Finna | June 2024

Welcome PADS Finna to the Okanagan region! Finna needed a new raiser, and I needed another puppy, so the kind folks at PADS Burnaby brought her to me on June 20th and took my previous PADS puppy back with them. I’ve never taken on a 10-month-old puppy, as they are usually 8 weeks old, so this was different. It was nice that she was already house-trained, had excellent house manners, and slept quietly in her kennel. But her life here in slow-moving Salmon Arm will be a LOT different than living in busy Vancouver, where she rode the bus every day to work, chilled in a classroom or under a desk, and attended the symphony.

She had to get to know us and our cat, so we took it slow the first few days. And to top it off, she was in the last few days of her heat, so she might’ve not been quite herself.

At first, she was not taking her treats very gently, so after a few rounds of “slow cookie” feeding, she got the knack of it. And talk about excitement at mealtime, where she jumps straight up into the air like a kangaroo when she sees the bowl coming, (another task we’ll have to work on). And then, after setting the bowl down, and the required wait, she tries to devour it all in one gulp! Nope, sorry, that will not do. Now she’ll get her meals in my 12-slot muffin tin, which is working out much better.

And she’s a talker! When I ask her to sit, she does, but when I ask her to stand, she “talks”. Like she’s protesting, it’s not a bark, and it’s the cutest thing. After 8 pups, I’ve never had a talking pup before.

On the weekend, we took the ferry to Nakusp and went van camping along Arrow Lake with our kids, grandson and their pup. The next day, we stopped at Burton City Cider and then camped a 2nd night at Box Lake. Finna fit right into camping life and got along well with our family, including our grand pup, Jeff.

Finna took over from my previous PADS pup and came with me to the local elementary school to read one-on-one with the kids. She settled well on the floor in the library as the kids read to her. She was calm and fit in quite well at school, hopefully, we can do it again in the fall when classes resume.

At the end of the month, Finna went to her first Okanagan Puppy class, which was held outdoors at a local park in Kelowna. She got to meet PADS pups Drax, DK, Rosa, Rufous and her brother Finian at class, where we practised dog distraction drills. Finna’s mother Elfin, was also raised here in the Okanagan, so it’s nice to have her two pups from her last litter re-united once again. I’m sure they recognized each other, and they wanted to play but we couldn’t since they were in cape, in class.

It was a good first ten days with Finna. She’s a very sweet girl, and I feel she is a good fit with our family.

Submitted by: Chris Buitinga