Penny's Story

This coming Saturday marks twelve months from the day
Penny first came to her forever home:

January 24, 2008

After we brought Keli home in May 2002, I always wanted to have a second Westie -- an "heir and a spare" to our first Westie girl, Wyndi. Keli had come from a breeder because at the time I was still missing Wyndi and wanted a regular Westie (not a mixed breed) for the "heir". The "spare" could be a rescued Westie mix sometime later on down the road.

After a year or two I reminded Rich about getting our second Westie and we both agreed it would be nice, but were we really ready for all the extra work that a second dog required? Transitioning from a senior dog to a baby puppy had been stressful; did we really want to go through puppyhood again?

So each spring I'd search Petfinder.com for Westies in our area -- usually a few months after Christmas, there were dozens of listings for young dogs of all breeds. Every now and then there would be a listing in our area, but I was always too late with my inquiries.

Until January 2008, when a little Westie puppy named Wendy was listed by a local rescue group, Angels for Animals Network. There wasn't even a photo on her page, but her name was so close to Wyndi, and since the rescue group had Keli's "middle" name (Angel), I took it as a sign that she was meant to be our puppy, so we sent in an application and waited.

Within just a couple of days, Keli and I were in our local PetSmart meeting this new puppy. She was almost 5 months old, had been in a shelter for about a month and had just been spayed and microchipped earlier in the week. Keli seemed to like her well enough so before we knew it, "Wendy" was riding home with us.

We don't know much about her first owners or where she came from; we were told that they gave her up because she barked too much. We do know that they took her to a vet for her puppy shots and that they probably had her from the age of 8 weeks to 16 weeks. Around the end of December 2007, they decided to take her to the shelter.

This puppy was so skinny we could see the bones in her hips and neck; her fur was thin and so full of knots and tangles, it looked as if she hadn't been brushed for weeks. Right away we noticed that she was very "mouthy" -- every time we touched her she tried to grab our hands with her mouth. We decided she just hadn't had the right discipline (or enough human contact) to know that it was bad manners to nip. Yet she was eager to please us and craved our constant attention and affection.

She probably didn't have many chew toys at the shelter, right at a time when she was teething. She was so happy chewing on Keli's rejected toys and bones that first weekend! Later we found 8 puppy teeth scattered on the carpet. It must have been such a relief to get those out of her mouth.

The photo to the right was taken on her 3rd day home -- by then she had already decided she was going to nap in my sewing room while I worked on my projects. Except for a little barking and a total lack of house manners, she was the sweetest little thing and we couldn't understand why anybody would ever give her up.

After we decided she was staying with us for good, we had to change her name from Wendy to something else; even though that is one of things that drew us to her, it was just too similar to Wyndi. We tried out a bunch of names, but none of them seemed to suit her. Finally, one of us said Penny, short for Penelope and that seemed right. And for her middle name, Shea, to commemorate the final season at Shea Stadium.

The first few days were a little chaotic. We were prepared for the "puppy" stuff from Penny, but we weren't completely prepared for living with two Westies at the same time, especially when the older one is used to being the only pampered pooch in the house and the younger one doesn't understand that there are rules that need to be followed. There were a few skirmishes and growlish arguments when Penny ventured too near to Keli those first few days. In time, Keli adjusted to and accepted the new living arrangement. She even learned to share space on the couch, as long as Penny didn't actually touch her.

On her first visit to our vet, we discovered that Penny had kennel cough. Within a week, she had "shared" her cold with Keli, and so they were both on antibiotics. While Penny barely slowed down to sneeze, Keli was miserable and spent days on the couch. We set up a humidifier for them both and cleaned their snotty little noses for weeks.

They even sleep the same way

Penny was constantly, voraciously hungry those first few weeks. At mealtime she would gulp down her own generous portion of puppy food and then rush over to finish Keli's too. Keli did not like that, so we had to separate them whenever we fed them.

At first Penny had her meals inside a playpen in the kitchen. When this became too cumbersome, we started feeding her inside a large crate. Penny didn't mind this at all. After a few months, she finally graduated to having no barrier at all, just supervision during meals. Now, even when Keli licks her bowl clean, Penny double-licks it, just to make sure.

One nice side effect is that Keli actually does eat her meals now, perhaps because she doesn't want Penny to get her food.

The only time either of them shows aggression over food now is when we are handing out biscuits or special treats, and it is usually Keli who acts out first. So we make sure to supervise and control who has a biscuit and when.

Penny's informal education on how to behave nicely began right away, and she was a quick learner. We would have several play sessions in the basement playroom every day to burn off some of that puppy energy (it was winter and too cold to play outside). At first, she tried to snatch the toys from my hand before I had a chance to toss them across the room, so we began teaching her to Sit and Lay Down. Only after she was down and calm did I toss the toy for her to chase and bring back. And she would chase the ball and bring it back over and over and over again. (That was my first clue that she might not be a full-blooded Westie, because neither Wyndi nor Keli would ever fetch a ball more than few times.)

While Penny ran around chasing balls and squeaky toys, Keli would sit nearby watching and asking me to pet her. Eventually, Keli decided she wanted to chase the balls and run around a little bit, too. Occasionally they would "wrestle", but when Penny played too rough we had to give them a time-out.

After playtime, we would have an informal "training" session; the Westies would follow me around and when I stopped, they were supposed to Sit and Watch Me or Lay Down, and when they both did what I asked they would get a treat. At first Penny seemed confused and didn't know what was going on with this game. You could tell she was watching Keli and then imitating her so she could have her treat.

Another big change to our routine was going "out". Keli and I do not care much for the cold weather, so during the winter months she usually only needed to go out 2 or 3 times during the day. She can usually "hold it" all day long if she has to.

Penny was not housebroken when she arrived here, so from the very beginning, we took her out every 2-3 hours. She had lots of accidents in the house, but she very quickly learned that it was GOOD to go outside and BAD to go inside. When we caught her "in the act" we'd tell her "no" and "shame on you" and she did seem to feel guilty. But she did it anyway.



After a few months she was getting more sneaky about "going" in the house; we'd take her out and she'd take care of business, but then after we came inside she'd sneak downstairs and leave us another little present. The "shaming" routine seemed to be amusing her! We decided to say nothing when we found her accidents, just clean up and focus instead on praising and rewarding the good outside behavior. I have to say that a few lamb jerky treats after a successful trip outside worked wonders in reinforcing the good behavior.

Most of Penny's first year with us is documented here in Keli's Korner (and in photos at our Flickr photostream) so I won't repeat all her "firsts"; you can read all the blog entries about Penny here. Here are a few of the highlights:

• When she was recovered from kennel cough and cleared to be around other dogs again, we enrolled in Basic Obedience training at PetSmart (see Penny Goes to School);
• She loved playing with her big purple ball until it popped and still romps in her tunnel;
• To cool off in the summer heat, we had a Westie Pool Party in June (and again in July)
  
• After her first birthday in September, we began to suspect that maybe Penny wasn't just an unusual-looking Westie and was perhaps part Schnauzer; a doggie DNA test supported our theory that she is, in fact a Wauzer (Westie/Schnauzer mix).
  

Penny has come a long way in her first year with us, and still has much to learn -- she is still a puppy after all. She is our comic relief and can be so silly and entertaining, we are very thankful that we decided to take a chance on her. Without her perpetual enthusiasm and constant search for fun, we would not have had nearly as many smiles and laughs around here in the past year. And even Keli is starting to enjoy her company more and more.

Valentine's Day 2008


Penny's First Bath


Penny's "First" Christmas 2008