Our newest family member - Vanilla

[molly muffin]

It took us a while to reach that point of yes we are ready to welcome another member to the family, but it came finally and we now have a lovely little munchkin named Vanilla. I just call her Nilla most of the time. As Addy said, it's a mouth full when you are saying it constantly (like very 5 seconds as she is into everything)

She is 11 months old now, and a puppy mill survivor. She was adopted twice and each time returned, she is a hand full that's for sure. She was set to be euthanized, when the rescue I got her from pulled her from the shelter and now she is ours.

She bites at our fingers when she playing (mouthing) which we need to stop and will nip at you when you pick her up or move her and she doesn't want to be moved. Those things we have to nip in the bud as soon as possible so she doesn't inadvertently hurt someone. She doesn't try to bite, but I don't want it to get to that either. She is super stubborn and pushes her limits to see what she can get away with. So you have to be strong, because that little face, she just could get away with anything if you don't have your own stubbornness to back you up.

On the other hand, she loves all people and wants to be picked up and gives kisses and cuddles with abundance. She is the most loving dog I think I've very had. She curls up and puts her face in your neck and just goes to sleep or watches you. She is so very affectionate, it just makes the heart grow.

She isn't house trained, so we are working on that too. It is hard to do that successfully as I'm at work so much, but we're trying. We'll probably have training sessions soonish.

She is aggressive to dogs, and from what I can tell, its out of fear. She is terrified of some dogs and will try to climb your leg to get away from them. (big labadoodle puppys for one) and smaller dogs she tries to intimidate herself. I was told she may never play with other dogs. Well, pffft she is now friends with my friends cockapoo Coco and they play fine, although we are taking it very slow. Coco is easy going so the perfect dog for Vanilla to learn to play with and walk with. I think she would love to be friends with all dogs as that Is her base personality but she gets scared. The puppy mill had small dogs and large dogs and I have heard nothing good. This is at least the 2nd dog from that puppy mill that has ended up in the rescue I got vanilla from and I'm wondering about my molly, as she came from the same area of Quebec and had some of these same issues when we got her.

We both just love Vanilla to pieces. She is our baby for sure. I know as she is with us longer, that she will become more adjusted. So in 6 months or a year, we'll see where she is at. I can't imagine how anyone could have given her up and even considered killing her. I'm so glad she is ours now. She will never have to be afraid again.

Speaking of afraid, I'm curious about how she'll be in a thunderstorm but so far she has had no anxiety about anything noise related. Other than she doesn't like to hear dogs barking at night outside on our walks. She will head for the front door as fast as she can. A car engine, or siren, rain storms and she doesn't even flinch.

And she likes car rides just fine. Lays down and chills out.

Vanilla is actually the one we tried for first and it took so long and they didn't respond right away, so we didn't think we'd get her and applied for two others. We were approved for all 3, and went with Vanilla the first one we applied for. (yes we were straight with the other rescue that we had already applied for Vanilla but there were over 100 applications for her we found out) So they were understanding when we told them of our decision.

I know this post was kind of all over the place. Trying to put thoughts together as my toes are being licked. :)

You can see pictures of her in her new album
http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1245

I actually posted these a few days ago, before I got around to writing this post introducing her.

Kathy you said a diva in the making on the picture comment... I think so. Molly will always be the queen of diva though. hahahah this might be the princess of diva, we'll see how it plays out. :)

[labblab]

Oh Sharlene, this says it all!


We both just love Vanilla to pieces. She is our baby for sure. I know as she is with us longer, that she will become more adjusted. So in 6 months or a year, we'll see where she is at. I can't imagine how anyone could have given her up and even considered killing her. I'm so glad she is ours now. She will never have to be afraid again.

“She will never have to be afraid again.” That just brings tears to my eyes. I am so happy for you all three, and I am looking forward to a lifetime of stories about our new little K9C baby girl!! Congrats to us all ;-))))))))))

[lulusmom]

Sharlene, CONGRATULATION and welcome to the family, Vanilla! OMG, she is absolutely adorable. You can't look at that face and not go "awww". I have no doubt she will have you wrapped around her paw very quickly. LOL She looks to have quite a bit of Maltese in her dna.

