Our first vet appointment

Fleas! Our poor baby has fleas. This explains all the itching, though I'm kind of baffled because she already had a flea treatment before we adopted her, and each treatment is supposed to last a month (and it's only been 2.5 weeks). So... what gives? We gave her another heartworm/flea pill, and we'll give her another bath today (perhaps we'll take pictures this time?), and we need to wash all of our linens and such. And hopefully that'll help.

Otherwise she seems to be the picture of health! She weighs just under 15 lbs and is about 11, maybe 12 weeks old (says the vet). We picked a birthday for her: April 8, 2012 (4/8/12). Hooray! Hard to believe that when she was born we were still living in Boston and hadn't even started packing yet. We got so lucky with her!

She's SO smart, by the way. She has mastered sit, like I said, but she's also pretty much mastered paw and down -- but only when the motivation is good enough, mind you. No treats, or pretend-treats-but-your-fist-is-really-empty? No tricks. But that's okay: she's still a baby, and as she gets older and has an attention span longer than a few seconds, she'll keep getting better and better at all these commands.

Well, the weather here is perfect today (72 and not a cloud in the sky!), so we're off to the beach. More beach pictures of Nyxa? Yes, please! Coming soon.

Sit! Stay!

So happy together

Hello! And sorry for the delay in posting.

Getting a few minutes to spare to do anything that is not Nyxa-related is a challenge these days. Nyxa is about 12 weeks old now, and she is a handful! She's also a really smart dog (I know I'm biased, but still) -- she has already mastered sit, and we're working on down, stay, paw, come, and heel -- though certainly not all at once. Oh, we've also been trying hard to teach her the command off, for when she's jumping up on the furniture and we want her to get down (because down is for lying down, and we don't want to confuse her). She's a fast learner when we can keep her attention for more than two seconds (ah, the puppy attention span!). I'm hopeful that puppy training school should be a breeze.

She's the sweetest, cuddliest dog! She gets along with everyone -- infants, toddlers, teenagers, adults, old people, dogs of all sizes, probably cats (though right now she's a little afraid of them). And she's so friendly. She is basically the perfect dog, is what I'm trying to say. 

Exhibits A and B will show you how snuggly she is:

See? I don't lie. She just loves to crawl right into our laps and fall asleep. It's soo cute -- and she still has her puppy fur, so she's all warm and soft and fluffy and smells like puppy. :) But she's also teething, and sometimes she's like a little piranha (exhibit C):

We'll be glad when that part of the puppy stage is over. (She actually tore our roommate's dress! Said roommate was understandably furious and sort of hates our puppy now--and maybe us.)

It's been fun to watch her grow up over the days, too. At first, any chew toys with squeakers in them were terrifying to her. Then she grew curious about them, but she still couldn't figure out how to make them squeak on her own. Now most of them don't even squeak anymore, because she figured out how to bite them to make them squeak (and thus punctured most of them with her sharp piranha teeth). All that happened in the span of 36 hours or so, mind you, but it was still highly entertaining to watch.

It's also adorable to watch her fall over randomly because she hasn't quite figured out how to walk, and watching her chase her tail is endlessly entertaining. I know we'll miss these things so much!

Her ears are really floppy, and when they flop up she looks kind of like a bat, so sometimes I call her Nyxa Bat. Exhibit D, for more squealy adorableness:

Can you tell that she's asleep in that picture? She falls asleep in the funniest, most awkward positions. :)

It's only been about a week and a half, and we already love her to death (and it feels like we've had her for months)! She has her first veterinary appointment this afternoon -- we, her parents, are excited.

Things we will surely miss:

• How sweet and cuddly she is right when she wakes up.
• How sweet and cuddly she is when she's tired.
• The way she struggles to keep her eyes open when she's tired and then inevitably fails.
• The way she falls asleep in awkward positions.
• The way we can move, talk, laugh, and bang around while she's sleeping without waking her.
• How small she is.
• The way she bounds around when she gets excited.
• The way she pounces on her toys (or on us) when she's playing.
• The way she gets easily distracted and fascinated by evvverything.
• The way she pounces on leaves and sticks like they're her mortal enemies.
• The way cats and ants confuse her.
• The way her whole body wags when she sees anyone for the first time in 5 or so minutes. (Hopefully this won't go away when she gets older!)
• The way everyone wants to meet her, from little kids to our elderly neighbors.
• The way everyone oohs and ahhs over how adorable she is.
• The way people exclaim over "what big paws she has!"
• The way she snores when she sleeps
• The way she twitches and barks in her sleep when she's dreaming
• The way she walks (awkwardly, like a puppy)
• The way she falls over randomly
• That puppy smell, and that puppy breath

