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| Yeay! A new addition to our family. Truffles stepped into our lives and hearts on the 26th of November 2011 as part of our household. He was a bit scared and very tired, but soon with a lot of cuddles and coaxing to eat, he started to feel at home! He was only 7 and a half weeks old and for a few days missed his 4 sisters, mommy and family. Now,10 days later, it feels like he belonged here all along. He is a cheerful little chap, full of mischief and heaps of love. How lucky we are to have him in our lives! xoxo (click on image for larger view) |
Well this happened! A whirlwind of searching and finding our four legged companion - such a welcome addition to our family.
We started out going to shelters, but through the heartbreak could not find a suitable dog for us. Then my search began on the internet for a breed that would meet certain criteria: - a smallish dog - non-shedding(at least almost) - good with children.
Our decision came to a Miniature Schnauzer and the search began. Every person I phoned wanted more for their pedigree dog than the next. I knew I was going to pay through the nose, but this was getting ridiculous. We did not want a show dog, we wanted a family pet. So, with many phonecalls behind me and almost giving up, I went onto Gumtree. I was skittish to say the least, because I have encountered a fraudster on the internet just the previous week - luckily google is my friend :) (lets just leave it at that) I went through every add and eventually came upon one that offered a Male dog in a town not to far from us and close to where my father-in-law is staying. Only problem is, we wanted a little girly. Decisions, decisions...... We wrote the e-mail. We made the calls. Suddenly there were excitement in the air! The only one left of a litter of 5 that was not chosen. All the girls were taken. We saw a picture of the mother as a pup and she was just gorgeous. So, on the spur of the moment, we organized a meeting for the very next day. Just to take a look.
The following day, we took the kids out of school and started our drive. We were met with police barriers because of an accident on the road we were to go on, and almost turned back, but then decided to reroute. After a almost 2 hour drive, we arrived together with the breeder at her house.
We were met with great excitement from the Mommy and pups alike. They were the cutest little bundles!! Their Mommy was gorgeous, friendly and so clever. We were shown our potential pup and he was so sweet.
As a bonus to all of this cuteness, the breeder is a Vetenarian(how lucky are we), also the dog is a family pet and she only have a litter once a year. While the last was good, it also meant that if we wanted a bitch, then we would have to wait until December of 2012 for one. And everyone was already so riled up about getting a puppy, that it was just not an option.
When we left there, we were choosing a name already - the excitement was huge! But we had to wait for a few weeks before they were old enough to leave their mom.
Luckily that was also enough time to prepare for the pup's arrival. Lots of time were spend in Pet stores and a trip to the vet to get food, treats and chew stuffs. Even more time were spend on the internet buying books on Miniature Schnauzers, reading anything and everything on training dogs and watching loads of dog training videos (zacgeorge21).
A week ahead of the meeting, I phoned the breeder to ask if she would buy our pup a blanket and put it in with his mother and sisters, so that he can still have their smell with him when he sleeps in his crate the first night.
FINALLY the day arrived! It was a terribly windy day in Cape Town. With excitement and trepidation, we drove to the meeting place and waited. Then we got the call - they were there! We rushed there and then we rushed back into the car, because the wind was blowing us all away and both kids and dog were scared and upset.
The breeder were emotional and so were we. They said that he turned out to be the one with the sweetest demeanor and that they will miss him much.
I wrapped Truffles up in his soft baby blue blanket and held him against my chest on the way home.
The first two days Truffles had to be coaxed in eating his food and drinking water. For almost the first week he didn't want to eat alone, so my husband and son made turns to sit with him while he was eating and made sure he didn't wander away while he was still busy chowing. Swiching the water with a finger so that it made a lapping sound was also the order of the day. - Gosh! Things one will do!!
Truffles is now quite content in his new home. He has a sleep pattern you can set your watch to at night. He loves to play and chew. Car rides are now enjoyable (although he sleeps through it mostly now, instead of the yelping in the beginning)
He has met many people already - including a whole preschool and even attended the school concert!
He needs to get his second shot before we can go around meeting other doggies, and have a stroll around the block or at the seaside and we are all looking forward to it.
Might I just add here: I never thought we will own a dog - not at least until my daughter is a teenager and less afraid of them. I never thought I will post pictures of a pet, let alone go about blogging about one. But, alas! here I am doing all those things and more. Hmmmm, well, certain things are still in place - like not sleeping in the bed. Not allowing him in the kids bedrooms(safety reasons) and no getting on the furniture. So far so good.
Still - we just adore him, with all his cuteness and stubbornness combined :D
