MEET CHARLIE!

November 7, 2018

I adopted Charlie on November 6, 2018 from our local rescue center here in Truth or Consequences.  I wasn't there to take home a dog, I just wanted to look.  You know how that goes!  LOL  He seemed so bright and friendly and I fell in love with him!

The TorC Animal Shelter found him wandering around alone on the local streets and he didn't have a collar or a chip, so they couldn't identify his owners.  He had just come off the waiting period when I walked in.  Charlie is a Blue Heeler, about 4 months old when I brought him home.

This is our history so far, starting the day I brought him home up until today. When he first came home he was teething and not yet potty trained, so we had a lot of work to do.  I don't remember having a puppy before, and he sure kept me busy.  I didn't take my eyes off him.  We went out to the backyard every time he was done eating, sleeping, or playing - all day long!  He had some accidents that I didn't catch in time, but all in all the potty training went pretty fast.

It was the teething that I REALLY had to watch out for.  He was chewing on furniture, drapes, rugs, EVERYTHING!  So I was up and down all day, and in bed by 8:00 if I lasted that long.

At this point, he's potty trained and pretty much done with the teething.  That's SO nice!  He's worn out and sleeping from 6:00 pm to around 9:00 pm and then I take him outside for a final potty and then he's in his crate until 7 am.  He's sleeping really well, long hours overnight.

This is from what I posted on FaceBook - it was easier to copy it over than to start from scratch.

November 9, 2018:

Charlie loves playing with his tennis balls, and he loves chasing them when we're outside. He's behaving better and better every day. (That's Katie's bed, he didn't fit in it for long.  He was 18.4 pounds when I got him on November 7 and on December 14 he was 29.6 at the Vet's. That was 8 days ago, and I've loosened his harness and collar twice since then.  He's growing like a WEED!)

November 12, 2018

Storage box under my desk - Charlie likes to climb up on it. He's so funny.

November 15, 2018

Charlie yesterday afternoon - he's laying under the plum tree with his ball. Picture taken by my friend, Irene. Thanks for the Share, Irene! 

November 15, 2018

Charlie has a new trick. His water bowl was empty and he dragged it under the kitchen table. I took it and put an inch of water in it, and he again tried to drag it under the table, of course spilling some of the water. He's such a monster puppy. If I live through this, he'll the the BEST DOG EVER!



November 17, 2018

CHARLIE - He's so funny. Today was such a good day, I spent part of the day working in the backyard raking leaves and picking up sticks. I've already cut back the grapes and other bushes that the frost affected - and that Charlie was always trying to chew on. So the yard is pretty dog-proofed right now. He follows me everywhere, so he got a lot of exercise walking around with me and running away from me with a stick in his mouth. LOL We also played a lot of ball, he loves playing ball. When we came in the house at 3:00 he was pooped and went into his crate for a nap. He moves around a lot when he sleeps. I looked up and he was laying on his back, completely stretched from front to back in the crate.  He cracks me up!



November 22, 2018

The Ocotillo tasting - which he couldn't figure out. Charlie is teething and trying to chew everything.  He's determined to eat this Ocotillo, but it's not cooperating.  He was frustrated, I think.  He tried to eat it, then touched it with his paw, then backed up and just looked at it.  Then he ran up the hill further and dug a big hole.  LOL





November 24, 2018

I spilled spot remover on Charlie. Now I can't find him. 😁😂



November 24, 2018

First he steals my heart, then he steals my chair! 💕  Then he chews off part of the arm on my chair. 😞

November 27, 2018

Charlie loves to watch himself in the mirror. The second photo is where Charlie is every day on and off. If it's warm enough I open the front door and drag over a padded storage box. He jumps up on it and watches the neighbors go by.

November 27, 2018

One of Charlie's favorite toys - a squeaky donut. When he'd had enough food and water yesterday, he got his donut and put it on the bowls. Sometimes I wish I knew what he was thinking!

November 27, 2018

I took Charlie down to Elephant Butte Lake to see if he liked the water.  When we were walking back to the truck, Charlie peed and pooped, and when I bent down to pet him, he grabbed the poop bag out of my hand and proudly carried it all the way back to the truck. Sometimes he's just so darn cute! Then he was back in his crate, and not too long after being home, sound asleep. He still sleeps a lot.

