Lizzie

This is our new puppy.  Her name is Lizzie June...she is Australian Shepherd and was born on June 11.  She is from a loving home near Nashville and was from a litter of 8 gorgeous puppies born to "Yawanna Be Good" and "Roscoe P. Coltrane."  Haha!  Love those names.  Her name comes from a little girl in a Tinker Bell movie named Lizzy, though we spell it with an "ie" and the June part is to remember our little lost Juneau.

We had thought about keeping the breed origin geographical name like Juneau wasp perfect for a Husky.  Being an Aussie, we first thought we'd name her Sydney, Adelaide or Alice...but either they didn't stick or Molly just could begin to say them.  Lizzie is a name she knows and can say well...plus it suits this sweet little puppy's personality.

Here we are at the home where she was born.

We adopted her from a wonderful family who took such good care of her and began her on her commands and house-training.  She is such a great puppy and they had so much to do with that.  We stayed at their place for about 2 hours, playing with the remaining pups and learning about each one's personality.  When they said that Lizzie or as they called her "Yap" was the mellowest, we knew she was the one for us.  Adopting an Aussie is a commitment to a highly intelligent and energetic dog that needs physical and mental stimulation to grow up happy, healthy and strong.

Daddy dog:  "Roscoe P. Coltrane"

He belongs to friends of the family.  He is a red-tri Aussie.

Momma dog:  "Yawanna Be Good"

Belongs to the family we got her from and we got to meet her too.  She is a merle Aussie.

This is a photo they gave me from a few days before we went to see them.  Lizzie is on the left with her sisters:  Caper and Needah.

Awwwww....Lizzie and Caper in their water bowl.

Here are some more pre-adoption photos the owners were kind enough to give me:

 

Just off the leash and onto her first moments of checking out her new back yard.

Molly gave her a new toy elephant to play with.

Sitting on the cool tiles in the kitchen with her toy dragon, watching us cook.

This is the face of a happy dog!  Her coloring and markings are similar to my Maggie's.  Even though Maggie was a Lhasa mix, Lizzie's temperament really reminds me of her playful intelligence.

I love the way she lays with her back legs out like that.

Laying down to eat.

Love that puppy-head profile!  Adorable.

She had spilled some water to lay down in the coolness.

That look just kills me.  At first glance, her eyes look brown, but they are a shade of olive / hazel / chestnut brownish-green. 

Look at her pretty markings.

Hanging out in the cool grass by the garden. 

When she looks at you....you are really being looked at!  She is already fixated upon all of us and so loyal, following us wherever we go...yet staying out of the way.

This is a happy sweet dog.  On Tuesday, we took her to our vet for a thorough check-up and a few shot boosters.  She'll go back for another round of shots and a routine puppy check-up in a couple weeks.  Our vet remarked that she looks extremely healthy and we should have no worries about her getting sick like Juneau did.  Until she receives her last round of shots, she should stay close to home to ensure her health and safety.  But we do look forward to taking her with us for long walks, bike rides and frisbee tossing in the park.  We already play with her quite a bit in our own back yard and she's getting better about fetching her favorite toy...an old plastic bowl.  She knows the commands for "sit" and "lay down" and we're working on "stay" and "come."  Her housetraining is going very well too and she knows "go potty."  We are also starting leash-training.  What a smart girl.

Lizzie is going to be with us for many long and fun-filled years.