The First Dollar Has Been Dropped

The other day Husband and I went to PetSmart and bought all our initial puppy essentials. The best part? I have a friend who works there, so she gave us her employee discount and we saved $60! Thanks Mother of Rowdy! :) We spent a lot, but we also got a lot of really great stuff! I found most of it on their website, so I can show you all. Just click the picture to link back to the website. I'm told PetSmart has a ridiculously good return policy (not only do you not need a receipt, you can actually bring in something you bought at another store), so let me know if you've had bad experiences with any of these products. Other general opinions are also welcome. :)

First thing we got was a pen.

This is going to be the area for the puppy when I'm out longer than a couple of hours. It's big enough for a crate/bed, puppy pads, a bowl of water, and a toy. This will only be needed until the puppy is house trained, which will hopefully be very fast!

Next we got a doggy gate.

My husband figured this would be a nice thing to have in general. He thinks we're going to put it at the bottom of the stairs to keep the puppy from going upstairs, but he's wrong. We're not banishing our dog to only the lower level of our house. But it'll still be good for sectioning off areas of the house when we don't have puppy to have free range of the whole house.

For our next car I'd like to get a hatchback for our dog to ride in, but until then, we got this thing to protect the back seat of our sedan and keep the puppy there.

I like the it's easily removable and washable. Plus all those pockets are great. And there's a Velcro opening in the middle so you can still buckle a doggy harness in. We opened it up in the store to make sure. Also, this picture doesn't show it, but you can let one of the sides down, so a person can ride on one side.

Unfortunately, my husband's practicality won out over my girlishness in some cases. I wanted a cute collar and matching leash, but my husband insisted that nylon leashes are a pain to hold and said we needed leather. But at least he agreed to the collar I wanted.

Now we didn't buy a pink collar. PetSmart doesn't have the right color on their website, but it's the same one. The one I bought is blue. It's a gorgeous bright blue that I think will go nicely against his/her red fur. Imagine a male puppy named Bowser wearing a pink collar! Hehe.

Husband has allergies, so we need to take grooming very seriously to make sure he's as comfortable as possible. So we got the best.

From what I hear, the Furminator is the best grooming tool out there. It gets loose dog fur like nobody's business. It was pricey, but I had to make sure we got all the good stuff while we had the 15% off. Hopefully it'll be well worth it.

Also for grooming we got just a regular bristle brush as well.

It's supposed to help distribute natural oils and keep the top coat lookin' pretty.

For a food bowl I went with stainless steal.

Plastic and ceramic supposedly hold on to bacteria more because they're porous materials. And since Corgis are supposed to be grub fiends, I went with the non-tip style.

In terms of toys, we got quite a few. I wanted to get even more, but Husband was getting too anxious about our total cost skyrocketing. Hehe. Of course, we got a puppy Kong.

The rubber is a little softer than a regular Kong. We also got a puppy Kong Frisbee, a rope toy, and a couple of Christmas themed stuffed toys. They were 50% off and I doubt the dog will care if s/he's playing with a Santa in the middle of March. Hehe.

We also got a Chuckit.

I see people playing with these in parks all the time, and they look so fun! We got the big one that can hold regular tennis balls. For some reason people think that because Corgis have short legs, they can't run. They're herding dogs, or course they run!

We got something to keep puppy's teeth clean

It comes with a toothbrush, toothpaste, one of those brushes that goes over your finger for the gums, and some doggy breath mints (we only got the one with the breath mints because it was cheaper :p)

For playing with the puppy out of the house we got a bag for treats and a portable water bowl


Husband actually wanted the bag. I would have been fine with a baggy in my pocket. The portable water bowl is something that's always seemed like such a great idea. I got the pink one. ;)

And last, but not least (ok, maybe a little least), poop bags. Hehe.

This was another one Husband picked out. Now that I've looked closer at the packaging, it doesn't say the bags are biodegradable, like the bags on board brand are. So I may either return these if I'm back at PetSmart soon, or just not buy them the next time.

Phew! I think that's mostly what we picked up at PetSmart. Before you mention the obvious things I've left out (i.e. the crate, bed, and water bowl), there are some items that we kind of already have (or will have). Apparently after Husband's parent's dog, Mickey, was put down, they just couldn't bare to get rid of any of his stuff. So when they came to visit for Christmas, they brought all of his crap. We're getting rid of most of it, but some stuff we're keeping. We're going to keep his two huge ceramic bowls and use them as water bowls. And we're keeping his beds (begrudgingly on my part). I agreed to keep the beds because Husband insisted that our puppy would most likely tear up and destroy the beds pretty early on anyway. With my luck we'll get the one puppy who doesn't tear up his/her things. Hehe.

