Two Days!!

I cannot believe that in just two days I will have my new puppy!  I will be able to hold him, play with him, and start to get to know him!

Even though I've seen pictures, there is only so much a picture can convey.  I am getting so eager to know who he will be.

I already have a strong sense of gratitude toward this little puppy boy.  I was thinking about the fact that since just a couple of weeks after losing Speedy and through Sammie being sick and losing him, even the thought of this puppy has helped me so much.  He was always just a tiny little spark of hope and I can't imagine what it would have been like going through this without that.

Now I am ready to get on with the business of getting to know this guy!

A Pain? I Don't Care!!!

I'm starting to get a little ticked off at the people who keep telling me that puppies are a pain.  I know they mean well, but I really wish they would stop and think before saying it.

First of all, I have done this before.  Granted, Speedy was a pretty easy puppy in many ways.  But he was a puppy.  He had boundless energy.  He used to just run right into walls at times, he was so nuts!  He destroyed things.  I had tote bags nailed to the wall in our Shendo house so we could put things up away from him because he would take things off of tables and shelves.  He destroyed a pair of Ben's very expensive sunglasses.  He destroyed and partially ate the wooden cross I had that was blessed by Pope John Paul II.

When I started training Speedy, he thought everything meant to jump up in my face!!!  I had to train Sammie to do everything I wanted to teach Speedy to do (to figure out how it would go) because Speedy wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a thought in edgewise!  He picked up targets and ran away with them and I had to use dinner plates to teach him targeting!!

Oh, and add into that the fact that he was terrified of everyone and everything outside of our home and we lived in a busy town . . . 

I will say this with no reservation - I would do it all over again.  I would gladly let Speedy destroy almost everything I own if I could have him back again even for a short time.  I never think back on Speedy's puppyhood and think "he was a pain".  I think it all went way too fast.

Second, I have just lived with old dogs for the last few years.  Although they are very different from puppies, old dogs aren't always easy.  I had to lift Sammie onto the bed every night for over a year when he couldn't jump up anymore.  I cleaned up countless accident spots when he couldn't hold his bladder sometimes.  Old dogs need blood tests and medications, and over time you watch them be able to do less and less and less.  Speedy got kind of odd and started eating and licking everything in sight.

Know what?  I don't look back on these last few years and think, "they were a pain".  I think, "it wasn't enough time".  I would have happily done what they needed for much longer than I needed to.

The most insane run-ragged month of my life was the first month Dean was here.  He was nuts.  He had no self-discipline whatsoever.  And he was a giant untrained 10 month old Border Collie.

In some odd way I treasure the memory of that time.  There was so much potential and I loved the work that I had to do to help him start to get a grip on his own mind.

I guess the only dog who has ever come into this house and not been something of a pain at some time is Tessa.  Honestly, I would rather that she had been able to come into my house a crazy and overly-energetic puppy!!  My heart still breaks for her when I think of the life she had to live when she should have been someone's treasured and spoiled little princess girl.

So . . . . he'll be a pain sometimes.  I don't care.  I want to welcome this puppy into my home.  I want to give him the gift of a life where he never knows a day without love.  I want to be the one who teaches him how to be a well behaved member of our household.  I want to see those little eyes of his brimming over with fun and curiosity and a healthy sense of adventure.

I want to enjoy this side of a dog's life for a change.  I feel like I've been at the other end for far too long.

And my new puppy is . . . .

Alder!!!!

I am thrilled to pieces.  I think he is just adorable.

I really hadn't thought a lot about this one, and I hadn't been drawn strongly to his pictures at all.  But when the breeder contacted me on Saturday and told me he was going to be mine, I knew he was exactly the right one!!

Earlier that day, I had been driving along, alternately thinking about Sammie and Speedy and the new puppy.

I have been very strongly committed to not allowing myself to make potential comparisons between Speedy and the new puppy.  I know the new puppy will be very different, and I don't want to put the burden of comparison on him.

But on Saturday I allowed myself one little tiny thing.  I thought, "if I could say that there is just one quality that Speedy had that I would want the new puppy to have, what would that be?"

I didn't have to think very long to come up with the answer.  Right away I thought, "his joy".  I thought, "If the puppy would be the type of dog who would regard the world with the same eager enthusiasm and joy that Speedy did, I would be perfectly happy".

When I got home that day, I found the breeder's message.  She described Alder in these words, "He is bubbly, happy, outgoing and absolutely delightful.  He really is a perfect little creature".

That's when I knew that he was my puppy and that he was always meant to be my dog!!

Now I can't wait to meet him!

Lots to do to get ready!

