Arwen

We've been debating if we need to find Arwen (our dog) a new home or not. I haven't been giving her the attention she needs and with everything I do, that just seemed like too much so lately the poor thing has just been ignored in the backyard. Well, she started digging out. Drats!! Bad habit started but it was our own fault. Because we ignored her she was bored and had to entertain herself another way. So.... we sent an e-mail to Molly's Militia. They are the ppl we adopted her from. When they found her at the pound she had just given birth to a bunch of puppies and the pound euthanized them all!! Isn't that horrible?

Anyways! When the woman over at Molly's Militia e-mailed me back she sent a picture of Arwen when they had her. We adopted her in April 2008. Here's the picture of her then.

And here she is now. Look at how much she has aged. Poor thing is turning all white at the muzzle. I saw it but it was so gradual that it never occured to me or how much it had changed.

Crazy, isn't it? We're trying to get her inside more and I'm taking her on two walks a day. We even bought a gentle leader for her to go on walks better with us. It's amazing the improvement we've seen from just one day. The leader came with a DVD on training too so we're working on training her on a few commands. We have already taught her sit but the gentle leader provides and easier way so we're training her with the gentle leader. We're now working STAY. hehe! Wish me luck! Here's a pic of her and the kids with the gentle leader on.

It looks bad but it's really not. It is very loose around the muzzle. She can still eat, drink, pant, bark...etc. with the gentle leader on. It just helps to guide her nose. There's another piece that goes behind to the base of her skull. It doesn't choke like a traditional collar and she doesn't pull like she does with a harness. In less than 24 hrs I can now walk her while pushing the stroller and there is no jerking or anything. She stays next to me. It's amazing!!! I LOVE it!! I'm not trying to make this sound like an ad or anything for the gentle leader but it really is amazing!! :)
Here's another pic of it from the side. :)

In this pic you can see where the lease connects, right there by my hand. Anyways.... I just wanted to show how much she's aged. When we got her (4/08) they estimated she was about 2 and we've had her for almost 3 years so that would put her around 5 but I'm thinking she's a bit older with the amount of white around her face. Poor girl! I do wonder how old she really is. Oh well.... she is certainly not arthritic or anything. She is as energetic as ever!! :)