The crate and the food are coming from the breeder. She'll give us the crate to take the puppy in, which Husband thinks we'll be able to use for a couple of weeks. When the puppy gets bigger we'll get the bigger crate. I think he just got some sticker shock after all the stuff we bought. I may be able to talk him into the crate sooner. :)

So what do you think? Did I miss anything?!

The Reservations Are Made

It's official. I cleared the dates with the breeder and booked the travel. February 17th I will be returning from Oklahoma with my very first PWC puppy!!! That means I have a whole month and a half to (impatiently) wait. I know it will be the longest month and a half of my life. I'm already starting to have dreams that I'm there playing with six adorable puppies choosing my puppy to bring home.

Video Of The Week 12

Since I'm all about puppies this week, here is a neat video on puppies! I don't know what breed they are, some toy breed (Shih-Ttzu?). But it's fun to see them develop from lumps of fur into the puppies you get to take home! Hehe.

Slightly Fatter Lumps of Fur

Here's the newest puppy pic. I hear that more will be on the way soon.

Now that they've got some meat on their bones, they're all looking pretty darn cute. I can't wait till they open their eyes!

Merry Christmas!

And Happy Holidays!

We're The...Other Ones! (One Week, Part 2)

I wouldn't dream of leaving out the girls! Here they are.

Alice:



Sally:


Dolly (not available):

The girls have such squishy looking faces! I'm curious to see how they develop over the weeks. Right now they seem so tiny. I definitely favor the boys right now in coloring and looks. But who knows what open eyes and a good personality will bring!

We're The Chipmunks! (One Week, Part 1)

The breeder has already updated her website with new pics of the puppies! Yay! They still just look like adorable lumps of fur (or snausages as my mom and sister like to call them), but at least we can see them at new angles.

Here are the boys (the chipmunk theme I think is cute).

Alvin:



Simon:



Theodore:


Theodore is still my favorite right now. But that's just because I liked the look of him right away. As they develop into more than lumps with nubs for ears sticking out of their heads, and open their eyes, I'll be able to see some personality. Though it would be very sweet if Theo ended up being the right personality for us too. It would mean it was love at first sight! Hehe.

We're Off To Oklahoma

We've decided once and for all that we're going to fly to Oklahoma to choose our puppy in person. That's right, I said we. I found an airline that flies directly from our city to Tulsa for cheap! The tickets were so inexpensive, in fact, that my husband decided he would come too. I'm so ecstatic. I was really dreading trying to choose a puppy on my own. That's partly what influenced his decision. He said he'd better come along to make sure I come home with only one puppy. Hehe.

I'm glad we found an airline that flies direct. This way we can bring the puppy back with us in cabin. And the flight is only a few hours, so little Bowser should be fine.

I'm still finalizing the dates with the breeder. As soon as she gives the ok, I'm booking tickets! Wee!

More Puppy Pictures, Sad News

So there's good news and bad news regarding the puppies. The bad news is that the breeder lost two of the male puppies. She said it's always harder with big litters. They were just too small. It's very sad.

But on a good note, the puppies had their tails docked yesterday, so the breeder was able to take individual pictures of the puppies. And good news for you, here they are!

Simon


Alvin


Theodore


Alice


Sally


Dolly


Dolly is going to be staying with the breeder. Based on these pictures alone, I think Theodore is gorgeous. I love his collar, and the blaze on his head, and that little patch of brown in between. Hehe. He looks like a Bowser.

I mentioned in my last post about names that Husband liked the name Bowser. I was kind of joking when I first suggested it, but since then it's grown on us. I think if we get a boy, he's going to be Bowser. What do you think? I can't wait until Halloween. We can dress him up with a red mohawk and spikes. Hehe.

Video Of The Week 11

Check out the adorable puppy Gonzo!



Oooh! I can't wait till I have my own!

Some Education

I just showed my co-worker, who I like to call Mouth, the picture of the puppies. His reaction was "they're brown!"

