New Puppy PICS!!

Bureacracy ruins yet another surprise...

As I am right now working from 6 am to 2:30 pm on a remodel at a local grocery store I find it has some conveniences. One being an early quitting time to run errands, but more importantly, that if we need something for that night or next morning, the only stop I make is on my way out to the truck. Today I decided to surprise Nadja at work with a single red rose, a card, some healthy at-desk snacks, and Maggie. The rose, card, and snacks went over well, but the puppy was not allowed by policy. In my haste to surprise my darling fiancee, I overlooked bureacracy. While being absolutely understanding and gracious about the whole thing, Nadja's boss let us know that animals of any kind (except for official assistance, I'm assuming) are not allowed in any building on the grounds. The same goes for children apparently too now, a recent development. After getting doted on at Nadja's office, Maggie then headed to the bank where she received oohs, aahs, and a drive-thru tube doggie bone. After a quick stop at my parents' to pick up a greatly appreciated dinner for Nadja and I and much love for Maggie, we were off yet again. This time to the same Humane Society from which she came to pick up Maggie's antibiotics for her sinus infection. She was well worn out from all of this love and travel and quickly fell asleep in my lap on the drive home. I know, she should be protected, but I find that I drive much more carefully if I have her with me (even though I know they don't call them accidents for nothing). She was coughing so much last night that I think I was lucky to have gotten 3 hours of sleep. It's only 8:12, and we're already in the get-ready-for-bed process. Thankfully Maggie seems to be quickly taking to potty training, though I'm sure it's not said and done for at least a couple of weeks.

We have one sick Puppy...now named Maggie!

We have settled on Maggie!!! This morning when I woke up at five minutes to five, she was hacking up what I thought was literally a lung. She was wheezing, coughing, and actually blowing little snot bubbles. It was cute for about half a second, then (what I hope will be) a strong paternal instinct kicked in and I was worried that our little ball of energy wouldn't make it to day three. I sometimes write little love notes to Nadja on our refrigerator's dry erase board, and this mornings was allllll Maggie related. We made our free appointment (compliments of adopting through the Humane Society) and took her in to see the doc. After nearly an hour and a pretty thorough exam, he said he thought that it was a combination of a viral and bacterial respiratory infection. He also said he thought it was entirely sinus related and with some antibiotics and time should get better within two weeks. For the heavy, sleep interrupting cough, he gave us a suppressant that should help quite a bit...we'll see. The potty training is going exceedingly well. She's already starting to tell us when it's time by either crying softly while circling, or by going and standing by the back door. I'm am SO hoping that we'll be done with this in a couple of weeks, I'm already tired of stalking her through the house waiting for the squat. If anyone has any advice for nurturing the middle dog child, I'm all ears. Hannah is 4, Shadow is 10, and Hannah is having a harder time adjusting. Shadow gets all maternal and protective of Maggie if Hannah barks at her. Hannah is definetely subordinate to Shadow and so obeys almost all commands Shadow puts out. She definetely plays more when Shadow isn't in the room to interfere, but we can't keep the 3 of them segregated at every play time!

The first 24 hours...

So, this is the first post as new puppy parents. This is also my first attempt at blogging, so please bear with me. Nadja has given the short version of the puppy story, I'll expand it. After Nadja found the yellow lab and dropped him off at the Humane Society on Sunday, she called me to let me know they had six Bernese mixed puppies. The only words I said were "I'll be right there." My mom came with me ( I was working on HER house), and all three of us fell in love with one of the females. On Monday, Nadja took an extended lunch hour and I left school early to see how the pup was at her first interactions. We fell even more in love and decided to come back that Monday night with Shadow and Hannah to introduce them to their prospective tormentor. Puppies under 6 months generally don't have their full vaccinations yet, so aren't allowed out on walks or even to touch the floor of the Humane Society, so the meeting was verboten. Nadja snuck our dogs back into the hallway outside of the puppy room and after a few minutes, cajoled me into bringing the pup to the door to meet our dogs. After said meeting, I took them back outside, and got yelled at by the staff. I guess Nadja and I are partners in crime afterall... So, we placed a deposit down on the little cutie and went home to ruminate. As I was working on some sheetrock in the basement, Nadja announced that she was sorry and didn't want the puppy afterall. I was heart-broken, but had a job to do in the basement, so discussion was delayed. After much agonizing and feeling depressed on Tuesday, Nadja called me at 3:30 to say that she thought we should do it. I was practically doing backflips! So at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, we adopted a yet to be named, adorable, rambuncious yet mellow, sweet-heart of a furball. She slept all through her first night and gave us a full evening of fun and laughter tonight. As I write she is sleeping peacefully in her crate, and Shadow and Hannah are revelling in the peace and quiet of our bedroom. As for her name, we've decided we like: Calli, Maddi (Madeline), Zoe, Heidi, Sasha, Sophie, and we're completely open to suggestions. Nadja has never had the "pleasure" of new puppy motherhood, since Hannah was a little older when she was adopted. I got Shadow when she was 10 weeks old (same as our un-named cutie), so I've been through the experience. Our puppy raising styles are already apparently different, so 'tis another compromise in life. We're both very excited and happy to be sharing this experience, but feeling the squeeze as it applies to adding this little furball into our already established pack. Shadow and Hannah were barely used to sharing Nadja's and my attentions with each other and between us. Now they have this third "thing" to figure out and vie for love with, though we love them all equally as you veteran parents ( of puppies and people) know. Thank you for your suggestions, and we look forward to any advice as we share this extra journey with you. God only knows how much we'll get done on the house this week with the pup to train...