Well, since Quinoa has been with me now for almost a month I figure I should probably finally introduce her to the blog. And what better way to do that than on her 4 Month Day. Well, OK. she turned 4 months on Monday but because I went out of town for Labor Day weekend I didn’t see her until late in the evening on Monday and because life is life, I waited until today.
Quinoa, a black lab, at 4 months old
So here are 4 Things about Quinoa that you should know now that she’s 4 months old.
- Quinoa is spunky, willful, and stubborn. These can all either be good or bad qualities to work with, but when it comes to Quinoa they are fun and endearing. She isn’t too much of any of the three and that perfect little mix makes for a pretty solid dog
- Quinoa is fearless. OK, maybe she isn’t “fearless”. I have seen her become cautious around to separate things, but they were both things that I would probably be a little cautious around too. She isn’t noise or object reactive which is so nice. And a little bit of caution is good in a guide dog. Otherwise the team may get eaten by a hungry mountain lion! (Sorry inside joke.)
- Quinoa likes her sleep. Seriously, I wake up super early in the morning to walk Hilly about 2 miles and I was really worried that when I had to wake Quinoa up she would not want to go back into her kennel and would cry and cry and cry. The exact opposite happens. When she was a little younger I had to almost drag her from bed, make her go potty so I wouldn’t have an accident while we were gone, and then she gratefully and sleepily wandered back into her kennel all the while looking at me like I was nuts to be awake so early. I think once she hits five months I may not have to disturb her beauty sleep to make her pee since she should be able to hold it until 7am by that age. It’s really, really nice to have such a mellow yet confident puppy.
- Quinoa is happy. I’m so used to my female black labs being smart, intense girls…but Quinoa is a little dopey. She isn’t nearly has smart as Hilly who is miles away from Freya in terms of intelligence (Heck, I’m probably miles away from Freya). It’s such a strange change for me to have a dopey black lab. I’m not saying I don’t like it, just that it took me a while to figure out what was different.
Quinoa, a black lab, at 4 months old
That’s pretty much Quinoa in a nutshell. I’m really enjoying this little girl. Seriously, her nickname is Teeny Quini. She’s pretty darn small. I think she’ll get a little bigger than Hilly who stands at 21 in. from foot to shoulder, 41 in. from nose to tail, and weighs a whopping 52lbs (for those of you who don’t know, that’s very small) but I’m not sure if she’ll get much bigger than that. She is, so far, a really nice puppy and really fun to raise.
Quinoa, a black lab, at 4 months old
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