April 24, 2007
Oscar's Story: Part I
For those who don't know, I got a dog about 8 months ago. So, this is way overdue, but I figured I would chronicle the events surrounding my first few months of dog ownership. It's been an interesting ride, stressful at times, but mostly fun and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I originally intended this as a single post, but anyone who is reading this likely is well aware of my ability to ramble at great lengths, so I'm splitting it into multiple blog entries for the sanity of all interested parties. Well, here goes...
Chapter I: The Preliminaries
The process of choosing a dog was at times frustrating, and took longer than I would have liked, but mostly it was painless. The last we checked in on the fearless dog hunter, I had tentatively "bought" an unborn Brittany from a breeder in Cumming, but was waiting to see if he would have a successful breeding. Well, the breeding did take, but unfortunately he only had a litter of 3: 2 females and 1 male. The male was claimed by the stud owner, and the other female by the breeder himself, leaving one female for me. I had a big problem with this: first off, I wanted a male; but perhaps more importantly, I didn't like the idea of not having a choice, not to mention getting the runt of the litter. I decided I was going to pursue other options, which basically meant forfeiting my deposit and starting over. Talk about frustrating...
Luckily, almost immediately I found another breeder, also in Cumming, who had a huge litter of 10, mostly male. When I contacted her I found out there were a couple people in front of me who would have first pick, but that if I wanted one there would be plenty to choose from, and they would be ready to come home in a matter of weeks. Talk about a bump in the schedule! I decided to go ahead and take the plunge; I visited her house, made sure that the litter looked well taken care of, and waited for her call to tell me to come pick one.
Chapter II: The Choice
In what will probably be one of the better birthday presents I'll get anytime soon, I received a call from the breeder on my birthday telling me that the lady in front of me won't be able to come pick, so I can go ahead and choose a pup. I was a little shocked but I wasn't going to waste anymore time. Me and my roommate headed up to Cumming and I began the difficult task of choosing a pup. I was not prepared for how difficult this would be - how do you choose? I mean, I had guidelines and all, but it's a lot different when they are staring at you. Not to mention the fact that I had so many to choose from.
I started by examining the litter together and just watching them interact. This proved difficult because when they saw me they all tried to rush the gate for attention, so it was hard to see them in their "natural habitat". But over time you could see which ones were aggressive, which ones were shy, etc. One would not leave the corner at all, so he was an easy elimination; a frightfully shy pup can often have issues. I also tried to avoid the two guys that were yelping at the top of their lungs and crawling all over their siblings to get some attention. They seemed too aggressive for my tastes.
There were two that seemed like a good fit, so I pulled each one out on their own and let them run around, tried to play with them, make sure they responded and seemed interested and curious, etc. This was the real hard part, because both seemed like real good pups. I probably spent a good half hour just watching these two, switching back and forth, and finally deciding on one. I already had his name picked out, so without further ado, Oscar and I headed home. While my roommate drove I held Oscar in the car, and he might as well have been a child from the way he clung to me.
Chapter III: The First Days
That first day was a very surreal experience. I brought Oscar into the kitchen, where his crate and toys were all ready and baby gates were in place to keep him confined. We just let him run loose and explore, and it's really amazing to watch something that small and young try to make sense of his surroundings. He slipped and slided around, and played all night, and we had a blast. It was a great first day.
The first night, however, was a nightmare. I was fully prepared for this, and warned my roommate as best I could, but even still it was just about unbearable. Despite being right next to my bed, he howled the entire night. I did my best to put up with it, understanding that he was naturally freaked out by not being with his family, but needless to say, I didn't sleep much at all that night. The good news is that by the second night he had gotten accustomed to his new home and hasn't made any noise at night since the first one.
Oscar's first day home was a Sunday, which was convenient because I was able to spend the whole day with him. Nevertheless, work beckoned the next morning; however, I am very fortunate to have a job which allows for a flexible work schedule that enabled me to accommodate puppy ownership. Basically, I was able to spend the first month or so at home every morning, coming in to the office after lunch. This allowed me to be present with Oscar for a good portion of the day, while gently breaking him into being alone.
I expected the first few days to be a nightmare with regard to crate/potty training, but really it's been a positive experience. With the proper training from my end, he really took to the crate and never exhibited any fear or dislike for it. And to my intense surprise, he seemed to catch on to the concept of going to the bathroom outside from the very beginning. This is not to say that there were not accidents in the house; but rather, any time I did take him outside, he would use the bathroom. The thing about puppies is that they go so frequently, often without any warning, that even when you do your best to handle the situation preventatively, there are going to be some times when they slip one by you. That being said though, whereas he had the occasional pee accident, I never had any problems with anything ... smellier, if you will.
All in all it was a great week; spending the mornings at home to build our bond, and then coming home from work in the afternoons to play and see him explore. It was a great start to the relationship.
You can find all my pictures in the gallery link on my page; you can also find plenty of pictures Adam has taken at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aparkerw.
That's enough for today... come back next time for Part 2.
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