Amber Boomhower

Little Miss is a whole year! I can't believe it! It's been a whole year with this crazy little cow. She's getting her birthday cake in a few days, special order. The past year has def been a trip! She has adopted a baby kitten, who is now named Mittens. She taught him how to walk, eat out of a dish, how to stay clean, how to bark, how to take care of the peoples, etc. He will take on any other kitty or puppy by doing that bully stance (it's hilarious!). She has met other puppies and we've been on play dates. She loves time with her puppy friends. She learned how to bark (she never would bark for almost 6 months until the other dogs taught her). She's still not big on barking but has a big bark when needed. She has sampled everything we've eaten lol. She has gotten me out of my habit of shaking while i eat by putting her head on my leg. She enjoys our version of lady marmalade, which we changed to her scratchy song, Itchy itchy ya ya gaga. lol My daughter and her are close and she loves me to death. She knows when to be gentle and when to play One of her nicknames is "How Now Brown Cow?" because when we were talking about the book she came up and loved on us. So now we call her the how now brown cow or brown cow. She dug her first holes this summer! We got her to go outside a little at a time and now she's a real dog! I'm not sure what those people had her in environment wise, but she was afraid of the porch. then only stayed on the concrete and was petrified of the dirt and the grass. My daughter was digging in the dirt and Little Miss got curious and went over after so many times seeing it. We showed her and then, after a few times, she was working on digging to China :D. She now has requirements to sleep in between us, holding Mittens, and under my covers with her head on my leg. This past month she has learned what a hair dryer is and LOVES it! First she was very skeptical and it had to die. Now it's her warm, toasty friend. She helped me black friday shop by sitting on my lap while i attempted to browse the internet lol. It snowed on her birthday and she bravely defended me from every snowflake she saw. She's also a great bug catcher . When it stopped snowing, she actually checked out the snow and ran around completely crazy. A year ago I didn't want a dog. A year later, I wouldn't pass her up for anything in the world. She's the baby (and she knows it). I wish the woman who helped save her could see her now. See the puppy she has become and how wonderful she is.

Here is a little back story about how I got my girl and what I know about where she comes from. I as looking online, craigslist, for a dog for my fiance for his birthday this year. It was in Feb and we lived in New York. He wanted a bulldog. Well, to no avail of actual puppies, a woman contacted me about a pit bull. Red nosed, cute, little, and in a not so ok situation (in a cage. owner ignoring her). So I agreed to take the hour trip to her house to get the little girl. I wrapped her in a blanket and she got a stroller ride home. All privileged (start of her being spoiled). She was really light and tiny. Got home, everyone was excited. 3 kids, one dog loving psycho (fiance lol), and then there's me. I was never a dog person. No dog ever really stuck to me. I have a cat, my son has a cat. Then I noticed some things that made me feel for her. She wagged her tail but couldn't really stand. She was petrified of the floor. You could count her ribs. She had all this life in her eyes and in poof shape. (woman really didn't let me look at her too well. I wasn't out alot of money so i wasn't mad. I was so thankful we got her.) Well, we pulled our futon mattress on the floor just for her (sleepover with puppy time). She got love and attention and playtime and didn't have to move far or go on he floor. We started wee wee pad training her on one section of the futon (she was petrified of so much. Poor thing). She spent the better half of that evening watching us like we were foreign. I don't think she ever had a people to play with or show her as much attention as we did. She enjoyed a tiny slice of cake without frosting (it was a birthday), green bean casserole, biscuits, pot roast, and more. Her eyes were the size of saucers when she saw she got a plate. She didn't know what to do. We had to show her it was ok and she could eat it. She ate it up and i think we saw her actually gain 2 pounds right there lol. We curled up for a movie and she fell asleep under our big family blankie between all the kids and us. She started snoring and so did all 3 of the kids. Who knew puppy snores were that effective? So, after about a week, we started getting her used to the floor. Front paws touching it. Sniffing it. Carrying 3 kids and a puppy upstairs to their beds every night was tiring. Her legs got stronger. She started to get where she could wobbly stand after a few weeks. Then sturdy. Totally different puppy. Jumping around. Playing. Running on your lap. She developed what we call the "dying" or "destitute" crawl. She sprawls out then worms her way on your lap, under your covers, next to you, etc. All the while giving puppy dog eyes and if you catch her she rolls on her side and doesn't move. Like you can't see her. She got where we set her on the floor around us but away from her safety futon, she was nervous, planted, not knowing what to do. After a bit of pushing her butt around the kitchen and living room (both linoleum) she started to walk on it. The she started wagging her tail. We called her and she was all over the house. It was a whole new world for her. Once she got outside that box everything was just happy. That was the first day she did her big corny goofy smile that's my page pic. She had that smile on all day and ate dinner with us by the table in her bowl. She discovered there was kitties and they were as big as she was but looked funny. I can't count how many times she skidded into the wall trying to stop in full run and how many moments she looked like a cartoon running in place trying to get going. This is when I started to really fall in love with her. When she started becoming more than a pet. More than a dog. She was becoming one of our kids.