PUPPY!!!!!!!!!
We finally have a puppy of our very own, and he is the cutest dog in the whole entire universe and i love him, so there.
We high-tailed it over to the shelter yesterday afternoon, closing the store a half-hour early in order to get there on time. I was so nervous before we got there, in the car i was tearing out my hair and pulling at my clothes and all other kinds of unseemly things. Dan was busy trying not to get us into a car-wreck, which was difficult because i was reminding him of the imminent importance of avoiding a car wreck every fifteeen seconds. Which is, like, twice as much as often as i usually do it when he's driving.
We got to the shelter in sterling and we were happily surprised to see two little puppies left from the Tuesday batch which we had been eyeing on the web anxiously for what seems like FOREVER. One was a female black lab mix and the other was a cream-colored Australian shepherd mix. While we were looking at them in their pen, a woman came out of the office house to help us, and i immedietly started selling us to her as responsible pet owners. "We have a home with a big yard, and conservation land right by our house, and we're both active and like to be outside, and Dan works from home...." I think i even introduced myself by shaking her hand. I'm sure no-one shakes her hand. It's probobly covered with doggy disease.
Anyway, we went in the pen to check out the two puppy dogs. First we met the baby girl lab, who jumped all over me and nipped at my face about a hundred times. She was very cute, but i wasn't so much playing with her as protecting my chin from mortal injury.
Then we went in the pen with the Australian Shepherd, who Dan was much more interested in anyway, because he has long legs and is bound to be a tall lean dog (Dan's favorite kind) and because his eyes are two different colors, which is painfully endearing. The Shepherd seemed not at all concerned with us, in fact he walked around the pen like we didn't even exist, refraining from any outlandish displays of licking or nipping. Well, that was just the hard-to-get aloof attitude we were looking for! Plus he had the cutest little noble face, and soft soft fur, and i wanted a boy dog, and in the end it's not very hard to pick from just two choices.
So we adopted little Evan the Australian Shepherd Plus, the Plus being whatever his daddy was, we dont' know. Evan was what he was called at the Shelter, only he doesn't answer to anything yet, so his future name is still up for discussion.
We drove the little puppy home and i held him all the way home on my lap. He was very nervous and shivering all over at first, but then he calmed down after a while either because of the pets and scratches or because he forgot what he was doing and the car ride was interesting. Only maybe a bit too bumpy; he threw up his dinner all over me and Dan's car. Then at home he threw up again and peed on the floor. We're Parents!!!
Puppy was a bit skittish and shy all evening, checking out our house and running away from everything (plants, chairs, all noises). He liked his new Crate house though, in which he has a little bed (newly laundered to clean off the throw-up) and a little towel blankey, and a little sheep toy which we gave him as his first present, of many many more yet to come.
His evening walk was a little overwhelming for him, considering it was the first time he encountered a leash, grass, and the concept of walking. When we put him in the crate in our room and turned out the lights for bed he started whining and crying, but then i sang him a lulliby and he was quiet all night. I know, because i hardly slept a single wink, worrying so much about the little puppy and what if he had to go to the bathroom. Still, he was a good as can be, and when we woke up at 6 to take him out, he seemed perfectly happy to stay in his little house lying down. What a lazy dog!
But the sleepyness isn't the poor puppy's fault. He was neutered just three days ago, which makes him a post-op non-sexual as Dan said. Also he's a little shy and overwhelmed, being shipped all the way from North Carolina, and before that only recently being popped out of his mother's tummy 10 weeks ago. But this morning he was feeling more comfortable with us, and ready to explore the house a bit more. He has yet to start playing, but i can feel it building up inside him. He is going to be the best dog EVAR!!!!!
Dan will soon put photos up on the web, and you will hear more about our little puppy (including his new name) in the days to come. It's so exciting being a new parent! When i came into the room from my shower Dan said, "Look! He's wagging his tail at you!" I was so unbelievably proud, it was like my own had just taken his first steps!
