My friends just had their first litter at Three Sheep Swissies and the puppies are a month old. This is prime socialization time, so I offered my children up as socialization candidates. You didn’t have to twist my arm much either.

It’s kind of funny thinking back to my state of mind over a year ago when it comes to Swissy Puppies. There was so much longing to have this experience back then, and part of me wonders if i had just waited a year.. I could have had it from the beginning. But then I wouldn’t have had Zen and she is turning into such a special dog.. I feel very fortunate my breeder chose me as her person. Even though we had to fly cross the country to get her…

If there was one puppy calling out to me in this litter, it was this little green boy. I can’t wait to find out who his person will be.

Maiwenn was really into this little girl pup. She kept wanting to hold her over and over again and when we left that evening, she was lamenting about how much she wanted another puppy. I see how swissy people end up with multiple dogs; They really are like potato chips! Fortunately for my husband, we don’t have the room, the time, nor does he have the inclination for another puppy.

Gavin thought they were cute too. But he was more interested in his friend’s toys..

If I were to advise any newbie puppy owners based off my experience, I would say that it really DOES matter who their puppy’s parents are. Especially in terms of temperament. I’ve been told that Zen’s father (even though he himself can be quite rowdy) throws off sweet-tempered pups. And my breeder has told me time and again that Zen’s gentle personality comes from her mother, who is a very gentle dog. But lineage is only half the story when it comes to temperament.. the other half is socialization.

These pups are coming from some amazing owners. True, they have never bred dogs before.. but both of their swissies have been incredibly well-socialized and active with their training. Already, these little ones are getting exposed to people, animals and strange sights and sounds.

This was the first born of the litter, and he’s the fattest of the bunch. He slept the whole time I was there.

Here’s little girl pup, getting weighed. Time for a new scale, me thinks!

They were waking up here.. and getting ready to swamp us. In a few weeks, these beauties will be temperament tested and the final decisions will be made as to who gets which pup.

Mom dog wasn’t too thrilled about stepping in there and feeding them again. I can’t say i really blame her..

This little guy supposedly has the most easy going personality of the bunch. Maybe he’ll go to a family like mine. A family who has never had a dog before, but tons of desire to give the best home possible. I wish him luck. I wish them all luck. Maybe they spend their whole lives happy and healthy, with people who love them and treat them like family members. Maybe some of them will do great things in the dog world and maybe they’ll know failure too. Either way, I feel privileged i got to visit them in the beginning and help them get used to the world they will eventually live in.

I have to say, those eyes make her look more calculating and observing. I really like them, but we are already getting funny comments from people. “Weird” or “haunting” or “striking”…

Brian’s dad epitomizes it in this little video he took on the way back from the breeder.

Off on Southwest he went. We got the largest carrier possible and we were worried it wouldn’t fit under the seat. But it does! He took some pictures as they were taxing on the runway. It fits! But man, it looks cramped. I am already starting to worry..

Next time I see this, a pair of blue eyes will be staring back at me.

Meet our new pup. Blue eyed Zen. A different kind of Swissy, for a different kind of family. Our breeder describes her as a really confident pup, who would do well as a single dog.. but very sweet and easy to handle.

We have decided to name her Zen Pixie. Zen for most everything, only adding the Pixie when she’s being naughty.

Can’t wait to meet you little girl.

Airline tickets are bought, so I feel safe enough to show photos of our litter. Here are the little darlings at 6 weeks. One of the girls in this batch will be ours, and brian will be flying out to his home state to pick her up on June 21st.

Here they are at 5 weeks. This was a “Z” litter for the breeder, and while the jury is still out as to a theme, it did throw a kink into our naming plans. Maiwenn for the longest time wanted the name the dog Tinker Bell. God, no! I was determined to thwart this. For  awhile I had her talked down off the cliff by compromising and saying we could name the dog Pixie. But then when we found out the dog was coming from a “Z” litter.. well. That’s kind of special isn’t it?  A “z” name just hit us like lightening the other day.  It seems really appropriate considering everything this dog search has given me during this difficult time.  We still need to meet her to make sure it’s going to fit, so I will hold off in revealing it quite yet.

Here they are at 4 weeks.

Next week is the last week before they get to go home to their new owners. Our breeder said she’ll be posting individual puppy photos then, and probably figuring out who’s going home with who. She probably be evaluating their temperaments and giving them their final series of shots.

Its been a long journey trying to find one of these guys, but the search is over.  Now the truly hard work is going to begin. A friend and I were lamenting how in a big way, this process for me has been very analogous to all that time preparing for the birth of my first child. All the hours, researching… more researching..anticipating..joining message groups.. networking… stressing and then finally getting to the point of having one. I remember that morning in the hospital holding Maiwenn in my arms and thinking “now what?”  But we learned fast. And i feel we are more prepared for this learning curve than we were parenthood. It’s going to be fun. I can’t wait!

