real. life.

The perfect little model

2 weeks till I bring Jasper home! The breeder sent me a new photo of Jaspser, saying that he was on his back whining while she was trying to take pictures of the other puppies. YAY! A natural-born shutterbug buddy! How PERFECT is that for me? At least we know he doesn't mind the camera... Check him out:

 

Countdown to Jasper!

It's official... I'll be bringing Jasper home in just over 2 weeks!!! (woo-hoo!) I'm so incredibly excited, but also amazingly nervous. I'm still getting the house ready for him (cleaning and puppy-proofing). And thankful that I've had this much time to prepare everything.

I've bought most of the supplies I'll need to start out with, and still have to purchase a few more essentials. I'm on my 4th book about how to successfully raise/take care of a dog. I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. (Wish me luck, as I KNOW I'll be learning most of what I need as "on the job training").

Nice to meet you, Mr. Jasper

This morning I had the pleasure of finally meeting my puppy. I was sooooo excited, and a complete bundle of nerves (silly, I know). I took the trip alone, and it was actually quite nice to do it on my own. The drive down to the breeder's ranch was wonderful... the trip took a little over an hour and was quite peaceful. (sidenote: I LOVE living here in SoCal, and don't ever plan to move. I LOVE that I can be driving with the ocean on one side of me and hills on the other, and then 15 minutes later I'm deep in the hills and feel like I'm in the countryside!)

My puppy is from AP Ranch, and I don't think I could have found a better breeder. Not knowing what to expect, but hoping for the best, I was still pleasantly surprised. The breeder, Pauline, is a very knowledgeable woman, who got into dog breeding for the joy of it (her ranch is primarily for horses). I was greeted by Pauline and 2 of her dogs, who were amazingly friendly. I followed her around the side of her house to an area of lawn, and she brought a comforter out so I could sit and visit with Jasper (since the puppies aren't allowed on the grass yet). First, she brought all 3 puppies in the litter out, just so I could see them all. The puppies mom (along with another female doxie) came out to join us. And the other 2 dogs were still near, also. It was really nice to see how amazingly calm all of the dogs were. The mother dog didn't seem to have any problem with other dogs being close to her litter, and she came and went, leaving me alone with her pups. After a while, Pauline took the other dogs away so that I could spend time with Jasper alone. And I fell in love. 

He was a curious little puppy, wandering around on the comforter and checking me out, too. But he was so amazingly docile when I picked him up. He just totally relaxed in my arms...his heart rate didn't increase or anything. He checked me out, gave me some puppy kisses, and then started to fall asleep as I held him for a while. WOW! 

I spent about an hour there, just playing with him and the other dogs, and chatting with Pauline a bit. Everything she told me made me feel like I had made the right choice in choosing her as the breeder to go to. For instance, she said that the whole family handles the dogs as much as possible, so they are used to human contact and being held, including being held on their backs (usually pups tend to struggle here a bit). Being around all the other dogs, they are being socialized that way, as well. They are used to sleeping in their crate at night, and she has started potty training them (which they are taking to wonderfully). The mom dog has started sleeping separate from the puppies at night (sleeping with Pauline), and yet the puppies seem to all be sleeping through the night quite well without her there. She handles the dogs paws a lot, and has even started cutting their toenails, so they are used to their paws being handled. I noticed while I was there that the pups are learning to have a "soft mouth" when they bite. Awesome, awesome, awesome! I couldn't be more happy. 

I brought my point-and-shoot camera and got a LOT of pictures while I was there. It was good practice for Jasper, who needs to learn QUICKLY that the camera will be pointed at him quite often.  ; )  In any case, here are a few favorite shots from this morning. 

Jasper and his siblings (Jasper is the one in the middle):

Jasper and his Mom, Jazmine: 

He completely fell asleep as Pauline held him: 

happy (one month) birthday!!!

 

SO, my puppy is officially one month old today! (technically speaking, he's 4 weeks and 3 days old, but since he was born on May 5th, I celebrate his monthaversary today).

Hooray!

