****Correction to Trixie/Jersey Girl Blog****

Keira is mad at me because I used the wrong name for her blogspot. She said I did it on purpose so everyone would look at MY blogspot and not HERS! I did not; it was an accident! I promised her I would make things right (she's holding my favorite toy hostage!)

ANNOUNCING - Please visit my sister's correct blogspot........http://ibrjerseygirl.blogspot.com/

There, that should make her happy! I don't know why she's so jealous of ME when she's the one with 3 names!

Introduction from my Furever Home

Its been 4 months since I and my sister, Trixie, were welcomed into our furever home. I have been renamed Cassidy and Trixie is now Keira. Its taken me a while to add to my blog because I have been so busy exploring my new yard and playing all day and night with my sister. Mom and Dad saw us on PetFinder and filled out the IBR application. My Foster Mom, Alison, and Keira's Foster Mom, Anne, drove us to this new house to meet the nice couple. We all spent some time together and I got to be reunited with my sister whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. My wildest dream came true when the nice couple said they wanted BOTH OF US!!

There's just Keira, myself, and Mom and Dad. With the 1:1 ratio we get constant interaction with our parents; especially since Mom and Dad work opposite days and shifts. Three days of the week we are alone only 2-1/2 hours in our crates from the time Dad leaves until Mom gets home. Other than those few hours 3 days of the week a parent is home with us 24/7. We are so lucky to have our parents home with us so much.

We have a big yard with lots of trees AND BIRDS! There is a nest of baby robins, bunnies of all sizes, a momma squirrel with 3 babies and several ground squirrels. One hot summer day Dad put out a big round blue "water bowl" and he put me IN the big "water bowl" and was pouring water ON me! What was he thinking? He wouldn't be too happy if I did this with my water bowl inside the house - oh, wait, I already DO that!

There were these really cool big bugs with wings and red eyes. Sometimes Keira and I pounced on them and sometimes we walked up to a tree or the fence and licked them up. There were MILLIONS of them. Mom really didn't like it when we ate them. She said it was disgusting and gross. She makes US take a bite to taste something new but SHE wouldn't try the cicadas - its not fair!

Mom and Dad must be feeding us something good (maybe its the cicadas!) as we have grown SO much; especially me. I was a little Midget Gidget shrimp when I got here and now I am longer and taller than Keira! We both weigh about 38# but are built differently. Keira is very solid and muscular (Mom says like an athlete) and I am tall, long and lean (Mom says like a dancer). Mom says I look like a string bean and sometimes calls me "Beaner".

My sister, Keira, and I love running and chasing each other. Mom and Dad said we are like race car drivers - we run in left circles. Sometimes we are creative and run in figure 8 formation. We take turns being lead chaser. We do body slams in the nice big lily plants as they are so soft to fall into. Now they are all flat and yellow and Mom and Dad didn't yell at us at all. They just looked at each other and said they will grow back next year. I can't wait! I haven't been into the indoor houseplants as Mom and Dad keep pretty close watch of us. We haven't done TOO much real damage other than some chewing on wooden chair legs, table legs and woodwork. Maybe my teething needs require something more substantial now like wood and not houseplants. Aware of my affinity for houseplants (as forewarned by Foster Mom, Alison!), Mom got rid of all but 2 plants. Especially with the pretty red poinsettia, Mom said it wasn't worth keeping if I got sick from snacking on it.

Keira and I did not like our first 4th of July. It was SO LOUD AND NOISY! We were so scared. Dad was at work and Mom sat with us in the stairwell and cradled us tightly and talked to us very quietly and calmly. She kept telling us we were good girls, how much she loved her girls, and that she would protect us. Mom said it was the longest period of time she saw us so still and quiet. Normally we are quite rambunctious and as of the 5th of July we were back to our "wild child" ways. Sometimes Keira and I tune out the parents when they are talking to us and we do our own thing. Lucky for us Mom and Dad don't want to spank us so they spray us with water to get our attention. They even bought a special pretty pink water bottle just for us.

We are full of boundless energy, curiosity, mischief and all things puppy X 2!! We sure keep Mom and Dad on their toes. One of Keira's and my favorite games is "Catch Me If You Can!" In this game Keira and I go under the long dining table where the object is to stay out of reach of Mom and Dad's hands. We can see their feet from under the table as they move all around the table try to "catch" us. They are so silly, don't they know their arms aren't long enough to reach us! We play this game when we aren't ready for bedtime.

That's all for now, I have to help sis Keira with her blog. Please don't forget to check out her blog, too, (http://ibrtrixie.blogspot.com). Thanks for your continued interest and support, Cassidy.

Letter from Cassidy aka Gidget

I am so happy in my furever home with my sister! All we want to do is play with each other and are each other's favorite chew toy! My new parents shower my sister and me with hugs and kisses and are always buying us new toys in duplicate (maybe they want to discourage us from chewing on each other). My new mom says I have grown like a weed and look like a stringbean as I am so long and lean. I have had a big growth spurt and now I am longer than my sister and am slightly taller than her. No one calls me "petite little" anything anymore! I now weigh about 35 pounds! My sister is now named Keira which is an Irish girl's name for black or dark and my new name is Cassidy, which is Irish for ingenuously clever.

