The Weekend Wrap ~ January 17th

P1160020 (3)The weekend proved to be a fairly quiet one for me. Aside from taking Heidi out to potty every hour or two, I was able to get some much-needed rest.

Do any of you recall the blanket I crocheted that was so bad, and pilled? I had to get a fabric shaver to make it look presentable?

20191230_161146

Well, I pulled it off the back of the sofa, and since it is so heavy and warm, it has become my sick blanket. Oh, it is still pilling, and when I am well I will need to de-fuzz and de-pill it once again.

As I sat watching movies and contemplating life, I was reminded about the values instilled in me by my parents and grandparents. Doing what is the right thing to do in a calm and respectable way. (Not that I have always achieved this, but in later years, I certainly have tried.)

Then I  watched the movie “Some Kind of Wonderful“, which is probably my favorite of the John Hughes films about growing up. There is so much in it about the right and wrong choices in life, and I wish people could watch and learn from it. If you have never seen it,  find it on a streaming service and watch it.

Heidi is doing very well. She and Lili are becoming friends and she is also taking over the house.

20220116_094318

Gone is that little bit of puppy fear of new places, without her Mom and Dad and littermates, and now she has accepted Jack, Lili, and me, as her family.

I’m not really using the crate. I mean it is in the room, with no door on it, and she actually uses it as a child would use a blanket fort. She races inside carrying a toy, rolls around, and then races out. It’s fun to watch.

20220116_130618

So really, that was pretty much my weekend. Quiet, resting, and being a doggy Mama when needed. I hope your weekend was a good one!

The Friday Five ~ January 14th

20200206_160117The week sped by, and as I am a new Mom to baby dackel, Heidi there are not enough hours in the day. Here are the top five things on my mind this week.

    1.  Tuesday was a big day. I had to drive all over New Hampshire, as Jack had appointments. The roads were fine, but we left here at 8:30 AM and didn’t get home until 4:45 PM. It was also a big day for Heidi as she came with us!

20220111_102751Heidi on the go!

2. On Tuesday night I started to feel crappy. Tired, congested, coughing, and sneezing. I fell asleep in my chair and Jack claims I was snoring loudly. (Who, me?)

3. Wednesday I felt like I had a cold. All stuffy, tired, and with a giant frog in my throat.

4. The symptoms have stayed about the same and so I have not gone and been tested. I really think I have a simple cold. Jack is fine.

5. Heidi is teething, and she is chewing on everything. Bones, toys, me, and poor Lili. We are correcting her and look forward to the time when she is done with teething. For now, we keep providing chew toys and then when we must correction. Which is so frigging hard to do because she has the most innocent face ever!

So that’s my week. I hope you are all well!

30710763_1810349852362230_4938681845974827008_n

12 Weeks

Our new baby, Heidi is now 12 weeks old.

20220110_125414

She loves:

  1.  to run around the family room in circles until she collapses.
  2.  chewing, anything she can get her mouth on.
  3. meals times. I have never met a dackel that didn’t love to eat.
  4. snow. I know, go figure. She has these short little legs and is often dragging her belly through the snow, but she hops and jumps and plays!
  5. going for a car ride. Currently, she is in her little carrier bag, but I am looking at car seats with restraints for her.
  6. cuddling. After her rigorous play times, she either collapses on me or next to me.
  7. thwarting all my attempts at dackel-proofing our kitchen and family room. Last night she had broken through all my well-thought-out blockades and escaped under the sofa, in the back of my chair,  where she scurried about and barked. Let’s just say I was at my wit’s end. I finally took it all apart and rebuilt it. For the moment she is puzzled!
  8. her new Daddy. It’s been a slow start, but yesterday after Mommy was undone about the blockade, she was kissing up to him like you would not believe!
  9. Lili. Lili is still uncertain about this maniacal little creature, but at this point, Heidi isn’t biting her and pulling out her hair (progress) so they are starting to have a relationship.
  10. all the doggy toys and chews! Like all toddlers, every toy and bone belongs to her. Poor Lili. I keep working to make sure Lili gets her own bones.

Well, that’s my shortlist of Heidi’s loves at 12 weeks old. She is doing well with her house training, and her sleeping is better too. Baby-steps!

20220110_124633

Settling In

I think that Heidi is starting to settle in. She seems more relaxed and enjoys her days, eating, sleeping, and playing! Heck, I think perhaps I would like that schedule!

20220103_100957

Everything was icy on Sunday and I nearly fell on our patio. Luckily, I did not fall, and during my 100+ times (an exaggeration I am sure!) I took walks with Heidi, I managed to stay on my feet!

There was a funny incident with Heidi on Sunday. She was climbing the doggy steps and Lili was sitting on the sofa, and Heidi raced over and jumped full force onto Lili!

Lili was so surprised, but she never growled or snapped. She just stared at the young whipper-snapper and then got down!

Yes, life is good and the pups are doing okay with their relationship.

20220103_092529

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.

20220108_142743

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.

20220108_143414

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?

20220107_102651

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!

20220106_133535

*Smile*

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

Sig file for Dackel

The Friday Five ~ January 7th 2022


20200206_160117
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!

131059219_2793054987613754_7347382249664705514_n

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!”

20220105_011645

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!

20220105_164817

Which is right where I want her to be!

20220105_171700

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.

20220105_011434

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!!!

4efdfce0ad29ad60660a1a90af542f4b

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.

January 4th 2

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!