The First Day at Poppy's New Home




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 and we tried feeding her plenty of treats to make it a happy place for her, not to mention the chew toys and things she had in and around her crate.

We also took her for her first neighborhood walk and it's funny how many new neighbors we met and made friends with in 15 minutes! All thy need is a dog or a baby to know thy neighbors!
It'll soon be time to crate her for the night and we will know how she adjusts...
More later!

Comments

Suba said…
Thanks, tejal :) Look forward to your first meeting with Poppy haha!
8:56 AM
Suba said…
Absolutely - she gets the "ohhh she's such a pretty girl" comment from everyone... All yours for as many walks as you want!
5:47 AM
reviveramesh said…
well done subha and vikram. she is awfully good looking and will defintely come in handy for sundevil to pick up girls ( or even guys! )...it is amazing how life changes with the arrival of Puppies in general and for you two with POPPY in particular. few tips from experience - don't overfeed - just one meal a day is sufficient - overweight makes them sluggish and unresponsive. they will do naughty things - so patience and punishment needs to balanced ; they all love papadams but go easy on feeding them what we eat - yes there is all kinds of super appetising things to eat for dogs - but again stay away from these - once they taste all these goodies - that's it - you're in for trouble. basically keep them a bit hungry and their metabolism active and energising. trainng them is whole new game alltogether - i am sure you will read books and send her to classes etc but again don't fret yourself too much - eventually they will learn a few things and you will bust your knees and break your back or get a few strands of grey hair (or lose them as the case may be). all of these dogs love to run - so let them go - but if you want them to come back you need treats in your pockets (few small doggie bites in a ziplock) and they need to be hungry!. you have to get used the whining and barking and all that - but having seen your house it seems like you can leave her outside safely - can you?
8:38 PM
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