Puppy Jet

Yup, it’s true, Jet is an amazingly wonderful boy. He zooms from room to room in the mornings after I get up… a bundle of energy. My other dogs have learned that mornings are not Mom’s favorite, so they kinda sleep and take a while to get going. Just like me. But Jet gets us up and about quickly and early! And, of course, I can’t resist how cute he is, so I have to play tug with him a bit, after I take him out to go potty.

He is completely house trained. I am so impressed. That’s what you get from a good breeder… instead of Tatum who lived in a yard with 50 other dogs and pooped and peed where she lived. And still now, after having her for two years almost, she will poop inside the house right next to the open dog door. Ugh! Oh well, that’s what tile is for.

I got a kiddie pool yesterday and took Jet out in it, I hope he will like the water! I think so. I am getting him used to the clicker. He came already knowing how to sit, too! So I’m doing basic sits, stands and downs with him with a click and a treat, he thinks that’s great fun.

And since he’s not a human kid, he doesn’t need acne treatment for his teenage years… boy I needed it when I was a teenager!

I’m also throwing a mat out and clicking him for stepping on it… I think he’s starting to get that, too. He is an amazingly smart boy. Before him, Chase was our smartest dog… but Jet might give Chase a run for his money in the brains department.

Jet was 9 pounds 11 ounces at the vet on Monday. And we measured the squiggly guy last night, and estimated he’s about 12″ at the shoulder. I’m thinking he’ll probably grow enough to jump 16″ in agility… but we’ll see!

Is he a doll or what?! I adore him! He is an amazing little boy and he is fitting into our pack just perfectly. Chase and Levi get to stay separate from him for a little while. But so far, so good. Levi walks around grumping and growly but leaves Jet alone, and Chase is leaving Jet alone too. Jet wants to say hi to them but I don’t trust Levi or Chase yet so we are going to be safe and careful.

Lucy, Angel, Tatum and Muffit are great with Jet, as we expected. This video is of Muffit and Jet playing this morning. They are having a great time! So far Muffit is his best buddy. Tatum wants to play but hasn’t quite been playing with him yet. I want to have Jet play with only one dog at a time for a while so he doesn’t get hurt (he’s so little!) and so they learn to play nicely together.

I’m sure I’ll have lots more videos and pictures to share!

Marie and I were up for 22 hours yesterday… we got up at 2:30 am eastern time to get to our 6am flight… which we made perfectly. And we got home at 9pm and I didn’t get to bed until about 11 pm… so that was a long day. And I am done with flying for a while!

Marie also brought a wonderful little sheltie girl home! She’s from Tampa, the Himark sheltie kennel, and we got to play with her and have her wonderful company too!

Chasing Jet around will make it so that I won’t need any best weight loss supplements for a while! He sure is a chewer, and very active! I love him! He’s absolutely perfect, he has no flaws.. he is the perfect puppy. Today and tomorrow he gets to stay home, then he gets to start going out and experiencing the US!

Tug!

I haven’t been thinking about it too much because I’m just too excited to be going to pick up my new puppy! We leave on Sunday and head to Tampa as our first stop. We’ll be checking out some Sheltie Puppies there and see if any are cute enough to take home too (lol okay we know they will be cute enough!). But it may not work out for my friend Marie but we’ll see how it goes.

Then we go and get Jet! I’m still leaning toward the name Jet and I’ve been calling him that even though he’s not around us yet. I am so excited to get a small dog, a dog with an excellent start, and a Danish Swedish Farmdog! He is going to love all the things we’ll do together! This picture is of him playing tug with another dog of the breeder’s pack. I love that he’s playing tug and I hope he will like to play with me so I can use it as a reward for training. It’s so nice when you can use tug as a reward!

So anyway, I don’t know if I’ll blog again before I go or not… but I’ll be posting to Facebook while I’m gone from my phone, so if you know me there you can follow me!

So hopefully I won’t need any cheap life insurance for this trip…. and it’ll all go well and the flights will be safe and secure and it’ll be a quick jaunt from here to there and back again. I will be back by next Tuesday evening, the 14th, with my new pup!

Socializing!

