Confession time. We have been enjoying our time with Stevie Wonder so much that we have been forgetting to talk and write about her as an adoptable foster dog — we’ve almost been pretending she’s our own dog.

But she’s not ours. In fact, she could be yours! We’ve been doing our best to guiltily keep her a secret from the dog-seeking world, but in reality, we’re surprised that there haven’t been any applications for her yet. She is so very adoptable.

Stevie is not only an amazing swimmer, a great writer, and an ace at playing fetch, but the girl also loves to breakdance!

Seriously, she could not be any sweeter. She is super engaging, knows exactly how to get you to pay attention to her adorable antics, and is always up for a game of chase or a playful wrestle on the couch. She is an absolute delight in the house — great manners, knows the rules, and just wants to curl up at your feet with a good book.

And she’s not bad to look at, either. That gorgeous, shiny brindle coat is perfect for blending in with your landscaping and not leaving visible fur on your dark pants, and those doe eyes . . . well, they can make your heart melt.

She is great with children and adults alike, and also loves other dogs. As a bonus, she has a great squirrel radar and will be sure to keep you safe from those evil intruders, and is very brave in deathing sticks outdoors. If you’ve got a stick problem, Stevie is the girl to take care of it.

So what are you waiting for? You’ve been wanting to adopt a perfect dog, right? Or you have a friend who has? Here’s your opportunity. It won’t last long.

For more info on adopting Stevie Wonder, click here or contact us at DCpetographer [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hey guys, it’s me! Stevie Wonder!

Well Mom went off this weekend to visit her friend Vicktory dog Handsome Dan’s family in Rhode Island, and left me at home all by myself with Mister Chick and my dad. Mom was kinda worried that I would be real sad with her gone, but I was fine! I was very fine!

Dad and I had lots of fun. For example of the fun we had, we played with with my toys:

We also did lots of walking and cuddling. Remember recently when I didn’t want to go walking with dad unless mom was there too? Well that is soooooooooo in the past. Now I love taking dad for walks — and my dog walker too — and I don’t even whine or lay down or look back a whole bunch to see if mom is coming. I’m like a walking machine!

I also taught him how to power-wash a deck. He had never done it before, and I had lots of experience. I normally power-wash with my tongue (so does Mister Chick), but dad had some kind of fancy contraption that sprays water and goes “Hissssssss!”

And last but not least, we did plenty of partying, cause Dad and I both love to party!

PS- mom is thinking about telling you guys about her visit with Handsome Dan and his foster siblings in tomorrow’s post. Whaddya think? Do you want to hear about that, or would you rather just keep hearing about glorious me? Don’t worry about hurting my feelings, and don’t worry about missing me too much: I will be here on the W-day no matter what!

Poor Stevie. Doesn’t it seem like every post lately starts with those words? The girl is such a trooper, but she is really hating her e-collar and her restricted exercise routine. I posted a little while back about her great indoor-outdoor personality, but that personality has been slightly challenged by the killer combo of her youth and the doctor’s orders.

It’s not much longer, that Stevie is in spayed dog detention and not allowed to go on runs or chase sticks; we just need to pull through for another week or so. And so, we’re trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

And so, we find ourselves in situations like these: One of us walks into her room to let her out of her crate, and she starts practically bouncing with joy. Her tail is wagging her whole body, and she is so excited that she is letting out little squeaks and whimpers of joy. Her crate is trembling with anticipation. We open the crate — after she sits, of course — and then the true joyful fury is unleashed. Stevie starts bucking like a little bronco, spinning like a top, jumping like a jackrabbit, and panting like . . . panting like . . . like an overexcited dog who has just been let out of her crate.

At this point I should confess: I’m not much of a dog trainer. We do teach basic manners and occasionally a trick, but we will probably never have dogs who can do a whole host of tricks to wow a crowd. Our specialty? Teaching a dog to just be. And yet, Stevie’s condition gave us a gift that we couldn’t resist exploiting. What does the girl do when she’s too excited to contain herself? She turns right. Never left. And so, naturally, we started trying to teach her to put it on cue.

