She's here! We're both over-stimulated, confused, dirty, and dog-tired, but she's safely ensconced in her brand new home.
As a recap for the day, Dani & I went to Mankato and got to the breeder's at 9:30am, stayed there for over 2 hours, loaded Zada into the back of Dani's SUVie, ate lunch at BW3s with Kristen and Ike, then went to a big pet store down there to buy her dog food and a crate to fit her (she's bigger than when I last saw her!)...THEN we got on the road to come back to the cities; stopping at PetCo (for a new collar, another leash, and her nametag), Target (tennis balls & a rug for under her dishes), then the liquor store (that was Dani's stop :) and FINALLY on home. We didn't pull up to my garage until 5pm.
Zada had never ridden in a car before; good thing she was crated because somewhere around Jordan she threw up in there...poor thing. It wasn't a lot, just some grass and some treats. One other area of life she's never experienced: a collar or a leash. THAT was interesting. Almost lost her in the parking lot of the Mankato pet store - Ike & Kristen wanted to see her and she about popped her collar off and made a bolt for it. Super.
Hence, the new collar, which is a choker, but seeing as how it's that or she runs off, I'm going to opt for safety. She's getting used to it - since she has to be tied out on a zip-line in my yard, she's finding that battling a non-yielding cord isn't lucrative to anything.
She's a quick learner, so that's good. Found out she doesn't like other dogs - the breeder had told me that, but I had no idea to what extent until Tom brought Mack out to meet her. Granted, he was excited and barking, which isn't the calm state I was hoping for...she started barking and lungeing at the end of the line (I was holding it like a leash) and if you weren't looking, you'd think it was a full-grown shepherd attacking someone. She is SERIOUS about not wanting other dogs near her.
We finally got over that, and they started playing like champs. He's teaching her how to go down stairs - going up, she's cocky and gallops right up; coming down is another matter. She whines and pleads and then comes down paw over paw, griping the whole way.
Everything's new, and she's taking it all in pretty calmly...the mirror on my closet door puzzled her for a few minutes:
(She thought there was another dog behind it)
We've already had one accident in the house - and by "we," I mean her - and I caught her in the act, so HOPEFULLY that'll leave an impression. You're "supposed" to catch them at it, scold them by picking 'em up by the scruff & shaking them (like a mother dog would do) while saying "NO!", all the while carrying them outside, where you place them on the ground and they finish while you praise them.
Yeah.
Didn't happen - her finishing, I mean. So, we'll see. Baby steps.
Speaking of babies, this one's pretty wiped out - I took this just now and she didn't FLINCH when the flash went off...she finally laid down by me about 10 minutes ago, but was a little anxious, so I gave her a "massage" by slowly stroking her head with a couple fingers - she lasted about 30 seconds before laying out flat with a puppy, whiny sigh and falling promptly asleep on my foot :)
...Time passes...
This post is slow going because if she walks out of the room I follow to make sure she's not going to soil my house again...but, I woke her up from this nap and took her directly outside and she peed OUT IN THE YARD. Very exciting. I didn't really think I'd ever be so ecstatic about a dog's urinary habits, but this is great. Like I said, baby steps!
Evidently she's energized after the nap, because she's very alert and has barked once at something (who knows WHAT she can hear with that sonar she's got goin' on)...doesn't miss a tick, this one.
I think that's about it for now...pretty sure there'll be more later (tonight, tomorrow, the next day...the rest of her life...)
Hasta la later.
As a recap for the day, Dani & I went to Mankato and got to the breeder's at 9:30am, stayed there for over 2 hours, loaded Zada into the back of Dani's SUVie, ate lunch at BW3s with Kristen and Ike, then went to a big pet store down there to buy her dog food and a crate to fit her (she's bigger than when I last saw her!)...THEN we got on the road to come back to the cities; stopping at PetCo (for a new collar, another leash, and her nametag), Target (tennis balls & a rug for under her dishes), then the liquor store (that was Dani's stop :) and FINALLY on home. We didn't pull up to my garage until 5pm.
Zada had never ridden in a car before; good thing she was crated because somewhere around Jordan she threw up in there...poor thing. It wasn't a lot, just some grass and some treats. One other area of life she's never experienced: a collar or a leash. THAT was interesting. Almost lost her in the parking lot of the Mankato pet store - Ike & Kristen wanted to see her and she about popped her collar off and made a bolt for it. Super.
Hence, the new collar, which is a choker, but seeing as how it's that or she runs off, I'm going to opt for safety. She's getting used to it - since she has to be tied out on a zip-line in my yard, she's finding that battling a non-yielding cord isn't lucrative to anything.
She's a quick learner, so that's good. Found out she doesn't like other dogs - the breeder had told me that, but I had no idea to what extent until Tom brought Mack out to meet her. Granted, he was excited and barking, which isn't the calm state I was hoping for...she started barking and lungeing at the end of the line (I was holding it like a leash) and if you weren't looking, you'd think it was a full-grown shepherd attacking someone. She is SERIOUS about not wanting other dogs near her.
We finally got over that, and they started playing like champs. He's teaching her how to go down stairs - going up, she's cocky and gallops right up; coming down is another matter. She whines and pleads and then comes down paw over paw, griping the whole way.
Everything's new, and she's taking it all in pretty calmly...the mirror on my closet door puzzled her for a few minutes:
(She thought there was another dog behind it)
We've already had one accident in the house - and by "we," I mean her - and I caught her in the act, so HOPEFULLY that'll leave an impression. You're "supposed" to catch them at it, scold them by picking 'em up by the scruff & shaking them (like a mother dog would do) while saying "NO!", all the while carrying them outside, where you place them on the ground and they finish while you praise them.
Yeah.
Didn't happen - her finishing, I mean. So, we'll see. Baby steps.
Speaking of babies, this one's pretty wiped out - I took this just now and she didn't FLINCH when the flash went off...she finally laid down by me about 10 minutes ago, but was a little anxious, so I gave her a "massage" by slowly stroking her head with a couple fingers - she lasted about 30 seconds before laying out flat with a puppy, whiny sigh and falling promptly asleep on my foot :)
...Time passes...
This post is slow going because if she walks out of the room I follow to make sure she's not going to soil my house again...but, I woke her up from this nap and took her directly outside and she peed OUT IN THE YARD. Very exciting. I didn't really think I'd ever be so ecstatic about a dog's urinary habits, but this is great. Like I said, baby steps!
Evidently she's energized after the nap, because she's very alert and has barked once at something (who knows WHAT she can hear with that sonar she's got goin' on)...doesn't miss a tick, this one.
I think that's about it for now...pretty sure there'll be more later (tonight, tomorrow, the next day...the rest of her life...)
Hasta la later.
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