No. 3 // April 27 - May 3, 2015
+ After checking out a potential border collie on Saturday and sitting on the decision Sunday, we finally decided Monday to go for it. So not only did we have to pack and prepare for our mini vacation happening Tuesday-Wednesday, but we had to puppy-proof the downstairs and find/gather up all the miscellaneous accessories involved with getting a new dog. Oy.
+ We spent Tuesday and Wednesday on a mini vacation up to Safari West in Santa Rosa. Considering we aren't a very good travel family {the parentals stress out and everyone gets a bit snappy}, this roadtrip went pretty well. Little to no arguing, arrived ahead of schedule, unanimous in the decision to go check out a nearby tourist destination, etc. Twas good. Hopefully I'll have a recap post up on our time with the animals sometime next week!
+ After checking out Wednesday morning, we headed out to pick up the dog. You can read about part of that experience in Friday's post. It was a stressful, intense day. I teared up in the car at one point. Upside of it all, doglet knocked out HARD when we got home and slept like the dead the entire first night. We didn't wake up to major destruction downstairs or a howling puppy. Whoot whoot.
+ One of the miscellaneous things we learned about the dog this week: since we're trying to teach her not to bite, she's been sort of compromising with what I refer to as "aggressive kissing" where her licking of your hands gets a little... strong. But since teeth aren't as involved, we'll take it.
+ Now that she's got the microwave, fridge, and cuckoo clock figured out, her latest neurosis are people on TV and, when she's on walks, cars driving by. Watching her watch movies has been pretty entertaining. For a while, she was snapping, growling, and barking at the people on the screen from behind the baby gate, until she kind of got the message {via us ignoring the strange, tiny people in the family room and telling her in calm, "happy" voices that she was fine} that they weren't really there. We think she thought the TV was another window looking into the backyard because she glared for a long time into the night through the sliding door to make sure no one was outside and then squished her way into the small space where she could see behind the TV to check what was back there.
+ Webcam sesh/planning meeting for #STSSSpringAdventure2015 with the besties Friday night! Which basically turned into me thirdwheeling from afar for two hours. It was awesome.
+ Twas home alone with the dog all day Saturday. Taking care of a new border collie is like being handed someone's toddler whom you've never met before and being told to take care of it indefinitely. You don't know its schedule, its likes and dislikes, or how it communicates, but you have to make it work. Is it a generally happy child or does it get grumpy really easily? Is all this crazy energy just because everything's new and it's exploring your house, or is it like this all the time? How potty-trained is it? How much does it normally eat? What things scare it and, when those things happen, how do you comfort it? Argharghargh.
+ Then again, she took two three-hour naps Saturday, so maybe she's better than a toddler? :P
+ One of the miscellaneous things we learned about the dog this week: since we're trying to teach her not to bite, she's been sort of compromising with what I refer to as "aggressive kissing" where her licking of your hands gets a little... strong. But since teeth aren't as involved, we'll take it.
+ Now that she's got the microwave, fridge, and cuckoo clock figured out, her latest neurosis are people on TV and, when she's on walks, cars driving by. Watching her watch movies has been pretty entertaining. For a while, she was snapping, growling, and barking at the people on the screen from behind the baby gate, until she kind of got the message {via us ignoring the strange, tiny people in the family room and telling her in calm, "happy" voices that she was fine} that they weren't really there. We think she thought the TV was another window looking into the backyard because she glared for a long time into the night through the sliding door to make sure no one was outside and then squished her way into the small space where she could see behind the TV to check what was back there.
+ Webcam sesh/planning meeting for #STSSSpringAdventure2015 with the besties Friday night! Which basically turned into me thirdwheeling from afar for two hours. It was awesome.
+ Twas home alone with the dog all day Saturday. Taking care of a new border collie is like being handed someone's toddler whom you've never met before and being told to take care of it indefinitely. You don't know its schedule, its likes and dislikes, or how it communicates, but you have to make it work. Is it a generally happy child or does it get grumpy really easily? Is all this crazy energy just because everything's new and it's exploring your house, or is it like this all the time? How potty-trained is it? How much does it normally eat? What things scare it and, when those things happen, how do you comfort it? Argharghargh.
+ Then again, she took two three-hour naps Saturday, so maybe she's better than a toddler? :P
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