March Showers?

 CD20,  8dpt/6dpiui

I received 2 invitations for baby showers in the month of March.  1 from someone I have known since elementary school, but we have never been super close.  The other is the wife of my husband’s friend.  I am trying to decide if I should go to 1) all 2) one 3) neither of these events.  I think my decision will be to go to my friend from elementary school’s shower and not the other one.  This friend knows about our IF issues so I know she won’t be saying anything stupid to me at the shower, also because a lot of our common friends will be there and many of them know of our issues so they will be good support.  The other lady is one of those “everybody should get KU right after you get married!” types (she got KU right after they got married) and doesn’t know about our IF.  I also wouldn’t know as many people at this one.

Ok decision made.

That being said if by some miracle we are pregnant this month then I will go to them both with a smile on my face!  And I will take mental notes of what I need to get for a baby!

I have been having some slight cramping today, nothing major, but of course makes me nervous because I have started having early cramping with every past cycle.  

I just love angry cat

Puppy Prep is in Full Effect!

As of today we are only 2 weeks away from the puppy coming home!  Over the last week Brian and I have picked up on our puppy prep.  We took a drive to PetEdge in Billerica and got a bunch of things like a leash, collar, food/water bowls, etc.  I definitely feel a lot more prepared having this at home.

After PetEdge we went to a dog food store in North Andover called Chow Bow Wow.  They offered a lot of nice wholesome dog foods - the lady who owns the place gave us the run down on the foods and I was a bit overwhelmed especially when she told us that she feeds her own dogs a raw organic diet.  I don't think we are going to be that extreme with our dog - but we do want a step up from normal dog food.  The breeder is currently feeding the puppies Purina Pro Plan puppy food so I am going to get a small bag of that to start the puppy out then gradually move over to another food.

Remi's Visit
Last weekend we dog sat for my cousins dog Remi and we had a lot of fun!  Remi was a good dog and went on a hike with me and also went to Brian's triathalon.  She was very popular there!  When Remi first came into our house she started sniffing around the family room where Stewie usually hangs out.  We decided not to introduce Remi and Stewie because it could have been pretty dramatic for Stewie and we didn't want him to have a bad meeting with a dog so close to our puppy coming home.  I think an interaction with a puppy will be a lot easier on Stew - the puppy will be a lot closer to his size than a full grown dog. 

New Pictures
Over the past week we received the 6 week pictures of the puppies!  The differences between them are a lot bigger now and you can tell their coat texture a bit easier now too.  

White is our favorite!  We also like Pink and Red.  When we got the pictures we knew who our favorites were but had no idea what their personalities were.  Luckily a few days later I saw that the breeder had posted a video on their website!  I have watched the video about 10+ times now and you can definitely start to see their personalities!  Here is my synopsis:

Pink Dot: kind of crazy!  She certainly has a lot of energy.
White: Very calm, a sweetheart
Pink: The most retriever looking, also very sweet
Red Dot: The smallest, very cute
Red: Playful and still very sweet.

Here is the video:

Puppy 6 week video

The video made me so much more excited for the puppies to come home! (if that is possible).

Next week we will receive the temperment tests for white, red and pink!  And then we will officially pick our puppy!

New Pictures

 We receive pictures every 2 weeks from the breeder so we can see the progress of our puppy litter.  We recently received the 4 week old pictures. 

You may have noticed that there are only 4 girls in the litter now - it seems the smallest pup in the first set of pictures is no longer among them.  I am assuming she didn't survive :( so sad.

We are getting closer to the time when we need to pick our top 2 based on looks.  Right now we are still leaning towards white.  There really aren't many differences since their coats all are very similar in color.  Temperament will probably be the big deciding factor in our pick.

This weekend Brian and I are dog sitting for my cousin and her husband.  Their dog Remi is a whoodle (wheaton terrier poodle mix).  We are very excited because we can "test run" our dog skills and maybe figure out what we need to change around our house.  We are going to have to make sure we keep the upstairs door closed so Remi doesn't get to Stewie.  Terriers usually have a pretty strong prey drive so it would not be in Stewie's best interest to meet with a dog that is 1) prey driven and 2) has not been socialized to small animals.

This weekend we plan to take Remi for a walk on Friday night, a hike on Saturday and take her to watch Brian's triathlon in Lowell on Sunday.  I think we will do a good job in tiring her out!

  I am also hoping this weekend Brian and I will visit the PetEdge store which sells discounted dog supplies.  Only 28 more days until our pup comes!

The count down is on

I got an email from the folks at the breeder the other day confirming we want to stay on the litter list for our puppy (um, yeah!).  I also confirmed with them that the puppy will get shipped to us on Friday August 5th.  I wanted to make sure she wouldn't be coming Friday July 29th because that would be a tricky time for me at work- I wouldn't be able to take off as much time that following week.

I think I have been driving my husband Brian a bit nuts with puppy talk lately - I am constantly telling him things like "we should make sure people know not to feed our puppy from the table" or "What names do you like the best?"  he is taking it pretty well even though I know puppies isn't his #1 favorite topic to discuss (unlike myself). 

As of today the countdown is 42 days until the puppy comes home.  I have been telling Stewie about the new puppy everyday to get him prepared (as if he knows what I am saying).  I should look into having the breeder send me a t-shirt or cloth with the puppy's smell on it when we get a little closer.  Then put the item in with Stewie so he gets used to the smell.  Stewie has really come a long way in terms of coming out of his shell.  When we first got him he really didn't want any human interaction - rather he would hang out with Sadie our other bunny and be perfectly happy.  After Sadie died he really started to look to us for some companionship and I try to hang out with him at night so he has some interaction.  Who knows maybe he will like the new dog more than us!  Actually I wouldn't be too surprised especially since she is a female. 

I am afraid I have no new puppy pictures to show - next picture date should be the 4 week picture at 7/4/11.  I can't wait!

Time to get this party started!

Welcome to my blog!  I set up this blog to chronicle my attempt to socialize the puppy I am getting with my current pet Stewie.  Stewie is a 3 year old (approximate age since he was adopted from the MSPCA) Netherland Dwarf rabbit.  Now many people have told me that trying to mix a dog with a rabbit is a recipe for disaster and I kind of believe them.  Actually my first pet rabbit, Daisy, was killed when a dog jumped into her outdoor pen.  Despite this, I am hoping that with a great deal of socialization and observation I will be able to get the puppy and Stewie to a point where they can coexist without fear.  I am not saying they will ever be at the point where I can leave them alone together, but I am hoping they can both hang out together without issues.  

A little background on the new puppy

My husband and I are getting an F1b standard goldendoodle which will be 75% poodle and 25% golden retriever.  We picked this breed because we need a non/low shedding dog and we have always loved the golden retriever temperament.  This breed is supposed to be good with other animals as well. 

The litter we are getting our puppy from was born on 6/5/2011 and we should be able to get our puppy in early August.  The litter is made up of 5 girls and 3 boys.  We are hoping to pick out a girl.  The anticipated size of the dog should be about 60 lbs. 

Here is the first picture I received of the girls dogs in the litter!

A little background on the rabbit

We adopted Stewie 3 years ago from the MSPCA.  At that time we had another rabbit named Sadie who was a Rex rabbit.  I did some research before getting Stewie to figure out what was the best combination for rabbits to get along.  The combinations of 2 females or a female and a male were supposed to be good for getting along, but a male and a male would not be ideal.  Both Stewie and Sadie were fixed before we got them but when we first put them in the same area they started to bite at and pull out each other’s fur.  They did not seem to want to get along and I was concerned they would have to live in separate cages.  I did a good deal of research on bringing 2 rabbits together and the research suggested putting their cages side by side for some time so they could check each other out but wouldn’t not able to get at each other.

  

I put their cages next to each other and then held nightly “integration” sessions between them.  The integration sessions included bringing the two of them together in a bathroom and me sitting with them and squirting them when they started to pull out each other’s fur.  The goal of the integration sessions was for them to spend some time together but then show them that when they started to fight they would get squirted.  After a couple of weeks of integration they weren’t fighting so much so I decided to put them both in the same cage.  I watched them for a while and they didn’t seem to mind being in the same cage so from that point forward they lived together.  After some time went by the two of them became great friends and loved to snuggle together when watching tv in the living room.  When Sadie died about a year ago Stewie was very sad not to have a friend.  I am hoping that Stewie gets a new buddy with the puppy. 

 Here is a picture of Sadie (left) and Stewie (right)

Over the next few weeks I will lay out the socialization plan and when the puppy comes home I hope to fill you in on how it goes!  

Stay tuned!