[Joan2517]

Sharlene! I am so happy for you! I'm crying tears of happiness. What wonderful news to wake up to this morning :).

All of mine used to mouth when they were puppies. I know that's a no-no, but I always let them (I happened to love it!). Sibbie is the only one who didn't. Now she does this nibble thing on my wrist or hand, very gently like she's eating an ear of corn.

I love the name you've given her. I haven't seen the pictures, but I will look as soon as I am done with this post.

I'm sure that Nilla will feel safe and loved with you and Daniel! How could she not??

Love to you and your new baby!

[labblab]

Our three were all super mouthy as young ‘uns, too. Barkis was our first, and he was our worst. Instead of Baby Barkis, we’d call him Baby Sharkis cuz of those little needle teeth!!!! He was aggressive and persistent enough that my hands and arms got fairly torn up to begin with. We were just learning how to train a puppy, and it definitely took some time. But we all lived through it and he grew up to be a perfect gentleman.

Nilla looks so darn cute I don’t know how I’d get anything done while I was at home — all I’d want to do is cuddle with her!

[Budsters Mom]

Vanilla needs a nickname just like her big sister, Molly Muffin. I'm thinking NILLA WAFERS!!!
So glad you have found each other!!

[Harley PoMMom]

Welcome to our family, Nilla!!!!!

[Squirt's Mom]

Welcome home, 'Nilla!

Sharlene, congrats to you, Daniel and all who will be blessed to know this little doll! She couldn't have had better luck...tho from what I can tell this is more a case of "meant to be". ;)

[flynnandian]

welcome here vanilla. another diva.
it is very rare for a puppy mill to give up on a young female like her.
do you know why the puppy mill gave her up/away instead of making $$$$$ out of her?
most of the time they want to breed their females i guess.
luckily vanilla ended up with you.

[molly muffin]

Hello again, no I don't know why they gave her up. I know she does this twitchy thing with her back sometimes, but I don't know why. She was given a clean bill of health when the rescue got her spayed. Actually this puppy mill has a LOT of dogs and not in good conditions (are they ever) small dogs, big dogs, it's a mess from what I hear.

She is coming a long nicely. We are getting the mouthy thing under control better now and working on the house training. She really is adorable! Even though she is super awesome already, she is going to be even more so as she grows older. I just know it, can see it.

Kathy, we call her Nilla and Nilla Bean for Vanilla Bean.

Glynda I thought at first she had maltese too, but then I met a maltese on our walks and now I don't think so. Her papers say two different things, shihtzu/poodle and llhaso/poodle. either way, she's cute and loveable.

You know an interesting thing I was reading was that both shih tzu and poodles are Known for getting cushings. Well we Know that they seem to get it a lot, but I hadn't seen a web site on dog breeds saying that before. I don't remember which site it was either, one of mixed dog breed health risks is all I can remember.

She absolutely takes all my time when I'm not working. When she wants your attention she will bark at you, and has tries to prevent you from doing whatever it is you are doing till you play with her.
Last night she didn't want to go to bed, and jumped on the couch with daniel, snuggled real close to his body and tried to pretend she had gone to sleep so as to stay up with him. It didn't work but kudos to her for trying.

Now I have to figure out where to board her at as we are going to Paris for two weeks. The rescue lady might be able to take her but she has a VERY difficult puppy mill breeding female, not small and that dog is really difficult. I mean really, she growls, barks, and will just crap and pee and try to bite you if you get near her. The foster mom is taking a one month break so she is going to the rescue lady's house, and neither her nor I want Vanilla in her company until she (the breeding girl, Alfie) settles down. Vanilla is aggressive to other dogs still (she has her bestie Coco but other dogs she will go at) so don't really want her in a full free play type situation that can get out of hand. I'm trying to figure that out now.

[Budsters Mom]

Okay, I can live with the nickname Nilla Bean. It's cute and clever, just as she is. Still like Nilla Wafer
better! So glad that she's settling in.

