firsttimedoggymomma-blog

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Day 2 - The routine

Our routine is in place.

6am - I get up, run Stella upstairs to let her out to pee and poop. I pick up the poop, spray the grass clean, bin the poop and we head back in. 

6:10am - I get out the warm water and clean the gunk out of Stella’s eyes. give her a little pet and attention and then pop the coffee machine on. 

Then we chill out. 

7:30am - We all get dressed and ready, coffees get into our travel mugs, grab our walking bag (packed with water, poop bags and treats)

Stella is sat patiently waiting by the front door, we get our harness on and head out for our walk. 

When we get back we come in, go straight downstairs and Stella has a drink while I organise her breakfast. After she has eaten, I grab a coffee and we both curl up on the sofa. Little miss sleeps and I work/write/study. 

We play and go outside throughout the day and do the 3 P’s - poop, pee, play!  In the evening we go for our evening walk. She comes back in and has a drink while I sort out her evening meal and we do the 3P’s again haha. 

I remove the water bowls around 7:30/8pm at 9pm we all head down to the basement. 10pm I let Stella out for her last toilet break of the night and shes back inside her crate with the door closed

It’s working so well. We have had no accidents (she was house trained prior to coming to us yes but the schedule supports this and ensures no accidents) we have all slept straight through the night on both nights so far so we are very positive! 

Lets hope I haven’t jinxed it. 

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The First Night

This is our dog crate - But not our dog haha! 

We put a lovely soft bed in it (a thermapedic dog bed - memory foam - told you shes spoiled) and we introduced her to the crate. She went in happy and came out happy. Obviously she has previous training with crates. 

9pm - we let her out for her final toilet break and popped her in her crate in the basement (we live in the basement) we closed the door and went upstairs to finish cleaning up. She was not happy!  She howled and whined and complained for about 20 minutes. Google is your best friend - we quickly googled crate training to see what to do next. 

Most Crate training info said to put the crate in our room and slowly move it out. Having her in our room was a boundary we were not willing to cross. She can have the sofas in the basement, have the yard and her bed but not our room.  We tried a different approach. We let her out not making a big fuss and gave her a second. Then we told her to get in her bed - she walked in and we PRAISED hugs, pats, and treats. We repeated this 5 or 6 times and then told her to get in the bed and we left her in the crate with the door open. We both stayed in the basement for about 30 minute, praising her when we caught her eye. We then took it in turns to use shower one of us staying in the basement. When we swapped, I turned out the light, left the TV on, and without fussing closed her crate door.  When I walked away I could hear her digging. I snuck back and watched her she wasn’t trying to destroy the bed, it was like she was digging in the yard. Again, Google to the rescue - she was den making, it’s from when dogs were wild wolves and made beds out of leaves, knowing she wasn’t really a chewer we gave her a towel to use. 

When my husband came down stairs ready for bed, he turned the tv off and closed the door to upstairs and came to bed. We left our room door open just in case she started whining....

She didn’t! Success!  I got up at 6:30am to let her out and throughout the day she went into her crate without any problems. 

We have cracked it! 

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Day 1 - and so it begins

So what happens once you get your new dog home? Alot and at the same time not alot. 

First - she sniffed everything as is to be expected, I got stuff out the car while the fella watched her, and we began the set up. We put the beds out and she got straight in. We got the toys out and we learned our first lesson - CUT OFF ALL THE LABELS. We got this great squeaky, plush strawberry which STELLA LOVES! She quickly bit and pulled off the stalk, and proceeded to begin on the labels. 

We then took her outside where she quickly peed - cue lesson two - YOU WILL LOOK LIKE A CRAZY PERSON SHOUTING “YAY YOU DID A PEEPEE YOU’RE SO CLEVER” to positively enforce toileting outside. I am a poo poo and pee pee cheerleader which Stella absolutely loves and gets her bum a wiggling immediately 

After all the sniffing and a quick play time she napped. Lesson three - YOUR NEW DOG WILL SLEEP ALOT IN THE FIRST FEW DAYS. It’s so overwhelming for the little guys and its such a big change - all the new smells, new toys and beds, the attention and new people, nothing is familiar and they are trying to find their place in this new, strange world - it’s knackering! 

This was the cycle the whole day. 

Doing something - sleeping - going for a walk - sleeping some more - sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep (shes sleeping right now and has done most of the day haha.) 

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It was meant to be

We came to pick Stella up and she was in the front yard and recognised us immediately. She ran up to the fence and nuzzled her little body against it to get as much rubs as she could. 

When we opened the gate she followed us up to the car. We had all the stuff in the back seats that we had just bought including the bed. My husband opened the door to put in the food we had and before he could do anything Stella jumped right in, plonked herself in the bed, rested her head against the side and let out a huge sigh. 

In my head, she said “Ah Yes, This...This is mine and it will do just nicely”

And shes done the same with the space that was in my heart. 

