Posts from the ‘Victory’s Milestones’ Category

Oct 14

Victory: 12 Months In

“Nobody can fully understand love unless they are owned by a dog.” ~Unknown

This past Sunday, October 12, 2014, marked twelve months since we adopted our little Victory! To honor Victory’s one-year mark with us, we added her to the blog’s header! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming and it is difficult to believe that she has indeed been with us a full year now!

We decided to make October 12 Victory’s birthday — the day we went to Michigan and adopted our sweet girl, and we took the same approach with Biscuit for determining his birthday! Victory was likely one to two years old when we adopted her last year. Thus, we are making October 12 her third birthday, which we celebrated over the weekend! Stay tuned — we are sharing more about Victory’s birthday celebration this week on the blog!

Reflecting on our first year together with Victory, Victory has really come a long way since we adopted her and met her a year ago, as evidenced by the photographs below showing such a marked change in her physical appearance, not to mention her emotional growth. She has grown in numerous ways and she continues to enrich our lives each day. Her physical appearance has changed. She has put on some weight; and her fur coat has come in and she looks stunning! From an emotional perspective, she has much more confidence from when we first met her. She went from being easily startled and staying put in one spot of the house to following us around our home. When we take her to the dog park, she prefers to stick by our side, while mingling with other dogs! Although, she has a mind of her own. There are times that she ‘bucks’ on her leash while we are on our walks — insisting on going another way — back home! However, once we get started, she finds her grove and she begins to smile!

She give us so much love. Our night-time ritual will never be the same without our Victory running up and down between us and giving us kisses. What is better than having your pup’s head next to yours on your pillow when you wake up each morning — this is what we wake up to each morning with our Victory! We love coming home to see her and we love taking her on trips and adventures! Vacationing to Quebec would not have been the same without our Victory! We feel very blessed that Victory has entered our lives at just the right time. We look forward to making many more memories with our Victory!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She started following us around the house! This is huge progress for Victory! She used to be content staying in one spot of the house while we moved around, and now she is following us! She has made great strides! She wants to be included and not left out, which is positive!

She consistently loves to be under my desk when I work at the computer. I love having her near by me while I work. She usually takes a snooze by my feet while I work and seems to be quite content. However, previously, when I tried putting her in my office while I worked, she ran out of the office to her ‘hut!’ Now, she spends more time outside of her ‘hut!’

She still loves to go for rides in the car and for outings. She continues to travel very well, and we got really lucky in that respect. We love taking her to dinner with us and to the dog park among other places where furry friends are permitted!

We are convinced that bedtime is her favorite time of day. It is when she is very lively! Doug says it is when her “pack” is all together! She loves playing before bed and giving us tons of kisses and now she loves it when I put my hand in her mouth and she tries to catch my hand! And yes, she still likes to Doug’s armpits — every night! We are not sure of the attraction there!

Most of all, we think that Victory is getting more comfortable and she is gaining her confidence. She is truly ‘coming out of her shell.’ We look forward to many making many more memories with our fur girl, Victory! We really feel grateful that Victory entered our lives and we do believe that Biscuit sent her to us. She has been a wonderful gift. She is the perfect fit for us and we love her dearly.

The image on the left below was taken by Victory’s foster mom last October; the image on the right below was taken by me on Sunday, marking her one year with us! You can see such a positive change! I hope that people realize how important dog rescue is and what a positive impact you can make in one dog’s life. Please consider dog rescue!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, our second video, and our most recent video of our little Victory! (Another video is coming soon marking Victory’s one year with us!)

Happy Tuesday!

Sep 19

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Victory: 11 Months In

“A dog is one of the few things in life that is as it seems.” ~Mark J. Asher

Last Friday marked eleven months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming and it is hard to believe that she has been with us almost a year now!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She travels really well. She was a trooper in the car both ways to and from Quebec! She did really well. She sat on my lap the entire drive (both ways) and Doug, fortunately, did all the driving for us!