And I am totally excited, because I get to finally visit Jasper and see him in person (puppy) on Sunday!!!  I'm heading down to the breeder's home on Sunday morning to get acquanited with my little guy. It won't be a long visit.. he IS still a puppy, after all, and tuckers out quite easily. But it will be nice to see him and get the chance to bond just a bit. And, of course, I hope to come back with LOTS of new pictures of him!!!

Jasper Update

One more pic to share... saw this one posted up on the breeder's site today. I'm assuming this one is of him at about 3.5 weeks old. Isn't he simply adorable??? I can't wait to finally meet him, and then to bring him home!!!

new puppy pic!

YAY! The breeder finally posted a new picture of my pup! So, here is Jasper, at about two-and-a-half weeks old. 

puppy love

As evidenced by my recent posts, I am super-excited about adopting Jasper, and can't wait till he comes home. I am (no-so) patiently awaiting new photos from the breeder, so I have something new to stare at for awhile. It's strange, how quickly that I fell in love with that pup. And I've never even met him.

I just found out from the breeder that the silver dappled puppy in the litter (scroll to earlier post to see pictures) is back up for sale again. Unfortunately, the woman who was supposed to adopt this one lost her job and is now unable to afford to care for a new dog. So, if anyone is interested in that puppy or its red brother, go here for details: www.apranchdachshunds.com.

Again, it's strange... I had actually initially been leaning more towards choosing the silver one. When I saw my first dappled doxie and fell in love with it years ago, it had been a silver dappled one. (I didn't know brown ones even existed.) So, when starting my search for a pup, I had a silver one in mind. When this litter was born, I was trying to not be drawn towards one over the other, since I knew that someone else before me had first pick of the litter. And I can admit now, that when I found out that the silver one wasn't available, I had a brief moment of sadness. But I decided to adopt the chocolate dappled one, and haven't looked back. And so it's a bit weird to me that now the silver one is up for adoption again, how I don't feel the pull towards it at all. I've fallen in love with my little brownie, through the photographs and my daydreams.  I can't wait to bring Jasper home and make him a part of my little family!

puppy preparation

Jasper is just over 2 weeks old now. (I'm still awaiting new pictures; I'll post them as soon as I see them). Starting the puppy preparation; going to be uber-cleaning the house, packing up a bunch of miscellaneous, unused items, and making way for the new addition!

I've been reading and reading and reading all the information I can get ahold of regarding how to train, what to expect, how to properly raise a puppy, etc. Whew! That's a LOT of information to take in. And looking through stores and sites...there are SO many choices of puppy needs, too. Thankfully, I've got a friend who's been through all of this before, and offered to venture out with me to PetSmart to help me get started.

In the meantime, I simply can't help myself from buying a few miscellaneous goodies along the way.

Here is Jasper's first toy, purchased from Old Navy:

And here are a couple of collars I'm scoping out...found them on Etsy.com (www.theModDog.etsy.com). I think I'm gonna go ahead and DEFINITELY get the first one; still thinking about the others:

  

 

 

And, last, but not least, this stylish tote (found n Overstock.com) for taking him out with me:

 

I might be a puppy parent...

I didn't think it would quite be so soon. 

Crossing my fingers, I had placed myself on a doxie breeder's list, and was told that I was 9th in line. There were 3 upcoming litters. But I didn't think my chances were actually that great of getting a dog, given that their litters are so small. 

Well, I received an email this afternoon from the breeder, letting me know that the first litter had come. And there was only ONE person in line ahead of me, who got first choice. Turns out that most people had wanted females, and this litter was comprised completely of male dogs (which I want). 

Crossing my fingers and talking some more to my husband about this. He is not a "pet person," but does like animals, and understands how important this is to me. As he put it, the dog would be my responsibility. Fine by me. And he's on board!

So... it looks like I might be adopting one of these puppies! I want one of the dappled (spotted) ones, though I'm not sure which one yet. (And, since I might not have a choice in the matter, I'm trying not to get attached to either one quite yet.) 

But, here are photos of my new possible puppy: