Sunday, November 23, 2014

Ivanova "Ivy Underfoot" Knapp

Dear Internet,

The time has come for you to be introduced to a most adorable and wonderful puppy.



This is Ivy, named in honor of Ivanova from Babylon 5. We adopted her almost three weeks ago, when she was 9 weeks old.


Ivy is a "shelter pup," though we don't know how much time she actually spent in a shelter. We adopted her through the excellent organization Home at Last, which sends up dogs from the south, where they have more high-kill shelters. They send a lot of puppy litters, which is how we found our darling girl.

 

Most shelters don't have puppies, and when they do the puppies go FAST. But Home at Last is sending up new litters of puppies every week, so it's a great way to find a puppy who needs a home. 













Home at Last isn't a shelter; when the puppies (or dogs) are sent up from the south, they are placed with foster families. They have meet-and-greets about twice a week, so you can meet the dogs and puppies up for adoption then. This is exactly how we met our Ivy, who at the time was being called Emma.



We fell in love with her, and rushed home to fill out an application (complete with two personal references and a vet reference). Three days and one home visit later, Ivy was officially part of our family!


 (That's her rockin' out to the awesomeness of being a Knapp.)

One of the great things about Home at Last for the families who adopt these dogs is that they often don't come with the issues that puppies that have actually been staying in shelters have. They've generally stayed with their litter up until you adopt them, so they've stayed well socialized with other dogs. They've generally been in a loving foster home with someone who is very experienced in taking care of dogs for at least a week before you adopt them, so they've also begun the process of socializing with humans. Ivy herself has been enthusiastic about meeting humans and other dogs, and ALWAYS wants to make friends with them.



We don't know exactly what sort of dog she is yet, though our guess is some sort of lab-hound-terrier mix. However, we've ordered a doggie DNA test from Amazon and mailed the company swabs from between her gums and cheek. (Ivy did NOT appreciate that process!) We should get more definitive results of her background in a week or two.

 

She is a very sweet girl who would be delighted to meet you and would shower your face with puppy kisses. (Try to keep your mouth closed, though, she sometimes sticks her tongue in there when it's open! :-o ) She's also very good at fetch, which is a bit of a novelty to me because our childhood dog was not into that AT ALL.



She's a little odd in that she's pretty ambivalent about being petted, and scratching her behind the ears earns the puppy equivalent of a shrug. That doesn't mean that she doesn't want your company, though! She cries and whines when she's not with the family, and always wants to in our arms or curled up in our laps or against our sides.



So now you have been introduced to the new light of my life. She's a lot of work, as all puppies are, but she is 100% worth it. You should come and let her be introduced to you as well-- she's already looking forward to seeing you, smelling you, jumping up with her little paws, and licking you wherever she can!

Really, can you resist this face?



I hope not, because if you try, she'll be pretty sad.