She loves the beach! At first, we were not sure whether Victory would like the water of the beach for that matter since she usually is trying to escape her bath! (She is getting better, but she would rather not be bothered with a bath — however, we gave her a bath this weekend after arriving home!) However, she dabbled her paws in the water and she went deeper and deeper into the water!

She likes to go boating! We went boating and canoeing on our vacation and Victory loved it! We did not tip the canoe during the times we went canoeing! She gladly wore hew new life jacket! She looked adorable in her new life jacket!

She enjoyed going on all of our adventures and outings during our vacation! Everyone loved her and said plus beau chien (most beautiful dog) when they saw her!

She loved riding in her Hound About in Montreal. Since Montreal is a big city, the Hound About came in really handy because otherwise, with all the people, Victory would not have been able to handle the sensory overload and it would have frightened her. So, she rode along in class!

Victory now sleeps on her new Orvis bed (she recently picked one out while we visited the Orvis flagship store in Manchester, Vermont) in my office next to me! Prior, she got really scared and would run out of my office to her ‘hut!’ Now, after vacation, she seems to have even more confidence and I am happy to have little Victory keep me company while I work!

We are convinced that bedtime is her favorite time of day. It is when she is very lively! Doug says it is when her “pack” is all together! She loves playing before bed and giving us tons of kisses and now she loves it when I put my hand in her mouth and she tries to catch my hand! And yes, she still likes to Doug’s armpits — every night! Doug woke up with wet armpits this morning! We are not sure of the attraction there!

Most of all, we think that Victory is getting more comfortable and she is gaining confidence. She is smart, too! Even after a long ride home from Quebec, she knew when we were within a few miles of the house! She popped up on my lap, looked out the window, and she knew home was near, which is her usual response when we drive home with her after an outing, etc.

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, our second video, and our most recent video of our little Victory! (I hope to make more videos soon!)

Below are a few photos with our precious Victory!

Happy Friday!

Aug 13

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Victory: Ten Months In

“Home is where the dog is.” ~Unknown

Yesterday marked ten months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

Her fur coat is really coming in and she is looking more filled out!

She continues to enjoy riding in the car!

She loves to hop into her Daddy’s lap while in the car! (Don’t worry, Doug does not drive with her on his lap. She likes to hop over when we are stopped at intersections!)

She still loves to go on outings and since the fall is approaching next month, and it is our favorite time of year, we plan on taking Victory for some fun outings!

She has started going down the stairs in our house by herself. We previously carried her!

She now sits under my desk at my feet. This makes the day so much better with Victory by my side. This is a big feat as Victory used to run out of my office down to her ‘hut!’ She is definitely feeling more comfortable in our home, which she runs! We would not have it any other way!

She is still very much enjoying her rides in her Hound About and it is very sweet when she pokes her head through the top of the Hound About while we push her around the neighborhood!

She tolerates her Doggles!

She loves when Doug grills and she has been going outside on the deck with her sniffer in the air!

Bedtime is her favorite time of the day. She even puts herself to bed when she is ready — it is hilarious — I guess that is her way of rounding up her pack (us)! She gives us tons of kisses and likes to play before bed. This usually adds another half an hour before we actually can go to sleep!

She still has not barked as of yet! The vet said that this is ok — it is just the way our little Victory is! (She is the quietest dog that we have ever met!)

Most of all, we love her so very much!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, our second video, and our most recent video of our little Victory! (I hope to make more videos soon!)

Happy Wednesday!

Jul 14

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Victory: Nine Months In

“The more I know about people, the more I love my dog.” ~Mark Twain

Saturday marked nine months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She continues to enjoy riding in the car!

She loves to go on outings!

Recently she loves to eat popcorn when I make it in the evenings! She runs up to me in the hopes of getting some popcorn!

She loves when Doug grills and she has been going outside on the deck with her sniffer in the air! She even refuses to eat her dinner until she gets some meat from the grill!

It has been a little too warm to take her to the dog park. We plan to return to our weekly visits once the weather cools some.

Victory does not like walking in this heat, but we make her walk so she will go potty — otherwise she will leave us a nice ‘little present’ of poop in the house!

