Author: Dackel Princess

Heidi has moved into this house and brought with her a lot of happiness and sunshine! She will have these great episodes of activity and then crash and sleep, on my chair her chair, for a couple of hours!

Puppy feet!

Having a new puppy is very much like having a new baby. Especially if you are trying to keep accidents to a minimum and teach them all about enjoying their time outside in the sunshine. Please note, this is hard to do when the temperature is 4 degrees and the wind chill brings it well below zero.

Heidi does have a coat, but she still gets cold. So I have her outdoor gear and her indoor sweater. Most of all, she has several blankets on her chair and in the car, and on Lili’s bed her other bed!

A funny thing happened in the night after she went out. We came inside and went to sit on the chair, and she climbed into my bathrobe and slept on my chest.

I’m slightly worried about this. You see, everything she wants she works tirelessly to get. Is my robe next?

Today I hope to get down on the floor with her and take some pictures. Some good ones. If you ever wonder why the best pictures of Heidi show her sleeping angelically, it’s because if she isn’t sleeping, she is zooming around the house!

*Smile*

I am so happy, with my little dog-friend! She has brought joy into my life!

Last night, I sat in my chair with Heidi and fell asleep. Heidi and I slept all cuddled together in my recliner from 9:30 until 3 o’clock AM.  At that time we both needed to tend to business, so we got up, and once we accomplished great things, came back to the chair and fell asleep again. Before I knew it, it was 6:30 AM! This girl feels like a new woman!

At 6:30, Heidi and I got up and saw that we got about half an inch of new snow. It’s so pretty, but when I saw Heidi’s reaction it dawned on me that she’d really never seen new-fallen snow.

As she walked looking for “her spot” she couldn’t find it. Thus we walked around the yard a little more before she decided on a new spot. She proceeded to thoroughly mark it!

All I could say is, “What a good girl!”

So life with Heidi is falling into a new and nice pattern. She does enjoy her long walks, and she has gotten used to her leash. As she grows I will be working on more commands while on the leash and other things.

She is remarkably bright, sweet and like our Lili, there is not a mean bone in her body. She is gentle and calm, with only a few racing around the family room and kitchen episodes a day. Those are just fun to watch!

I put out the little steps, which she figured out right away, two beds, and a smallish crate that was once Lili’s.

These are all her playground. Her actual bed is either next to me or on top of me!

Which is right where I want her to be!

Good Morning! Yes, at 12:55 AM it is morning, although I sure wish I were asleep. Unfortunately, between Heidi and Lili and creatures that go “Gah” in the night, we are all awake. Well, all except Jack.

After trying to settle the girls down, I gave up. It was then that the tiny wonder began going under and around my furniture. I think the toughest part is, Heidi would get under these things and then start to bark!

Lili and I could not figure out what happened to Heidi. One minute she is the sweetest little baby-doll, and the next it’s like she is a watered Gremlin!

Good & Evil Gremlin.

After an hour of trying to make small adjustments, I went downstairs, got some old scrap wood, and came up and started to build dead ends. The last thing left to do is get a six-foot piece of wood and go along the front of our old sofa.

But for tonight, I had to do one more thing. Jack brought a beautiful Cherrywood Round table from Hong Kong when he came back to the States, and I moved it out of the Piranha tooth’s way. Jack would be heartbroken if anything happened to that.

I keep hoping that Heidi will exhaust herself and that we can get a little sleep.

Wait! It is now 1:30 and she just crashed. I need to close my eyes while I can!!!

First, Heidi is doing great. I would say, 90% of the time she is the perfect little baby dackel. And then…

Let’s talk, house training. She is doing well. No poop accidents at all. The girl seems to like icy snow! Gail, I wonder if this is from her Alaskan Heritage! (ha-ha!) Heidi acts a bit squirrelly over by the back door and this seems to be her cue to me that it is time to visit the great outdoors! Now during the day, Heidi does well. She does the squirrelly dackel dance by the door, which indicates that it is time for a visit to the wilds of nature.

And then…

Bedtime is not going well. But I am working on it.

She dislikes the crate, so that’s been a no-go. The first night I thought she’d done well until I discovered the wet spot on the other side of the bed. All sheets and blankets and mattress pads we stripped and washed. Thank goodness for the waterproof mattress pad, as the mattress was fine. Then last night I had taken her outside, and as soon as her paws hit the comforter, she wee-wee’d!

I’m a new Mommy. I am tired. So I tossed the comforter down the stairs to the laundry room, and grabbed my robe, a blanket, and sat down in my recliner, and Heidi climbed up and we fell asleep.

It wasn’t too bad. We slept from 9:30 until 4 AM. She was acting squirrelly again, so I packaged us up in our winter clothes (It is 5 degrees here at 4 AM, brrrr!), and out we went.

She performed flawlessly, and I have my poop sample for the Vet. I made myself some coffee and she is happily chewing on a bone.

I looked on Amazon and found a full-size pet waterproof throw for my bed. Once it arrives I will try to use that over my comforters and try to change our sleeping area. For now, thank goodness for the recliner!

When Mama is tired, she can sleep anywhere!

I wish you all a good day and I will report in on Heidi’s Veterinarian Appointment tomorrow!

Thankfully, I gave myself two days of flying and sandwiched in a day of driving to get my new dackel baby girl, Heidi!

I’m not sure that I could have done it in two days, so this was perfect! I got to my hotel on New Year’s Even, settled in, and got my “free Dinner & Drinks” It hit the spot after a day of travel.

At about 3-4 AM there was a Tornado warning for my area in Tennessee! Well, this girl is a Northerner and I was a tad rattled. But nothing could keep e away from my appointed task. Getting my darling Heidi!

I picked up my Highlander Rental and headed toward Kentucky, to my friend’s home. She lives in such a beautiful spot. Sad to see the devastation that the tornadoes a few weeks back caused.

Anyway, the weather on New Years Day in Tennesee and Kentucky was bad. Rain, winds, and the tell-tale black skies scared this girl. But not enough to put off my trip to get my new baby!

Despite the weather, I made great time, and then, there she was. There was our Heidi!

I got to meet her Mommy, Daddy, and even her Grandma Tadee! I would have taken any of them home. They were all special. Especially, Daddy Ralph and Mama Luna!

We were watching the skies and the weather reports, so I opted to take Heidi and head back to Nashville. I returned the rental car (Loved that vehicle!)  and stopped by the Delta Terminal to register Heidi and get our boarding passes. We got back mid-afternoon and settled into our room.

I went to sleep curled up with Heidi about 9:30 and slept until 2 AM when Heidi woke and was hungry and thirsty. So I fed and watered here, made sure she used the wee-wee pads, and then she fell back asleep.

I did not get more sleep as I fretted about our flight home. We left our hotel at 5:15 and got to the airport in no time. But it was there that Heidi and I had another weird thing happen.

When I got to the Security area, I was told to remove Heidi from her soft crate, which I did. Then I was told to go over to this female officer who said she wanted to swab my hands. Okay…then she swabbed Heidi’s paws. So weird, but it was later explained to me that between Covid, Ukraine, and other weird political things, apparently, our security level is elevated.

I stopped to get my car at Mandy’s and the kids got to meet Heidi. It was a love fest by all.

Savannah and Quinn with Heidi!

Me with Heidi and Savannah!

I got home at 12:30 PM and then settled in to begin house training Heidi. She is doing remarkably well. She has just wee-wee’d for the last time tonight and I think it’s time for bed.

It’s been wonderful and exciting and it’s like Heidi has always been with us. We are so very lucky!