6 months of Kirby!

Kirby's mom here-


Well yesterday was Kirby's 6 month anniversary! I can't believe I have had him for 6 months already. I can't believe what we have accomplished and the new roads we will be going down. So I thought I would share with you 6 things you may not know yet about Kirby:


1. Kirby has hair that will stick up! The hair on his back is somewhat coarse and the hair on his head is very soft, but I can get it all to stick up. He totally hates this so it is pretty much impossible for me to get a picture of it, but believe me it's cute!


2. Kirby's nose is changing colors. When I first got him it was completely black, and now it has been going to an off beigey brown type color. Not sure why, but it's changing.


3. Kirby loves men! Kirby absolutely loves my dad and will just do anything to get by him to get petted. Kirby also loves some of the guy neighbors in our neighborhood and literally turns into a sap with them.


4. Kirby loves fluff ball dogs. Kirby is dog reactive, but so far every fluff ball dog (shih tzu type) we have run into he has been very good with.


5. Kirby is fond of my Boyd's bears. I have stuffed Boyd's bears that I have collected over the years and they now have been relocated to higher shelves on the bookcases. He doesn't chew on them, just likes to relocate them. Apparently he thinks they look better in my kitchen and bedroom!


6. Kirby is a chewer. I have him well supplied with Nylabones and chewie type toys. I have probably fixed about 5 other toys and thrown out more than that! But the only thing of mine he has chewed is a door frame (not bad huh?).


Well there you go! I also thought I would share with you some of the first pics of Kirby I took at the shelter and then show you some others that are my favorites.


First I thought I would share a little history on how I found Kirby. I found Kirby at Harbor Humane Society. I was on vacation, the week after Memorial Day, so that Tuesday I thought it was time I start looking for a dog. I had to put my dog Max down in March, and terribly missed having a dog in my house. I walked in and started looking. I knew I wanted a small or medium sized dog. I looked at all the dogs, went by the small dogs and all but one was barking and jumping like crazy in their cages. The quiet one was Kirby (his shelter name was "Bay"). He just sat there watching me. I glanced at him because he was adorable reminding me of Benji, but was concerned because he wasn't barking, I wondered was he deaf? So I continued to look around and then went back to the small dogs. I looked again at Kirby and he sat there wagging his tail. I took him out and visited with him. He was very calm but happy too. I decided that he was the dog for me. Not too hyper, nice energy level and all around a nice dog. I brought my family in one day to meet him and he did great even with my 2 year old nephew. I had to wait until the following week to get him, because he was brought in as a stray and they had to wait 7 days until they adopted him out. So, I had to wait till that Saturday in case someone claimed him. I went there everyday that week and visited with him. On about the third day when I went to put him back in his cage, he cried, then I cried. Waiting was torture, for both of us. On that Saturday, he was officially mine! I came in and bathed him, because that Monday he would be neutered and I would have to wait a couple weeks before I could get him groomed.

In the picture below, you can see how skinny he was. Kirby was only 12 pounds when I brought him home. He is now 18 pounds!Notice his crooked ear in the picture below. We found out later that Kirby had double ear infections. Poor little guy, but was always happy to see me anyways. He even endured the bath I gave him at the shelter. I didn't know then that he had an ear infection.




Now, here are pictures of Kirby in his new life. Laying on his favorite couch:

Playing with toys!
All this picture says is, "awww....."


PPPbbbblllllltttt!!!!!

The picture below is his ruggedly handsome look, he prefers saying it's his "watch out squirrels, I AM HERE!" look.



The pics below are my absolute favorites of Kirby, along with the one in the opening of his blog.
Hope you enjoyed learning more about Kirby. Kirby has taught me so much about himself and myself. I have had to read books, watch videos and talk to trainers, something I didn't have to do with Max, but I am amazed at what I have learned. I have heard you don't get the dog you want, you get the dog you need. I think Kirby would say, you don't get the owner you want, you get the one that will make you the best dog you can be!


Thankful for Kirby,
Kirby's mom