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The List

Ever wondered what you need for a dog.... (TIP: Go to Ross or TJMaxx [tkmaxx Brits] they’re way cheaper)

Beds (we got two one for the living room upstairs and one for downstairs) $15 each.

Doggy Crate ($150 inc base - we got it online for $50 on sale)

Bed for the dog crate $15.99

Brush $11.99

Leash/Lead $8

Non Slip Dog Bowl mat $6.99

Cleaning wipes $6.99

Poop Bags (bulk buy) $6.99

Lint Rollers $4

Dog Bowls - we got 2 super cute ones with metal inserts $10 each

Treats $35

Toys $35

Shampoo and Conditioner $30 (She has dry skin so we got natural shampoos for her skin - chapped from the weaning)

Food $20 a bag

Collar $8

Harness 515

Kong Chew Toy (An absolute MUST for dogs) $13

Adoption Fee $150

You can do this much cheaper than we did. We were on a time crunch - we didn't buy anything until we knew she was definitely ours and because of the husbands schedule we didn't have much time before picking her up.

Rough Total: $300 stuff, $50 crate, $150 adoption fee - $500 starting total.

She won’t need anything for a while - except a new leash/lead this one broke after the first walk so I need to return it and replace it haha.

Also - because she was a rescue her adoption fee covered her vaccinations (kennel cough, rabies and distemper/parvo), her micro-chipping and her spading. Being in Utah we don’t have fleas here so she won’t need monthly flea tablets and we also don’t have heart worm due to the cold winter months killing off the mosquitoes that carry it AND ticks are only up in the mountains so as long as shes not going camping or running through the bushes hunting we don’t need that either saving us a total of $300 per course of tablets.

By getting a rescue not only did we save $600-$1000 by not buying a puppy, we also saved around $60 for her injections, up to $200 for her spay, and $45 for her micro chipping.  

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The Rescue

We pulled into the rescue. A beautiful ranch, with lovely trees in the front yard, a semi circle drive way with a grass verge and large tree, under which sat some ducks and a whole host of dogs in the front yard.

The garage opened and the owner of the rescue came out with my gorgeous little girl waddling on her adorable legs over to us. She came over wagging her tail, snuffed and sniffed, and lay down for a belly rub. 

I. WAS.DONE!

We spoke to the lovely lady, as Stella playfully chased the ducks and when called by the owner, obediently returned back to us and sat on her back legs and accepted all the strokes and love. We were invited onto the lady’s porch to sit and chat, Stella came with us and plonked herself straight onto my lap. We talked about dogs, how me met, our story and the owner’s story. This was such an important time and it wasn’t lost on me, she was evaluating us, seeing where we were at, if we were genuine and if we were the right choice for the dog. 

This lady, who had opened her home to 50 dogs and cats, cared for each of them, She knew every dog’s name and she was the leader of the pack through and through and it was inspiring. She knew them all, in and out, their personalities, their good traits and their areas of improvement, she knew their quirks (Stella’s, by the way, is that she can be jealous of other dogs getting attention from me - when another dog came and tried to sit on me where ever she was she came running and booty pushed them off me) and she thought of each of those animals as her children. 

It is stipulated in our contract that should we not be able to provide for Stella, or have to give her up, for what ever reason, we have to return her to the rescue. The owner’s contact information is still registered as a secondary contact on Stella’s microchip. She cares for each of her animals even after they have left her home. 

That is what dedication looks like. 

A rescue is different than a shelter. They can do home visits to see if the possible new home is suitable for the dog, they can conduct an interview with possible adopters (which our meeting essentially was) to ensure they dog is going to be cared for by the right people and they can say no. 

Our meeting we talked about our situation, why now was the time we decided to get a dog, I told her about my panic, about all my research, about us looking around the adoption day in Denver, about the house and the garden our living and working arrangements and most importantly we were ourselves and we were honest. 

It was in this conversation that the owner decided she felt comfortable letting Stella go to us.

We were going to take her home.

We were going to return for her tomorrow morning once we had everything set up for her. 

[firsttimedoggymomma-blog]

The Panic

My husband applied for Stella on a Thursday 7th

I found out about Stella on a Sunday 10th

On the Wednesday 6th Stella was on the local news on it’s adoption segment.

I PANICKED 

Here I was, watching her little face for weeks online, I am finally given the OK to get her and the rascal is on T.V. 

You may be wondering why that made me panic - well - my worry was some body else, acting on impulse and acting on the “aw she’s so cute” factor and just snapping up the dog I had been fantasizing about for over a month. The idea that: after all my research and knowing that she would be perfect for us and we would be the best possible home for her, that we might loose her to someone who thought to adopt her on a whim - devastated me.

Monday 11th, 7:30am, I called the rescue centre and inquired as to the status of our application (surprise, surprise there had been an influx of applications) and if we could visit today. I was told she would call us back.

