Dogs Welcome

I am not a lifelong dog-lover.  My dad was bitten by a German Shepherd when I was a kid and I was scared of dogs until about five years ago.

Now that I have one, I try to balance how much we think she's the greatest with how to teach her to interact with a public who may or may not like dogs.

This weekend we had two great dog experiences - one was when we went to Picco's for pizza.  We sat outside and after the server brought our waters, he asked if Lucy wanted a glass of water too.  (Of course she did!)

Then yesterday we went to the Apple Store.  I sat outside with Lucy while Web went to get a replacement set of headphones.  The store manager came up to him to let him know that Lucy was more than welcome to come in - they were dog-friendly. 

More on Lucy

Lucy's growing fast.  She is over 5 lbs now, 25% increase from when we got her.  She went to the vet and got some shots and the vet says everything else about her is very healthy!! 

We don't want to forget the cute things she does as a puppy.  Like she is not heavy enough to create friction on our hardwood floors - so she slips out when she tries to sit still.  And she likes to drink from a Dixie cup in the bathroom.  And loves to hang out at the foot of our bed. 

Lucy's growing!

Lucy is growing quickly!  She can go on a long walk now (1 mile today!), and responds to Sit along with Come and Lucy.  She is pretty good with the housebreaking unless Mom and Dad mess up her schedule.  She seems to like her crate more and more, although she doesn't ever walk into it herself.  Last night when we came home from dinner we heard her howling, but we think it's just because she heard us talking outside the bedroom window.

Lucy is still very happy to play with anyone who stops to talk to her, kids and grownups.  She is friends with Lola, the Frenchie next door, and Scout - her cavapoo cousin who visited this weekend.  Also Tess, the lab on the corner.  Even the biggest dogs don't scare her. 

Tomorrow Jen the dog walker comes to take Lucy out for the first time.

Lucy Has Arrived!

Lucy has come home!  She is adorable and friendly.  She is also a handful and a lot of work.   She came home Saturday, so it's been about 5 days.

Here's what we know so far:

We made a mistake with her crate the first night by not showing it to her and not putting it in our bedroom.   She doesn't mind going in now but still cries if someone leaves the room.  We have not left her alone yet.  When she is in the crate, she presses her body up against the grate in the front - I think about it as her trying to go through a pasta machine! 

When she sleeps, she dreams, or at least she twitches and moves a lot.

Lucy likes carrots and not dog treats.  Maybe she is reading Michael Pollan!

Lucy is a biter - we need to learn to train her better on that.

Lucy knows where to pee, most of the time.  We take her out often and she uses the little garden in front of our house.

What she does not know is where to poo - that is still something we are working on.

She went from barely eating and drinking to doing just fine with both now. 

Sometimes she likes to go for a walk, but it take a million hours because she stops to talk to every person who goes by.  She isn't too interested in other dogs - yet.  She is ok around toddlers who want to play pretty rough.

When she hears a noise, she stops moving and 'points', lifting one of her front paws and sitting entirely straight up.  She hates buses and airplanes because they are very loud.

Almost Ready!

We are almost ready for Lucy to come home!  I can't believe it is this Saturday.

We heard from Lydia that Lucy asked to go out to pee today - we are such proud parents!  She also learned how to walk up and down the stairs first in her litter.  Today she had her first set of vaccines and flea/tick prevention.  Apparently all the puppies did great at the vet. 

We have a crate all ready for her along with lots of balls and toys and blankets and a gate so she doesn't get confused with our spiral staircase. 

Trip to Pick our Puppy!

Sheryl and I visited the breeder, Lydia, yesterday to pick our puppy.  She lives in Great Barrington, NH.  It is about 1.5 hrs from Boston.  We ended up running late, after stopping by the Saab dealership, but Lydia was nice about it.

Surprisingly I was really nervous on the drive up.  I guess the "pressure" of making a bad decision was getting to me.  Sheryl reminded me how much research we had done and how many great things we have heard about ALL the cockapoos we have heard about.  Talking about it and being reminded of this eased my fears but I was still tightly wound.

Turns out she is pregnant.  Lydia that is.  This means that Lydia and Keebler were pregnant at the same time!  Keebler had lost a few pounds and was back to the fetching grind.  She was a little confused by our arrival at first but throwing the ball a few times assuaged her concerns.

There were 4 girls and 3 boys.  Three of the girls were blonde and one was black.  Going in...our leading picks were Lotus and Porsche.  Sheryl loved the photo of Lotus standing in the food and she seemed a good personality fit for us.  Friendly and social.  Porsche was bigger and a little more introspective it seemed.  We thought we might like that too.

I felt bad for the boys because we were really focused on the girls.  It was tough at first to figure out who was who.  They were a big ball of puppy squirming around one another.  By the time we figured out who they were...Lotus had figured out who we were.  She ran right over to Sheryl!  Then she came to visit me too.  But she really liked Sheryl!

I guess Lydia really liked Bentley and Joe really liked Audi.  Bentley was cute but a boy.  Audi was the alpha and we weren't looking for that kind of edge.  Porsche was a fair blonde but a bit reserved for my liking.  Lotus was cute and very social.  Mini was on the smaller side and thus not on our short list.  That sums up the girls.

We picked Lotus.  Or as Sheryl would say...Lotus picked us!  She was friendly, affectionate, curious, and cute.  She came right over to us and we really liked that.  She passed every little test we could do with picking up, nuzzling, cuddling, petting, etc.  She was relaxed and good natured throughout.  We both agreed on her and are psyched to bring her home!

But I will say...they were all cute!  And none of them "failed" any of our tests!  Some were more curious or affectionate than others...and size and gender definitely factored in for us...but they were all sweet!  I think anyone of them could have been a great addition for us.

Lucy Lotus Pilcher comes home in early May.  Between now and then we will need to figure out crates, collars, leashes, etc. as well as puppy classes and all that.  Plenty to do!  But plenty of time.  And it feels like Christmas!  I am so excited!

Choosing Lucy

Today we went up to Lydia's house to meet all the puppies and choose the one who will come home with us in May. While they were all sweet and personable, Lotus came right up to us to poke around, cuddle, and then check out the lawn. She's strawberry blond with white patches on her face and a pink nose. We can't wait for her to come home. I couldn't believe how small she is - probably could fit in one of my sneakers with room to spare. Probably will make it easier for me to adjust to having a dog since she's so tiny right now.

Another family was there deciding between Audi and Mini ... and we heard that there are 3 other people already choosing a puppy from this litter. I'm sure they will all find great homes - they are really lovable.