Lola comes home in less than a week!! I can't believe it. I feel like I've been waiting forever! If I'm not ready now...I'll never be! Her room is all ready & I've got lots of supplies:
3 crates in various sizes
puppy food for when she comes home (Puppy Chow)
puppy food for later (Chicken Soup)
a little pink collar w/ daisies on it & a bigger purple collar for later
a giant basket of chew toys (3 puppy kongs, a Premier chewie thing, 5-6 hollow marrow bones, 2 kong bones)
a lightweight leash, a 4' leather leash, a 6' leather leash, a 20 & 30 foot long line
a gallon of Nature's Miracle
a giant stack of newspapers & puppy piddle pads
We've scheduled a vet appt for the 26th and we should be in class by the 2nd or 3rd week of January.
I've read every book I can get my hands on:
BEFORE & AFTER you get your puppy - Ian Dunbar
Mother Knows Best - Carol Lea Benjamin
The Good Life - Uncle Matty & Mordecai Siegal
The Essential Boxer - Ian Dunbar
Good Dogs, Great Owners* & MetroDogs* - Brian Kilcommons
What all good dogs should know - Jack Volhard & Melissa Bartlett
The Culture Clash* - Jean Donaldson
Sirius Puppy Training (video) - Ian Dunbar (I watched this 4 times...Loved it!!)
Click for Joy* - Melissa Alexander
Bringing Light To Shadow: A Dog Trainer's Diary - Pamela Dennison
*Already have read...just a refresher.
I'm not real concerned about the training methods used in these books...I'm mainly interested in the puppy info. There are several different training approaches in all the books & while I'm not interested in using many of them...every book has something of benefit I will use. Kilcommons book is by far my favorite for puppy info & The Good Life was pretty helpful as well. I was thrilled w/ Dunbar's video...although it was shot in the late 80s & there's lots of bad hair, the content was spectacular. Too bad it was a loaner from the library.
So...in preparation for the new arrival, Sherman & Penny have been on a pretty tight NILIF schedule. It's been going quite well, actually & last night was the final step in my master plan...Dogs sleep on the floor - all night. As Sherman has been sleeping in our bed for 4 1/2 years, you can imagine how well he took this change in routine. Both dogs were tethered to their dog beds w/ a 5 ft leash. Poor Penny tried to jump on the bed a couple of times and was promptly flung back on the floor. I woke up @ 3:00 a.m. to Sherman at the end of his leash, laying on the floor smiling at me & wagging his tail. "Ok...enough of this Mom...I'm ready to get on the bed now". They'll adjust...and I had the best night sleep I've had in a long time.