[Joan2517]

She sounds absolutely adorable, Sharlene. Sibbie wants all my attention too. She doesn't bark, but whines when she thinks I should be paying attention to her and not to anything else.

I'm so happy for you!

Love,
Joan

[mcdavis]

I've not been on the forum for a while as life's been a bit busy, however I'm so happy to read about little Vanilla, and to see the pics. She's absolutely adorable, and it sounds like she's settling in well. She's definitely landed on her paws, and will have you all trained very soon ;-)

[spdd]

WELL!!!!! I must have had my head in the sand, this is the first I have read this - talk about late to the party!! Congrats on your new little family member. She is adorable. I can see she already has stolen your hearts, she deserves you two and of course you deserve her... have fun with the new little one. Can't wait to hear the adventures.

[flynnandian]

hi sharlene, how are you and vanilla doing? not used to you not posting for months on this forum. hope everything is ok?

[molly muffin]

Well little miss vanilla has attittude and doesn't recognize us as the pack leaders it seems, so I eneded up calling in a dog behaviorist to assist us as we were literally just at aloss and nothing we tried was working. She will just for no reason, attack my hubby. Now Daniel is usually a good sport but if we are in the living room at the same time, she will attack him. After this becoming more and more frequent, was when we decided we needed professional help. It's been a week, and we're working on the issues. She attacked yesterday and didn't back down, but he did all the right things in response, which is basically standing ground, making this sound that while it is a word, it sounds like what an alpha dog would make. She went straight to her crate when he stood up, but didn't back down. I think this is about the point we are suppose to be experiencing resistance, so we'll see in next weeks meeting what the behaviorist says.
On the other hand she is walking on leash really well, right beside up on the right hand side.
Still working on not going to door and responding to door knocking or doorbell and boundaries.

So that is exhausting let me tell ya. Who knew. Mostly it is due to her personality. There is a lot to be said for calm and laid bad dogs. That is Not vanillas style though.

It doesn't help that I am in charge of like a kajillion projects at work, each worse than other it seems. In fact they are hiring two contract positions to cover my regular schedule and free me up for more project work. So that isn't good and now I have VP's coming by making jokes because I told them if they kept giving me these kinds of projects they might as well install a defib near my desk, as sure will have a heart attack. Funny but not, the stress is really high.

I'd rather just be concentrating on vanillas issues, but instead it is hard to fit enough time in with her, and maybe that is the issue too. :(

Anyway, so awesome to see you all.. Iris, mcdavis! Long time no talk, how are things with you guys?
I know, i'm about a year late in my responses :( ack!

[mcdavis]

Lovely to hear from you Sharlene. I pop in from time to time to see how things are going and was wondering how Vanilla was doing. It looks like you have a few challenges but are getting them resolved

For us, well Henry is now 6 but still behaving like he's 6 months old. People are usually shocked when we say how old he is, as he is extremely lively!

[molly muffin]

HI ALL!!!!

It always amazes me how much time passes between my visits here. I am concerned that time is flying by way to quickly as I get older.
Vanilla is now 2 years and 4 months now and she is doing much better, especially with Daniel. It is more how we interact with her that was the issue, and now both of them are doing so much better and nothing makes me happier than to see those two cuddle together on the couch watching tv or having a nap. (Vanilla is a big tv watcher)

We have to work on dog to dog interactions still. That's on my to do list.

I have some concerns after taking a new position at work, that I'll now be away longer during the day. I don't like to have to crate her for that long, even though she has a condo crate big enough for a german sherpherd and she is just a 10 lb little dog, but still I don't want to have to do that. I have 3 weeks to figure out what I'm going to do for the day time. Question is how much trouble will she get in if left to roam freely. LOL she can find a LOT of trouble, that girl.

Anyway, she is doing great, which is the main thing. I hope this finds everyone doing well too. One of our friends called her Molly last night and my heart sure did a little ping at the mention of mollys name. I still miss her and always will, but vanilla was a great addition after the heart break of mollys loss.

