introducing Ellie

As my Facebook status (and Jackie's) hinted at last night for anyone on there to see, we got a new addition to our family last night, a new puppy named Ellie. She is all of 3 pounds right now (about 10 weeks old), and is a Bichon Frise - Shih Tzu mix. Its kind of exciting for me because I have yet to have a dog that's "mine." Growing up, my family had a Scottish Terrier named Blue, but it was more of my sister's dog than mine. When I married Jackie, she had her Bichon Toby, and it was very much her dog. So with Ellie I have the chance to forge my own "ground up" relationship.

She was introduced as the one with the "lopsided" face, which, if you get the right picture, you can see how her eyes don't seem to symmetrical on her face - but it just adds some more character. She is a typical puppy thus far - everything is a game. Things learned already include: she really like the pedestal under our kitchen table (one of the pictures is her sitting on it), I think she thinks its the best place, her place; she has yet to eat over her bowl...she grabs some food, runs to the other side of the kitchen, eats it, and then runs back and repeats as necessary - I hope she doesn't always do that, but its hysterical to watch right now; she has already learned that the front door leads back into the house when she's out - it being so cold outside right now may speed that learning curve up; she seems very comfortable already curling up on the couch and our bed...not sure how I feel about that last part yet; and she likes to bat things with her paws, but still hasn't gotten the kick to chase things our play fetch yet.

Anyway, we are both really excited about it. Its been over four months since we lost Toby, and while we still miss him, its nice to have another being to live with, another dog to spoil, a third wheel around the house.

And, without further ado, introducing Ellie...