Welome Home Sadie Roo!

The 7+ hour day is over. Whew! We left this morning around 10:30 to go pick up our little Sadie Roo. The breeder told us it was okay if we brought Maggie, and I am so glad we did because I think it really helped keep Sadie's trauma level low on the way home. We got to the breeder's around 2:00 this afternoon, and were taken back into the kennel where my sweet new little pup was sleeping soundly in a mess of puppy crap and pee. Oh yeah, she smelled fantastic! I did have one little surprise, however. I paid $500 for a red and white Border Collie puppy, and to my surprise, my pooch had been upgraded to a rare tri-colored pup! The red and white BCs are already rare among their breed, but the tris are even more rare, and so cost twice as much ($1K!). Alright then, I'll take it!

We were at the kennel for about an hour while the breeder gave Sadie a quick flee bath, a set of shots, and a list of do's and don'ts for us. He seemed really pleased with the knowledge I already came equipped with, and said that I was asking all of the right questions, in the right order, and split seconds before he went into the topics on his usual "new puppy owner" shpeel. He did give me a few pieces of good advice that I had not thought of before though.

After Sadie's flee bath, we took her to meet Mags. Maggie wasn't quite sure what to do with the pup at first, but a few seconds later went into displays of dominance, which is exactly what we wanted to see. We let the two romp around the breeder's office while he got Sadie's pedigree and shot records all taken care of, and about 20 minutes later we were on our way home.

Sadie braved the car ride extremely well. Her and Maggie spent about the first hour of the car ride licking each other's snouts through the crate, until Sadie got tired, curled up, and went to sleep. Maggie followed suit. About half an hour before we got home, Sadie started to whimper. I looked back into her crate and realized she was doing the "I've gotta poop!" dance. A few seconds later, we were driving down the freeway with all four windows down looking for the next exit.

Sadie seems so tiny to me, and I can't believe that the breeder thought she was ready to be separated from her litter, but there isn't much I can do about it. I think the next two weeks are going to be really hard for me while her little brain is still developing. House breaking is going to be a little tough since when I try to scold Sadie for going inside the house, Maggie thinks SHE is the one who is being scolded and she thinks its the puppy's fault, which means she doesn't dare go near the puppy afterward.

Maggie has absolutely established her dominance, and once she felt like she had made that clear, she felt free to play with the puppy. She spent the first part of the evening playing interception between the puppy and me, but she seems to be adjusting to her enough to romp with her and drench Sadie's head in her saliva whilst doing so.

The next couple of weeks should be interesting, and I am just praying that Sadie is as easy of a puppy as Maggie was. I hope she trains quickly and easily with very little direction, and I hope her barking and howling are at a minimum to keep her on Hubs' good side. For now, she is fast asleep in her crate, and I hope she will sleep for a good long time yet so I can catch a few z's myself.

Below is a short little video of the two pooches hitting it off. Enjoy!