Rue

So I can't believe that I haven't written about Rue since we first got her. She is basically full-grown now. Even though I don't have kids, I can see how they grow up so fast. Well, puppies grow up even faster. It's crazy. She's weighing 20 lbs. Yeah. I thought she would reach 15 lbs max. I was deceived. But I love her anyway.

 She does all kinds of little tricks that she never gets tired of doing. She sits, stays, twirls (jumping and turning around), dances (stays on her hind legs for a while), gives paw, and rolls over. We're working on turning now (turning without jumping while on her hind legs). She is completely potty trained, but we're working on making her ring a string of bells attached to the door knob to let us know when she needs to go outside instead of barking. She's getting the hang of it.

She is super sweet and loves being with us. If she's starving and her bowls are in the kitchen and we're upstairs, she'll forego her meal to be with us. It's ridiculous. But I love having the company. I also really enjoy taking her on walks. I try to take her on walks before work and before bed. We also live next to a place that has a small fenced-in area where she can be off leash. Can you believe Utah County doesn't have any dog parks?! We're going to have to go all the way to Salt Lake City if we want to take her to one. Crazy. Anyway, she loves playing fetch and running around. She has yet to destroy any of her toys. She's very gentle. She hates baths and loves bully sticks. She also loves cuddling and her sock monkey. Can you tell that Blaine has turned me into a dog-lover? Miracle.

Rue was spayed the weekend before school started. I wasn't sure if we wanted to do it for several reasons, but we finally decided that it would be fine. She was trooper. The vet and assistants fell in love with her and said she was the best surgery they performed all year. She had to have an e-collar on for a week and a half. She hated it but got used to it within the first day. She kept on bumping into things and couldn't scratch herself where she wanted. We had to carry her up and down the stairs because she wasn't supposed to be moving too much. Well, for those of you who know Rue, she has tons of energy. It was really hard and we worried that her incision would reopen, but it healed just fine.

She has gotten used to our schedules, but isn't too happy about being by herself. When Blaine leaves the apartment, she stays by the door and whines for a good minute or two. But she's getting better. Even though she still likes Blaine a lot, she has been favoring me over him at times (finally). I think its because I give her treats instead of just praise every time we do tricks :)

Best buds

Here are some pictures from our trips around the country with Rue. She did so well and slept most of the time and never went potty in the car at all. Also, she always wanted to be touching Blaine. It was so cute.

This was when we left Florida. Look at how tiny she was!

These are from Delaware to Utah. 

Oh and she loves licking & nibbling on ears. 

So there you go. This whole dog thing has been a positive experience for me so far. Even though it is additional work and responsibility, it is so worth it.