A Successor, Not a Replacement

No dog, no matter how extraordinary, will ever be Speedy.  As I await the time when our new puppy will join us, I have been working to reconcile the fact that, although I am hoping that he will become my next Freestyle partner, this puppy will not take Speedy's place.  No dog ever could.

Recently I saw something - and I don't even remember what it was.  I don't believe it was dog related.  But it said that someone would be a successor, not a replacement.

I like that.

And I think it applies very much here.  This puppy will be Speedy's successor.  Hopefully, as he grows and develops, he will become Dean's ball buddy.  Hopefully he will join Tessa and me on our hikes in the woods.  He will be the dog in our household who came right to us from the breeder and never had any other home.  He will be one of the Border Collie boys.  And, if he is willing, he will become my dance partner.

But in all of that he will bring his own style, his own personality, and his own self.

In thinking of him as Speedy's successor, I can kind of reconcile the place that he will have in our lives, without putting any burden of expectation on him.  And that is a good thing.

Four and a half weeks now . . .

Five Weeks to Go!!

We are going up to get our new puppy on Saturday, May 3rd, so just five weeks to go now!!

It has been so much fun to watch the puppies grow through pictures!  Some recent photos . . .

First time outside!!

Hawthorne, I believe, and Juniper, the Mom . . .

And the perfect picture of relaxation . . .

I've been busy cleaning my house, getting ready to puppy proof!  Two toys have been procured.  I am really starting to think about what I need to do to get ready!

A Double Edged Blessing

I am absolutely loving the process of watching the puppies grow and develop!  Already, in less than 3 weeks, they have grown and changed so much!  Their eyes are open and they are starting to play!  Even though I am watching them through pictures, I still have the sense of being part of this whole thing.

It is unique.  It is exciting.  It is an experience I know I will look back on and treasure.

It is also extremely difficult.

See, I am very aware that if Speedy had not died so quickly and so unexpectedly, I would not be having this experience.  And, of course, there is part of me that would readily give up this opportunity for two or three more years with my sweet boy.

Pass up, maybe, the dog of a lifetime?  Yes, in a heartbeat.

Of course, that's not possible.  It's a huge "if only".  All I can choose to do is to be grateful for the time that Speedy and I had together, treasure the memories, continue to honor him in the way I live and interact with my dogs, and give my whole heart to this new little guy when the time comes for him to join us.

But sometimes it hurts.  A lot.

I know the day will come when I look back and say, "no way" to the idea of giving up the puppy who will be joining us.  I'm not there today, but I have to remember that time will come.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the photos.  I am enjoying the expectation.  I know this will change everything, but I do want that . . .

Sometimes I feel like Speedy is almost still with me through this process.  He was not a dog to wallow in sorrow and if he had his druthers, he would want me to move forward, not get stuck.  And at other times, I just miss him awfully.

Well, it is what it is.  And I choose to be grateful that all of this fell into place.  A little bit of me already loves this new boy - whichever one of them he may be.  I just need to keep on remembering that.

 

Speedy as a youngster at the Pierogi Park in Shenandoah, PA

Cuteness!!!

If IIIIIIIIIII!!
Were the kiiiiiiing!
Of the foreeeeeeeeeest!!

 

 

I'm gonna eat you!

 



A Completely New Experience

Waiting for a new dog from before he was even born is a brand new experience for me.  I guess the acquisition of all of our dogs was a unique experience, but this one really stands out as very different.

We got Sammie from the SPCA.  Ben and I had been married for almost two years and we decided to go ahead and get the dog we talked about when we were engaged.  I asked him where he wanted to get a dog from.  He said, "the pound".  So, we went to the SPCA, met a few dogs, and adopted Sammie.

There was no research, no pre-planning, nothing.  I remember when he came home with us, holding the bag of dog food (a brand I would never feed now!) thinking, "I have no idea how much a dog eats"!!

Speedy's story is similar.  I saw a Border Collie in a pet store and was very taken with it.  It was the first dog I had seen whose color pattern was the same as Sammie's!  I told Ben I wanted a Border Collie, he found a breeder, we went and met two puppies, and came home with one.

Speedy had been with us a couple of days when I got the brilliant idea of researching Border Collies.  What I read as my sweet Border Collie puppy chewed on my feet under the computer table was quite an eye opener!

That story rarely ends well, but in our case, the hand of God was most certainly on us.

Less than a year after Speedy joined us, we decided that we wanted a girl.  Ben found Petfinder and he searched through that.  Maddie popped up as the "Featured Pet" on the site from a rescue about an hour away.  We arranged to meet her two days later and she came home with us that day.

By the time Dean came along, I was wiser.  This time I was going to put some thought, research, and careful choice into the selection of a new dog.  By that time I was a volunteer with Glen Highland Farm, so I went on their website and picked out 5 dogs that met my criteria.

