Penny enjoying Lake Michigan's beach

Finally some news for you on Taffy who's name we have changed to Penny. She gets along with our cat Cleo very well. They have fun chasing each other up and down our stairs. She has been taking walks every morning with me and I'm happy to say she's getting much better about pulling except when a stray cat runs away from her or she sees a squirrel. But I can't really blame her for that. She is still having some difficulty with meeting other dogs. I think she misses the confidence she had when she was running with a pack of dogs rather than being on her own. But we're hopeful that as she bonds with us and gains some confidence as well as having good experiences meeting other dogs, this will get better. She is quite the fierce protector, barking at people who knock on the door and those walking by on the sidewalk (we're trying to discourage that). Penny even went to the community center and played with about 20 kids but she didn't care. She just sits down and lets them pet and cuddle with her. She'll be doing duty at Wednesday night community dinners at the church across the street from us all summer so she should get lots of socialization with children and adults. She'll probably come into contact with some other neighborhood dogs so we're hopeful she'll gain some positive experience and get over her insecurity when meeting other dogs. She has been a great addition to our household. She carries an unstuffed fox all over and has even learned to play frisbee in the backyard. This past weekend, she went on a road trip with us to Saugatuck to visit Chad's parents. We went for a walk in the Saugatuck Dunes State Park and snuck down to the beach. She is definitely a water dog. She was trying to bite the waves. It was very funny. We can't say thank you enough for fostering Penny. She is a delight and keeps us on our toes! Meghann and Chad