Saturday morning, Feb 12th, Dad drove me up to Lafayette NJ to Cathy's house to pick up Ava. Well, she was called Ava at the time. Now after MUCH deliberation, she's my little Ellie Belly.
I filled out paperwork, chased Ellie around the living room, said goodbye to her 4 brothers and sisters and hit the road!
After a quick visit to Toys with Love to see Mom and Auntie Stacey, Dad, Ellie and I head home to NYC.
Long story short, Ellie did GREAT! Julie did... just fine :). My attempt to begin to potty train from moment 1 was a bit far fetched. I had a lofty expectation of NOT using pee-pads inside, but to simply go outside every moment she needed to pee. Well, let's just say that's not going to work. The poor thing had probably never been outside before and on day 1 it was a ridiculous expectation to think she'd 1. pee on a collar and leash, 2. feel comfortable peeing on concrete and 3. deal ok with 15 degree weather and crazy wind. She was so cute (& sad) hovering, shivering behind my legs to hide from the cold. So I finally decided to screw it... we're going the pee pad route until she's vaccinated and we can walk outside without worry. And so far we're doing great!! Of course, I've COATED my apartment in pee pads.
Some highlights of day 1:
- she's definitely teething. she even wants to chew the metal legs of the table and loves trying to pull the grout out from the tiles in the kitchen
- she broke a toe nail
- water & food go RIGHT through her
- the trip home & the first night in a new home is definitely a process.
- I'm very out of shape. My legs are HURTING today from squatting down to play.
- she's hysterical watching her reflection in the mirror and the shiny garbage can
- I can see how she got that belly. she has NO lack of appetite
- she did NOT care for the crate... so we slept on the couch all night... well, not all night. in the kitchen for 1.5 hours. in the living room for 2 2 hour stints. and finally on the couch for 2 hours. NOT BAD for the first night. I wonder what tonight will be like.
- she slips all over when she runs to get the ball and slides in to walls and furniture
- she was very skeptical of the black tile bathroom floor
- she is VERY friendly and loves loves being with people... can't wait until she's vaccinated and we can hang out with dogs too!
- The books say we should meet 100 people in the first month. I think yesterday we met at LEAST 30. We're well on our way!
- She may seriously be the cutest dog in Manhattan.
- it's taken me 1.5 hours to write this blog.
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