Happy Gotcha Day, Tori

Yep, we’re celebrating another BIG anniversary here at Champion of My Heart. It is one year today that Tori first came home on a “trial basis” (ha ha). Happy Gotcha Day, Tori!

This photo was actually taken a couple of weeks after we adopted Tori, but it remains one of my FAV photos of Tom and his puppy-girl Tori because they both look SO doggone happy.

If you haven’t read the story of Tori’s adoption, check this out!

Tori really has been a remarkably good puppy — just like Clover was.

Happy Gotcha Day Lowlights

Tori did ruin Tom’s laptop by spilling a cup of coffee on the keyboard. She also unraveled part of a brand new floor rug (small one).

Tori is also a bit of an insomniac. She often gets Tom up 1-3 times per night. She honestly does NOT NEED to go outside, even though he takes her. So, we think it’s mostly habit. We’ve tried a number of things. Sometimes we think we finally broke the streak, but it always comes back.

For example, after her spay surgery, when she needed pain meds and crate rest, she slept great, and it continued for a while after the meds were done, but then she started waking us up again.

There are times, though, that she sleeps without bugging us from like 10 pm until 5 am, then she gets into bed and snuggles, which is sweet. Most nights she sleeps in her crate with the door open, but when we are really desperate for SLEEP, we close her crate door … and when we do that, she often will sleep through the night.

Tori also has the worst car-sickness I’ve ever seen in a puppy. We keep hoping she will outgrow it, and we continue to work on it, but so far, no luck.

That’s one reason Tori does not take any dog training classes. Once she finished puppy kindergarten and her level 1 classes, we stopped taking her because she was so miserably sick that she often just flopped on the floor at class. Most of her training has been done at home.

Happy Gotcha Day Highlights

I asked Tom what he considers the highlights of Tori’s first year with us so that I could list them here as part of Happy Gotcha Day celebration. Here is what he said:

Tori makes a GREAT work buddy for Tom. She goes with him out to his “shop” here at home (separate building from the house), and she hangs out with him while he works.

Tori was SUPER-duper sweet to our Old Man Ginko for the 4 months they had together before he died. She kissed him a lot. She was super gentle with him, and she ALWAYS ran to his crate first thing in the morning (with Clover) to check on him.

Tori is the best frisbee-catcher and loves to play throughout the day.

Tori learns things very quickly. She is doing really well with the basic agility training we’ve been doing with her at home in recent weeks. She can already weave 6-12 almost-straight poles.

Tori is an excellent walking / hiking buddy. She took to loose-leash walking MUCH faster (and better) than Clover did. She will pull, if she wants to, but much of the time, she just trots along at a nice speed.

Happy Gotcha Day Health News

And, as I said last week when we celebrated Clover’s Happy Gotcha Day, I’m also happy to report that Tori has been really healthy and has NOT needed the veterinary emergency room at all. Considering how much the puppy-girls race around here and how roughly they play sometimes, I think it’s a good sign that they are well matched.

Is there anything I’ve said here on the blog or on our Facebook Fan Page that stands out as a highlight of Tori’s first year with us? Post a comment and let me know. 

And, in case you missed it, here is Tori’s first birthday video from July.