Things we won't miss:

• Being woken up in the middle of the night because she has to pee.
• Having to take her out every hour or so to pee (or else she pees inside).
• Cleaning up after her when she goes to the bathroom inside.
• Her sharp piranha teeth.
• Her chewing on everything in sight, including our roommates' possessions.
• The way she gets easily distracted during walks and refuses to move.
• The way she sits in the middle of walks and refuses to move.
• Having to watch her every second of every day to make sure she's not getting into trouble.

Overall? These are the happiest days of our lives. :) :) :)

Our bundle of puppyjoy

On Saturday, we brought home the sweetest, cuddliest puppy in the world! Meet Nyxa, named after the Greek goddess Nyx, goddess of the night.

Choosing a name for the puppy

This decision feels all-important, defining, terrifying. I imagine the feeling is similar when choosing a name for a baby, though perhaps more daunting because it lasts longer (the name, I mean -- though probably also the feeling, come to think of it).

The guidebooks have some helpful guidelines:

1. Choose a name that is only one or two syllables long
2. Make sure it doesn't sound like a command or commonly used word (e.g., Flo sounds like "No")
3. But don't make it too complicated (e.g., Snuffleupagus)

But after that point you're kind of on your own. What to choose??

We started by coming up with names from our favorite TV shows, movies, books, and songs. But then we realized that 75% of the names we'd come up with were male names... they wouldn't suit our sweet little girl puppy. So now we're down to a couple of finalists... ackkk.

Well, I guess we have eight hours in the car to look forward to. By this time tomorrow we'll have a puppy in the car with us and will hopefully have decided on a name. Stay tuned!

(Puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy...)

Puppy-proofing

Last night we made a feeble attempt to puppy-proof the house. We taped and coiled electrical cords, covered up empty electrical sockets (hey, you never know if she'll try to lick one!), and sprayed some bitter spray (pictured on left -- click to enlarge) on the legs of furniture we don't want her chewing on. Tonight we leave to head puppy-ward! Three hours north, then a rest overnight, then another hour tomorrow to Connecticut to pick her up. Then it's a four hour drive back -- and then playtime!


My thoughts right now:
Puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy puppy

I'm just a teensy bit excited..

Preparation for a new puppy

It's starting to feel really real. We got the paperwork from Adopt A Lab, scheduled the pickup, and bought TONS of puppy supplies. Our bundle of puppyjoy will be here in just a few days! For anyone who's wondering what you may need for a new puppy, here's a handy list of everything we bought:

1. A crate. There are two different types of crates. If you're going to be traveling with your dog (putting her on a plane, for instance), you'll want to use this kind:
   
   but if you're planning to use the crate mostly at home, this kind is better (it lets her see out more so she doesn't feel like she's being punished):
   
   
2. Food. Your new puppy will need something to eat! If possible, find out what food she's already eating (from wherever you're getting her from, whether it's a breeder or shelter, etc.) and get the exact same one. You can transition her later to something else if you want, but you don't want to change her diet suddenly. In our case, we bought Eagle Pack Puppy Formula, which is what Adopt A Lab feeds their puppies.
   
3. A food container. This isn't strictly necessary, but it'll keep the food fresh, plus it'll keep your puppy and bugs from getting into the open food bag.
   
4. A collar. Your new puppy might come with a collar, but she might not -- and anyway, you'll probably want to get her a stronger one for when she starts to grow. If you're getting a larger breed like we are, you'll want to get one that can grow so that you don't have to buy a new collar every month.
   
5. A leash. Nowadays they make these fancy collars with two hand loops in them for ease of training your dog to heel. Brilliant! For your first leash, don't get one of those retractable ones. Those can come later, if/when your dog is trained and isn't too strong to break one of those. More important is a sturdy leather one.
   
   
6. Food dishes. The kind you'll want to get will depend on the breed. For small breeds, any cutesy thing you see will be fine. For larger breeds, like our puppy, you're going to end up needing heavier bowls anyway, so you might as well get the good stuff to begin with. These stainless steel bowls are a failsafe for any dog and any owner. They will last the dog's entire lifetime -- it's a worthwhile investment.
   
