So I got a puppy

(Dog to still be named, pre-bath)

My mom was laughing when the new puppy got me out of bed at 6am this morning. For those of you who hadn't noticed, I do'nt normally post on the blog before 10am. Joe covers the morning shift, and I cover the late night shift, for a reason. I am not a morning person. Guess I am now!

So, I've been searching for a few months now for a puppy. I grew up with dogs, have always wanted a dog (since leaving my parents' house), but always rented so wasn't able to. A year ago I finally saved up enough to buy my first condo, and I promised myself that at some point I was going to finally get a dog again. After 25 years dogless, it happened last night. The search has not been easy - I need a dog that's decently hypoallergenic because of my allergies, which are pretty bad (but not to dogs). I'm getting allergy shots etc., but though it wise to err on the side of a dog from breeds that are better for allergy sufferers, which limited my searching radius substantially.

She's a 10 week old half Yorkie half Bichon. She has no name yet, I'm still so preoccupied with constant pee and poo vigilance I haven't even had time to think about the luxury of a name. (Suggestions are most welcome - Joe warned me, however, don't name her anything too gay - I guess that means Fifi and Lady Gaga are out.) She truly loves to be held, which is good, since I wanted a dog who would be a good lap dog, and one that wouldn't mind flying back and forth with me to Chicago for the various holidays (I'm actually in Chicago this week for Easter). So long as she's with me, she's incredibly content being held, so I'm hoping the airport trip on Wednesday is uneventful (I'm expecting the worst).

Here's a quick video of her that I took to show my sister, when I was deciding whether to get her. That's my nephew Illias holding her. He begged me to get her.



So, the puppy who must-still-be-named did quite well last night. I took her out at around 11 or 12 or so, she did her business, threw up a little, then I put her in her mini-crate for the night. We made sure it was small enough so she wouldn't go in her crate, and to her credit she didn't. Less to her credit were the whines, and outright screams, that began at 6am. I took her out, just in case, and she played happily in the dark Chicago morning - it was literally one of those rosy-fingered dawns that Homer wrote about, and would have been quite beautiful if it weren't, well, dawn. Anyway, puppy Lord didn't go, so I took her back inside and mom and I fed her. This was around 630am or so. She ate about 1/8th of a cup of food and drank heartily, then I sat with her for a minute and then took her outside, where she played like a bat out of hell for half an hour. Who knew pine cones and leaves could be so joy-inducing.

Unfortunately, our half hour adventure in the rising sun did not include little puppy doing any of her business. At around 7am I finally gave up. People were jogging by. It was an obscene hour to be awake and doing anything pre-coffee. So I made the command decision to take Coco (sis likes that names, it's Illias' dog's name, I'm unsure about it) inside and back to her crate. Well. You'd have thought Dick Cheney was waterboarding her. The whimpers turned to whines turned to screams. I called my sis, and she said to just let the puppy whine - didn't want to reward separation anxiety. So I moved her to another room, and tried to sleep for a few hours with two pillows pushed against my head.

Funny thing about puppy screams. They pierce pillows like butter, even half a house away. Mom agreed to take her out at 9am, so I could try to sleep (unsuccessfully), and I got up at 10 (after laying down again at around 730am to try to sleep a bit more), and now my sister has her at work, so I'm getting a one hour break.

She really is adorable. And quite rambunctious this morning - her tail is now up in the air happily, whereas last night she was still a tad shy. Today is the first vet visit, and a trip to Target to find some more pet supplies, including the airplane pet carrier.

Here's a pic of her last night, when she was still sussing out my parents' place. She likes to find little nooks to sleep in, when she's not totally dominating my parent's Maltese-Bichon. Stay tuned for the next installment.