Progress...

I am making progress, though not as much as I'd hoped.  I'm not quite done with the living room, but close.  Still have some tidying to do.  Also have to deal with getting all the wires policed up.  This house is over a 100 years old, so there are only two outlets in the living room, which of course means power strips connected to power strips, etc.  We won't even mention the knob and tube wiring in the basement, okay...  Hopefully I'll get the living room finished tonight.

Today was a nice day on the weather, so I took advantage of it to work in the yard.  I've inspected with a critical eye and there is only one escape spot, which I just stuffed a board in and used zipties to keep it there.  The rest of my day was spent tidying and beginning winterizing the yard (last of the year cleanup).  I didn't get as far as I hoped, but far enough for now. 

While I was working this young gal (with the most adorable New Zealand accent) stops to ask if she can pick up the deadfall apples if I'm not going to use them.  Sure I said.  She picked up a box full and I noticed she had another empty box, so I made her fill it too.  Then she picked up all the rotten ones and put them in the yardwaste bin after I commented that Michael likes to eat them, get tipsy and pee in his sleep.  Then came over to help me turn over the tarp I was trying to shovel the dirt and grass off of - which saved me about an hour of back breaking work.  And then went on to shovel the dirt out smoothly to fill a depression in the ground, so all I have to do is toss some grass seed on it.  On top of that she promised to bring me some homemade apple sauce and apple cider.  Given that I have the best tasting apples on the planet (if you ever add an apple tree - make it a Liberty, they are that old fashioned flavor that I adore), I am really looking forward to tasting her apple sauce and cider.    [this story comes after a stranger stopped the week before to help me hoist a monstrous huge TV into the back of the car]

So I've just been rolling in good fortune.  And did I tell you next week I get to pick up the most wonderful puppy on the planet?  Woohoo...

So back to the yard work... got the space cleared where the puppy expens went up.  Then got that tarp cleaned off.  Then used PVC and zipties to fix the tarp across two-thirds of the expens.  I wanted to give her a place she could be out of the weather, since this is Washington and it does rain here - a LOT.  Its not a handsome structure, but its certainly functional - you really can build almost anything with PVC and zipties. 

There is more to do in the yard, but I can putter away at it.  I have some plants that need to go in the ground and will probably get my house sitter to do them on the day I pick him up.  That will give him something to do while I'm whirling around the house at the last minute - lathering about things.

Soon, very very soon...

The Ugly Stage

You know how some projects get that ugly stage?  Well that's where I am right now with getting the living room ready.  I say of my house that its in fourth stage remodel... so my goal is to make one room that the puppy can be loose in and where I don't have to worry about her getting into things.  My living room is really an all-purpose room (small house).  So, in one corner I have my crafting/sewing table and behind that was all kinds of "stuff" that would have been enticing to a naughty-inclined puppy.  Okay, even a not so naughty puppy would have been attracted to it.

So I brought in a bunch of plastic totes and I've been going through it an putting the contents into those totes according to what it is.  Who knew I had that much stuff?  Okay, I did, but I was pretending I didn't.  Before I started on the craft/sewing corner the living room was looking pretty good, having already dealt with all the parked stuff, reorganizing things and having found a temporary home for my rocking chair.  So now that I'm working on the corner - we are truly in the ugly phase and the crafting and sewing and other stuff has just exploded all over the room.  I couldn't bring a pet worm in with the living room looking as it does right now; fortunately I'm sure I will have it conquered and ready by nightfall today.

Did I mention my house is small?  In addition to tidying, I am also trying to open up the floor plan in the living room so that I'll have a little training area -- since we are already well into the rainy season and will be for the next six months.  That's why I found a foster home for my rocking chair and because where the rocker was, is where the puppy expen is going to go.  I also am going to put the loveseat on those slider things so I can push it back when I'm ready for training sessions. 

Another project I completed was a trip to Goodwill to buy puppy buddies... that's large stuffed animals for the puppy to cuddle up to and lay on and across, just like they are accustomed to with their littermates.  I found four really cute toys, but only one had safe eyes that were appliqued on.  I bought the others anyway and when I got home took a hammer to those eyes (visions of slasher movies, eh).  The next evening, after a long day at work when I didn't feel like doing anything that required a lot of standing, I sewed on new eyes.  They are very cute...

My friend reminded me that children's toys are not necessarily safe for puppies.  There is a risk if the puppy ingests the stuffing from children's toys that the stuffing turns to a gel during digestion and can cause a blockage.  After her reminder I checked the internet and found there is only one story about it - repeated a hundred thousand million times (you know how the internet is).  There is however a Snopes report about it saying that story is a mixture of truth and fiction.  So you should probably read the report and just remember to never let your puppy or dog have access to children's toys when unsupervised. http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/stuffedtoys.asp

What A Month It Has Been

I apologize for not writing sooner.  We have been very busy here and not all of it geared toward getting ready for the puppy.