Yes, red and white puppies are brown when they're puppies. They develop their orange color over time. When you bring home an 8-10 week old puppy, s/he should have a brownish, slightly orange-ish color. Some corgis you see at the pet store look orange as young puppies. That's because they've somehow bred them this way, and from I hear it's a bad thing. Don't be put off, your puppy will get that gorgeous coloring soon enough.

He then asked me "which one is yours? Don't you get first pick of the litter?"

Oh Mouth, you can't choose a puppy that's only two days old! It's just a blob of fur at that point. Its features aren't developed yet, and certainly its personality hasn't fully developed yet. You have wait a few weeks before you can get a full sense, right? Besides that, I haven't been out to see them yet! No no no. I can't say which is mine yet.

Puppies, First Look

Here it is folks, the very first picture of the puppies. I only count six fur balls, but I'm sure the other two are in there somewhere. What cuties!

This past year I've been impatient for a puppy, and that's putting it nicely. I didn't think it was possible, but now that they're born, I'm even more impatient!

Update: The puppies will be getting their tails docked on Friday. After that the breeder will take individual pictures of the puppies and send them to me. That means I have to wait until at least Friday for more pictures. Torture!

Is It Just Me?

Ok, what is going on with my blog picture? It's messed up in my non-dog blog too. Does it look cut off (on all 4 sides) to anyone else, or is it just me? How long has it been like that?

WE HAVE PUPPIES!!!

The puppies are here!!! My puppy mama is now the proud mother of 3 girls and 5 boys! 8 puppies, what a litter! I guess I'll have lots to choose from. From the breeder's description, it sounds like she just had them tonight! And here I was saying I didn't expect to hear from her for a while because she'd be busy. That was very nice of her.

Well she said she'd take pictures tomorrow, so I won't have anything to show you until I get something from her. I'd love to see pictures, although newborn Corgis look like gerbils! They don't get to their super cuteness until around 5-6 weeks, right? Hehe.

Oh, I'm so unbelievably happy right now! I was doing the dreaded self evaluation for my yearly performance evaluation, so this was definitely the cheer up I needed. :)

No News Is No News

Well as you can see from my counter at the right, today is the day. But not really. Puppy births (whelping) are like human births, you can't exactly time them. December 17th was just an estimate. Actually, the breeder's website now says December 18th, so I guess you can pretend the counter still has one more day. ;)

I've been thinking, and even if she does have her puppies today or tomorrow, I probably won't hear about it right away. I mean, the breeder is going to be busy with the puppies. She's not going to have time to email me. That kinda bums me out, but it's ok. I'll send her an email tomorrow or the next day asking about them.

I just hope she emails me before she updates her website. This summer she didn't update her website with the info that she had puppies until like a month after they were born! She best be emailing me some pics well before that!

Hold tight everyone. You'll know when I know!

Another Crazy Offer

So I think I may have mentioned in the past that a couple months ago I contacted another breeder just on a gut instinct. It was Lynn's breeder actually. She sounded like a really sensible breeder, and she was having a litter in November. It fit my timeline, so I shot her an email, just to see what would come of it. Yes, I know, I'm cheating on my breeder. But my guts said to go for it, so I did. After exchanging a few emails with her I figured nothing would come of it because she didn't like the fact that my husband and I would be gone all day at work (even though for the first few months I would come home in the middle of the day, that wasn't good enough). Well I just got the most unexpected email from her.

Apparently she has a one year old gorgeous black headed tri named Murphy from a past litter that she is trying to place in a good home. Murphy and one of his litter-mates are living together with a family, and since they're not getting along (read: being aggressive toward each other), they are willing to place Murphy "with the right family". I guess the breeder thought I would be a good fit. She said that she thought this dog would be better for me than a puppy because of the not being home all the time issue.

What should I do? Before I read her email I would have said that I wanted a puppy period. But after reading her email I'm having second thoughts. This dog is friendly, house trained, has had some obedience training. I wouldn't need to deal with puppy neediness. But at the same time I would miss out on a puppy and all the good things associated with that! I would miss out on shaping my puppy into the dog s/he'd become. After everything I've read about puppy development I don't trust some family to do the things that I would do.

Hi, I'm JuLo and I'm a control freak.

Hehe. But of course, on the other side, this family has socialized Murphy in ways I would have trouble with in my own house. This family has kids and cats, Murphy has been back to the breeder's house to play with her dogs. That means this dog is already socialized with people, kids, and other animals. That's a pretty important step in development.

