Adopted March 2010

3/21/10:

Isabella is absolutely “THERE” for the training. What I mean by that is that given any time and attention at all she ever so willingly learns. No, I should have written LEARNS in capital letters. Furthermore, she does go outside to urinate and defecate (with the door open all the time she is constant about this now). She knows how to “sit” when I tell her to do so. We are currently working on laying down on command. She learned the “sit” command in a matter of minutes and that is why I say that she is there simply for the taking.

I always take her with me when I need to go to the store or something. She has NEVER done anything destructive in the car (Phew! since I love my 1991 Acura). At first when we were in the car she tried to get into my lap, etc., etc., but I let her know she needed to sit in the passenger seat. It didn’t take any time at all to convince her that this is where she should be and I haven’t had any problem with her since. I would have LOVED to have her in my lap while driving, but since she will be a big, no, HUGE girl I didn’t think that would be a great habit to get into.

My neighbor, who incidentally adores Isabella, took a bunch of pictures of her. Here is one taken in their yard. The little face behind the railing is their 1 yr old son and the white fluff with those huge eyes is their cat Charlie. Charlie looks as if he can’t believe his eyes as to what he seems to be seeing while Isabella appears pretty proud of herself.

3/17/10:

Thought I’d let you know that Isabella is fabulous!!! She is pretty amazing. First off I should say never say never nor never say always. This week has certainly been proof of that. I truly am ALWAYS at home however this week my next door neighbor had an unexpected death in the family which meant that I would need to take care of their 1 and 5 year old boys during the day. I absolutely hated doing this so early in the game, but this was an emergency so I did it. I put Isabella in my laundry room at 6:30 AM and only got back home at about 4:00 PM. Can you believe it? She had not peed nor defecated A SINGLE TIME during all that time!!!! Of course, she does stay “dry” during the night and, while she has had two or three accidents in the house, she is already quite good at letting me know she needs to go outside. It is up to me to pay attention and if I do, success is there for the taking.

Oh, I forgot. Her name now is Isabella. I made the terrible mistake of asking my three sons and three grandchildren for suggestions. Aaaaaargh!!! What a mistake. Nevertheless, the general consensus was Isabella and for the “princess granddaughter” it will be Belle (from Sleeping Beauty).

At any rate, my next door neighbor absolutely adores her so Sunday when I was in my backyard with her he came to the fence to meet her and then took lots of pictures. He promised to post them. When (if) he actually does it I will forward one or two to you.