7. Toys! We got our puppy a variety of toys so that she can have some soft things to tear apart but also some stronger things that'll last years without falling apart. Some toys will help your puppy's teeth by preventing placque and making their gums stronger, so make sure you get at least one of those, even if you can't afford (or don't see the need for) other store-bought toys.
   
8. A brush. For puppies, you'll want to get one with soft or rubber bristles so they don't hurt your puppy's sensitive skin.
   
   
9. Cleaning supplies. Not sure these really need to be explained...
   
   
   

Those are all the bare essentials, I think. Later on you can worry about things like dog toothbrushes and ear drops and shampoo -- or you can get them ahead of time like I did if you really want to strain your bank account balance. PHEW. I'm exhausted just thinking about all the work we've already done for this puppy. It'll all be worth it once she's here!

Did I miss any essentials? Do you disagree with my assertions? Let me know in the comments!

Excitement

I love her so much already, and I haven't even met her.

I couldn't sleep last night. So many plans running through my head! So much excitement! Things to do before we get her, things to buy, puppy-proofing, training, etc. Ahh!

I spent hours last night online trying to find the best deals on puppy products. PetEdge.com seemed to have the best deals, so I ended up getting a bunch of stuff from them. Any recommendations, anyone? It was certainly cheaper than PetSmart. (Speaking of, we need to go there tonight to buy the things I couldn't find online, like specific puppy brushes, the right crate, stuff like that.)

I just got the confirmation email! I can't wait. Now to decide on a name...

The puppy!

Okay, I don't want to get TOO excited in case it doesn't work out. But really, I can't help myself. Look at that face!!! I just want to cuddle her and squeal and love her for ever and ever. We'll be changing her name, by the way. I'll post about that next.

 

Consulting the Internet

I tried some Google searches last night and then got frustrated and decided to check Facebook. Lo and behold, there was a post from a former coworker about Adopt a Lab, a Lab rescue program she used to get her dog 5 or so years ago.

I checked the site, not expecting to find anything great, but right away I saw a puppy! An ADORABLE puppy. A 9-week-old puppy. A black lab. Be still, my beating heart!

I emailed an application right away and got an automated response saying it would first be a few days before I'd hear back.

Deep breaths.

Then I spent all day today anxiously checking my email every few seconds to see if they'd responded yet. I know, I know. I couldn't help it! Finally, I got a generic-sounding email with a woman's phone number, and I called her right away.

She picked up and said the puppy was still available and they'd accepted my application. I NEARLY JUMPED OUT OF MY SKIN IN EXCITEMENT. This was really happening!!! Mike and I talked it over and decided it was a great deal: $400 for the puppy, which includes getting her spayed, 3 vaccinations, a free first veterinary visit, and the beginning of a heartworm-prevention program. And they have a 2-3 week trial period, so if it doesn't work out for any reason, they'll take the puppy back and either give you a full refund or help match you with a different puppy.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying not to burst from how excited I am. We're going to pick her up this weekend! By this time next week, we'll have a puppy of our very own. :) :) :) :) :)

Breeders

We started by researching which breeders were located in New Jersey that met our specifications.

• We want a medium or large breed -- small dogs need not apply.
• We don't want a massive dog. I'm pretty small, myself.
• We want a healthy, kid-friendly, non-aggressive dog, preferably no older than 6 months, ideally 8-12 weeks.
• We will not, under any circumstances, support puppy mills or puppy auctions.

Right away I found a dozen breeders of Labradors, Golden Retrievers, and various mixes like Cockapoos. Success!

I'll admit I'm biased toward Labs and Goldens, so I started with those. I found a couple of really great options. One was a breeder of a rare creme color of Goldens. Stunning, beautiful dogs! I was most excited about that one. Another was a breeder of Labs. Both websites detailed the way the breeders care for the dogs, ensure no familial disease, raise the pups in their own homes, etc. I filled out a couple of application forms and waited.

Within hours, the Golden breeder contacted me. Exciting! He was really nice over the phone, very helpful, lots of interesting info, etc. He had one female puppy left of the beautiful creme variety. The catch? $4000. Now, I know prices have gone up since we got Champ back in the day, but really? $4000? He told me he also had a few puppies, both female and male, from another set of dogs, and because these dogs are the standard golden color, the puppies would be $3000. A bargain! (sarcasm) I said we'd have to think about it, and think we did.

