Mavis will be four months old tomorrow! She has grown so much since I first met her at five weeks old.

Mavis is happy, wild, and curious. She is turning into such a wonderful dog, and has blended into our little zoo so well. Sometimes I forget she’s only four months old, because she seems much older at times. She’s very intelligent, and catches on to training and learning new commands rapidly.

Likes

• Meeting new people
• Chasing Malcolm
• Playing fetch
• Food, especially eggs and oatmeal
• Walks
• Playing with dogs I pet sit
• Cuddling with Lola

Dislikes

• Being held when she doesn’t want to be (still a leftover issue from the attack)
• Having something she’s not supposed to be chewing on taken away

Other Things

• She is doing so well in her puppy classes! Jimmy and I are impressed by how obedient she is. The trainer also said Mavis has therapy dog potential, which makes my heart so happy.
• She has pretty much mastered potty training, and I credit that to being hyper-vigilant and using potty bells.
• Her crate is no longer the enemy! She was never bad about going in, but now she willingly sits in her crate and enjoys the quiet time when we are out of the house.
• She has yet to be professionally groomed, but I am excited to she how she looks with a fresh haircut later this month!
• She is great in vehicles. She will either sit in the passenger seat while I’m driving, or on my lap if Jimmy is driving. She’s quiet and content, which is a relief!
• Her socialization has been going really well. I hunkered down after she was attacked and brought her with me on all of my pet sitting visits and it has helped immensely.

Hard Things

• Sometimes I just really want to pick Mavis up and snuggle her, but she has been very leery of it since her attack. It makes me sad, but we are working on it with lots of treats and help from her trainer.
• Having three pets is not for the faint of heart 😉

Happy Things

• I love training her and seeing her learn.
• She is wonderful off-leash.
• She has a fun, happy-go-lucky personality!

I think that’s everything! Basically, Mavis is a fluffy little ball of fun that has brought a lot of joy to the Zottola household 🙂