Day 1 with Ms. Zoe
Sorry for the total lack of info yesterday. It was a long day and I was exhausted. The Girlie and I drove over 3 hours to pick up Her Littleness and I had had a bad night's sleep the night before, so I was a tad grumpy. We got to the meeting place on time, but the puppy bus was over an hour late (the generator had broken down the night before so they needed to fix it). On top of that, there was a pretty good storm rolling through. Have you ever been trapped in a car with an 8 year old overly excited about getting a puppy when you just haven't slept enough? Poor Girlie with the cranky Mom.
They got there and the 30 or so of us adopting dogs all huddled under 2 small awnings. I didn't fit and got soaked. Oh well. We grabbed Zoe (Dorie) and let her poke around in the rain. She didn't mind it at all, and in fact was very playful and curious. She seems pretty adaptable which is great. It took us a while to get home because the storm was moving north with us. By the time we got to the house, the storm was right overhead--thunder, lighting, torrential rain, the works. It was special. Again, didn't bother the furry kid.
We brought her in the barn (it's attached to our house) to run around and meet CaseyJones. I would have preferred to have them meet and play outside, but as it was, Casey was drooling like crazy from the storm. He was not too happy about the new kid. He was tolerant and curious, but didn't really engage too much. I can't blame him though, it was a stressful half hour. The storm was right overhead and loud. Normally, he doesn't mind storms at all, but this one had him on edge, so I didn't push things. We let Zoe run around the barn and she had an accident, but given I wasn't planning on taking her out in that weather, it was fine. Plus, it was in the barn. We had some fun playing with her and then I brought her in to hang out and eat in her puppy condo (an exercise pen with water, her crate, and some toys). It was outside time once more and then it was time to settle in for the night. I slept on the livingroom couch and brought her crate in with me, and she did pretty well. I took her out right before 11 and then we went to sleep. She slept all night and only whined a little in the beginning. So, we had a good first night.
This morning we were up around 6 this morning and I took the 2 furries outside for their morning pee and play. Casey was tolerant again and Zoe loves her big brother. She watched him and chased after him and tried to keep up. It was painfully cute. He tried to ignore her, but she wasn't having any of it. She definitely has confidence to spare, but knows to back off when her big brother tells her to. He did a good job teaching her. I took more pictures this morning of the two of them having their post breakfast playtime outside. You can see them here. They are very cute.
I've already started keeping her on a schedule so that she learns to be quiet. Right now we are in the living room and she is in her condo in the dining room having a nap and/or chewing on her toys. I want Casey to have as much normal time as possible so he learns that she brings more games of fetch in his life when he plays with her. I'm also trying to cut down on the potential distruction--she's definitely teething. She tries to chew everything at least once. So far though, I like her. She's feisty, but not obnoxious and she seems to know how to settle and let me handle her and hold her so she is on her back in my arms. She's a good kid. And she seems pretty smart. I gave her a Kong kibble ball yesterday and once I showed her how to get the food out, this morning she was doing it all by herself. I'm going to start training her tonight and hopefully by the time we go to puppy kindergarten in a couple of weeks, she'll be the envy of the class. ;)
And that is about it for our first 24 hours or so. Oh, and it looks like we also have a cat. There's a black neighborhood cat who has been hanging out more on our property than anywhere else. It won't let me near it so that I can tell if it's a boy or girl, but it meows at me pretty regularly. I often wonder what our conversations are about, but he's not bothering us and he seems like he's taking good care of himself, so I'm good with it. I have no desire to keep him, but he can hang if he wants. i don't think he'll be amused with the new kid either. He and Casey can hold meetings. ;)
They got there and the 30 or so of us adopting dogs all huddled under 2 small awnings. I didn't fit and got soaked. Oh well. We grabbed Zoe (Dorie) and let her poke around in the rain. She didn't mind it at all, and in fact was very playful and curious. She seems pretty adaptable which is great. It took us a while to get home because the storm was moving north with us. By the time we got to the house, the storm was right overhead--thunder, lighting, torrential rain, the works. It was special. Again, didn't bother the furry kid.
We brought her in the barn (it's attached to our house) to run around and meet CaseyJones. I would have preferred to have them meet and play outside, but as it was, Casey was drooling like crazy from the storm. He was not too happy about the new kid. He was tolerant and curious, but didn't really engage too much. I can't blame him though, it was a stressful half hour. The storm was right overhead and loud. Normally, he doesn't mind storms at all, but this one had him on edge, so I didn't push things. We let Zoe run around the barn and she had an accident, but given I wasn't planning on taking her out in that weather, it was fine. Plus, it was in the barn. We had some fun playing with her and then I brought her in to hang out and eat in her puppy condo (an exercise pen with water, her crate, and some toys). It was outside time once more and then it was time to settle in for the night. I slept on the livingroom couch and brought her crate in with me, and she did pretty well. I took her out right before 11 and then we went to sleep. She slept all night and only whined a little in the beginning. So, we had a good first night.
This morning we were up around 6 this morning and I took the 2 furries outside for their morning pee and play. Casey was tolerant again and Zoe loves her big brother. She watched him and chased after him and tried to keep up. It was painfully cute. He tried to ignore her, but she wasn't having any of it. She definitely has confidence to spare, but knows to back off when her big brother tells her to. He did a good job teaching her. I took more pictures this morning of the two of them having their post breakfast playtime outside. You can see them here. They are very cute.
I've already started keeping her on a schedule so that she learns to be quiet. Right now we are in the living room and she is in her condo in the dining room having a nap and/or chewing on her toys. I want Casey to have as much normal time as possible so he learns that she brings more games of fetch in his life when he plays with her. I'm also trying to cut down on the potential distruction--she's definitely teething. She tries to chew everything at least once. So far though, I like her. She's feisty, but not obnoxious and she seems to know how to settle and let me handle her and hold her so she is on her back in my arms. She's a good kid. And she seems pretty smart. I gave her a Kong kibble ball yesterday and once I showed her how to get the food out, this morning she was doing it all by herself. I'm going to start training her tonight and hopefully by the time we go to puppy kindergarten in a couple of weeks, she'll be the envy of the class. ;)
And that is about it for our first 24 hours or so. Oh, and it looks like we also have a cat. There's a black neighborhood cat who has been hanging out more on our property than anywhere else. It won't let me near it so that I can tell if it's a boy or girl, but it meows at me pretty regularly. I often wonder what our conversations are about, but he's not bothering us and he seems like he's taking good care of himself, so I'm good with it. I have no desire to keep him, but he can hang if he wants. i don't think he'll be amused with the new kid either. He and Casey can hold meetings. ;)