10:00am after no phone call my husband called the rescue centre to ask again about the application and if we could visit her today. She said yes!

I was wracked with nerves. I had to keep busy for 3 hours. My lists of what we needed was already written and re-written twice, I’d already done all the laundry and there was no way I could just sit and do more waiting. 

I made cookies (Ive attached the link if you’re interested) 

12:30 came....time to go! 

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Watching for Weeks

I didn’t think I was getting a dog. So for weeks I would return to Stella’s profile. She was female, around five years old, a Rat Terrier mix, she was fully house trained, great with other animals and kids. 

Daily I would stare at her little face. She had obviously just had a litter, and all her pups had been adopted out but this little babe had been left behind. 

Daily my husband would see me longingly looking at her, researching rat terriers (a breed I hadn’t hear of before) researching the pros and cons of rat terriers.

Here is where my husband surprised me once again. He filled in an application for her behind my back as a surprise for my upcoming birthday. This wasn’t a “birthday gift” I had been researching for months, evaluating our lives for months, knowing someday we were going to get a dog I just didn’t expect it to be this soon. 

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Stella, Rat Terrier - The 25lb Dynamo

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Background

Hey! 

Great News - I GOT A DOG!

All my life, I have only ever wanted a dog. And all my life I was told no. For good reason, but all the same - no. 

My husband knew how much I wanted a dog. Some people check shoe websites daily, others search for the latest gadgets, I checked petfinder.com. 

It was no secret I wanted a dog.

I admired the dogs daily, researched their breeds, assessed which would be a good fit for us and our life and decided which would not. By doing this I was establishing what it was we wanted needed in a dog:

I wanted a female dog - They are smaller, often tend to be the more loyal of the two sexes (they won’t run after another female in heat like a male would) they don’t have that lipstick thing going on )those with male dogs know exactly what I am talking about) and they don’t pee or mark as much. 

We did not want a puppy - I don’t have a clue about potty training, teething, up all night adjusting to the crate, and we could move within the next few years. 

I wanted a house dog - Outdoor dogs are great especially if they are working dogs (cattle dogs, hounds, guard dogs etc) but I wanted a breed that suited to being indoors.

Short coat - we wanted a dog who wouldn’t shed alot - GDS have two coats so never stop shedding, we just didn’t want hair everywhere. 

Small/Medium - The more I looked the more I realized I didn’t want a huge dog as my first dog as I needed to establish myself as a pack leader and I can’t do that if I am intimidated by a dog that is too big for me to handle but it definitely did not want a Chihuahua. 

Already a picture was forming. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the dogs mentioned above it was about identifying the breeds that were not going to work for me as much as identifying those that were. 

The dog had to be good with kids - we have 7 nieces and nephews ranging from 15 months to 13 years.

House trained would be preferred - dogs end up in shelters and rescues for all sorts of reasons it’s not unusual for owners to be in situations to give up their family pet - deaths in the family, break ups, change of living situations - you never know.

Good with other animals - In the future I want chickens and maybe a little fainting goat If I got a young-ish dog now in the future they were going to have to share with other animals, it would be unfair to adopt a dog who needed to be alone only to change that down the line. 

You may think this is picky, but in fact I knew the realities of my life and how in the next few months it is going to change and if I was to have a dog these were the conditions which I could get one. 

Going to a shelter and falling in love with a dog is easy making sure your life can accommodate them in the long run is hard. 

My requirements were leaning towards a terrier breed. I did countless “breed selector quizzes” AnimalPlanet was one of the best and by changing the choices I was able to see which breeds would work eg, first I said I would walk the dog for 20-30 mins a day by changing it to 45 mins I was able to see what requirements different breeds needed. 

My husband and I visited adoption event when in Denver on vacation. This nutter fell in love with bug fluffy puppies. He liked the pretty blue eyed Australian Heeler - you know the hunting dog that requires a ton of exercise - NOPE! 

He then fell in love with a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy.  You know the big fluffy ones that again need a ton of outdoor exercise.  Not going to happen.

The man who didn’t want a dog that barked loved the look of Hounds and Beagles, the man who didn’t want a dog that needed tons and tons of exercise adored Collie dogs and the man who wanted a sturdy, chill dog wasn’t too impressed by the Heinz 57 mutts that I loved. If I took this man to adopt a dog I knew that within a few hours he would greatly regret the dog he had picked. He wasn’t unrealistic he just didn’t spend all his free time researching different breeds like me haha.

Terriers - this was the way to go. Good hardy dog, loyal to his family, great with kids, can be trained to like other animals but keep an eyes on his prey driven tenancies, stubborn but with great big personalities also (when willing) great to train. Terriers also happen to be great pocket guard dogs - its not a necessity but it’s nice. 

Then one day I saw her.....