We went up to meet those 5 dogs and connected with Dean and adopted him.  Even though this was a well thought out and planned decision, I still only waited one week to go up and meet the 5 dogs . . .

And then there was Tessa.  My short term foster.  I had evaluated her in a shelter for Glen Highland Farm and agreed to hold her for three weeks because they had no room for her right away.  When I saw that this extremely frightened girl felt safe among my dogs and on my furniture, I simply could not put her out.  The decision to adopt Tessa was a heart decision, but not a typical one.  I was not head over heels in love with her, nor her with me.  She was nothing that I would have said I wanted in a dog.  But I no sooner could have let her go than I could have put one of my dogs up for adoption!  I know now that God's hand was on that decision, too.  The falling in love came much later, but there is no dog in the world more perfect for me than Tessa, and no owner in the world more perfect for her than me.  We were just made to share time on this earth together.

So, the whole experience of being on a list before the puppies are born, waiting for them to be born, then seeing pictures of newly born puppies, and then starting to watch them grow and change and be fat peaceful little sleeping guys is so very new to me!

It is getting to where I can't wait to know which one will join our household.  I am starting to want to know the feeling of holding our puppy!

But . . . it can wait a bit, too.  This anticipation is very sweet.  In the long run I will look back on this time and think it was over in the blink of an eye.  For now, I am really savoring the experience!

Four of the five puppies at about one week old.  Photo courtesy of their breeder.

How This Came About . . .

The circumstances that have led to me looking to add a puppy to our household are not happy ones, unfortunately.  Although it has been at the back of my mind to someday - maybe - try my hand at raising a working bred Border Collie puppy, I had no plans to do so at this time.

Just a little over two months ago, we had four dogs in our household.  14 and 1/2 year old Sammie, who is plodding along in spite of some serious weakness in his back legs.  12 year old Speedy, who was in pretty good health other than some serious allergy problems and arthritis that he had lived and dealt with most of his life.  Almost 8 year old Dean, who, in spite of a bit of a hip hitch, is truly in his prime.  And "about 5" Tessa, a former street dog who is enjoying the early part of her prime.

I had figured that Sammie would probably leave this world sometime within the next year and then I would enjoy several more good years with Speedy, Dean, and Tessa as a trio, until Speedy was at least several years older.

Because Speedy has always been terrified of puppies, I decided long ago never to add a puppy to our household as long as he was with us.

So, I expected that a puppy, if I decided to raise one at all, was several years away.

This plan was not to be.

On January 11th we lost Speedy as a result of complications from a surgery that he needed very suddenly.  It happened fast.  It was a shock.  It was a horrendous loss.

It was literally a couple of days later when my husband said, "maybe we should get a puppy".  I had to admit that idea had crossed my mind a few times.  Of course, it was very soon at this point and we pretty much left it at "maybe someday".  It seemed then that it would be years before I would want to add another dog to our household.

The idea stuck with me.  And I couldn't shake it.  Then an online friend sent me a link to an article about loss of an extraordinary dog (which Speedy most certainly was) and the advice of the author: get another dog, same breed, as quickly as possible.  It rang true for me.

So, I decided to start putting feelers out there to see if I could get on the list for a future breeding.  I figured this would take a good deal of time - six months to a couple of years!

I was surprised when the opportunity to get on the list for two working bred litters came up right away.  True, I would be way down at the bottom of the lists, but it seemed that maybe one of these would pan out.

One did.  And that's how I ended up here - eagerly awaiting the time when my baby Border Collie puppy is grown up enough to come home!

Because of the circumstances, I waffle back and forth between excitement and grief.  Sometimes I think I am a fool to jump into this so soon.  And at other times it is clear that this is absolutely the best way to go.  Sometimes I think that all I really want is Speedy back.  And then at others I know that when this puppy is part of my life and I know him well it will be clear to me that Speedy had to go when he did and that it is a blessing that this boy could join us . . .

Speedy as a puppy, 3 - 4 months old, learning about ball play from his "big brother", Sammie.

New Dog . . . New Blog!

When we adopted our blue merle Border Collie, Dean, I started a blog to record our adventures together.  I also write "Tessa's Dancing and Training Adventures" which has really morphed into a general blog about dog related stuff, as well as Tessa's training and performance blog.

With a new puppy on the way - he was born a week ago yesterday - I decided to start a brand new blog where I can keep my posts on my thoughts and preparations as I get ready for this new boy to join our household.

When he arrives, this will become a blog focused mainly on him, although I will not hold to that strictly.

So, here we go.  New dog . . . new blog.  I don't even know, of the five puppies, which will end up joining us.  But we will know soon!  Within the next two months!

But lots to think about and prepare between now and then.