The Story of Tally's First Day

NavyGuy and I woke up uber excited. It was PUPPY DAY!!! We were scheduled to be at the breeder's house at 9am. The last time I drove there, it took me a solid hour and a half, so we planned to leave by 7:15, allowing time to stop for gas and coffee. With the car loaded down with toys, treats, towels, leash, collar, puppy books, and Cheerios - we were off.

Well, I forgot that NavyGuy drives a wee bit quicker than I. Coupled with the fact that we left earlier than planned, and there was no traffic... we ended up 10 minutes from the breeder's house by about 8:20. So, in an effort to kill time, we wandered the small town grocery store near the breeder's, where we debated whether the checkout girl was wearing a Halloween costume or her actual cheerleading uniform. Finally we had dawdled enough, and we could drive the final miles to meet our puppy.

When we arrived at the breeder's, we still needed to decide between the two remaining black females. NavyGuy and I played with the little ones and quickly saw ourselves drawn toward the gentler of the two. The girl we chose had some brown mismarks (known as brindling) on her front legs, which we thought was unique, and she generally seemed more people-friendly; the other girl was a little too spunky and independent for us.

So we got all the paperwork filled out, packed up a couple things, and headed for the car. I managed to luck out and get to hold her for the first part of the ride while NavyGuy drove (and took the first pictures of her on his cell phone, which he proceeded to send to friends and family to invoke jealousy introduce our pup.

As we drove home, the naming negotiations continued. We just couldn't decide. Using our short list from the day before, we kept trying out various names on the puppy, to see if any seemed totally wrong, or totally right, or if she would lift her head at one but not another. Basically, we were a little nervous to make the wrong choice.

So we continued home, stopping for NavyGuy's second coffee and a pit stop for puppy. She did great in the car - sat on our lap, curled up, no accidents or problems at all. We arrived home and let her explore the upstairs of the house for a bit before it was time for her lunch. NavyGuy was starting to get pretty insistent that we pick a name... and after a little convincing, and a heart to heart with the pup, I realized that Tally was the right name for our little girl.

Tally wasn't very interested in her food; we had gotten the same kind the breeder used, but I think Tally was shell-shocked at all the change, because she barely ate anything all day long. That didn't stop her from playing hard; we ran around in the yard and the driveway, laughing at her attempts to follow us. She quickly learned the stairs leading up to the front door, after a few failed attempts where her big puppy belly weighed her down and she couldn't hoist herself up.



You expect me to stop and eat when there's so much new stuff to smell?

The majority of the day was spent oohing and ahhing over her, taking pictures, snuggling with her on the couch when she got tired, and watching her scamper behind us. Our upstairs is mostly hardwood floors, so whenever she would try and sit down, her butt would slowly slide away and she'd end up doing a belly flop! We began to slowly introduce her to her crate, where we want her to sleep at night, and spend time in when we're gone. By dinnertime, she was comfortable enough to lay down in it (we put a couple towels and one of her soft toys in there), and even when we opened up the door to let her out after a couple minutes, she stayed put, very content.



I'm trying to sit, but my back half doesn't seem to be cooperating!

Even our first night wasn't as bad as expected. She only whimpered a few times throughout the night; NavyGuy took her out around 3 to go potty, and I had puppy patrol at about 5:30. All of us got up around 7:30am to start the day, and we've been playing/lounging since. NavyGuy made pancakes for breakfast while I puppy-sat, and now, as I type, Tally is curled up on my lap, smelling and licking my laptop. Our little family of two is settling into being a trio quite nicely :)