She continues to go out to eat with us since the weather has been so nice! She loves to go on outings!

She loves ribs — Doug made homemade ribs and he made a few unseasoned ones and cut the meat off the bone for little Victory — she gobbled the ribs right up! You can see her looking at her Daddy for more ribs!

She has not been chewing on as many ‘not for chewing’ items! She is sticking with chewing her chew toys that she loves to hoard in her hut! We have a weakness for buying her toys on a regular basis!

She still loves sitting on my hip, especially if we are out and about and she gets a little nervous. Whenever Victory gets nervous, her little paw goes up — Doug says she ‘strikes a pose’ with her paw!

She still has not barked as of yet!

Most of all, we love her so very much!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, our second video, and our most recent video of our little Victory!

Happy Monday!

Jun 12

Victory: Eight Months In

“If you don’t have a god at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you. But there may be something wrong with your life.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

Today marks eight months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She continues to love to ride in the car!
She continues to go out to eat with us since the weather has been so nice! She loves to go on outings!
She loves rice cakes and quickly runs over when she sees the bag!
She has not been chewing on as many ‘not for chewing’ items! She is sticking with chewing her chew toys that she loves to hoard in her hut! We have a weakness for buying her toys on a regular basis!
She still loves to eat on the sofa! However, she comes into the dinning room and kitchen during dinner time for some snacks and she sometimes eats from her feeder in the kitchen!
She is doing better at bath time! She actually smiled when we gave Victory her most recent bath. However, it still takes both Doug and I to bathe her and prevent her from jumping out of the soaker tub!
She still enjoys her rides around the neighborhood in her Hound About!
She still enjoys going to the dog park, although she likes to stick near us — I think she identifies us as her pack!
She loves sitting on my hip, especially if we are out and about and she gets a little nervous. Whenever Victory gets nervous, her little paw goes up — Doug says she ‘strikes a pose’ with her paw!
She loves the water. She loves sitting by the water and looking at it. It must be calming to little Victory!
She loves going out on the deck with us!
She, thankfully, is waking us up less and less for water during the night!
She gives us kisses each morning when we wake up! She is so affectionate!
She has even begun to lay on her indoor Orvis beds!
She loves her home and routine! On our recent trip, Victory got a little home sick. She developed diarrhea by the time we got home. We took her to the vet who said she had stress-induced colitis. The vet put her on an antibiotic and probiotic and she was on a bland rice/chicken/beef diet for a week. Thankfully, she is doing just fine. The vet said that Victory is a ‘delicate flower.’ We have a probiotic to take with us on vacation and instructions from the vet on how to help prevent this again should it arise again! We hope, in time, she will know that she will be ok in new situations and environments. We know that she will get there.
Her sheltie furs keep coming in and she if filling out well! (We can’t wait to do a before and after photo at the one year mark, in October!)
She still has not barked as of yet!
Most of all, we love her so very much!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, our second video, and our most recent video of our little Victory!

Happy Thursday!

May 12

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Victory: Seven Months In

“We dream of a day when humans take responsibility for their actions and realize that dogs are a privilege, not a right.” ~Unknown