First, Michael had a recurrence of his face swelling episode.  I feared he'd have to have surgery, but this time when we got the swelling down, the little bump was entirely gone.  Last time there was still a residual bump on his jaw about the size of a lentil.  This time even my veterinarian's educated fingers couldn't find it.  So we have put off the surgery option and am waiting and hoping that this will not reoccur.

Then, as soon as I started relaxing and breathing normal, Michael got salmon poisoning and was very ill for a week.  I was very fortunate to be home when he really started showing symptoms otherwise the outcome could have been different.  Even still it took him a week to recover and he still isn't on his regular diet (possibly a side affect of the antibiotic).  I don't think he can recover the weight he lost until he gets back on his regular diet. 

If you live on the west coast, you should look up salmon poisoning (its not just about salmon) and without treatment it kills 90% of dogs in 7-10 days.  It only affects dogs, not cats, people, bears, raccoons - just dogs. 

Then my slow old Michael caught and killed an adult squirrel.  I still can't imagine how he could do that and feared that the squirrel might be diseased.  Contacting animal control provided no useful information.  I even called the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, who sent me to the state biologist for our county.  It took her two days to call back and her advice makes me look like an amateur at obsessing.  If I followed her advice - I'd have to sanitize the whole yard!  To listen to her its a wonder you people who live in rural areas or the country can keep any of your animals alive.  How do you do it?  <tic>

I continue my efforts to get ready for the puppy and with less than two weeks to go there is still more stuff on the list than has been checked off.  Nonetheless I am making headway on the highest priority items and some of the other things could be done after the great arrival.  I'm counting on not sleeping for the last week before going to get the puppy.

The biggest project has been to finish most, if not all, of the basement project-from-hell.  Part of that project involved installing, reinstalling and improving the insulation in the basement.  Since I'd be using the fiberglass insulation, I wanted to get that done well in advance of puppy arrival, so I could make sure there wouldn't be any fiberglass fibers in that environment.  Gotta protect those baby lungs (not to mention the old dog lungs).  One more good vacuuming and then will wipe down the walls and surfaces with damp cloths - just to be sure.  After that I'll be able to set up the puppy apartment.

Since I've mentioned the puppy apartment, I should describe it.  I've done this for many of the puppies I've gotten and I think its the best solution for someone with a young puppy that still has to go to work.  The idea is to make sure the puppy is kept very clean, ensuring she develops clean habits.  A puppy that never steps in feces or urine will find the idea repulsive as an adult, unlike puppies that track through their waste a lot during their early months.  It is also important to solidify in the puppy brain the idea that you don't poop or pee anywhere near where you sleep and eat -- this makes house training go so well.  Back when I had litters of my own, I found it invaluable and actually had puppies that went to their new homes almost completely potty trained.

Given how clean Sadie (the dam), Tana and BJ (the human parents) have kept the puppy environment, it would be a shame to undo that.  I have seen only one poop in over 6 weeks and that I watched come out of a four week old puppy bum -- within a minute a hand swooped in and took it away.  I think Tana and BJ must have a roster, so that there is always one of them sitting on a bar stool watching the puppies, poised and ready with tissue in hand.  Okay, so I'm being a little silly, but seriously, these pups have been raised very clean and that is a very good thing.

So I still haven't described the puppy apartment.  I use a 3' x 3' puppy pen with a raised floor.  It has a door on one side and the top opens.  I zip tie the door open and put a wire crate aligned with the door and zip tie it to the pen.  The crate is set up with a raised floor that matches the height of the puppy pen.  I put plenty of cushy bedding in there and cover the crate to make it dark and cozy - the ideal den to sleep in.  As puppy comes out of the den she will find her food/water dishes on one side of the door and the whole rest of the pen is available to play in.  She will have a couple safe toys to play with.

What I've found in the past is that within a week at the most, all the peeing and pooping is done in the corner of the puppy pen that is furthest from the food/water dishes.  Even though the puppy feeties are not exposed to their waste, they still very quickly try to keep that stuff as far as possible from their sleeping and eating places.  As clean as these puppies have been, I expect it to go the same. 

That's all for now... more later...

Where Have I Been?

Wednesday, 9/8/10

To say that I've been busy would be an understatement - this is one of those weeks where we do all the seasonal transitions in my accounts.  When all goes well, its a busy time.  When there are mistakes in what they send us... its worse than busy.

Over the weekend, Michael did well.  On Saturday his takeoff point for the triple was too early and he dropped bars, so I abbreviated the run and we ended on a fun note.  On Sunday I thought I had a good plan, but he threw on the after-burners, so I couldn't get where I wanted to be.  It took me about five obstacles to get back on track.  Despite my inelegant handling, he turned in a clean run, coming in 9 seconds under SCT and getting First Place.  That's m'boy.

