Five things you should know about Inca - #1

 Inca LOVES people. Sure, he'll go over and wag at my cat and sniff her, and he really enjoys playing with his foster sisters, but this baby boy is a people dog through and through.

The awesome thing about Inca though is that he isn't pushy with strangers. He walks along, wagging his tail like the happy boy he is, and he'll sniff people as they pass by but for the most part he keeps on walking.

As soon as someone gives him a sign of wanting to say hello though, that changes! Make kissy noises at him, talk to him in a high pitched voice, say "Hi buddy!" and invite him over and you'll get a super sweet puppy squirming his way over for some love.

Usually the way he approaches is partially crouched to the ground, tail low and wagging slowly, but as he gains confidence he's approaching people more upright and quickly. However he remains a very polite boy who will warmly take any attention and try and convince you to give him a belly rub.

Taking the Bravern by storm!

I work at the Bravern in Bellevue, which is a pair of 2 skyscrapers in downtown Bravern. It encompasses a city block and has lots of other shops in it. The dogs come to work and stay in the car deep down in underground parking. At lunch time they get to go for walks!

The Bravern has no grass, but it does have planted boxes that extend all the way around.

At first I was a little concerned about whether Inca would be ok going potty in these boxes instead of in the grass, but he took right to it!

He is such an easy going little guy. He enjoys sniffing among the planted boxes and doing a drive-by sniffs of people who walk by us.

I talk to him a lot as we move along to let him know when I'd like to him move with me or to get his attention. I always get the cutest expressions from him as he looks to see what I want!

  

Of course sometimes he wants to know exactly what I'm doing with that camera and comes over to ask "hey, whatcha doing?"

I got tutored!!

Inca had a big day yesterday - he got neutered! He did very well. When I picked him up at the vet he was very sleepy but wagged his tail when he saw me. I picked him up and a young boy asked to pet him. I said he could pet Inca on his shoulder if he was gentle, and he gave him very soft pets with the back of his hand - very sweet! Inca just hung there - probably too tired to react very much, but he seemed happy to be held so I hope he also enjoyed the pets.

Here he is in the car immediately afterwards - suprisingly alert.

 However as soon as the car started moving he konked right out - poor little soul!

He came with an Elizabethan Collar but those are pretty unfriendly to dogs so once we got home I switched him to an inflatable collar that dogs seem to tolerate much better since it doesn't impede their sight.

He is on kennel rest for at least a few days to give his body some time to heal without him jumping around or running. He is not a fan of this nonsense though and so likes to give tremedous groans in his kennel to tell me just how unfair it is that he is kenneled and his foster sisters are out.

He did get a small reprieve though - while I made dinner in the kitchen he was leashed to a doorknob so he could stand there and watch me and stretch his legs a little.

Sappho, Queen of the Crates in our house, decided that since Inca can't appreciate the majesty of a crate, she will relax in it!

Life will be back to normal for Inca soon though. The above picture was taken Sunday night prior to his surgery - he just loves to cuddle! You don't even have to do anything....just remain still and he will do all the work!

Inca attends flyball practice!

We had a busy Sunday, which began with Inca having breakfast in bed! After breakfast we headed to flyball, and Inca hung out in a kennel for practice. He got to come out several times though and meet the team and get lots of love from everyone. Lots of compliments on how sweet and adorable he is!

We had plans to go the rat terrier meetup but decided not to since neither Inca or Sappho enjoy being out in the rain, and unless she is chasing a ball Maya isn't either! Instead we went to Edmonds All The Best where they were having a greyhound adoption event. Inca wasn't thrilled with the greyhounds (they were so big!!) but he handled it wonderfully by keeping his distance and ignoring them. He met the staff of ATB and one guy in particular took a shine to him. Inca spent about 10 minutes sitting on the counter curled up in his arms and soaking up the love!

Once we returned home Inca, still surely recovering from his time in the shelter and the long drive up here, crashed pretty hard. He has discovered that he can get on the couch and so he has already picked a favorite spot.

Sappho meanwhile decided that after flyball she still had some energy, and decided to waller in one of the beds and allow me to get some pictures of her ridiculousness!

This afternoon we finished sodding the backyard (what a dirty, tiring job!!) and it is one step closer to being finished. The girls and Inca hung out in the backyard, and Inca started learning the "wait" command when the gate was opened. He is a quick study and would look at me with bright eyes and a wagging tail.

Double dachshunds!

Inca arrived today and already is fast friends with Sappho. We arrived home and he got a bath (which he tolerated but didn't enjoy!) and then outside to meet his foster sisters.

He met Maya first, who after 30 seconds said "meh," ignored him and went to find a tennis ball. Sappho came out afterwards and 45 minutes of play bows, chases, and sniffs ensued! He and Sappho are amazingly similar - more than once I saw one and had to think for a second to identify if it was Inca or Sappho. Inca is larger than Sappho but the same height - longer in back though! He has more dachshund in him than Sappho does, but he definitely has some rattie in him as well!

A case of mistaken identity!

Meet Inca, a 1.5 - 2 year old rattie from a California shelter. When we first heard about Inca we received a couple pictures and a general description - "1.5-2 years old, small, female, friendly, good with dogs." Well, that is about all the info we need to know Inca had to get out and up to Washington for a New Rattitude!

Yesterday, two days before I am due to pick up Inca we get quite the suprise. Inca, a charming stubby legged little lady who already reminds me of my own dog, Sappho, turns out to be a little boy! The shelter card had him down as a female, and he was in the kennel with other female dogs. I just cross my fingers no one in that pen was in heat since Inca is still intact!

It sure didn't take long for the adventure to start, did it? Finding out he's a little boy is just fine with me though - now my husband won't be *quite* so outnumbered as he was before!