4 month progress report

Beautiful rain !
It rains almost daily at our house, Crissy's house gets a whole lot more. It always depends where in town you are located.
Everything is green, my father called it the " Grune Holle " the green hell, because there are no more green nuances in the leaves like in the spring.
After such a long drought, I am happy about any kind of a green and I am even happier about any kind of rain! Either gentle and soaking into the ground or in a tropical down pour -- I 'll take it in any amount.
We have Schatzi now 4 months.
What a change in her, especially if you read back on the earlier entries.
She was such a scared little pile of fluff, not moving out of her basket and barely ever saying a word.
And look at her now !
On top of her small world, having conquered a big part of the house and every corner of the backyard . This includes the fox corner and even a " chase " to send the fox over the fence.
The fox was on the way home, making a slight detour to see if there was any food left over.
The sun was coming up and Schatzi all alone in the middle of the lawn.
The fox was just as startled as she was, some exited woofs and she high tailed it up to the deck. It is safer to bark from there especially if mom will be close by. A few claps with my hands and the fox was already over the other fence and had disappeared.
Molly did not even have time to help or realized what was going on..

The biggest change in Schatzi came with the arrival of Molly, the small dachshund.
After the initial growling, grumbling , snarling, showing of teeth, jealousy, guarding of toys and hoarding of chewies, life turned around.
The two girls play wonderful together.
There is Ladies Wrestling, The Hallway Dash, the Kitchen Speedway and Sneak - A - Squeaky.
Schatzi now eats as soon as the bowls are placed on the floor - but still will not take anything from my hand, including toys. Except accidentally, if she is offered a piece of cheese.
She barks furiously, especially now when Molly learned to be quiet. Her voice is so different from one of a dachsie.
All dogs in our neighborhood have very distinct barks. The black Lab across the street has a slow and understated bass. The new Millie behind us piercing and incessant without being corrected. One that we hear for years, imitates a fire engine and a dog with an almost human voice lives south east from here.

With lot's of thunderstorms rumbling through, it is rare that Schatzi still has to disappear into a secret corner and hide.
Stairs are just for flying up and down -- a very far cry from not knowing how to climb even a single step.
I don't see her pulling up her knees or wobbling in and out of her basket .
All this activity toned her muscles and strengthened her tendons, so the knee caps don't pop out anymore. Everything is smooth and sleek, like she has been doing this all her life.

Her tail now is always up and wagging quite a bit, although not on automatic like Molly's. Just a month ago,she was invisible with her tail low and her head down making a big detour around me.

Schatzi wants to be petted, including at 3 in the morning, when I am sneaking past her to go to the bathroom. Luckily, she goes back to sleep.


What has not yet changed, is the 5 o'clock wake up call and I am hoping for either a later bed time when Dad is back, or the winter.