But then again the bonding experience would be totally different. With an 8-10 week old puppy I'd be taking home a baby who would experience homesickness, but then would bond to us and be part of our family. With Murphy I'd be taking him away from his family that he's already bonded with and loves very much. I feel like I would never have the same relationship, or at least I would wonder.

I talked to Husband, and he's just as puzzled. His first concern was that Murphy was an aggressive dog, but according to the breeder that's not the case. Murphy is a needy dog that always took up a lot of the family's attention. The other dog would get jealous and pick fights. According to the breeder, Murphy never started these fights, but he wouldn't back down either. So that makes me feel like Murphy wouldn't be dog aggressive, though we'd have to be very careful if we ever decided to get a second dog.

I think I'm leaning towards no...but I'm just not sure! I think I could be convinced either way. I'm going to tell the breeder that we'll think about it a bit more, but if i had to decide right now I'd say no. It's too bad too...he's so pretty! I'll see if I can get a good picture to post so you can see him.

PS: I actually love the name Murphy. It's a little boring, but it also reminds me of Murphy's Law, which has been my good (not) friend these past 25 years. If you look at the wikipedia entry there's probably a picture of me next to it. Hehe.

Video Of The Week 10

Darla is back and she's out for blood! The dog is seriously offended by the poor little festive singing turkey. Too cute.

Introducing The Puppy Daddy

It has recently been brought to my attention that I never posted any pictures of my puppy daddy! This isn't entirely true if you've read through my non-dog blog, as I've posted the pic to the left once before. You might also recognize it from the one of the pictures in the blog title. :)

This guy is Dawson, my puppy daddy. The top left picture is of Dawson as a puppy, and it is one of the cutest pictures of a Corgi I've ever seen. He just looks so adorable and happy, and his coloring is amazing! The other two pictures are Dawson as he is now: all grown up and gorgeous.

Clothing Just For Corgis

I just came across this website, that sells clothing specially sized for PWCs! I'm not really into the whole animal dress up thing, and these clothes are kinda...plain, but I still think it's awesome that it exists. I think it's still pretty new, maybe if it takes off a bit, they'll offer a wider range of merchandise. I know some people would be glad for better fitting dog gear.

A Countdown Of Sorts

I decided that I wanted a countdown of some sort in the blog (blame igoogle's gadgets!) , seeing as how we're so close to the puppies being born. I searched high and low for minutes to find a descent counter. They were mostly just counting down specific things like Christmas or New Years, or they were generic, but also boring. Finally I stumbled on the little treasure you see to your right. Sure, it was made to be a countdown for human babies, but same diff, right?

11 days!

I'd Sell My Soul For A Free Paperclip

I love free stuff, and I love contests (even though I've never won one...), so it should come as no surprise that I am whoring myself out try and win a free Get Fuzzy book. That's right, Get Fuzzy, the adorable comic strip in the Sunday paper. As I said in the Food Bowl comments, if the phrase “Who am I? ‘I want tuna! I want tuna!’” means anything to you, you’re alright in my book.

You can enter the contest for yourself here (part two of submission complete!), though that would make you my competition...*evil glare*

As The Time Draws Near

Can you believe it's December!? You know that means...my puppies are going to be born this month!!! Of course, only one of them will be mine, but since I'm just a possessive person, I'll keep referring to them as my puppies. Back in October the breeder estimated that my puppy mama (pictured right) would be having her liter around December 15th. I haven't heard anything new, so I'm still operating under the assumption that that is the big day (or there abouts). I just emailed the breeder, so we'll see what she says.

After all this time I still feel so unprepared! I never read most of the books I wanted to read, though that's partly because I've had a hard time getting them back from the library after I had to return them the first time around. We never fixed that fence. We never chose a vet or a training facility. I guess most of that stuff I don't even need to do until after the puppy comes home (except the vet, which we'll want to pick out right before). I guess I'm just getting nervous because this is my first dog, and I want everything to go great.

Well after the puppies are born, I get to do the fun part of the puppy preparation: shopping! That's right, I'll need collars, leashes, food bowls, a crate, bedding, toys, chews, treats, food, etc. All the stuff you need when you first bring your puppy home I have none of. That's going to be a fun, but expensive trip to the pet store (it'll probably be more like 3 or 4 pet stores, but that's ok).

Update: I just got an email back from the breeder. My puppy mama is huge and the puppies are due by the 17th! 13 days!