Poppy

Above, I'm hiding from Rahul and Surbhi... and Below I'm in deep thought

On her first night with us, she did bark (which delighted Vik because that's the first time he heard her bark) and then she whined in that pitiful doggy way for a while after we had crated her at night, but then she settled down. I couldn't sleep all night because Poppy was tossing and turning in her crate resulting in all sorts of sounds. Finally I went to her at 3 am and she woke up and started whining again (my mistake). Then Vikram and I slept outside in the living room for the rest of the night and she slept well too after that. Last night was really good because Ally and Nimish had come over and she was tired out with all the playing so she walked into her crate herself and fell deep asleep by 9 pm. Woke us up at 6:40 am with a tiny bark because she couldn't hold her bladder any more (we rushed her outside and sure enough she peed in the grass). But we had all slept over 8 hours and very well too, so it was a good night. The funniest though is how she sleeps - on her

As of today - Poppy is 32.5 pounds!!! And I thought she was 28 (yesterday) but I was wrong!! Wow, she was just 26 2 weeks ago! The vet gave her a clean bill but did say she was especially shy and needed to socialize. So she starts Puppy training from June 5th. It was very, err...different, riding with her loose in the backseat of a car today. I was with her the whole time and in the beginning she refused to come out once we reached Westgate Animal Hospital; she was shaking in my arms when I tried to lift her off the seat and onto the concrete. We eventually did manage it all, and she's learning to relax in the car slowly...

Poppy is a 4.5 months old pure-bred Labrador Retriever (yellow). Today was the day we got her home. While she was excellent and very patient on the drive from Pflugerville to South Austin, coaxing her out of the little travel crate from the back of my 2-door car into my arms so I could put her down on the floor was a scary 15-minutes. Vikram wasn't home yet and she refused to come out, which worried me... But I managed to coax her out with treats and grab her in my arms when she came out excitedly to munch the little treat. By then Vikram drove up too.. We put her first (Aggie) collar on her. Turns out it was too big but what the hell, I'll buy her a puppy one tomorrow. So we took her (on a leash) to sniff her new house and all its corners. She went upstairs excitedly but was rather scared while coming downstairs and refused to budge (from the top of the stairs). Again, it was time to heave and ho and carry 28-pound Poppy down the stairs. She excitedly walked into her new crate