Welcome home, Macallan Grace!

Well, we survived our first day/night with the new puppy!! We had an 11:30am scheduled pick up time, and wow, what a hard decision it was to choose between two equally adorable puppies. The one we didn't choose was the smaller dog of the litter - not small enough to be considered the "runt" though - and she had an incredible short tail due to it being kinked at birth...it had to be clipped, sad. She was a good dog, she just didn't have the attitude and temperament we were looking for. Anyway, Adam apparently made up his mind immediately when he flipped both dogs on their backs gently and the one just kind of laid there and looked at him like, "ok, whatever, this is cool". He knew that was his dog. And when he took her outside, and she tackled the steps like a champion, and picked up any stick in sight...he REALLY knew. She's a lover, a cuddler, and has lots of energy.


Here's an email I sent to my parents describing the first night in particular:
She slept from 7:30pm to 2:00am - wow! She took a few "cat naps" in the afternoon in her "den" (kennel, but we're trying to call it her "den") - she seemed to be immediately comfortable w/ the kennel so when she fell asleep for the night we decided to carry the whole kennel upstairs so she could continue to sleep somewhere familiar. She didn't make a peep till 2am. We spent the next 2 hours making potty trips and playing with her till she fell asleep again from 4am to 6am. We're crossing our fingers she sleeps like this tonight and the next night and so on, but I think she was just extra tired from what a crazy day it was, and I doubt we can match that excitement today.

She's peed twice in the kitchen and twice on the rug at the front door (of course she waits till she's inside and warm) - but she did poop outside w/ adam around 3am...exciting moment, from what I hear.

The cat felt banished from the room, of course, sleeping on the couch downstairs. She did actually venture into the bedroom when the dog first moved up there - Callie stuck her nose out of the kennel but otherwise ignored the cat and went to sleep. The cat hissed for a while and left. She came back a few times through the night to just venture the room and make sure the dog was still there...and then she'd leave for the guest room. At least she's making attempts to approach the dog on her own terms.

Nicknames for the dog, already, thanks to the big ears: Dumbo, SATCOM, and Radar...oh, and we're thinking Bunny Rabbit is appropriate for next year's halloween costume
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On a side note...my dad is home from the hospital following his knee replacement surgery. He was supposed to come home Thursday, however, his oxygen SATS were low all week, and they decided to do a CAT scan. They found a blood clot in his lung. He's now on oxygen and blood thinners, and he's very grumpy (my poor mother!). But at least he's home.