Today marks seven months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She completed her Level I dog training (and we think that we will enroll in another training class soon)!
She went out to eat with us a few times this month and she had a great time, although she is still a little scared walking in parking lots, so we carry her!
She went with us to get ice cream for the first time at Ritas! She did a great job and she loved the vanilla custard (we gave her a few licks)!
She had another bath, and she is doing better and tolerating her bath time a little more each time. She looks so fluffy and feels so soft after a bath!
She still loves to chew, and she chewed my scarf to pieces last week that I sat on the bed while I took a shower! (Now, I know not to set my clothes on the bed in the morning for fear she will chew them! During these times, I tell her “no chew chew,” (except for when she chews the daylights out of her toys) and then her ears go down and she skirts away, and then I feel badly!)
She still loves going to the dog park and since the weather has been so much nicer, we go to the park a couple of times a week with Victory. She still loves the ‘big dogs’ and she looks so dainty and small in comparison — imagine little Victory looking up and sniffing a Great Dane, which happens often!
She loves to put her front paws on the armrest and her back paws on the back seat while in the car when we are driving — she loves going for rides in the car! (Don’t worry, I hold onto her and she then comes into my lap, and I wish there was a way that I could capture this in the car — she is so, so happy!)
She still loves evening walks in her Hound About, which she inherited from her brother, Biscuit! Everyone in the new neighborhood just smiles when they soon discover a little golden sheltie, Victory, in the Hound About, while we are out for a walk!
She recently started to put her head and snout next to my head and face during the night. Now, I wake up to her little head leaning up against my face each morning!
We celebrated our first Mother’s Day together — more on that tomorrow!
Her sheltie furs keep coming in and she if filling out well! (We can’t wait to do a before and after photo at the one year mark, in October!)
She still has not barked as of yet!
She is still waking us up for her nightly drink of water, despite our efforts — we are still working on this!
Most of all, we love her so very much!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video, and our most recent video of our little Victory! We hope that you have a great day!

Happy Monday!

Apr 11

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Victory: Six Months In

“The average dog is nicer a nicer person than the average person.” ~Andy Rooney

Tomorrow marks six months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here. The time is just flying by and Victory is blossoming!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She is enjoying her dog training class!
She went to the dog parks for the first time!
She loves the dog park, and she has begun to run and play fetch at the dog park!
She is beginning to eat her dinner on her custom Orvis mat and feeder!
She gave us paw for the first time this month!
She is giving us tons of kisses in bed right before bed time and she loves to lick Doug’s arm pits via his t-shirt right before bed — she must like his ‘natural scent’!
She still loves to chew, and she has been chewing away at her little “friends!”
She loves eating little pieces of her Daddy’s malted waffles on Sunday mornings!
She absolutely loves chicken and cheese!
She started giving me her paw this month!
She let us give her a bath last week without jumping out of the soaker tub!
She received a clean bill of health at the vet last week at her six month check up! Yay! The vet said that she is just healthy and perfect! She is now 25 pounds!
She is beginning to eat adult kibble, she eats Fromm kibble.
She is beginning to spend time on her Orvis bed, which initially she was apprehensive about.
She loves evening walks in her Hound About, which she inherited from Biscuit!
She still has not barked as of yet!
She is still waking us up for her nightly drink of water!
Most of all, Victory has stolen our hearts and she is her Daddy’s girl through and through!

If you have not already, be sure to check out the six month video of our little Victory! We hope that you have a great weekend. It is supposed to be warm and sunny here — perhaps Spring is finally here!

Happy Friday!

Mar 12

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Victory: Five Months In

“Nobody can fully understand love unless they are owned by a dog.” ~Unknown

Today marks five months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here.

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She lets me give her belly rubs on her back. At first, she was not too keen on my placing her on her back, but once her belly was being rubbed, she relaxed and seems to enjoy it like her brother Biscuit!
She is now fully transiting into the dinning room and kitchen since she does not want to be left out.
She is starting to eat her dinner in her feeder on her custom feeder mat located in the kitchen!
She loves to chew and play! We have a basket of toys, a combination of some toys that were previously Biscuit’s toys and some new toys purchased for little Victory! This month, Victory has fancied herself on taking toys from the basket and placing them one by one into her ‘hut!’ It is adorable! In fact, one evening we came home and every last toy from the basket was in her ‘hut!’– there was barely any room for her little body as she surrounded herself by all of her toys! Perhaps Victory is a little hoarder! So, she seems to like the game of taking the toys to her ‘hut!’ Therefore, each night, we put the toys away in the toy basket so that she can then have fun taking them all to her ‘hut’ the next day! She also loves chewing on her toys (among other things!) We think that we are going to try the Kong toy next with her and see how she likes it!
She went to the pet store again to get more chew toys and she was a hit — everyone thought that Victory is so beautiful!
She loves the Hound About!
She loved going to Quiet Waters Park — Victory had a grand time!
She loves to eat peanut butter Frosty Paws!
She loves Cheese Please, treats we discovered from her BarkBox made of only cheese! Doug ordered her two boxes to keep on hand in the house!
She still is not fond of getting a bath. In fact, this month, Victory hopped out of the soaker tub during her recent bath! Now, we make sure that one of us is holding her the entire time! She looks and feels so great after an oatmeal bath!
She is getting us up less during the night for a drink(s) of water — she is sleeping more!
She, along with both of us, begin training classes next week with little Victory!
She gives us tons of kisses before bed, and she wakes me up in the morning licking my eye lashes with her head on my pillow! Victory is quite affectionate!
She still loves to cuddle — our little cuddle bug!

