12 lbs, 13 weeks and counting

We took Zeldie to the vet this week and she was 12 lbs. She has put on a third of her body weight in the month that we have had her. The vet said she was entering her teenage days, which I'm not really sure how I feel about as in my jobs I am surrounded by teenagers all the time. Just another one to add to the crazy I guess. Her new favorite game is to run into our bedroom and get behind the bed and then crawl under and hide. She will be too big for this soon, we think, but it’s very cute if not a little annoying. It is amazing how quickly she can crawl to the other side of the bed though while pretty much her whole belly touching the carpet. To get out, she essentially has to turn on her side and do a movement something of a cross between a waterbug and sidestroke. Very funny.

She also graduated from puppy kindergarten this week. The instructor said she had improved a lot from the first night when she needed remediation--which is tough for two people involved with Gifted Education. But, we are teachers and so we did what we do best, which is teach.

The best part, however, is that she has had four accident free days in the house and one almost accident free day in the house. As we go through the process of training the puppy, I have realized with even more clarity the importance of consistency and boundaries. Setting boundaries with the puppy is a lot easier than it is with other people in my life—students, swimmers, family, etc. The puppy, of course, doesn't take it personally, or blame my wife for the choices I am making. She just lives happily and our relationship is thriving within the safety of the limitations we provide for her through the consistency of the boundaries we set. In fact, she is better off because of it and our relationship will continue to progress inside of the limitations. I see it like putting lane ropes in the pool for swim practice. It may be a bit more fun and free flowing to just swim wherever in the pool, but by putting the ropes in and giving her the way to be successful, we can get a lot more accomplished.

Stand as a Lighthouse

The reason we went to New York a couple of weekends ago was for Justin's graduation from high school. We all got to go to the Egg in Albany, a performing arts center that looks exactly as it's name implies. It's quite a strange building from the outside, and according to Travis there are no right angles anywhere in the main performance venue, making for very good acoustics (Travis is a gold mind of pretty much worthless building knowledge).

Zeldie was a champ when it came to all the travelling and meeting people. She was definitely the hit of the graduation party, meeting everyone and then falling asleep for a couple of hours on the floor/my lap/Willie's lap. We stayed in an all-suites hotel, which was great for travel with a puppy. We were a bit concerned with how much she was whining the first night, but we didn't want her to run free; therefore, on our king sized bed, we put Zeldie, in her crate, on the bed with us. Very silly indeed, but we felt better about making her travel so much that day.

It was quite a quick trip, but sometimes those produce the deepest thoughts. As we congregated after the ceremony, we were taking pictures in all sorts of different combinations. I really enjoyed just how happy everyone was in that moment, and how happy (almost) everyone was to take pictures. The family that was at the ceremony was certainly a blended family, with last names of Umina, Maselli, Rafferty, Horak, and Furman were all represented. Anne's father was very insistent that Willie, me, everyone was in a variety of pictures. The wholehearted acceptence of the people that are important in everyone's lives there is truly the definition of family. We all have differences, disagreements and issues with one another, but a family supports each other and truly wants to grow with each other as our lives develop. A family is what you make of it, with whomever will cherish who you are in the present time and all that makes up who you are. Those that are supportive of who you are and what is important to you is what will make up our family.

A Man and His Dog

It's been quite a busy couple of week, so we're taking a bit of a nap. Since the last posts, Zeldie has stayed with our friend Tiffani as Anne and I attended my grandfather's funeral in Texas, and then two days later we drove with her and Willie up to Albany for Justin's graduation. Zeldie did so well for the almost 10 hour car ride up and the 9.5 hour car ride back (except for the last hour on the ride up, for which she was quite cranky). Today, the whole family (Anne included) took a nap on the floor for a well deserved rest.

She's doing very well in puppy kindergarten, and she is now one of the bigger dogs in the class. She plays very nicely with most of the dogs, and is certainly the most distinctive dog in the class. We haven't seen another terrier yet. I guess the reputation as "terrors" keeps people away from getting them. We love training Zeldie, but that's probably the teacher in both of us that loves the challenge.

She's quite a spectacle wherever we go. I was walking her a couple of days ago, and someone drove by, stopped, and walked back to us to ask about her breed, etc. Everyone that comes near her wants to pet her, and of course she loves that. For the first time today, we actually ran into someone who knew what breed she is before we said anything.

Our second vet visit is tomorrow, for more puppy shots and another checkup. Hopefully the vet will be a bit more positive than the first visit.

