Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Firsts
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | Ozzy | No Comments
We had two firsts last night. It was a very exciting evening.
Ozzy had his first walk. We are in the middle of our block, so we walked up the one side, down the other, and then the half block up to our house. It was slow – I gave Ozzy plenty of time to figure out the leash, and I didn’t force him to walk. There was a fair bit of trying to walk on my feet, but he did pretty darn good. And I think he was appropriately tired when done. Indy was not pleased he got to leave the house without her, but she’ll get over it.
The other first was the lovely crate crying. Last night was the first night we left him alone in the crate (and room) the entire night. We had been hanging out with him in there until he fell asleep (it can happen very fast), and running back in to sleep on the floor for a bit if he woke up crying for a couple of days. We thought we’d be nice since he’s a little guy. But it’s time for him to “grow up” so to speak, so when he started crying at about 12:30am, I let him out to pee, then put him back in the crate and left him. He wasn’t pleased. Some of his crying was rather amusing and pathetic. But I left him, and it lasted less than an hour.
Stay tuned for more!
Things you wish breeders did…
Monday, June 28th, 2010 | Dogs, Ozzy | No Comments
I’m starting a list. It’s kind of a silly list. And it’s short now with only two things on it. It will get updated over time, I’m sure.
1. Walk the puppies on a leash. Maybe they do, but every Swissy puppy we’ve ever picked up gives us the WTF look when we put them on one for the first time. Although it is kind of cute.
2. Let the puppies visit you while in the can. Yes, I know that’s kind of a weird request. But since there are only 2 humans in my house, we both have to have Ozzy with us in the washroom from time-to-time. He’s with me in the mornings when I shower and get ready for work because Dan is not up yet and I can’t have him running around. And he was in with me on Saturday when I was doing my business. The toilet paper spinning around freaked the heck out of him and he tried to scamper under my legs. Again, very cute. But is it perhaps avoidable?
Have any silly requests like this for your breeder(s)?
Ozzy’s Home!
Sunday, June 27th, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo, Ozzy | No Comments
Yup, he’s here. All 15 pounds of fur, teeth and love.
We drove down to a cute river town in Missouri, Louisiana, on Thursday night, then drove the final hour to the breeder on Friday morning. But of course, we did stay and take advantage of the really awesome bistro breakfast at the Inn first. I must share that I had a fantastic breakfast skillet with sausage gravy on top. Yum. And yes, I know it has nothing to do with dogs.
Maybe I’ll stop yapping now and just give you the pics.
We were greeted by some barking Swissies – go figure – including Ozzy’s adoptive mom, Delphine. Soon after meeting and cuddling our little (damp) guy, he decided to get a meal.
Delphine is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. She was very insistent that both Dan and I give her lots of love while there.
This is Robert, Ozzy’s dad.
Robert seems to have a similar view of the puppies as Beowulf. He doesn’t mind them, but he doesn’t like it when they bite him. I wonder how Robert would feel if he knew I was comparing him to an antique Basset hound.
Ozzy’s two half sisters were still there. I’m actually not sure if the breeder is keeping one or not. They were very cute and very forward. And hungry.
Ozzy and Dan.
After about an hour, it was time to start the drive home. Ozzy was very good in the car and on the road in general. He got lots of love at the gas stop. After about 6 hours (we hit bad construction traffic – grr), it was time to introduce him to Indy and Beowulf. This, of course, involves sniffing.
And more sniffing.
And still more sniffing.
Indy play bowed in under 5 minutes.
Trying to help her learn to play gently with the puppy was tiring for all.
Then it was outside time. Can you tell Indy is enamored?
RAWR!
Ozzy is already adapting to the camera in his face.
Indy’s happy dance!
Probably one of my favorite pics. Ozzy meeting Grandma.
That’s it for now! Check back soon for more pics and stories.
Swissy prep
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 | Dogs | No Comments
As I mentioned, we are in Swissy puppy preparation mode. The little bugger comes home tomorrow… We are excited, stressed, and tired, but it’s all good.
We decided the our house needed a bit of an overhaul, so we’ve been working hard. We shampooed the carpet upstairs repeatedly trying to get rid of what our incontinent Basset had done. I think we had the main breakthrough (at least in odor since you couldn’t see anything) last night when I used the Simple Solution cleaner meant for carpet shampooers. It did an absolutely fantastic job!
