Friday through Sunday
We've been packing in as many new experiences as time and tummy would allow. Had to back off one day when she had very loose stools, but she recovered quickly. I think the stress of the move finally caught up with her. Since then she is back to herself, being the little stinker I love and adore.
On Friday, she went with me all day. She met lots of new people at TOPS, expanding her fan base by about 20 people. One woman had carried out some sheets of Styrofoam and sat them down to meet her. A minute later a breeze caught the sheets and they skittered toward Gimme, who dived under my car to safety. I was pleased that she came back out within a few seconds, without any coaxing, going right up to bark at the sheets. She got to walk on several new surfaces while there - including a manhole cover and pea gravel. She was not phased at all by the huge noisy air exchange unit that turned on just as we walked by - she stopped, looked at it and then walked right up to it to check it out.
After TOPS we went for an off leash romp in a safe area at the back of St. Martin's College athletic fields. We climbed around together on some dirt piles and I discovered she is part Mountain Goat. She enjoyed the romp, but I'm certain she thinks the wetness of long morning grass is less than enjoyable. On the way back toward the car, but before I put her leash on her, I saw a family of three coming toward us. Gimme was watching them and then all the sudden ran up to the man and was pawing at him to be picked up. He was about the same size, build, coloring and dressed in clothes that could easily have been Bernie's (her Daddy from Colorado). I could definitely tell when she realized it wasn't him, she turned and walked away like he'd never been there, then came running to me to be comforted. Poor little munchkin.
The rest of the day she did well in the car and with my comings and goings. We went to visit friends that have two nice dogs, but Gimme wasn't sure about that assessment. April, a very large IG (could pass for a whippet), while gentle is a persistent butt sniffer and Gimme didn't like that at all. We changed and brought out Maggie, a young mini poodle. After a few minutes Gimme would play with her, but only if she could do the chasing. She also met 4 five-year-olds. Overall she was pretty good with them and they got a good lesson on appropriate handling.
At first I was a little surprised at Gimme being uncomfortable with dogs, but on thinking about it, it makes sense. Her interactions with dogs have been mostly Uncle Jordi, who is calm and gentle. He doesn't follow puppies, they follow him and he only checks butts that are near him. Then she gets to my house and on a day when her world was already upended learns that not every dog loves her. I'm sure we'll get it back - she's too confident by nature to be put off for long.
In the evening we had a play session and she invented a new game. I was sitting on the floor barefoot with my legs in a "V". It wasn't very long before she focused on my toes and bit down hard and got an "ouch" squeal. She only bit hard two times, before learning to bite softer. As she would go after a foot, I'd pull it in, hiding the foot under the knee of the other leg. Then she would turn and go after the other foot, so the first foot slides out so I can put the second one under its knee. She went back and forth like that, probably 50 times. She was doing some very cute twist and spin athletics - meanwhile I was getting a lot of knee and thigh exercise that I wasn't aware of -- until the next day.
Later, after we'd stopped the toe game, she was running back and forth as I'd throw her toy and on one trip, as she galumphed by, she reached out and gently bit my big toe, on the run. Then ran to the toy, turned back at me and just gave me a very self-satisfied eye-twinkling look. There's no doubt she knew she'd pulled a fast one and was quite proud of herself. As amused as I was, I was also proud of her for the bite inhibition even while running. 
Since this was the day of the loose stools, we went home after a couple quick errands and vegged out watching dumb movies all day.
On Sunday, after church we went here and there, doing errands. We met friends at Home Depot during another chariot ride. I could tell she has pretty much bounced back, since she spent the whole time, trying to climb out of her chariot (well except when she was busy getting treats from adoring fans). She was quite interested in seeing other dogs, watching them intently to make sure they didn't misbehave in her store. When we got outside, she met Henry, a Papillion. She liked him, since he is calm and not pushy. She would have played with him but there was no place to do so safely. She was not as impressed with Gunner, who barked at her.
I'm really impressed by how she reacts to potentially scary stuff. If she does react with a startle, she bounces right back. I'll work on getting her some experiences with nice dogs so she can play and have fun. We have a trial next weekend, so there should be some nice dogs there she can interact with.
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