Finding New Talents

Last night Heidi and I made it in bed, a real bed, from 11 o’clock until 5 AM! Oh, it felt so good to be in my own bed curled up with this little beauty. She does snore, but then, so do I, so we make a good pair.

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She loves to snuggle and every once in a while she does this cute puppy sigh that makes me smile. I am so lucky.

I came out to walk her at 5 o’clock and it was all of 8 degrees. I got my heavy winter coat on, a hat, and gloves. I got out Heidi’s fleece cape and hooked on her leash and off we went.

She did her thing and we came in and I turned on the coffee, and off we went so I could change my clothes and put on some long underwear.

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I was completely naked and barefoot when Heidi came in, stood on Lili’s bed, and gave me that look. Oh, no! She needed to poop!

I raced over and grabbed her and then stood for a moment thinking what should I do?

I can now tell you I have a new talent. I can completely dress, with one hand, while holding an 11-week old puppy! I mean, completely from socks, underwear, to leggings and a turtleneck!

Then I zipped on my boots, ran to the kitchen, put on my coat and hat and gloves, put Heidi’s cape on, and leash, and raced her outside!

If you’re guessing that she would not go, you would be totally wrong! She went out in the snow, and did her Poop! This is big!

We came in and she got a little treat and all sorts of praise! I mean, if a little girl like her goes out in the snow when it is 8 degrees and does her thing, well, God bless her.

She is doing well, and so am I.

20220108_140838And she is also so darn cute!

Who’s The Boss?

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!

20220106_091710Puppy 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?

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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!

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*Smile*

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

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The Friday Five ~ January 7th 2022


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Welcome to the first Friday of 2022! Can you believe it? A week ago I was shuttling off to Nashville to go and pick up Heidi. Now she is home, and it feels almost like she has been with us forever!

So here we go. This week’s Friday Five!

  1. I still cannot believe that I have had Heidi for almost a week. She is amazing and I am thrilled to call her my own!20220106_133357
  2. Heidi has a fan club here in town. I have several friends and business owners who simply adored my dackels. Especially Arnie.  So now she has special Aunties at various places that we go to visit!
  3. I got the new, waterproof throw for my bed. My plan is to start the night out here, and when Jack goes to bed at 11 o’clock PM, I will walk Heidi for the last time and then hopefully go to bed in a real bed for the night.
  4. Heidi continues to ride well in the car. I just keep riding around with her and she does very well!
  5. I am still trying to catch up with my sleep. I have my fingers crossed that tonight will be a very good night!

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Life With Heidi

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!”

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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!

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Which is right where I want her to be!

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Piranha Teeth

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!

20220105_011714Lili 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!

Bonbraks-GremlinsGood & 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.

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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!!!

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The Early Days of Heidi

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

January 4th

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.

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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!

20220101_165726I wish you all a good day and I will report in on Heidi’s Veterinarian Appointment tomorrow!

And Just Like That…She’s Home!

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!

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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.

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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.

270378867_1082345115833513_6241353481483835589_nSavannah and Quinn with Heidi!

270070029_284442523551870_4177910233653229293_nMe 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!

This & That ~ December 15th

I feel quite remiss at not writing before now. I’ve been rather worried and upset the last few days since the Tornados tore through Kentucky and the heartland of America.

You see, little Heidi, with her birth family and the breeder, who has become a friend are in Kentucky and they were very close to the epicenter of the storms, Mayfield, KY.

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Luckily, the breeder, Gail, and all her pups and all of her family came through okay. But so many homes in her town were severely damaged, and there is no power or water. I fear that will be some time to come back.

So, since my middle name is “Worry-Wart” I have just felt really unsettled. I realized it was getting to me last night at about 12:30 AM when I woke and could not get back to sleep. I sat up for a while, watched a little TV, and eventually fell back asleep at around 3:30. But today I feel a bit tired and I know I have to give this to God. Me not sleeping is not going to help anything.

My grandchildren are visiting Disney. How wonderful! I’m getting pictures several times a day and they are having a great time. But I was suddenly amazed because my granddaughter looks very much like a pre-teen. Gone is my little girl! Wow!

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But here is the other thing about Savannah. She has always been beautiful, but as she grows into a young woman she is strikingly beautiful.

Okay, I know. I am her grandmother and I look at her face and see the beauty of her face and soul!

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I am thrilled to see that Quinn at least still looks like a little boy. I’m not ready for him to grow up and become a teen!

So that wraps up the last few days. I hope you are all well.

Fingernails!

In recent weeks I have been planning everything for my trip to pick up Heidi. Right down to getting my hair trimmed, colored and my nails done.

My nails were longer than I have ever had them, and I was looking forward to a crazy wild manicure.

That was before Wednesday when I caught my left index finger and tore the nail down past the quick! (Insert scream and bandaids for the bleeding)

I resolved to ignore this and still have long nails on the nine other fingers. Then today, in the space of one hour two of my nails split! Ugh!

At that point, I trimmed them all lightly and have filed them. I will still have Becca give me a good manicure with pretty polish. And truth be told, they were almost too long for easy typing. So, I am looking on the bright side!

I am done Christmas shopping. Yay! A few items are off to be delivered, but as far as thinking presents for people, I am done.

Jack and I are not exchanging gifts. We are getting Heidi and that is a present that we both will enjoy.

I have set up everything for Heidi and before I leave I want to put my pull-on boots by the door as well as my slip-on jacket and hat. Oh yes, Jack hates the new snow hat, but you know, it’s warm and for running outside to house train a puppy, it is good enough!

My breeder sent us the cutest picture of sleeping Heidi being sniffed by her Daddy, Ralph!

December 10th Heidi and daddy ralphIsn’t that the sweetest thing?