We also worked on the wood floor in the dining room – another area that has fallen victim to the dogs in our house. The polyurethane in a few places had worn away, so after trying repeatedly with enzyme cleaners to get rid of the smell, we decided it would be best if we fixed the floor. So we scraped, cleaned, stained, cleaned, and polyurethaned the floor, and we’re ready to go.
We’ve been placing some area rugs around the first floor (cheap ones so we don’t mind if they’re ruined) to allow for better traction with soft puppy paws.
And, this may be the most important thing….
We charged and replaced batteries in all the equipment that takes pictures or video, so we are ready to go!
Check back for puppy pics!
Sleep Deprivation
Monday, June 21st, 2010 | Beowulf | No Comments
Sleep deprivation is something I have grown to expect with puppies until they are at least 6 months old. Between the periodic crying, the need to go out a few times a night, and their general inability to sleep past 6am, we are not counting on getting too much sleep for a while.
Sadly, I believe that Beowulf is trying to get us used to a constant sleep deprived state before the puppy arrives. I’m not sure why it is necessary. Not only is he keeping us awake at night with storms (we don’t always get the tranquilizers in him in time, plus I’m not a huge fan of the day-long hangover), but he is continuing with the trend of sitting outside the bedroom door at night while crying. All night. At first, we’d close the bedroom doors and he’d get the hint. Then he just decided it was easier to continue crying.
I’m not sure what’s up with him. Maybe he’s lonely, maybe he’s hungry or thirsty. Or maybe he’s not feeling well even though the vet says he’s doing well during a checkup. I don’t want to drug him to sleep. That is just not a good life for him. Now, if I could find something that would get me to sleep while he’s whining (Dan can sleep through it), that won’t get me addicted to it, I’d consider it. But I really wish he could talk.
Just another e-vet Sunday…
Monday, June 14th, 2010 | Indigo | No Comments
Why is it that dogs always get sick on the weekends? Is there some sort of collusion between fate and the emergency vets of America? They want our money.
Somebody in our house, (hmm, could it be Indy?) was sick this weekend. Lots and lots (and lots) of vomit. Think Brian Griffin (Family Guy) in the ipecac episode. Food was being digested ok, so most of the upchuck was water. Still not fun to clean up. As we headed into hour 25 of sick, Dan called the e-vet for an opinion and they suggested we bring her in. So we did.
Sitting at the e-vet on a Sunday afternoon is a lovely way to avoid housework. You know-laundry and carpet cleaning? I also was unable to give myself a much needed pedicure, but that’s not really important. We sat in the waiting room with Indy for a little while as the more urgent cases were handled. She barked at a few people (she’s got a good bark, so she freaked them out a bit), but was otherwise fine. She was great with the techs and the vet, which was a welcome surprise. She got an antiemetic shot and pills to take home, antibiotics, plus we were told to give her Pepcid with each meal. And of course, her meals will be rice and chicken for a few days.
The rather unpleasant part of this trip had nothing to do with Indy or the bill. You never really know what you’re going to witness while you’re at an e-vet. It is, of course, frequented by people whose pets have emergencies off hours or weekends, so it is always likely something unpleasant will happen. Well, yesterday was no different. While we were waiting for a tech, a family carrying a little Pomeranian in blanket came running in. It had been vomiting throughout the day, but started vomiting blood, so they rushed him in. From the reaction of the tech, I believe that the dog might have been DOA. The horrible thing for us was after the family was in the room for a minute or so, the mother let out an incredibly sad cry. Obviously, worse for her than for us…
I’m thinking of that poor family today.
Coming soon…
Friday, June 11th, 2010 | Ozzy | No Comments
Two weeks from today, this little guy, Ozzy, will be joining our family.
I was going to hold off until we had him, but the cat is out of the bag and many people know. So…what the heck.
We are currently getting ready-which means we’re hauling crates upstairs, getting new beds (even for the other dogs), cleaning carpets (it can stink having a 13.5 year old basset hound), getting collars and tags, making sure we have enough food, etc. The puppy proofing will probably start next weekend. I guess the new fence (which got finished on Wednesday night) is part of this process too.
So check back in two weeks for sure. The pictures and stories will be plentiful. And the pee will be flowing.
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