There was a time that I thought that my heart would not be able to be filed with as much joy as Biscuit brought us. However, our little Victory has stolen our hearts and she has filled our hearts with just as much joy as our precious Biscuit. We have many more memories to make with Victory! We are so happy Victory has entered our lives.

Can you locate little Victory below!

Happy Wednesday!

Feb 12

Victory: Four Months In

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” ~Roger Caras

Today marks four months since we adopted our little Victory! You can read more about the previous months’ milestones here.

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She took her first visit to the pet store and she did really well! This is the first time we took her to a public place. Everyone at the pet store thought she was gorgeous! Of course, we agreed! We purchased Victory some chew toys that she loves, including a Rainbow Care Bear chew toy! I had the same Care Bear when I was a kid, except it was not a chew toy!
She did really well when we took her recently to a friend’s house for dinner! Our friend has two dogs and Victory had a good time! Everyone loved her and wanted to pet and hold her!
She out grew her raincoat! Victory is getting more fur in and she has gained some weight since we adopted her! As a result, I ordered her the next size up of the same rain coat along with matching boots (rain and snow boots) shown below!
She loves rice cakes — we only give her little crumbs!
She is getting more confidence and is almost ready to go into our dinning room and kitchen! Currently, she only goes to our bedroom and living room! She loves when Doug roasts a chicken in the crock pot as she knows that she will get some chicken for dinner, and hopefully, this will get her in the kitchen at some point!
She is still eating her dinner on the sofa!
She is getting us up less during the night for a drink of water — she is sleeping more!
She, along with both of us, begin training classes next month with little Victory!
She is waking me up giving us kisses — licks on the eyes and ears in the morning! Victory is quite affectionate!
She still loves to cuddle, I call her my little cuddle bug!
She missed her Daddy recently when he went away on travel!

Jan 10

Victory: Three Months In

“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.” ~Charles Schulz

This Sunday, January 12, 2014, marks three months since we adopted our little Victory! Victory had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

Below are some things that we learned about Victory this month:

She loves to chew. Each morning, we wake up to our pillow cases having more holes and teeth marks! Luckily, I purchased some inexpensive pillow cases and a back up of our nice sheets and pillow cases! We also purchased some chew toys and shoe laces, which she loves — it is just teaching her the difference between what she can and cannot chew!
She travels well. Victory did really well in the car during our holiday travels. She sat on my lap in the car during the duration of our trip!
She is still very quite. Victory has not ‘talked’ to us yet — she has not yet barked or made any vocal noises. We hope that, in time, this will change.
She is spending more time on the floor in our home instead of being on furniture or in her crate, which we have coined her ‘hut!’ (Victory’s crate is always open for her to go in and out of as she wishes — she likes having her ‘safe place.’)
She still prefers not to share the sidewalk with any other pedestrians! We are not sure how much time Victory spent outside while she lived in the horrendous hording situation. We are going to start training very shortly to help us!
She still likes to wake us up during the night to have a drink of water. We are working on teaching Victory where her water bowl is located a short distance away in the bathroom attached to our bedroom!
She still loves to cuddle and give us loads of kisses!
She is beginning to blossom — her fur coat is coming in more each day!
Finally, we learned that Victory might have a sister or cousin — Chrissy, who has been adopted — you can see the resemblance in their size and coloring. Chrissy also came from the same horrendous hording situation that Victory also experienced.