1 week and going strong

Its now been one week since we've had Sophie and things are going pretty well.  The first two nights were definitely an adjustment for her.  Lots of crying and whining, but I'd say the adjustment went well because it was only the first two nights.  She does still whine sometimes when we crate her during the day, but its light years better than the initial start.

She adjusted to the week schedule well after the first couple days, but I feel like the weekend (and the dose of snow and cold we got Saturday) really threw her off.  I felt pretty good that we'd dropped no deuces in the house all week long, but then with the amount of time she was out of the kennel on Saturday and probably with a lack of close supervision that streak was broken.  The snow didn't help any because she does not want to be outside.  Other than this Saturday potty training is going really well.  However, while she's getting the gist of things, she'll go right away and want to go back in even though I'm looking for the second act, which is kind of what happened with the afore mentioned incident.

I feel like she's really beginning to bond with me and I feel like she's looking at me as the owner.  Treat training has begun and she sits and comes like a champ when she wants to.  We're starting to work on down, and I'll update everyone on how thats going on my next post.  She's definitely got a puppy attention span so I'm taking it easy and doing 3-4 reps 2x a day or so.  Along with this I'm starting to work in the whistle for sit and here.  With dinner time and the treat training I've also slowly introduced the cap gun (which gets a little loud in the apartment) and there's been little/no signs of trepidation from her at all.

I'm also throwing 3-4 bumpers a day in the hall and she's doing these single marks with ease and is pretty hard charging with them.  I've included a video of this below.  I have a couple goose wings that I'll let her have every now and then and before the snow we had a day with a temp of about 50 where we went out behind the house and she was doing 15 yard retrieves with the wing with ease.  Again, however, I'm cutting it at 3-4 retrieves and keeping the enthusiasm high when I take it away.

One thing I can't get over is how big how quick she's getting.  In the couple days before we picked her up she clocked in at 9.5 lbs and on friday we had our first vet visit where she clocked in at 12.  I literally feel like I sometimes crate her and then come back in the morning and she's physically larger.  The vet visit went well and I got her first round of heartworm and flea and tick medications which I'll give to her next week.  I also got another deworming medication that I gave to her this past friday and will again give to her in 2 weeks.

For veterinary services we chose to go to the Banfield clinic.  It may seem like a chain and big shop going to the clinic in PetSmart, but its nice to know its an independent clinic and not PetSmart owned.  The vet was a nice lady about my age and helped with a couple questions I had (one was why do they do an ovario-hysterectomy when they spay, rather than just oopherectomy or hysterectomy, and the answer is because it reduces cancer risk overall).  Banfield offers a primary care plan at an introductory rate with a monthly payment, which is nice because we'll avoid large bills.  This includes the spaying, but not any other surgeries or medications. 

The next thing I'll do is shop for medication costs for online meds vs. the discount rate they (Banfield) gives me as a primary care plan enrollee.  The other item is to find a pet insurance that we like.  I feel like this is almost an indespensable cost due to the chances that she may need some sort of surgery.  My cousin has a lab thats torn 2 ACLs ($4000 per repair, and thats after shopping around) and with us likely doing a lot of training, hunt trialing, and hunting the chances of injury are higher.  The vet also mentioned labs are at an increased risk of foreign body ingestion.  The quote I have as of now is for PetPlan: $240 per year premium with a $200 deductible and 10% co-insurance that covers up to $8000 in surgery.  If anyone has some suggestions please comment and let me know.

Lastly I called Joe Eschert the president of Pinelands Retriever Club to get more information about the club and what they're about.  I learned a little, namely that the club is what I'm looking for.  From his description he said the club is a group of friendly people who love retrievers and work on training and hunt trialing for their dogs.  Along with that he does do some pay for training and offered to have me come out for a gratis lesson before Sophie and I embark on formal obedience.  He relayed that he owns 4 master hunter labs and one master hunter to be.  Sounds accomplished enough to me.

D-Day

Finally time for pick-up.  I was definitely excited, but probably more nervous.  I just want to be sure I'm doing the best I can for the dog.  I think we're prepared, I feel like we're prepared, but you just have to take it as it comes.

The drive out was documented by my buddy Brad, and he also took a few videos while we were at Karen Shoemaker's.  The pick-up went well and soon we were on the way with my wife's and my new dog!  I received my papers for registration and copies of both the parents OFA and CERF certification.  I also got both of their lineages, which I'll include photos of. 

The puppy did cry for the first 10 minutes of the ride and it was tough to see her going through such a shock, which continued for the rest of the night.  Potty training commenced immediately and we're already trying our best to limit the number of in house accidents.  She started to explore the boundaries we set for her which include the kitchen, living room, and hallway (bedrooms are off limits).  Crate training is I guess what I expected, but she does have a set of lungs.  We put her in the crate about 10:30, which she's not a fan of at all.  The crying and whining continued from then until 1:30 when she and I finally went to sleep.  I did walk her about 1 am and I think after than she was finally pooped out enough to take a break until 7 am then next day.