about $6.
She’s already twice Sophie size, and she’s supposed to be close to 100 lbs when she’s fully grown, and tall enough for Dad not to need a higher harness handle to walk with her.
Dori, the cat, tolerates her. Lursa just wants to play, and Dori stays up where she cant reach her. But, Dori has always been slower to come around to new additions to the house. And, there has been no fighting between them. Just some whining on Lursa’s part (to play) and Dori hissing from time to time. But, she grew up with big dogs, so I’m not worried, Lursa isn’t aggressive with her and Dori will come along eventually.
So, her name. Dad named her, and he’s a giant Trekkie. Her name is one of the two Klingon twins in Star Trek the Next Generation. Why? Because he’s a giant Trekkie. We actually think she may be mixed with Catahoula Dog (which is what Sadie was) because we found a Catahoula/Bulldog image that looks *identical* to her, and Bulldogs usually aren’t as uniformly colored as Lursa is.
According to Petmed: Though larger than the English Bulldog, the temperament of the American Bulldog is very similar. A gentle, affectionate dog that loves children and can be considered a big lap dog, the American Bulldog is alert, confident and loyal to its people. Brave and strong-willed, the American Bulldog will do best when trained from a young age on and with an owner that isn't afraid to establish themselves as a strong pack leader. A breed with strong protective instincts, Bulldogs are known for their acts of heroism towards their owners and can sometimes be reserved with strangers. American Bulldogs require plenty of regular exercise to prevent boredom and encourage it to be a well-trained dog during the day.
She’s getting better about walking on a leash too, and, now that she’s adjusted to us and the house we’re going to start taking her out for walks around the neighborhood with the wheelchair, probably over the weekend. We’ll have to go in the morning before the roads get too hot because apparently we’ve given springtime a miss and gone straight through to summer around here. I have walked her up as far as the cemetery, well Bit and I did, I don’t walk anywhere alone any more for obvious reasons, and she did fine. She didn’t even bark at the guy who passed us on the street. We’ve changed out the collar in the photo for a leather buckle collar though. She learned really quickly how to tug against the pretty blue one to make it adjust larger so she could get out of it when she wanted to. The buckle collar has foiled her.
Where did we get her? One of the employees at the grocery store we go to stopped to talk to us last Wednesday. Sophie really likes him so long as he’s not wearing his Thanksgiving Turkey Hat. Even then I think it’s the hat she objects to, and not Gary. So jokingly he asked us if we wanted a puppy. I think he was surprised when we asked what kind and how big it would get. Two days later, we had a Lursa. When we go for groceries next week I’m taking my camera so I can show him pictures. She was born between Christmas and Dad’s birthday (December 30). I don’t remember the exact date, so I’ll ask Gary when I see him next.
Once I can get the pictures off my camera (or get an SD card reader for my lappy), then I will have many more pictures to share with you, some of Lursa and Sophie playing and sleeping together. Sophe got so excited when we told her she was getting a puppy, and aside from a few “you’ve tired me out kid leave me alone for a while” grumbles, they’re doing fine together.