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Some of you know Ida and Snowball (the Floofs)... Last winter I pulled Ida out of classes because her anxiety in the car had gotten to the point where she just had to be sitting in the car, engine off, parked in the garage, and she would start shaking. It was really hard for me lose my only source of face-to-face interaction with other dog people. I did some classes with Snowball, but at 13 (then), I knew his ability to continue in classes would be limited - it was time to start looking for another dog.
I also knew that I wanted a puppy to maximize Snowball's tolerance of adding another dog, and, as much as I loved dogs that I met while working at the shelter, that I couldn't handle the heartbreak of another dog with problems the magnitude of Ida's. So I started looking at breeders.
In the spring, I heard about a repeat pairing that produced a dog crush of mine and decided to put myself on the list ... a week or two later I found out that one of my first IRL dog friends also (and independently) put her name on the list, which was kind of exciting for me. - how fun, someone to go through this with me!
We waited with bated breath, first to see if the breeding took (it did), then to find out where we were in the list (7th & 8th), then to see how many puppies there would be.... and on November 1st, a litter of two lovely girls was whelped. Some how, I have no idea how, most of the people on the wait list dropped out (did they all want boys? bigger puppies? I have no idea), and suddenly my friend and I were 3 & 4 in line, behind one person and the breeder. The breeder decided not to keep a puppy (she has 3 puppies under a year old
right now) and she decided not to sell to the #1 person.
Which meant that my friend and I got the only two puppies in the litter. They flew together in the same kennel, and arrived in Alberta from sunny Texas on one of the coldest days of the winter, sleepy and covered in pee (not unexpected, after a 5 hour flight), but otherwise in good spirits.
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Okay, well, except for the needing a bath from all the aforementioned pee.
She's settled in really well. Ida took to her right away, excited to (finally!) have a playmate.
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Snowball was not quite as convinced about the benefits of a puppy. (He's since come to tolerate her presence).
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After two weeks without a name, we settled on Tessa (nothing like filling out a puppy class registration form to put the pressure on). At 6 lbs and 14 weeks, she is smart, sassy, cute, and cuddly, and kind of a spaz right now, but with flashes of brilliance. I plan to do rally obedience and agility with her, but we'll see where else we end up.
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I also knew that I wanted a puppy to maximize Snowball's tolerance of adding another dog, and, as much as I loved dogs that I met while working at the shelter, that I couldn't handle the heartbreak of another dog with problems the magnitude of Ida's. So I started looking at breeders.
In the spring, I heard about a repeat pairing that produced a dog crush of mine and decided to put myself on the list ... a week or two later I found out that one of my first IRL dog friends also (and independently) put her name on the list, which was kind of exciting for me. - how fun, someone to go through this with me!
We waited with bated breath, first to see if the breeding took (it did), then to find out where we were in the list (7th & 8th), then to see how many puppies there would be.... and on November 1st, a litter of two lovely girls was whelped. Some how, I have no idea how, most of the people on the wait list dropped out (did they all want boys? bigger puppies? I have no idea), and suddenly my friend and I were 3 & 4 in line, behind one person and the breeder. The breeder decided not to keep a puppy (she has 3 puppies under a year old
right now) and she decided not to sell to the #1 person.
Which meant that my friend and I got the only two puppies in the litter. They flew together in the same kennel, and arrived in Alberta from sunny Texas on one of the coldest days of the winter, sleepy and covered in pee (not unexpected, after a 5 hour flight), but otherwise in good spirits.
Okay, well, except for the needing a bath from all the aforementioned pee.
She's settled in really well. Ida took to her right away, excited to (finally!) have a playmate.
Snowball was not quite as convinced about the benefits of a puppy. (He's since come to tolerate her presence).
After two weeks without a name, we settled on Tessa (nothing like filling out a puppy class registration form to put the pressure on). At 6 lbs and 14 weeks, she is smart, sassy, cute, and cuddly, and kind of a spaz right now, but with flashes of brilliance. I plan to do rally obedience and agility with her, but we'll see where else we end up.
