Pet Gate

It took a couple of days to find a decent pet gate for our hallway. The first one was on sale in huge piles at the pet store and was made of rickety wood that bit your hands when you tried to open the gate. No good. Returned that one and started to ask around, but the best ones were a bit pricey. Or a sinister red color!

We turned our attention to BabiesRUs and looked at highly-rated baby gates and found the perfect one in white metal for less than 70 dollars. It's been installed and we've been pretty happy with how sturdy it is and how easy it is to open the gate. It also comes with two extensions for versatility. While at the BabiesRUs store, we also got a couple of safety wire covers from the baby-proofing gizmos section. Now our XBox is safer, hah.

He's the One!

Based on all of our preference and temperament and coat evaluations this week, we have been highly recommended this little fella. Coincidentally he's the one we've had our eye on, so it's a perfect match! The excitement is building..!

We have already found a good vet with excellent reviews that is close by and has emergency hours access. We also went out and purchased more toys, hygiene supplies, and treats. We're going to try out Blue Buffalo brand dry and wet food in combination with homemade food using a recipe our breeder has provided. The house has been given some good cleaning and dog-proofing, but this final last week I plan to clean even more so that our home is comfortable and safe for our new little pup! He has his own notebook for us to keep records in. Lastly, we took care of payment and contract signing.

It's a relieving and exciting to finally settle on a pup's face and know that we're expecting him! We love him already.

Newest Photos!

Here are the newest photos of the boy pups that we are selecting from. Aren't they beautiful? Haha one of the creme boys looks a bit serious.

Basic "Fun" Buys

Okay. I know that some of the other essentials still need to be purchased, but here is what we have so far: 1) double-sided dog pillow/bed, 2) food bowls with sturdy rubber base, 3) teething toy, 4) puppy shampoo, 5) mini poop pick-up baggies, and 6) carpet de-odorizing cleaner for accidents. I know that we still need a ton of things for starters, such as puppy pads, grooming & hygiene supplies, and dog food (including treats).

As my friend pointed out, a huge supply of paper towels is also a good idea.

I'm very happy with the dog pillow/bed that I picked up today, because for $15 it's a steal; it's huge and has a washable cover with a fuzzy warming side (for fall/winter) and a cooling fabric side (for when it's hot). You just flip it over for whichever side is best for the current weather. It's important that we keep our dog cool, especially since we live in the desert.

Three More Weeks

The pups are 6 weeks old this week, so they will receive temperament and coat evaluations before they are selected by families like us to take home. At 8 weeks, Geordi will be able to be formally adopted into our home. There are a handful of things we've been preparing. First, we're in the process of cleaning up or removing everything at a dog's eye-level or lower. We've gotten new shelves, cleaned up the den and living room, and have put away anything on the floor that can possibly be put away (such as paper, shoes, extra wires, crafts, books, etc). My crafts are being slowly organized into lock-tight tupperware boxes. After this week, the carpets and tile floors will get a thorough sweeping and vacuuming. I'm also inspecting all nooks and crannies around the common areas for insects or spiderwebs. We're considering getting trash cans with lids. Hooks have been stuck on the walls for our hats. Old cardboard boxes (possibly chewable) have been cut down and will be discarded with recycling this weekend. We're also still reading the several dog books we have.