Let’s just say that with all the pent-up energy from no exercise for two weeks, it’s A LOT more of a right-turning-tornado-meets-rodeo than a trick, but still. Pretty cute. If only we could bottle that enthusiasm . . .

Well friends, it’s confirmed. Stevie Wonder has officially gone off the deep end.

Since her spay a week ago we have been working hard to keep her calm. Working. HARD.  Sure, we take her for little walks and give her dog puzzles to solve, but the girl’s attention span is only so long. She is generally a pretty active dog, so she has developed a serious case of restless leg syndrome (foster dad refers to it as “the jimmy legs”). She can regularly be found flopped over onto her back, kicking all four of her legs up into the air like a baby deer, head flailing side to side like a catfish. Initially, we were charmed by it. Who wouldn’t be charmed by it? It’s darn cute. The trouble is — and we figured this out quickly — it’s probably not good for the healing process, since it looks like it puts considerable pressure on her abs. So reluctantly, we’ve had to ask her to stop doing it.

So what has Girl Genius done? Found other ways to entertain herself, of course. We offer you this proof.

In case it’s not clear to you (and it is not clear at all so don’t feel bad), here is a rundown of what Stevie did. First, she pulled the plastic under-bed storage container out from under the bed in her room. She stuck it in that corner there. Next, she grabbed the woven alpaca rug that foster dad’s sister brought him from Peru years ago, and moved it over to the corner too. Then, she pulled the rug on top of the plastic container, like a tablecloth. Or a bedsheet. Then, she triumphantly climbed atop her throne and had herself a little sit.

Needless to say, we are impressed. A little nervous that she is plotting to take over the world, but impressed just the same. And we’ve been feeding her extra tasty treats for good measure — after all, if she does take control, we want to be on her good side.

Yesterday you probably asked yourself — what is that gorgeous yellow collar that Stevie-girl is wearing? And that handmade tag, with all its hammered goodness — you want one of your own. Am I right?

Oh wait — what’s that? You didn’t notice? Well don’t worry friends, here’s another look at Stevie in her new outfit. Stunning, right?

Over the past few days, she has had a virtual makeover. Not only did she have a manicure (done by mom), but she got a brand new, handmade collar from Sirius Republic, and a new handmade tag from Poochy Couture.

She feels like a lucky girl, and like the envy of the whole neighborhood. And with an outfit like this, can you blame her?

Can you even stand the cuteness?

Sirius collars are handmade using cotton fabric (many, many patterns to choose from), nylon webbing for strength, and sturdy metal hardware. The fabric is protected with a stain repellant so they can stay clean and fresh longer and get cleaned easily. Stevie’s is a 1.5″ collar, but there are different widths for different dogs. Poochy Couture tags come in different shapes, sizes, and colors too, but are all handcrafted and stamped with love. We are thrilled with both new pieces!

A number of our friends also have handmade tags and several also have Sirius Republic collars, including beautiful Great Dane Darwin, and charming fellow pitties Miss M and Mr B.

Thanks for the beautiful wares, Sirius and Poochy. You’ve made Stevie Wonder feel like the pampered superstar that she deserves to be!

It’s been five days since Stevie was spayed, and she’s ready to party. Unfortunately, the Doc said she’s not allowed yet.

So this is where she’d like to be:

And this is where she is:

She’s only restricted for another few days, but I promised her I’d ask: any tips on how to keep our poor Stevie Wonder busy and tired, without letting her run and frolick and play?

Hey guys, it’s me! Stevie Wonder!

I’m still pretty drowsy and icky from my spay surgery yesterday, but I promised I would tell you about my swimming on the vacation I took my foster parents on over July 4 weekend, so here I am! If you missed the first part of our adventure, you can read about it here.

So. The swimming. Mom and dad weren’t so sure that I would be a good swimmer and I know I can get a little scared in new places, so they thought it would be best if I had a swimming jacket to keep me nice and cozy and safe. I think they were worried about me trying to jump out of the boat when it started to go vroom vroom and drive fast as the wind, but I just wanted to lay on the bottom wrapped around mom’s legs. That’s the safest place to be, after all. Anyhow, I love my swimming jacket! I can swim without it too, but I’m so skinny that sometimes my back half kind of sinks, and it makes it a lot harder. So I just kept it on!