Week One

Today we have had Zeldie for one whole week, yet each day that passes I have more and more trouble imagining our life without her. It seems to me the house was so empty before and we didn't even know it. We can't believe how much she has grown. Already her nose looks longer and when she straightens up she looks a little taller. She is becoming a confident little puppy. When I look back at the videos from the first day I laugh watching her sniff, as I see how unfamiliar everything was to her and how curious she was about her new surroundings. Now, her home is familiar to her and she has moved on from sniffing to chewing everything in sight. She doesn't like to wander too far from it on walks and she is beginning to get a routine schedule down of activity and napping. Yesterday, we left her in the crate for 4 hours while David was at swim practice and I was at work and she did fine. I bought some of the special treats the instructor called puppy crack and we have been practicing her voluntary attention and she has been getting the hang of it. Tomorrow we leave for Texas for four days. It is harder than I thought it would be to leave her. After all, she is just a dog. But, fortunately, I know we are leaving her in very good hands and that makes it comforting. But, I try not to think about the leaving part, I try only to think about the returning part.

Puppy Kindergarten is exhausting

Last night I took Zeldie to puppy kindgergarten. She was so tired out afterwards, she feel asleep as soon as we got home. The video above is how she feel asleep in her crate. David had swim practice so our friend Tifanni met me there. Tiffani is a very experienced puppy mommy and had both Zeldie, and me, all under control. Zeldie was one of the smallest dogs there. I let her off the leash for some play time at the beginning of the class and she started making friends. with one of the three golden doodles in the class, whose name, by the way, was Paisley.

Some of you may remember, that when we first started talking about getting a dog, Paisley was my first choice for her name. I was very glad we had decided against it. There was also a black lab named Scout. Some of you may also remember that Scout was on our list too. After being in the class with another Scout, which also was a boy dog, I was glad we had decided against that as well.

During the training, Zeldie did not grasp the concept of "voluntary attention". Unlike the Golden Doodles, Golden Retrievers and Labs whose sole purpose in life is to please their owners, Zeldie was as the instructor put it diplomatically to the entire class "highly distracted in this environment". I was the only owner who had to get on the floor to work with my dog. The rest could sit politely in the plastic chairs. When the rest of the class moved on, we got some remediation in "volunatry attention". Zeldie is a smart dog, she was able to figure it out quickly. She is just a twice exceptional dog. So, she has a few special learning needs too.

And oddly enough, I now understand what David has been trying to tell me all this time. You may know that I have for a long time said that David makes me feel like my biggest flaws are my greatest strengths. What I call stubborness, he calls persistence. What I call a hot temper he calls passion. Watching Zeldie last night, as she strained at her leash trying to make friends with the Golden Doodles who were adoringly volunteering their attention to their owners, while the instructor discussed proper handling technique and I knelt futilely on the floor, I fell in even more deeply in puppy love with our little girl thinking that she was lot more interesting because of it.

Dental Health is Important

Yesterday, we brushed Zeldie's teeth for the first time. All of the books we had read talked about good dental health but I had kind of dismissed it thinking that these books were a little intense. Then, when the vet said something to me about it, I thought, well, maybe I should look into this. She loved it. Of course, I think what she loved most about it was chewing on the toothbrush, but either way, I hear the key is to get her accustomed to it early.

After five days of puppy toys all over the floor and nature's miracle hanging out on our countertop, I got the call that I had been dreading, someone wanted to come show the condo and they only gave me an hour's notice. Zeldie went into her crate and I immediately flew into a cleaning frenzy. About 20 minutes into the tempest, David came home and I couldn't have been happier to see him. He walked in and more than tell him, I gestured to him and he fell in cleaning along beside me. Shortly thereafter, we, along with Zeldie, were on our way to Petsmart. Where else can you go with a dog when it is starting to get dark? Zeldie, loved petsmart. She especially loved the treat aisle. After smelling all of the boxes, we decided the ones she already had were her favorite which we were happy with, but we did come home with something for her friend Tallulah who will be sharing her mommy this weekend.

Zeldie is a big girl!

Zeldie slept all through the night until 6am! We both felt like we really slept in. We have decided it is time for her to start learning to play in her crate while she is awake so we played for a little bit outside and then I put her in her crate for some awake play time. I put her in her crate and then I sat down by it so that she could see me. She played for a bout 10 minutes and then fell asleep! I guess she missed the point of the awake play time. We will have to try it again another time.

Last night she saw her shadow on a walk and she growled at it. She was so fierce. We stopped and really stared down the shadow puppy. Then, she slowly moved on and when we moved out of the light of the street lamp and the other puppy disappeared and she was so confused. She just swung her head from side to side not knowing where that puppy went. When she walks, and she gets a really good trot going, her ears bounce up and down and it just cracks me up to death. When she is setting a really good pace, she actually looks like she is prancing and she looks kind of prissy. At one point she saw a bird and she straightened up as tall as she could and I noticed that she looked a little taller. Then I looked at her belly and I think it looked a little fuller. I thought to myself, she's growing! Quick, get the camera before she gets any bigger! Although many people have commented on the size of her paws and how big she is so I have included a picture here which shows perspective for you so you can see that she actually is quite small right now.

I came home from work yesterday and David said, "You know how else Zeldie is like you...." I thought 'Oh no, this can't be good!' "She goes, goes, goes until she drops from exhaustion." I don't think the vet has to worry about us loving this dog if we already think she is taking after us.