Waiting For A Puppy This Thread Is For You

[suziwong66]

great news; you've got a relationship developing already! IMO breeders who want their pups to go to the best homes will engage with prospective buyers - even before a litter is planned. Just as much as we want their pups, they want the best homes for their pups. It's a two way street. When i was looking for a puppy nearly four years ago, i made the decision that one of the criteria that had to be met was that the breeder would engage with me and be prepared to develop a relationship.

Developing a relationship has advantages for both parties; breeders get a life-long advocate of their breeding methods/ethics who will be like a walking advertisement for not only their breed but their particular line. And buyers often get preference - This time round, i wanted a bitch from Norty Brown Dawg's furmum (her final litter before retirement) and i got what i wanted. There was another litter born 10 days later from his half sister, but despite having to wait 2 weeks for landlord approval, Ruth tried her best to make sure I got what i wanted. Breeders generally don't like to put people on a list when they're 'prospective' or 'tentative' buyers but Ruth was happy to do that for me while i waited for landlord approval to have two dogs on the property. A good relationship with a breeder is very valuable in my opinion.

Good to hear she's receptive - now all you have to do is build upon that. Perhaps an email in a week or two regarding some interesting points in the article she sent - it sounds like you've found the right fit with breeders

[suziwong66]

https://vimeo.com/106571348

Laiken in the pink collar being confident; she & her litter mates had their 6 week vet check & vaccinations today - all good :D

[VizslaMomma]

So glad you knew what i meant VM

If she's anything like Wilbur (they're 1/2 sibs with a different sire) we'll end up with a delightful dog full of personality and a face that steals the show wherever we go. Two weeks to go.

Squuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

counting down too

[suziwong66]

how long is your wait VM?

[VizslaMomma]

how long is your wait VM?

We will know for sure by Christmas.

Season is due. But we know what happens or does not.

:)

[suziwong66]

for you VM

I thankfully didn't have to wait too long for a season/mating/litter. We knew that we'd be ready for a second one by the time nawty brown dawg was about 2 or 3 but we weren't waiting as such. When our breeder let me know that his furmum was in whelp with her final litter after they did the ultrasound, I decided there and then that we'd go with this litter.

The only uncertainty was hoping there was a bitch in the litter and if so, that we'd get it. Brown Dawg was the only boy in his litter and we wanted a boy and we were lucky to get it since there were others ahead of us on the list wanting a boy. Luck was on our side with 5 bitches

[Tintin Jac]

I'm cheating a bit coming in here because it's not a puppy for me

I'm heading off this morning with a friend to pick up her chocolate teddy bear puppy

A gorgeous Lagotto Romagnolo pup from the same breeder as Tintin. Just a bit excited!!

[suziwong66]

surely you know the rules TTJ???

Photos are required :-P

[suziwong66]

last sleep as a one dog home; picking up Laiken at the airport at 1:30pm. Then home for a leg stretch, wee/poop business, a drink and a small spot of dinner and then off to the vet for a check. We might have a very small intro with norty brown dawg Wilbur before she goes to the vet - we'll see how energetic she is.

I'm not stupid enough to think that butter wouldn't melt in that mouth...i am a seasoned labby owner

Edited October 2, 2014 by suziwong66

[Roova]

Have a wonderful day with all those puppy cuddles and good luck at the Vet and with Wilbur! She looks absolutely adorable.

I still have weeks to go...I'm so jealous!

[suziwong66]

we are ALL pooped!

Here's our new girl Laiken in the car.

At home in the back yard

with Miss21 and norty brown dawg Wilbur.

and before she left our breeder's this morning - this is her and norty brown dawg's furmum, Carlotta

It's been a really full-on day. After we picked her up we went home for a small feed, a drink, wee etc and then off to the vet for a health check. The vet was really happy with her: no fleas, clean ears, right temp, clear eyes, good hip movement, clear heartbeat and alert and interactive right after a flight.

We've been doing small incremental introductions with norty brown dawg Wilbur and they've all been positive; Later in the afternoon i took the lead off him and he recalled each and everytime :) At this point in time he's either very unsure of her (she comes with sharp needle teeth that hurt) or a little excited or focussed on me. We'll just keep up these introductions short and sweet and often.

She's been a bit whiney and howly which is totally expected after leaving the litter and flying across the country. Our routine this evening has been to eat a little, go out for a toilet break and then a little play and then back in the crate for another snooze. She'll be crated beside my bed tonight and have hourly to 1.5 hourly toilet breaks.

Edited October 3, 2014 by suziwong66

[Roova]

Awwww she is so chubby and adorable. I love the expression in her face in the first photo, so little and innocent with the whole world before her.