First I started out by just deathing some sticks on shore. They seemed very threatening and I wanted to keep my mom and dad safe, since they are so nice and they don’t seem to understand the danger of sticks. Here’s a picture of me deathing one. Death to stick!!

But then my dad — he’s so silly — picked up another dangerous stick! I was so worried that he was going to get bitten by it, so I knew that I had to death that one too. Here I am trying to death the one that he was holding, silly dad:

So THEN, things got even crazier. Dad took the rogue stick, and threw it straight into the water! I couldn’t believe it! So what was a girl to do? I had to go get the stick and death it once and for all, so that it couldn’t hurt me or my people. And so without any hesitation, like the brave hero that I am, I bounded into the water after the stick, like this:

Well it sure was risky going out into that water after the stick, but it payed off. Turns out the stick didn’t want to hurt us after all, it just wanted to play! And it also turns out that I am a most bodacious swimmer! Here’s a video of me swimming:

After I took a little catnap I got to swim again, only this time, a tennis ball was playing with me. I gotta tell you, that tennis ball sure can fly, but once it gets into the water it is SO lazy. I caught it every time. It’s almost like it didn’t even try to get away!

And after all that swimming and swimming and swimming, I was dog-gone pooped!

So now you know the whole story!

Poor Stevie Wonder endured a major rite of passage yesterday, and became an unreproductive citizen of dog society. She went under the knife at our wonderful new vet’s office for her spay surgery. As of today, Stevie is no longer a part of the cycle of pet overpopulation. Dr. Vergheese said that she had a “very large uterus,” which we didn’t quite know what to make of at first. Do you say “thank you”? Or is another response more appropriate?

Upon talking with him more, we learned that she had had at least one litter of puppies, probably when she was very young. We will never know what happened to our little Stevie-girl’s babies, but we do know that from now on, she is no longer a contributor. She is too woeful to be proud of herself and will never really understand that anything even changed. But we can be proud. And we are. We wrote last fall about why spay/neuter is a no-brainer, so we will spare you the details today, but if you are curious about our thoughts, click here.

Fosterdad brought Stevie-girl home from the vet with the gentle, nurturing touch that makes me fall in love with him again every time I witness it. I came home and found them cuddled up on the bed in Stevie’s room, Ben serenading Stevie on the guitar. He sang her favorite Slaid Cleaves songs, and I could tell that she was content.

Hey guys, it’s me! Stevie Wonder!

I just had the best weekend with my foster people!

Since they’re so nice and all and they feed me good food and take me for walks and let me chew on their nylabones and throw the ball for me as much as I want, I thought I should give them a real treat for the long weekend. So I took them on a weekend getaway to Smith Mountain Lake, near Blacksburg, VA! I knew they would love it because they like swimming and taking naps and drinking beer, and I know that lakes are good places to do all those things.

You may be wondering: what did we do out there at Smith Mountain Lake all weekend? Well, many of you smarty-pantses already guessed that I got myself all tuckered out by swimming. Which is true. I sure did swim and swim and swim.

But you know what else? I did lots of other stuff too.

I had many epic battles with sticks, in which I deathed them all:

I also did plenty of maxin’ and relaxin’ on the dock:

I got to go fishing– well, sort of. Friends, settle an argument for my mom and dad: does it count as fishing if I catch the fish in the water and bring it ashore, but the fish was already dead when I caught it? Cause I did that. And then I rolled in it!

I got to spend some quality time with the babes:

And the dudes:

I partied pretty hard one day on the boat:

And I even had some time to practice my breakdancing moves:

So you see? I had plenty of reasons to be tuckered out after my vacation, not just the swimming. But I bet you still want to hear about my swimming anyway, right? Don’t worry, I will make mom type to you about it later this week!

Wait, WHAT? You still haven’t “liked” us on facebook? Well how are you gonna get timely updates on how my spay went today, along with lots of extra cute photos and other fun stuff? Hop on over there, buddy!

What did Stevie Wonder do this weekend that made her this tired?

Send your best guesses, and we’ll reveal her midsummer adventures tomorrow!