Nova

We had wanted a dog since we got together but our apartment complexes wouldn't let us until now.  So we got one!  I wanted to just get a rescue (cheap and cheerful), but Jed has been dreaming of a Pembroke Welsh Corgi for some time, so we went ahead and splurged for him to have his breed.  We had to do some searching but found a breeder in Caldwell, ID (330 miles from us) with a litter coming up so we hurriedly made our deposit to claim a pup and were number 6 of 7 so we had a pick of the last 2 puppies in the litter.

They were born 9/11/12 from a red mother and tri father and there was 1 red girl, 1 red boy, 1 tri boy, and 4 tri girls.  So we resigned to a tri girl (we kinda wanted a boy but didn't mind terribly) and I picked out one when the first pictures came out that had a perfectly symmetrical blaze on her forehead, just for fun, but knowing we wouldn't be able to pick for weeks. 

So we kept our eye on her but ended up loving a couple of the others.  And we got more pictures about every week. 

And then they started to actually look like puppies.. 

And then they started to look like corgis with the ears up! 

And then it was finally our turn to pick.  There was the still little one with the perfect blaze and another one that was so sweet.  The breeder was very kind and since we were not able to go out and meet the puppies like everyone else, she made a video for us so we could see a little of the last 2's temperaments.  We wanted a dog that wanted to interact with us and not just sleep or be overly content to be alone.  We liked the one with the perfect blaze's attitude so we chose her. 

We stocked up on all the things we needed/wanted for her.  We did a ton of research on training and decided to go with clicker training (operant conditioning, thank you B. F. Skinner!) with as much positive reinforcement only and no punishments.  One of my favorite trainers on YouTube is Emily Larlham.  

We also did a lot of research on food and decided on Blue Buffalo Wilderness.  There's a lot of research out there about a lot of junk that's in most dog foods so we opted for the expensive but well made stuff and used dogfoodadvisor.com a lot to help us decide.  (We are also trying to eat better ourselves, but it would be easier if we could choose a gourmet kibble and eat that instead of learning how to eat a balanced and healthful diet, lol).

When they were 7 weeks old we were able to go pick them up, so we drove out to Caldwell (5 hours) on Tuesday 10/30/12 to pick up our new puppy we decided to name Nova (like the star and like Latin for "new" as she's the new beginning to our pack).  It was fun meeting some of the other new owners and the see the breeder's home, but then it was time to head back 5 more hours with a new puppy who had never been away from her litter, far from the house, or in a car more than a couple times.  We expected the worse (puking, pooping, peeing, crying, etc), but she actually was pretty good and eventually passed out. 

The first couple nights were pretty rough.  She woke us up crying every 1.5-2 hours as she was scared and confused about being away from her litter and sleeping alone.  We put a baby gate up and put her bed and crate in the bathroom.  I even put on some white noise for her on my phone of a washing machine since their pen was in the laundry room and it seemed soothing to her.  She also was used to waking up too early for us (8am or so) so she would wake up and bark/whine/attempt at howl.  That was fun.  I would get up and try and comfort her and then pass back out every few hours those nights.  I'm glad it only lasted a couple nights though. 

First day she got her first bath.  She looked (and smelled) soooo much nicer after that!  

And we began to take her for walks outside, which was a new adventure for her.  Everything was so interesting to her!  Though, admittedly, she hated the snow and would cry about it being too cold and try to hide between our legs. 

We worked on obedience with her and she very quickly learned touch, sit, and come.  Down was a little harder, as was stay (still working on that one). 

We are making sure to socialize her to lots of different types of things, as well as dogs.  Our friends, Mike and Janay, have a miniature pinscher named Eddy (who is literally about twice the size a min pin is supposed to be, lol) and there is a dog park twice a week but we haven't really taken Nova since it's mostly large dogs there.  Atlas is probably the biggest, but one of the sweetest and most gentle. 

Nova is a big fan of rawhide sticks, plastic water bottles, her kong (if filled with peanut butter), hedgehog plush, carrots, and mandarin orange.  Also of sleeping upside down and in various odd positions and eating things on our things. 

We took her to get her 2nd DHPP and will be taking her for her 3rd and rabies shot this week.  She's been dewormed too and gets her nails clipped, teeth brushed, fur brushed (her adult coat is coming in nicely), ears cleaned, and bathed regularly.  She hates all of it except the teeth.  And although I don't like dressing animals for cosmetic reasons, we did get her a little coat (it's actually way nice) for the winter as it was in the 20s and she was shivering and whining like crazy. 

She's a goofball, has a ton of energy and doesn't sleep much, is a lot of work for poor Jed who is home almost full time doing online classes, has lots of attitude, but is calming down more now that she's 13 weeks and is fitting in as a member of our family.  We are appreciating her being less bitey (she would bite faces before, but now she nose bumps our lips since that's what we do when we kiss her!) and more potty-trained (we have a bell on the door but sometimes she just lightly brushes it, then says screw it, and lets loose right by the door).  We're excited for her to become the beautiful dog she's growing into.  :)