[Budsters Mom]

So glad to see you Sharlene! It seems that Vanilla has Daniel right where she wants him to be. Keep in touch, okay?

[labblab]

HI ALL!!!!
I have some concerns after taking a new position at work, that I'll now be away longer during the day. I don't like to have to crate her for that long, even though she has a condo crate big enough for a german sherpherd and she is just a 10 lb little dog, but still I don't want to have to do that. I have 3 weeks to figure out what I'm going to do for the day time. Question is how much trouble will she get in if left to roam freely. LOL she can find a LOT of trouble, that girl.

Hey Sharlene! It’s so great to hear how well Vanilla is doing, especially with Daniel :-)))).

As far as crating her all during the day, would it be possible for you to construct a larger “corral” for her in one of the rooms that’s most comfortable or familiar to her? During puppy-stage with all our Labs, we’ve done this with sturdy wire exercise pens. But for a little girl like Vanilla, I’m betting you could contain her with some of the nice, lighter weight plastic pens. I think you can adjust the size of some of the ex-pens by adding or subtracting panels so you could make it as big as you’d like. If she likes holing up in her crate, you can put it inside the corral with the door open so she can freely go in and out. You can also set up a dog bed, water, toys, pee pads if needed, etc. All the comforts of home!

This is just a thought, but it worked very well for us during the hours that we were at work or otherwise away from home for longer times. Gosh, just thinking about it takes me down memory lane when my own babies were truly babies...!

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide, and we’ll surely welcome another update whenever you can rejoin us once again.

Marianne

[molly muffin]

Hi all. Well, gee, this new position is taking up a lot of my time, longer hours than ever but certainly different.

Vanilla has transitioned just fine to being non crated during the day and to me being away longer hours. She only gets grumpy if she doesn't get her time with me after i get home. Then she'll bark at me till I stop working for a bit and have some vanilla time. :) LOL The girl knows what she wants and when she wants it.

I like the job and I like that I'm doing something different. Only thing is that 2 days after I accepted the postion, I found out that the girl training me, who is actually farily new too so we were both learning together, is unexpectedly getting married and moving to Dubai all within 3 months of my joining the team. That means that it has been a non stop crash course to learn everything that normally I would have had about a year to get proficient at. I'm literally working day and night to try to get up to speed, as I'll be taking over her base of clients on top of my own (that I'm still trying to figure out anyway) until we get someone hired and Then I have to train the new person. it is beyond overwhelming and my stress level hit over 100% sometime around the first part of December. I've cancelled a trip to California over the holidays as I need to be here to cram as much as I can in while she is still here. I think she'll leave mid February for good.

We did get out to Kelowna for the grandsons birthday and we plan to go back just for a long weekend in February for our granddaughters birthday. That's all i can manage to be away for.

I haven't even decorated for Christmas this year as just too hectic and I'm never home anyhow it feels like. We have gone out to a few friends parties but I'm not having anyone over as when I'm home I really want down time and to chill out instead of entertaining. Not like me at all is it.

Anyway, I did want to stop in during the holidays and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me, Daniel and Vanilla. :) Love you all and miss you so very much

[labblab]

Dear Sharlene,

Seeing you here on the forum is like opening an early Christmas present! ;):D:D

Dang it, though, I hate it that your new job is still so stressful and demanding. But such good news about Vanilla settling in, and hopefully there *will* come a day when things finally settle down more for you, too. We miss you, girl!!!

Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones, and thanks soooooo much for stopping by.

[molly muffin]

Merry Christmas everyone from me and vanilla.

It’s been awhile since I popped in. Work and more work has kept me busier than ever especially during COVID world.
I’ve been working from home since March 16 and I think input in more hours now than I ever did before. That saying something. LOL.

Vanilla is doing okay. She is now in anti anxiety meds to help with the in home aggression. We also have a positive reenforcement trainer too.

Hubby’s mom moved in with us end of March early April and that has been challenging as she is 89 and doesn’t get around so we’ll any more.