On the one hand, that seems like a LOT. We knew we were going to have to pay a lot for the puppy up front, but we thought most of the cost would be in buying a crate, food, treats, toys, leashes, collars, etc. Maybe training classes. But not just the puppy! Yowza.

On the other hand, if the dog lives to be 15 or 16, like the breeder asserted, that's only a few hundred dollars per year to pay for what will become your best friend. That's not bad. And this guy offers phone call advice over the whole lifetime of the dog, no cancer at all, a long lifetime, healthy, pedigree, etc etc. So, maybe it's worth it?

In the meantime, the Lab breeder got back to me. No puppies right now, not for a while. Well.

I called a family friend who adopted his Yellow Lab from a breeder about 8 years ago, and he nearly choked when I told him the price. He suggested we look at breeders in other states, and either take a road trip to get a cheaper puppy or have it sent on a plane to us. That seemed reasonable -- and anyway, we didn't want to rush into a $3000 puppy.

Back to the drawing board.

Finding a puppy

Here's how I thought the puppy-finding process would go:

• Step 1: Research where the local animal shelters are in the area.
• Step 2: Visit said shelters.
• Step 3: Play with a number of different puppies, find one we like, begin adoption process.

Instead, it's gone more like:

• Step 1: Research where the local animal shelters are in the area.
• Step 2: Navigate through varying hours of operation, trying to visit as many shelters in one go as possible (because it turns out they're all [but one] 30+ minutes away).
• Step 3: Discover that not a single shelter carries puppies. The youngest dogs are 1.5 years old.
• Step 4: Observe the horrible conditions of the shelters. Dogs kept in sparse cages the size of a closet (a generously sized closet, but still), barking and wagging and desperately, desperately trying to get our attention. Deal with awkwardly manipulative-yet-judgmental shelter workers. They try to be helpful, but they end up coming across as pressuring and condescending.
• Step 5: Okay, maybe getting an adult dog isn't a terrible idea: take a few of the younger dogs out, try to get to know them. Watch them be so excited just to be out of their cage, they completely ignore us.
• Step 6: Observe that most of the dogs are not good around kids -- a deal breaker, since Mike has a 9-year-old sister.
• Step 7: Ask the shelter workers if they ever get puppies. Accept the "no"s with grace. Drive away.

So we thought to ourselves, well okay. We wanted to rescue a dog from a shelter, but the ones around here are all no-kill shelters anyway (which is GREAT), and we didn't see any dogs we fell in love with. We figure our possible next options are:

1. Check out local breeders. Reputable, AKC-certified ones (NOT puppy mills). They'll have puppies!
2. Visit shelters in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, about an hour and a half's drive in each direction to each city. See if they have a bigger selection.
3. Check the local classifieds. Anyone selling or giving away puppies?
4. Consult the Internet. The Internet knows all.

I have to say, I was really surprised how difficult this process turned out to be. Aren't there hundreds, maybe thousands, of dogs (both puppies and adults) that need rescuing? Where are they? Maybe we just need to expand our search into nearby states (or even far-away ones).

Introductions

Hello, world!

I've decided to start this blog as a way to document our experiences with getting a puppy. We've been living on the east coast and are leaving to start a new adventure on the west coast in 6 or so months, but we didn't think that was a reason to wait for the puppy. After all, we've been saving and waiting for years (impatiently, on my part), and the house we're in now is the perfect environment for training a puppy.

Here are some details about us for background and context.
Me: Jennifer, an editor working from home, mid-20s
Him: Mike, a computer programmer working from home, mid-20s

I grew up with a yellow lab named Champ. He was the best, smartest, funniest dog in the world. He had more personality than most people I know. I'll surely post more on him later. Mike, on the other hand, has never had a pet. Ever. He's cautiously optimistic.

We've just moved to a tiny beach town at the very southern tip of New Jersey, a house with a huge back yard and multiple large rooms (this is still amazing after years of living in a one-bedroom apartment in Boston). And, because we're both working from home and the (as-yet-imaginary) puppy will never need to be left alone, we figured now was as good a time as any. Or, more specifically, I can't/won't wait any longer. We've been responsibly waiting til we had the space and the means to support a dog, and now that we're at that point, I don't want to wait any longer. YAY, PUPPY!

So, I hope you'll enjoy reading about our adventures in puppy finding, raising, training, loving, and learning. We're sure to discover challenges along the way, and I won't hesitate to get advice from more-experienced dog owners, so please feel free to chime in with advice. Thanks for reading!

Jennifer