I love all my dogs. I have two purebred collies I bought from breeders, Lucy and Levi, and I have four rescue dogs, Angel, Chase, Tatum and Muffit. Of all my dogs Chase has the most potential to go far in the dog sports I love. I am certain he can get a UD in obedience as soon as I start training him up. But none of my other dogs would be capable of it. Levi maybe would have been, if he’d had the right training as a puppy. Lucy had too many physical problems, though fortunately not mesothelioma. Tatum, Angel and Muffit are wonderful dogs but I don’t think will be able to really go far in dog sports.

Even getting a pet dog that is well socialized is very important. The first weeks of their lives puppies need to experience lots of people and things. If they miss out on this, they will have harder times when they are older.

So three weeks from today I’ll be on a plane to pick up my new puppy! Isn’t he sporting a gorgeous blue collar! And he is getting an amazing, wonderful, perfect start, thanks to his breeder.  I don’t think even Lucy or Levi had great starts from their breeders.  So I am going to love having a well bred and well socialized puppy to work with and love!

Because although I love doing the dog sports, the dogs are more my kids and my family and I love them to peices. That’s why the dogs that don’t do dog sports… I don’t love them any less.

Angel on the Couch

Since we are getting a new puppy in the house, we have to clean up. And yeah… our pack is pretty spoiled. We have this couch upstairs that is Tatum’s nest. And it looks worse now than this picture shows. She’s got some really nice depressions made in the cushions now.

Well we don’t want a puppy to learn how to chew up couches for fun! So this thing is going to the dump tomorrow. The worst part is I have to empty all the dog crates out of the minivan to put the couch in. But oh well, I guess the van is due for a vacuuming anyway. So maybe I’ll take it to the car wash on the way home.

I also want to organize all the power cords so the puppy will be safe. I’m going to follow the Ian Dunbar books, Before You Get Your Puppy, and After You Get Your Puppy. I haven’t had a puppy in ten years! Wow I can’t believe it’s been that long. So I’ve been reading up and refreshing myself on how best to house train a puppy and set him up for success so he learns to potty outside and only chews up his toys. But ya know how it goes, we have a dog’s house, and things get chewed, and we don’t get mad.

Maybe I’ll take this old Bob stroller to the dump too, and I’m going to take an old cat tower as well to empty out the house. Yay! I love getting rid of junk!

I think I’m starting to feel better.. maybe just a teeny tiny bit. But I went to the doc last Wednesday and I might have Candida. I read about Candida in the Whole Dog Journal a year or so ago, I didn’t even consider that I might have it! I’ll tell ya though, my sugar cravings have been huge lately, I’m not supposed to eat sugar as it feeds the yeast!

Puppy!

Cute Puppy!

Playing!

So on the way to get him, my friend and I might stop for some Orlando vacations or maybe Tampa instead… lol. But if all goes well, this perfect little boy should come to live with us the middle of July!

It’s a boy, and I’m thinking of naming him Jet. I have wanted a small dog for quite some time. And if you ask me the breed, I won’t be telling… at least for a couple of weeks. LOL. I apologize, this is just kinda a teaser huh! But I don’t want anything to go wrong, or to jinx things, and so I’m just trying not to get too excited (boy that’s hard!). Once all the plans are set in stone and the flight is scheduled, then I hope to post some pictures and more information. I have a whole list of things I want to do with a puppy!

And I’ve been feeling awful. I am going to the new doctor in one week. I feel like I have an infection in my neck, or that something is in my neck, that is poisoning the rest of my body. But I’m hanging in there, taking it easy, and trying to take things slow and take care of myself. Maybe a new dress or tuxedo shirt would be good to buy… to pamper myself. I love new clothes!

I plan on taking Chase to an AKC agility trial this weekend. I am going because a couple of my friends are going. I am not really doing AKC with Chase anymore. The courses are too tight for me and he’s so fast. But I’d love to get his Open JWW title, he only needs one more leg, so wish us luck!

Oh and just a note… no hassling me about having too many dogs is allowed. =P All my dogs are very well taken care of, get top of the line medical care, the best food on the market, and plenty of exercise and attention. So if you are tempted to criticize me about the number of dogs I have, just put a sock in it I don’t have the patience and will probably delete your comment since this is my blog! Bhahaaa.