We lost my BIL unexpectedly before Christmas. Still unsure as to what happened there and so we are waiting in the coroners report which can take months since they are doing an investigation to cause. It made the holidays hard to get through. It was never going to be an easy holiday anyway with not seeing family and doing all the things we are use to during the holidays but you know better safe than sorry.
My nieces uncle died of COVID in December also. And we know people who have tested positive so we do try to be extra careful.

I just wanted to say hello. Wish everyone a merry. Bristles and happy new year and hope you amd your furbabies are all doing well.

Miss you all.

Love

[Trish]

Boo!

sorry to hear your sad news Sharlene, that just sucks at this time of year. My condolences to your family.

you will tame Vanilla with all the love you have to give her :) she’s a firecracker for sure.

Happy bristles to you and Daniel ;)

[molly muffin]

Trish! Boy seems like forever and a day since we have talked. Good to see you.
Crap on the BC. Glad they got it all!!!

Best wishes to you and the family!!

Yea, vanilla is a firecracker alright. She is also a total love bunny. We will get her through this one way or another :).

Hugs

[Squirt's Mom]

Good to hear from you here, Sharlene! I am so sorry to hear about the losses your family has had to face tho. I hope you and yours were able to find some reasons to smile this Holiday season anyway. I hope the meds and training help with Vanilla's issues so she can better enjoy her life and ya'll enjoy her.

Hugs always,
Leslie

[labblab]

Oh my, what a great way to start the New Year — to see these familiar faces back again!! Sharlene, I totally agree with Leslie that I’m so sorry for your losses and for the family challenges you’re still facing. And that darn job of yours GRRRR!!! I can’t help but resent it because it keeps you away from us and it keeps you stressed out. That’s why I’m doubly grateful that you’re willing to take the time to return and update us now, when you’ve got so much going on.

Fingers crossed that Vanilla just keeps growing more comfortable as time goes on, and that you, Daniel, his mom, and the rest of your family all can stay safe. Love you, girl, and hoping to see you here again before long.

Marianne

[molly muffin]

Hi All, I posted a short note on the December checking in thread, but thought I should update a bit here too. :) Vanilla has gotten better behavior wise. We've had several different trainers in to help us with how to manage her anxiety. The vet put her on Zylkene which basically brings up the serotonin levels and that seems to have helped her some too.

We haven't traveled or gone anywhere with covid being so "out there", which is a bummer. We have friends who have traveled and Daniel did fly to BC for a weekend, but I stayed home and flights were just outrageously priced. I still had anxiety about him traveling, but he took antigen tests when he came back and then two days later. I don't know how it is in the states but here in Canada most of us have antigen tests on hand and take them before we get together with anyone and we are still doing outside more than inside gatherings, if at all.

Wishing you all a wonderful christmas and new years. Sending you tons of love and virtual hugs this holiday season.

[labblab]

Oh Sharlene, it’s so great to hear from you and to know that you guys have stayed safe. For sure, it has been a crazy couple of years, hasn’t it? I still remember how much fun we always had talking about your company’s holiday parties — I felt as though I was getting to go right along with you! But it is what it is, as they say, and hopefully at least a few of our old traditions will be returning in the days ahead.

I’m so glad to hear that Vanilla has been doing better. Especially during these trying homebound times, our sweet furbabies can provide us with such comfort and even entertainment. I know these last couple of years would have been so much lonelier for us without Luna.

Anyway, once again thanks sooooooo much for stopping by! Sending huge holiday hugs right back at you!!

Marianne

[Squirt's Mom]

Dear Sharlene,
It is always so good to hear from you! I am glad to know your sweet Vanilla is settling in and finding her comfort zone. And I hope your work is calmer this year than it was last...which sounded like a real roller coaster!

COVID has changed how many of us celebrate the Holidays and every day. But I am so glad you have gotten to see your family even if in small batches. That has to be so wonderful for you and Daniel as well as your family members who get to see ya'll.

I hope the coming year brings many blessings to you and yours and many happy hours with your precious Vanilla.
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
Hugs,
Leslie