Chloe the Wonder-Dalmation
Chloe is our wonderful, if not pesty, Dalmation. We adopted her in Georgia from the Cherokee Animal Shelter when she was 8 weeks old. She quickly wormed her way into our hearts so when we found out she was deaf, she was already part of our small family. We immediately started training her with hand signals (and food!). She picked it up very quickly and is quite adapt. If you'd like to see more of Chloe's puppy pictures, click on Chloe's Puppy Pictures.
Chloe is a very active girl. She loves to run, swim and play! She used to swim so much and so long that she'd be just dragging, barely able to keep her head above the water. But, if we told her to get out, so we could go home, she'd literally pout! She did not want to leave the water. Have you ever seen a dog pout? It is a hilarious sight! We really need to find an area where we can take her swimming here in Texas. She hasn't been swimming since last summer. She's also getting out of shape. Without the huge backyard, like we had in Georgia, she doesn't get to run as much as she used to. We're considering purchasing a dog bike leash. Out neighbors have one and we tried it out with Chloe. It's a long bar with a leash attached that you connect to your bike so they can run along with you and not get in the way of the tires. She seemed to enjoy herself while we tried it out. You could really see why dalmations were used with carriages and the old firetrucks. She trots along with such dignity. Such a beautiful dog! So far, we've been unsuccessful in finding a leash, but when we do, I'll make sure to add some pictures.
With Chloe playing as hard as she does, she's bound to get hurt at some point. Once, in Georgia, she cut herself on something and had to get stitches and a soft cast (to keep from tearing the stitches out). It was such a pitiful sight! At least the emergency vet put a pretty purple heart on the cast.
Chloe has been a good pet for us. She's a smart dog and picks up things quickly. She's active, since she's a dalmation, but as she gets older, she's also calming down. This August, she'll be 3 years old. That's considered an adult for a dalmation.
Chloe has found a new friend! She and Caleb are best buds. Not only has Chloe claimed protector rights over Caleb, but she's so excited that he has reached the age where he can now interact with her. She's also starting to learn what baby food means!
This is an early picture of when Chloe was just getting to know Caleb. I think Caleb was a couple days old at this point.
 |
 |
| Chloe so likes riding in the car, that she decided to wait for the kids to get back to go for a ride in this car! She fell sleep waiting. | Chloe wakes up as I take pictures. We're finally home, but not going for "a ride." |