Friday, January 30, 2009

Tomorrow...




Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

I love you tomorrow...
You're only a day away!
~From Annie, the Musical

Okay, yes I admit it. I'm so excited that I'm actually quoting Annie! LOL! We are in the long haul. All I have to do is get through what I expect will be one long day in my Senior Kindergarten class and then come home, eat and sleep and then it will be "P day" (Puppy Day!). I might end up going to bed at 8 pm, just to make it come by faster!

How did we prepare for this puppy?

Well we watched a puppy video on training.
I've read two books on puppies.
we've read through some websites.
I bought two doggie blankets for the crate.
We have a new crate and doggie food container (She will be on different food than Terky).
I have a new collar and leash.
We have two tags printed with her info for said collar.
I've bought a doggie journal (yes, I'm THAT sad) that is ridiculously like a baby book.

John and I have talked quite a bit about the new puppy and Maggie. There are a few things that we'd like to do with the new puppy that we feel we could have done better with Maggie. Don't get me wrong, Mags was an awesome dog but there is always some room for improvement. I'd like to do more obedience with her for instance. I would love to possibly train her enough that I could take her for hospital visits should I be inclined since I live about 2 blocks from the hospital. We'd like her to do more obedience. We'd like to do more tricks with her. We'd like to watch her weight a little more and teach her a little more doggie manners when it comes to food and mooching.

This opens a mixed bag of feelings getting a new puppy too. I honestly feel that I will have to keep reminding myself (and John) not to compare her with Maggie. She won't be Maggie no matter what we do. We will have to have some hard times. Puppy training is more than likely not going to be so easy peasy as it was with Maggie. I just hope for three things: that she's spunky, that she's loving and that she's smart. Much like the three wishes that parents have for their kids! LOL!

Tonight, we will wrap up some loose ends - me, I'm going to do typical things like clean the house, straighten....so that Saturday and Sunday I can just completely bond with the puppy. Today John will install a puppy gate in our foyer and he will need to walk over and purchase her food at the neighbourhood pet store. I hope he will do some laundry too so that I can put it away tonight and not spend my usual Sunday doing it. I want to devote myself completely to little Bella. Then tonight we will drop Terk off at Auntie Maria's where she will be sleeping tonight so that tomorrow we can hit the ground running....

Wish us good luck for a great first day!

Dawn

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Little Purple Hope




In my head, I call her the little purple hope because that is her in the purple collar, snoozing along aside her Mom and littermates. She is happiness in a furry package. When I had Chinese food the other night, I took a fortune cookie and said "This one's for Bella". Inside it said the phrase "Good things come in small packages". Let's hope that is true in this furry instance.

I thought I would start this blog as a fun little hobby. Partly to keep a record of her days from puppyhood to golden retriever adulthood. Partly for my own interest and for those of our family that might be curious in her development. Honestly, it's definitely for my Sister-in-law who I know will spoil her as she does her other furry nieces, for my Mother and Mother-in-Law who I know will just be interested in hearing what's new with our furry wonder.

So this is the beginning of Bella's Blog. For the rest of you, it probably won't be interesting but all are welcome to see our transition bringing a new puppy into our already furry-crazed household. Hoping she will get along with the rest of the brood quite nicely - a border collie named Terk, a crazy cat named Callie and of course, our Honey Bunny.

We will pick her up on Saturday probably noonish and bring her home to introduce her in neutral territory (Maria's backyard) so that the two dogs can meet and greet. Then Bella will come home as part of the pack to our house.

And so, the countdown begins!

Dawn