December 6, 2018

I came back from town - after being gone less than an hour - and found this. At first I thought, "Oh, how cute, he's burrowed under his bed."  THE NEW BED THAT WAS DELIVERED THE DAY BEFORE! I got out the camera, took a picture, then zoomed in and saw the carnage. Little brat!

December 14, 2018

We visited the vet today and confirmed that Charlie is deaf. But I already knew. I spent Thursday online finding good hand signals for words I want Charlie to know - I have three pages of typed commands with instructions - 37 of them so far. I'm sure I'll be adding to that list. But for now, only the most important ones, 10 of them, are at the top of the list. I have to learn them, and am practicing the most important ones, but Charlie already knows some... We're doing short practice sessions of a couple signals during the day.  Once he knows the essential signals, I'll add others one or two at a time.

I ordered a couple of books on the subject - and the Dictionary of ASL is a good reference, too. Many people use those signals, but I want to have only "one-hand" signals if possible.

For his safety, in case he gets away from me, I ordered him a Deaf Dog harness.

I've also made some labels to stick on the back of his collar tags, and I called the chip ID place and they noted that he is deaf.  If he DOES get away, it's important that people know he's deaf so they won't punish him for not responding to them.  It's pretty easy to make up hand signals for come, sit, etc. that he would probably understand, but if they talk to him, he won't be able to get what they're saying. And if he isn't looking at them, he won't get any hand gestures, either.  So....  I don't particularly like this vest, and might look for something a little less obvious, but for now, we'll use it.

December 17, 2018

I think this picture is hysterical - I break out laughing every time I look at it. It looks like it's gone through an app to make him look funny, but this is how he looked.

Charlie was a "crazy tired dog" this afternoon, so he napped in his crate in the living room. This is him noticing that I noticed he was awake. Before this he was playing quietly with his toys. Funny thing is, I've been trying to see his teeth, his adult teeth are coming in, and he wouldn't let me. Well, I've sure seen them now!

December 19, 2018

Charlie's puzzle. This is a Level 2, and I have two Level 3 puzzles for him when he gets this down really well. He gets to find the treats every morning. At first I had to help him, the directions tell you how to get them used to it, then he got the red sliders by himself, and now he can do it all. He LOVES it! We'll keep using this one until the gets bored with it.

December 20, 2018

I got Charlie a big bag of flat rawhide chew toys. Every time I give him one, he takes it out in the backyard and buries it up on the hill. So the other day I blocked off the door to the yard so he couldn't scratch the door to get out, and then I gave him the chew toy. He knocked down the fence blocking the door, and killed his fox. 🤣🤣🤣 I opened the fence more and put part of it behind the bakers rack so he couldn't get it down. And of course, he roamed around the house looking for an INSIDE place to bury it. This - under his bed on the couch - was the best he found. Later it ended up buried somewhere up on the hill. 😏🤣

And our final photos from today:

December 22, 2018

Charlie's Bumble Bee toy - BEFORE and AFTER.

Charlie is just an adorable dog, so smart and funny.  I'm enjoying him so much.  He's very different from Katie, like night and day, but if Charlie turns out to be as good a companion as Katie was, I'll be a happy camper.  He has so much energy and personality.

BTW, even though he can't hear, he can smell really well, and is very aware of his surroundings.  I wanted a dog partly for protection and thought that because of Charlie's deafness he wouldn't be a protector, but I'm not worried about that any more.  A neighbor was visiting, he came in when Charlie was in the backyard, and when Charlie came in though the open kitchen door, he stopped on a dime, raised his nose in the air and sniffed, and slowly walked behind the couch to where I was sitting.  He slowly climbed up on me while growling at my neighbor, a man he had met and liked outside during walks.  But in HIS house, it was different.  He was growling for a while and I finally got him to stop. He didn't do anything aggressive, but he let my neighbor know that he was protecting me.  So even though he can't hear, I think he'll be a good protector.  He's only five months old, and did a good job of warning my neighbor without aggression.

And yes, for those of you wondering, he is DEFINITELY trying to herd me.  And he's really strong.  Sometimes our walks around the yard into the house are interesting.  But I'm still bigger and stronger, so I'm going to be the boss!  :)

I have a few other news items that I want to post about - and will do that before long.  So Charlie and I will be back soon.  I need to change my header - makes me tear up just thinking about doing that.  😥

See you next time!

Me and Charlie  💓💓