Introducing....

"Ned Devine"

Isn't he cute enough to eat with a spoon!? So the answer to the question "what happened over the weekend?" is....

Saturday afternoon we went to the shelter. The dog I had been interested in had been adopted the day prior. I felt good about that. There were two beagles at the shelter that were very cute and sweet looking, but you couldn't tell the age, and it just didnt feel right. Later that afternoon I got a call from a breeder. He said he had 4 little boys all almost 8 weeks old. Tri-color. $175, AKC purebred. (which is a good price. I've seen them as high as $400, $1200 for registered hunters) He wanted to know if we could come see them Sunday. I said I'd call him back. I was really upset. I even cried Saturday because I just didn't know what to do. I still miss her, but is it too soon? Did we want a boy? Again, will people think I'm callous cuz it's so soon?

I figured it would be ok to "look". Yeah right. D and I went and my parents came along. It was outside of Pittsburgh in Canonsburg off 19. The breeder raised beagles, horses and miniature donkeys. And was a pack rat. The house was just jammed with stuff. He brought out the four puppies. Two looked identical with darker heads, less of a blaze, lots of ticking. One had a much browner face and was a bit skinny and little. The last one had a perfect blaze and great tri-color markings. And he played a lot with his litter mates. Very playful. We got him out and played with him the most. I wanted to leave a deposit and come back for him the next weekend. I wasn't ready. We didn't have anything at home for a puppy, plus I wanted time to get used to the idea. The breeder didn't like the idea. He wanted them to go to homes soon. The older they get the less easy it is to imprint. Whatever. It worked. We took him home!

D and I sat in the back seat with him as we drove home. He was really skittish about all the noises. D's never had a puppy, so it was really special for him. On the way home we stopped and got a crate, a collar and two toys. The breeder sent us home with food. The crate we got is great. We bought it so it's big enough for him full grown, but it has a divider so we can make it smaller while he's still little. The first night he cried for about 2 hours. It's pitiful. High pitched for a long time, then as he gets tired it gets longer and lower like a howl. 'oh whoa is me' he seems to be saying. He is so sweet and playful and ornery and smart!Last night was his third night and he's already almost got the crate training licked.

Here's our schedule:
• Get home from work, let out Ned
• Feed Ned - he knows the sound of his food being poured and wiggles like crazy he's so excited
• Play a few minutes then outside to take care of business - lots of high pitched "Good Boys" when he does
• Back inside to play hard until about 7:30 - 8pm. He starts to crash then. He sleeps about an hour on our lap.
• 10 pm we're exhausted, so he goes in the crate
• 2 am I get up to let him out - puppy bladders can't hold it all night
• 6 am get up to get ready for work early so I can let him out, feed him, let him out and play
• Unless he's sleeping it's outside every hour on the hour. We've had very few accidents.

He already knows where the doors is to go out. He walks to it with us. Then when he's done outside, since it got cold again, he'll run to the door and wait to be let in. He doesn't like the cold and wind. I don't blame him. His favorite toy is his Teddy bear. It came attached to the flower arrangement our vet sent us. It's a little bit bigger than him, but he can carry it around. And he shakes it like he's breaking it's neck, which is what beagles do. When we have to leave him in the kitchen and he gets upset, he goes and gets his Teddy and sits with it in the corner and looks sad. But the little bugger can play non-stop! And he's really getting into chewing. Those tiny puppy teeth HURT! He got my nose and D's ear. We keep shoving a toy in his mouth to chew on instead of us. He's just so cute and sweet, and he makes us laugh and smile. Having a schedule again and having something to care for feels good. It's not the same, April was different. We still miss her. But it's good to not be sad all the time. I'm looking forward to training little Ned and taking long walks with him.

Get used to the Ned stories, I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of them. I can tell you right now he is going to destroy something important/precious/expensive.