Drawing to a close

Well, after much debate and agony, Kaylee will be going back to her breeder on Saturday. I'm not at all happy about this, but believe it is the right decision. I'm just not cut out to raise a puppy the way one should be raised.

There is one potential bright spot - my mother has asked the breeder to consider her as a new owner. She met Kaylee over the holidays and took to her as I did. She also has rather more experiance raising children than I do. :-}

So perhaps Kaylee will remain in the family, just not with me. Wherever she goes, I hope she will be happy.

Catching Up

Well, it has been quite a busy few weeks. Some highlights:

My mother visited just after christmas, and brought with her one of those gifts that keeps on giving: a Wii. Of all the game consoles I've seen/tried out, this is the only one I've actually considered getting myself, so I'm quite glad. I claim the title of cow racing champion of people I know. :-) I managed to log ten consecutive days on Wii Fit before work started up. Hopefully I'll be able to get in some time on the weekends.

Kaylee continues to grow, and has finally reached the point where she can sleep through the night. That doesn't mean she always does, of course, but it is a milestone. She now weighs in at about 20 lbs, at least 10 lbs of it pure energy. Yes, I've created a Mii for her on the Wii. Puppy class continues to introduce both commands I knew off (sit, stay, come) and commands I didn't (stand, go, leave-it). Overall her level of training and obediance is improving, but she's still wearing me down.

We've had the first two sessions (start up, rules intro, character development, etc) of a Star Wars RPG (West End, thank you, not WotC) that I'm GMing. I'm going to have 6-7 players, which is a new record for me. The party will be a group of 'honest merchants' trying to make a living on a... special... freighter during the time of the movies (Episodes IV-VI, thank you, not the travesties that masqueraded as Episodes I-III).

Planning for Ursulmas continues, and the floor plans are firming up, though changes are still being made.

Puppy Filk

TTTO: "Pop goes the weasel"

Round and round the living room floor
The puppy chased the chew toy
Round and round the living room floor
Squeek! Goes the chew toy.

Puppy Training

Kaylee had her first puppy class wednesday night. At first she was completely terrified - shaking and cuddling up as close to me as possible. She came out of her shell about halfway through, however, and spent a fair amount of time sniffing other dogs and trying to leap upon humans.

Overall things went fairly well - by comparison Kaylee is actually relatively obediant and not a barker. I'm not sure if she's actually an above-average puppy (in which case I really feel bad for most puppy owners) or if we've just got a class of hard cases.

Puppy Love

Well, Kaylee has now been part of the family for over a week.

I have never seen anything more clearly and completely happy to see me than Kaylee after I came home from my first day of work. She jumped all over me, up to twice her height off the ground, panting like mad and wagging her entire body. She then proceeded to bounce around the house like a gas molecule for several straight minutes.

Her greetings have gotten a little less intense each day, but she still puts on quite a show.

Kaylee has had her first bath, which went better than I expected, and her first nail clipping, which did not. Training is going slowly; I'm hopeful that formal classes will help. Her behavior at night is much better (quieter and for longer periods). At some point I may even be able to sleep through the night again. :-}

Houston, we have a puppy!

Last night I picked up a girl. Dark brown eyes, white hair, very cute, about 10" tall, four legs, one tail...

Yes, I now have a puppy. Her full legal name is Nordic Whisper Kaylee Emma Raskob. The first two are the fault of the breeder, not me. Her call name is Kaylee.

All she's got is a mouth, so the whole world looks like a chew toy, but we're making a lot of progress already. She's extremely hyper, and did NOT want to go to sleep last night, but I can get her to settle down when necessary. I also got her to sit three times this morning. :-)

While this blog isn't going to be all puppy, all the time, Kaylee will have a starring role for the foreseeable future.