Puppy news

Today, Derek and I picked out our puppy. We didn't bring her home yet, partially because we didn't have all the stuff we needed and partially because her mommy (that is, her owner) wasn't ready to let her go quite yet. Her name is Dharma, as in the tv show "Dharma and Greg." It is an apt name, she is very mellow and meditative. She is a chocolate-colored mini dachshund. There are tons of cute doggie pictures on this page. You can find some puppies that look like her under "chocolate and tan." You might also like to look at the cream dachshunds. They look blond, and are quite rare. Of course, they are all cute.

Little Dharma weighs maybe 9 pounds right now. She is ten months old, so she will get only a little bit bigger. We don't have any pictures, because we were too busy playing with her and cuddling her to take any! She is very cuddly and affectionate. She isn't shy at all. I hope she grows up to be a bit like my parents' dog, Holly. Holly loves everyone, even the mail lady! This is Holly at Christmas time:

We paid half of the price as a down payment. We will pick up and bring Dharma home sometime next weekend. Yes, we better kiss our pretty carpet goodbye. We already bought the latest in doggie potty products: pee-pee pads. Yes, they are sort of like newspaper for you doggie to "go" on, but they are new and improved: they are scented to attract your dog-in-need-of-relief and they are super-absorbent. I am not clear why you need to buy these, but we'll see if they help. Dharma is already crate-trained. That means she knows not to go in her little "house." Assuming you let her out frequently enough, remember she is just a puppy. So she's not really house broken, we will have to work on that.

We bought lots of nice doggy things. The need almost as many acoutrements as a human baby!

Today we bought:

a plastic travel crate, which will also serve as her little "den"

a sort of play-pen for doggies, which will keep her from running all over the house when we're gone

two little dishes (dishwasher safe!)

a teddy bear with a buckwheat insert, which can be warmed in the microwave

a little soft furry bone (she had one of these when we visited, and she really liked it, she even brought it over to share with Derek)

a pink tennis ball

a little squeaky ball

a hot pink collar, a very small one. She's not used to wearing a collar, so we made sure to pick a very soft one

a matching leash

a frequent-buyer card for the pet store

We still need to get her food, treats, and vitamins. We want to give her the same thing she is used to. I think moving to a new home and being away from her mommy and siblings is more than enough change all at once! I also want to get her a chew toy, but we plan to look at the other huge pet store. We talked about getting her a sweater or a sweatshirt. The ones we saw at PetSmart cost as much as my sweaters. More, actually. I wonder if a teddy bear sweater would fit? There is a store here at the mall in Bloomington that lets you stuff your own teddy bears, and then they sell you very cute but expensive clothes for them. Like tiny IU tees. Too cute! It is called the Build a Bear Workshop.

Dharma will sleep in our room, but she will have her own little bed. She won't sleep with us for several reasons: 1. Derek says no. 2. I worry we might roll over on her, she is so tiny. 3. Letting a dog sleep in your bed can make them think they are the boss or "top dog," not you. Dachshunds especially have trouble understanding that you are the master, they are the pet, not the other way around. 4. Our bed is so high off the floor, she might get hurt if she tried to jump out. I bet you can guess which reason is the REAL reason. As a compromise, we plan to let her up on the couch, so we can cuddle her.

Just in case we haven't already spent enough money, we need to get a fence put in our back yard. There is a fence on one side and we plan to "share" a fence with our neighbor on the other side. Hopefully that will save money. At the moment, the ground is covered in about two inches of ice. When it melts, it will be a swamp. I wonder how fast they could put a fence in, if we pay extra for mud removal?

I am really looking forward to walking our little dog around the neighborhood, so she can meet our neighbors and their dogs. It is very important for a puppy to get used to all kinds of people and places when she is little, so she isn't too nervous in new situations. We hope to have a meet-the-puppy party after she has been with us for a month or so. That way she can meet lots of people and get used to having company. Yeah, puppy party!