A friend who is a physical therapist suggested that maybe he has difficulty with the triple based on what lead he's running on or where he is turning from.  Its not that he can't still clear the triple, its that sometimes he thinks he can't and his effort to compensate is exactly the wrong thing. Its mostly a confidence thing.

I haven't owned a triple in the past, but decided we need to have our very own at home so I can do some more training specific to his issue.  So on Monday after work I went to Home Depot to buy the things I need to make one.  We'll see if it helps once I get it finished and do the training.  Now I just need to find the time to make it up.

Over the weekend my parents weren't home, but I stayed at their place all alone.  I knew they wouldn't be there, so took all my beading stuff and used the opportunity to spread it out on the floor in front of a Star Wars movie and reorganize the stuff.  This should make beading go a whole lot faster if I don't have to dig through all my whole stash to find one little thing.

Since I've been home I've been still working on the living room, getting it puppy proofed.  I'm not exactly following the list... ahead in some spots and behind on others - which averages out to right on track. One of the things I've done is to rearrange the furniture in the living room, with the goal of opening up more floor space.  I get Ms.Puppy toward the end of October and we'll be well into the rainy season (heck its been raining three days straight now), so thought this would give me a place to do some indoor training.  Overall I've made some great headway and I'm happy with how its going.  I'm still telling myself I'm going to be ready...  he he he...,

Lists of my lists... coming soon...

Tuesday, 8/31/10

I've always loved lists...  I find them helpful to keep myself in some semblance of what could be called organized.  I also like to have charts and matrices, as appropriate.  There's just something really satisfying about crossing things off a list or checking boxes.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

So I took my puppy prep to do list and reorganized it.  My idea was to set up a schedule of weeks, so I don't get to the last week and then run myself into the ground trying to get it all done at the last minute.  I typed it into the computer, have added a weekly calendar strip where I can put in other appointments/commitments and I've left space between each week where I can add things to the list.  I tried to space it out somewhat.

I'm also keeping a pad of paper with me at all times so I can jot down additional things as I think of them.  (and today have filled almost a whole page on the pad while driving to Vancouver and back)

While I'm at it, I'm reading and reviewing important training materials and making lists and such for training things.  I'll be making lists and matrices for those later.

Did I mention that I can be "slightly" obsessive-compulsive?

Swirling mind, mine...

Friday, 8/27/10:

I admit, I have a fairly mindless job.  Often that proves to be an advantage, since I can ruminate on any topic that strikes my fancy.  But today my mind was swirling around, back and forth... on all the things I have to do before the little darling arrives. 

So I went to the back-to-school supply section and bought a little notebook so I could start making a list as things occurred to me.  Should I confess that the list filled almost two pages before I was done?

Since the 70 page notebooks are only 15 cents, I went back and bought 30 more.  I thought they'd be handy to use for a training journal.  I can keep one in the car, in my training bag, in the house.  As I put things in them, I can transfer it to larger 3-ring binders.  And if I lose a notebook, I will only have lost a couple entries, as opposed to the possibility of losing months, or even a year's worth of information. 

Came home to discover the book I'd ordered had arrived.  Its every bit as good as I expected it to be.

Weird happenings at our house

Thursday, 8/26/10:

Today was my day off from work, so I spent much of the day puppy proofing.  I don't feel like I got very far.  In the midst of my efforts, I heard a loud "whoosh" noise.  I went outside to discover that a sizable branch had fallen from the neighbor's tree into my yard.  It's about 40 ft long and the diameter of the branch where it broke is about 9 inches.  You can imagine how thankful I was that Michael and Meaggi were safely inside when this happened. 

Of course, that reminded me that the living room is not the only thing that needs to be puppy proofed.  I'll have to do a lot in the yard.  Plus need to double-check the fence to make sure there are no places where a small puppy could wriggle through.  It is chain link, but still, in the fifteen years since it was put in - things can shift.

Just what I needed, more for my to do list.

Can you spell "panic" ??

Monday, 8/23/10: 

Okay, its official.  I just suddenly realized how much I have left to do before the little darling arrives.  What have I been doing for the last two months?  Nothing.  Well not nothing, mostly just thinking about what I was going to do any minute now.  I feel so unprepared. 

There are so many things to think about

1. getting the puppy, which quickly morphed to travel plans
2. who will take me to/from the airport
3. who will watch the house and other dogs during my absence
4. training -- I really am going to do a training journal this time, so what format will I use, paper vs software
5. puppy proofing the house
6. setting up crates and such for puppy
7. puppy proofing the yard

That's just the off the top of my head list...  I know when I really get started the list will grow by leaps and bounds.