Bringing Home a New Puppy! (Day One)

Over the past year Kevin and I have been looking for a new puppy...online, at pet shops, in the local paper, and just could never decide on one. Did we want a small dog, a medium sized, long haired, short haired, Yorkie Poo, Chihuahua, Lab, Collie, Pomeranian, puppy, 2 year old, senior...etc. There just seemed to be so many choices, but thankfully with all the information on the web we finally came up with some criteria. We definitely wanted a puppy, who would grow to be no larger than our 22lb kitty, and hair length did not matter. So the search began...again! Finally on April 3, 2010 Kevin and I were out riding around, and decided to stop in at the local pet shop and look at the puppies, and I instantly fell in love with the first puppy I laid eyes on. (Corner Picture: Willie first day we had him home)

The sign said:

(2) Male LH Chihuahua Mix SALE: $250

DOB: 01/24/2010

I had the worker get him out for me...he was so tiny (3lb), but playful. Kevin and I took turns holding him and then we had the worker put him back in the tiny cage, and we left. Once home Kevin started rooting around in our vacation jar. And he comes out with cash, and says..."Lets go get him!" So we did! The shop owner assured us the puppy had a clean bill of health (wrong), would not get any bigger than 8-10lbs (wrong again), and gave us a free vet check with a local vet (nightmare), and we were on our way!

The next decision we had to make was coming up with a name...so of course we turned to facebook! After coming up with three name choices I posted the poll on my wall, and waited for the votes to come in! After about an hour the majority of our friends voted for Willie!

Finally we had a puppy (who was adorable), and life was full of sunshine and rainbows!

First thing we did was feed him...(he must have been starving, because he ate like he had never ate before), and then we gave him a quick wash..(he had been very dirty, and stinky).....(FYI..He hated being washed, and still does). After all the excitement the little guy was tuckered out, he crawled underneath the footstool (shown above), and fell asleep within minutes!

Just a few notes:

Being first time puppy owners Kevin and I really didn't know what to expect. Of course the shop owner assured us that Willie was healthy as can be (he was wrong), and where to let the puppy sleep that first night was also a struggle (even though every website says leave him in the crate all night by himself, I didn't), and Oh yeah....we both work full time jobs (where are we supposed to leave him all day (it wasn't really all day...it was like 4 hours by himself till I came home for lunch, and then another 4 hours until Kevin came home from work), also the advice that most websites give you on what to expect that first month with your new puppy is mostly wrong (at least in our case), and then...to free feed, or not! Just a few of the topics I will be touching on in some upcoming blogs, and hopefully there will be more to add in the coming months....(we are coming up on Neutering time!)

If there are any new puppy owners, or veteran puppy owners please leave me some comments, or words of advice. It's nice to hear other peoples stories of how their dog tore up the couch cushions when they were at work! (Willie has never done that...yet...)

Note:

Willie has now been with us for almost 3 months, and we still love him, and our cats still don't :)