Thanks for all you did to prepare me for my furever home.

Happy Mother's Day to My Foster Mom!

Wuff,
Cassidy (Gidget)

AREN'T WE THE BEST?

No more nightly crying since night 1. No more crate messes since night 2. Morning wake-up is around 6am (bit more reasonable than 4:30 but whatever it takes). Think the panadur de-wormer caused the cowpies; consistency keeps improving. These little sisters get along very well together. They bark at each other all the time and play together with each other, along side each other and independently of each other which is great as there is hardly any jealousy displayed unless they both want the same lap at the same time.

We are all finding our way into each other's routines. Our (and, hopefully, theirs) favorite routine????? Lap time love snuggles before bedtime!
-Mary

Gidget redecorates

Now that Gidget is safely adopted, we will show and tell ALL:

The night before I am expecting 75 people at my home for a birthday party Gidget decided to redecorate. It was one of those sudden changes where you don't know where to start. Jeff and I just stared at it for 5 minutes to comprehend how to attack the mess. The first foster family did share with us that she did like house plants but she didn't show any interest in them until Friday night. Luckily, Jeff hated that plant. I saw him give Gidget a treat afterward! HMMM!

Alison

Gidget adopted!!

Hello all,

Just wanted to let you know that Jersey Girl/ Trixie and Gidget were adopted today together! They are living the good life in Chicago Heights. The family if very animal friendly their backyard is full of noisy birds,squirrels, chipmunks and bunnies. The have wonderful oak trees in back with huge nests, I saw 3 woodpeckers when I pulled up to their driveway. The wildlife will not know what happened once those pups get off leash. They have a mud puddle in the back yard that they are waiting to dry up before they are allowed off leash. Gidget and Trix were excited to see each other and recognized each other right away and then the playing began! Both pups are about 25 lbs now and are all legs!

Chris and Mary were very excited to have their children in their home! She has been catching up on the pups blogs and I certainly warned her about the 8 floor plants she has in her living room! She caught on Carola! You can post the photo.

Here's a photo of Gidget & Trixie with their new parents. I forgot my camera and had to use my camera phone.

Alison

Puppy Gidget

Gidget is thriving at her foster home.
She's a very sweet girl---but can be full of puppy pranks.
We are hearing rumors of the destruction of a certain house plant....though foster mom suspects that foster daddy put Gidget up to it---as he never liked that thing anyway...supposedly some treats were passed to Gidget, but shhh...that can't be true... a mere rumor I'm sure!

Gidget had her little Girl surgery

Gidget did really well today, the day after her spay she is pretty resilient. She has been lounging around and snuggling with me on the couch. She is chewing on a nyla bone now after eatting a good meal of solid gold millennia kibble and wet food along with a bit of yogurt. Her adopter will be very lucky to have a pup like her.

Smart Gidget

Gidget is simply going to be a smart, loyal and loving keeper! This cutie is the one you have been waiting for!

She is quickly learning to go to the sliding glass door to go outside to do her business. She is trying so hard to get Ella, (my pointer) to play with her, she snaps at the snow and then pushes a piece of ice to her. She can easily entertain herself with plush toys, squeaky toys or the towel to wipe her feet when she comes in from the snow. She is not timid in the least. She does so well at responding to No, she stops immediately and comes over to apologize like a good puppy. She crates at night without incident, she will take a nap after some play with toys and is so content to be with kids and adults to snuggle with for some attention.She is very food modivated and is quickly learning to sit and come. I especially like her after dinner show when she bounces on her empty bowl and flips it over to find more food. She carried it to her pillow and rested her head on it last night after dinner. Gidget belongs with a family who can toss the ball to play fetch, praise her for good behavior and provide a loving forever home.

To Surf...or not to Surf..(the counter that is)...

...what a tough question for a puppy to answer....

Not in Kansas Anymore....

We are not in Kansas anymore!
Petite Gidget has arrived at Camp West with a flurry of activity to go along with the flurries we have flying around.. She is a spunky girl who enjoys all the toys or what she thinks are toys. She plays great with my kids ages 5, 8 and 11. She does respond to a firm No to cease bad behavior.
But she is all puppy, and is curious of all activity. She is not afraid of the vacuum, in fact she walked right up to it when I started it up. She immediately found the dog pillow on the floor and claimed it.
She and Ella (my female pointer) play steal the toy from each other. They have been getting used to each other and for now are ignoring each other. Gidget follows me from room to room and not only loves to play but also enjoys to be picked up for a warm cuddle. She will sleep in your lap if you let her. She isn’t house broken, but I think with the blizzard and the new environment she is a bit confused yet. I believe she will come around.
She stays in her crate at night, she did whimper for a minute but went right off to sleep for the remainder of the night. I am happy to report she didn’t have any accidents in the crate. Like all puppies, she plays with toys then fall asleep for a nap then is ready to play again. She eats like a champ and will need to fill out a bit more. She doesn’t seem to have been abused, she is a friendly tomboy who would love to play fetch with you and lay down for a good afternoon nap. If you are interested in finding out a bit more about Gidget please call IBR or better yet, fill out an application, we have great dogs that would fit right in to your family.

for me