Welcome, Happy!

The reason for my silence last Friday was this: Furrari's Edelweiss Happy!



We call him Happy! He's out of Ice Man and Abby, which makes him a nephew to Biko. (Abby and Biko have the same Sire Ryder. He was the most beautiful dog, also Sam's Sire). I was not thinking of getting a new puppy so soon, but when Marion offered me a boy from her last litter, I did not have to think to long to make a decision. Thank you Marion, for this wonderful boy!



Isn't he cute? Well, all puppies are cute, but he's MY new cute boy. We picked him up Friday morning. This is what we saw when we arrived.



puppies are 6 1/2 weeks old


One pup has already been picked up, so eight were left. In this shot our Happy is the furthest left. We had four male pups to choose from. I didn't choose him, DS David did. I could not decide.



We thought we were prepared for a new pup, but as it turned out, Happy's personality is different from Biko's and Sam's. He is very adventurous, does not fear anything. Sounds, no matter of what kind make him go check it out (he only runs to hide when Biko gives warning barks), everything else needs to be explored right away. He's also very fast. We could take out Biko and Sam without a leash to potty for quite some time, before they ventured away from us too far, not Happy! He'll soon needs to be leashed out front for his own safety. That means we have to put a collar on real soon. He'll be 7 weeks coming Tuesday. His neck is so thin, even the puppy collar we have for him is way too big.



Out back he can run free as much as he likes, but there are many places I don't want him to go, especially near the swimming pool. The other thing is, I have to shuffle now, feel quite stupid doing it, but he's always around and between my feet, and I'm worried that I'm going to step on him one day.



By the way, I LOVE my Birkis! They gave me back my sleeping hours during the night. Happy loves to snuggle up to my Birkis, don't ask me why, because it's just them, no other old shoes will do. After the first almost sleepless night, I didn't care and was prepared to sacrifice my shoes. Thank God, he just snuggles up with them, so I can wear them during the day. :o)



Everything else is not safe from his teeth. Even the tile floor needed to be tasted. He's worn down his first nylabone already, took him only one and a half days. The Vet was very impressed with his long canine teeth. :o)



Oh, yeah, we went to the Vet's with him on Friday as well. He seems to be in very good health, and while there he sat on the Vet's lap on the floor, chewing on a healthy treat (no other dog likes them, must be VERY healthy). He was quite fine on his back, sitting there like a little Buddha.



Of course I've got about 100 photos of him, and him and Biko within the first two days. There are more on flickr if you like to see them.



Right now, as I write this, he's sleeping in his crate in the kitchen. He likes it in there, as long as the door stays open. But if I dare to close it, he'll scream bloody murder. Still, he has to learn to stay in there eventually. He sleeps in another crate in my bedroom, if he sleeps. As I said, I was at my wits end the first night, when he snuggled up beside my shoes, which I took and put both, him and a shoe in the crate, and we all could sleep for a while.



Happy was wiggling so hard, that he's just a blurr here.

Biko was very careful sniffing him from tip of the nose to his tail. When Happy's obnoxious loud, she goes her ways, as far away as possible. But if he's silently running around, she wants to sniff him some more. She does not seem to have motherly instincts. We have to tell her to play with him, and slowly more and more each day (this is day 3), she warms up to him. Her kind of playing is throwing him a bone, and daring him to take it. She told him off a few times, i.e. when she was eating, he wanted to look into her bowl, or in the bedroom, when he wanted to curl up besides her, she said, no way, that's my place. Since she's officially a senior dog, getting close to 8 years of age, and besides, he's a puppy and has to learn his place in his new pack, she gets to tell him off.



For as long as they are not equal of weight (or Happy is not able to defend himself), we don't leave them alone together.



I don't get anything done right now. I did however spend a lot of time with him on the kitchen floor. Me knitting on a scarf, and him eventually sleeping.



Did I mention he learned his name the second day (which was yesterday). He's so smart! It's amazing. When I call him and say, "Happy, lets go pee!" he runs to the front door already! Well I'm amazed by that.



We already had a fight over a yarn ball. I think he hasn't heard of number one rule in this house yet, "Don't mess with mom's fiber and fiber equipment!!!" Which makes it rule number two and three as well, since this is very important.

I'm writing this on Sunday morning. We were outside, and now everybody is sleeping. Biko is under my desk, warming my feet, while the little devil is in his crate, bliss!

I might have called him Sam several times, but I'll get used to this new guy in my life soon. I'm glad that he's nothing like Sam so far. I want him to be different and all his own personality. As the Vet said, "He's got big shoes to fill." (and he also said, that Happy won the lottery, and doesn't even know it. ) :o)

I guess that's enough for now. And peaceful time's running out, I can feel it.

***
PS His green ear comes from the tattoo he's got there.