You gave me a bit of a fright when you mentioned one to one and a half hourly toilet breaks though! I was planning on having puppy beside my bed so I could hear them stir and take them out at that point. Hopefully as they sleep longer so do I? Are you worried you'll sleep through her stirring or you just don't want her to have the opportunity of potentially weeing in her bed?

[suziwong66]

for the first night or so i set my alarm to make sure a pup evacuates so we only experience success but that doesn't mean between those breaks that pups won't stir and want to go out. This happened early this morning. Took her out for a 4:20 am wee. reset alarm for 6am but she stirred and whined a bit just after 5 so i took her out & she did a poop. she wouldnt resettle so at 6 i took her out for breakfast. after food she did another poop and then had a wee. she settled quickly. now that i know her morning internal timer is set for around 6 am i'll extend that a little each morning so i can change the feed time for a little later.

[LisaCC]

Ahhh just catching up on this thread. Suzi Laiken is just gorgeous!! Is that Wilbur's Mum with her? Are your doggies siblings? :)

Hope everyones waits aren't too horrible. It's the best feeling when you finally get your puppy after such long waits!

[suziwong66]

yes Laiken & Wilbur are half siblings; this was Carlotta's retirement litter so i thought i 'd better get in before there are no other chances to get a sibling

[VizslaMomma]

yes Laiken & Wilbur are half siblings; this was Carlotta's retirement litter so i thought i 'd better get in before there are no other chances to get a sibling

Fine choice too.

[suziwong66]

Roova, last night i decided to set the alarm way outside of what i thought Laiken would cope with to give her the chance to wake me since i knew that she probably would since she did the night before when she needed to poop. I set the alarm every 4 hours and she woke me every two hours

We've had some great progress with introducing them slowly. Wilbur has been very unsure of her and mostly ignored her for the first 24 hours. We had them both on leads for the first couple of intros but later yesterday i decided to take him off lead so he had the freedom to walk away when he chose, which he indicated he wanted to do.

This morning after they'd both eaten separately (him first) and after she'd toileted we had another meet n greet with her on lead. He play bowed to her and then ran off like a goose playing solo soccer around the yard. After our play we all went back to bed; Wilbur had his weekend treat of being allowed up on the bed between OH and I and Laiken was in her crate next to my side. we took her out for a short hello on the bed. She got a little too friendly around his face and he gave a low growl so i removed her and he settled down.

Later we all went back outside to watch OH clean out the water feature. Laiken was on lead and Wilbur off. We had lots of toys for them to play with and Wilbur kept trying to take them away from her (he's just like the classic only child lol). So i brought out some toys that had been away for a while and one that he'd rarely ever had. They were really good. We played fetch with Wilbur and let her get her mouthyness (new word) out on the toughies.

I did a short session of clicker conditioning with her and some name work while i crated him with the door open in a drop stay with intermittent rewards. He's still very attentive and follows commands. After he play bowed to her and before he played solo soccer he went really silly with zoomies but kept coming too close and he bowled her over. I immediately told him to stop and he did and then came to sit at the heel.

Our focus with Wilbur is to keep him feeling that his place hasn't been usurped and keeping to his normal routines and privileges. Our focus with Laiken is name recognition, clicker and marker work charging, redirecting to chew toys, bit inhibition, recall games and today we added the beginning of crate games by throwing kibble in it and having her go in voluntarily.

[Roova]

Thanks for the update, I was devouring every word as I too have an 'only child' about to have an interloper!

Up until now all games, training and toys have been Maggie's so it will be interesting how she copes with another dog in the house. When I have smooches with my sisters dogs she tries to squeeze in between us so hopefully I can work with any jealousy.

Sounds like you're doing really well with them both and it will be interesting how long it the two hour toilet breaks to extend out. I'm not looking forward to that side of things and staying easy going at work on little sleep :laugh:

How is Laiken going with crate or ex pen time while you do other things or will you let her settle in for a few days first?

[suziwong66]

She was in the ex pen today for about 20 minutes while i had to do some chores. She howled and carried on even when i was in sight but i just ignored her. She had lots of toys in with her and a water bowl. After about five minutes of carry on she fell asleep.

Her crate is filled with a pillow/snuggle toy at the back, her blankie and some chew toys so it's very snuggly. Sometimes she makes a fuss about going in but she's getting better pretty quickly. I'll be doing a lot more work with crate games but the first days are more about just settling in and getting used to us.

Brown dawg started playing with her this afternoon but it escalated too high too quick and he bowled her over; she was on lead and he was off. So i separated them quickly but still praised him for playing with her and for disengaging from play when i asked him. He's still very much focussed on me and i want to try and get that with her too, but i can see that she's wanting to bond with him the most; so i'll be working on that and only letting them have supervised play together. I don't know if i'll achieve it since i really don't have separate runs for them etc...i'll just play it by ear.

[Riley James]

No matter

Edited October 10, 2014 by Riley James