I wanted to start at the beginning, but because I did not want to jinx anything I thought I should wait to start this blog, until we actually had our first puppy in hand. That said we have had her for five days and I have not had time to start until now. This is going to be the story of Sabina II our first time raising a puppy for Canine Companions for Independence. They are a great organization - check them out at CCI.ORG. We have high hopes that Sabina will do well during her puppy raising, go on to complete advanced training, and eventually be placed with someone who needs her as much as we already love her. I want to chronicle her story for several reasons: I hope her story inspires other people to raise puppies, volunteer, or donate to CCI. Most importantly we want her person to know her story and how she got to be the great CCI Dog we are hoping for.
We picked Sabina II up on Tuesday March 24, 2009, in Santa Rosa at the Northwest Region Offices of CCI. She was quite the sight - her right ear was bright green from the dye used to tattoo her ear. She has staples under eyes because she has extra skin that was rolling back towards her eyes. Despite all of that all I could do was cuddle her, she smelled so sweet, and could barely keep her eyes open she was so sleepy.
After the two hour trip home, we introduced her to her new pack mates - Puck (our 14 year old lab) and Max the Cat (who is bigger than 13 pound, 8-week old Sabina). Puck could not have cared less, and Max was absolutely not pleased and sulked off to the bedroom where he stayed for several days. Since the initial introductions both Max and Puck have been very well behaved. There have been a couple corrections given by the senior members of the household, but all in all it is pretty much as I expected.
Every new mom says her baby is the smartest, cutest, most beautiful - so I will be no different. Her little appearance is so sad you can't help but love her, and she is really smart! She is still learning her name but responds most of the time, is quite the chow hound, is starting to learn her first commands, and is getting an A+ on the house training after only 5 days.
However I am also a realist, and as much as I love her already, she is a little monster when it comes to her crate training. She eats in her crate without complaint, she goes in there chasing after her toys, and generally doesn't seem to be afraid of it. That is until you lock the door and go to bed. She has quite the little set of lungs, who knew such sounds could come from something so cute and little? Lets just say that none of us have slept since she moved in, and each night I say to my husband it is a little better tonight right? He says yes - we are a bunch of liars! Fortunately I have the resolve of a mule so I will out last her. I am hoping that we are having a break through right now. I put her in there as she was taking her 10th or 15th nap of the day and she made it her 30 minutes without complaining (because she has been sleeping). So I am already hopeful for tonight.
We went to our first puppy kindergarten class yesterday. The class was more for the puppy raisers (PRs) Which is good because she slept through most of it. We have met the nice neighbors during a couple walks, became acquainted the hair dryer, and think the sounds that the TV makes during Wheel of Fortune are a bit weird. We are on our way now!
That is pretty much the beginning, I can hardly wait to see what happens next.
We picked Sabina II up on Tuesday March 24, 2009, in Santa Rosa at the Northwest Region Offices of CCI. She was quite the sight - her right ear was bright green from the dye used to tattoo her ear. She has staples under eyes because she has extra skin that was rolling back towards her eyes. Despite all of that all I could do was cuddle her, she smelled so sweet, and could barely keep her eyes open she was so sleepy.
After the two hour trip home, we introduced her to her new pack mates - Puck (our 14 year old lab) and Max the Cat (who is bigger than 13 pound, 8-week old Sabina). Puck could not have cared less, and Max was absolutely not pleased and sulked off to the bedroom where he stayed for several days. Since the initial introductions both Max and Puck have been very well behaved. There have been a couple corrections given by the senior members of the household, but all in all it is pretty much as I expected.
Every new mom says her baby is the smartest, cutest, most beautiful - so I will be no different. Her little appearance is so sad you can't help but love her, and she is really smart! She is still learning her name but responds most of the time, is quite the chow hound, is starting to learn her first commands, and is getting an A+ on the house training after only 5 days.
However I am also a realist, and as much as I love her already, she is a little monster when it comes to her crate training. She eats in her crate without complaint, she goes in there chasing after her toys, and generally doesn't seem to be afraid of it. That is until you lock the door and go to bed. She has quite the little set of lungs, who knew such sounds could come from something so cute and little? Lets just say that none of us have slept since she moved in, and each night I say to my husband it is a little better tonight right? He says yes - we are a bunch of liars! Fortunately I have the resolve of a mule so I will out last her. I am hoping that we are having a break through right now. I put her in there as she was taking her 10th or 15th nap of the day and she made it her 30 minutes without complaining (because she has been sleeping). So I am already hopeful for tonight.
We went to our first puppy kindergarten class yesterday. The class was more for the puppy raisers (PRs) Which is good because she slept through most of it. We have met the nice neighbors during a couple walks, became acquainted the hair dryer, and think the sounds that the TV makes during Wheel of Fortune are a bit weird. We are on our way now!
That is pretty much the beginning, I can hardly wait to see what happens next.