I have been pretty quiet in the last few weeks about our potential puppy, but I can confirm we have put a deposit down on one. The litter is about 6 weeks old now. It is a litter of 8 and according to our breeder, our puppy will be one out of 3 girls. She’s been awesome at answering questions, and she’s been sending weekly photos of the litter.

I dont feel comfortable posting pictures of the litter yet, and probably wont until our puppy is confirmed and it is cleared thru our breeder. We are waiting to hear back about her protocol for pickup when flying in on an airplane. I’ve been researching airlines and what carriers can work under the seat, and what is required to bring a dog on a plane. So much effort for a little puppy! But we know it will be worth it.

We have an appointment to interview a vet we want to use. His name is Dr. Robert Atton of Felton Veterinary Hospital. He’s been a local vet for many years and I know first hand he has a few Swissy clients. Brian has an appointment on Monday to just sit and ask him questions, just to make sure he will be a willing partner and we jive with his practices.

It’s funny… Brian made a funny comment about it when he wrote to tell me he made the appointment. Here’s what he wrote:

“I called. The lady I talked to was surprised by such an appointment before we even have the pup. But, she’s going to talk to the doc and get back to us with a time.

We follow all this good advice, and yet it seems everywhere we go people don’t do what we’re doing at all…

Le sigh.“

It’s true. Every thing we have done, has seemed to be judged in excess by other people. Honestly, through this whole process we have been trying to do the right thing. We have tried to research, we have tried to be discriminate, we have tried to do right by this future family member. The first breeder I ever talked to, Maria Jenson.. she said something to me in that first email that I will never forget.

She said: “You get the kind of dog you deserve.”

What kind of dog, do WE deserve do you suppose?

1) Not a perfect one. – We are not perfect, so we don’t deserve a perfect dog.
2) A loving dog maybe? – Yes. We have done all of this searching in Love.
3)A dog with a sense of humor? – MOST DEFINITELY.
4) A healthy dog? –I would hope so.
5) A persistent.. maybe slightly obsessive dog? Uh oh..No.. um. Yes? Maybe? *she says meekly*

Other than that.. I cannot say. Except… we are so excited to finally meet this pup, whoever she may be.

“Nambian Elephant Dusting” by Eric Wilson

I had a lot of good support from my friends over the last few days and it has been great! So i got up, dusted my self off and started the whole process over again. I’m taking an advisor’s advice and casting a wider net this time around, instead of focusing on just one semi-local breeder. I’m not sure how this is going to “look” to them however. It might look flaky and it might appear we lack commitment. But considering all the factors involved, and considering I haven’t really found anybody who has committed to my family? I think it’s only fair to keep open until it is absolutely apparent that I have found our “breeder match.” We may end up with one that we’ve already started a relationship with.. or we may not. I’m open either way.

I emailed a breeder that the last one recommended, but the kennel hasn’t returned my email. This wouldn’t phase me but I’ve actually emailed an application to this one before and they didn’t return my email then either. I might give them a call over the weekend just to satisfy my curiosity.

In the meantime, I’ve been given a few other recommendations from some friends and I have already started the process by emails and phone conversations. It looks promising! My wider net includes a representative from three different regions of America: East Coast, Midwest and West Coast. I’ve made initial contact with all three: two with plans to follow up on the phone. The third I talked to this morning. I was initially really intimated by this one as the Kennel is one of the older ones in America, but it turned out great! Almost too easy in a way. They have a litter on the ground and have three girls who are still available. They are going to send pictures on Monday with the promise of a follow up conversation. I don’t know enough about their dogs yet, and as pick up would be about three weeks away I worry that the breeder wont know my family well enough by then. It might be difficult to judge if one of these girls would good for us, and I would hate to think we were a “last resort” couple for the litter. Then again, this breeder has been doing it for sooo long.. maybe they just KNOW. Your guess is as good as mine.

This process is still such a mystery. Sometimes I just want to shake my head an wonder how I got wrapped up in all this.

I’m a sad little puppy today. I got an email from the breeder letting me know there wasn’t going to be a puppy for us from the current breeding. There were a lot of show homes in the bunch and understandably, breeders want to place their puppies in homes where their dogs are going to get exposure and the kennel’s name gets out there.

I completely understand, but it doesn’t take away from my disappointment. We had really gotten excited by the idea we might be getting a puppy in July. This was going to be the last breeding this year for this particular kennel so I have a choice now: Do I wait until the next opportunity with this particular breeder? (Who I genuinely like but he/she may or may not be breeding for quite awhile) or do I start over and try to forge a new relationship and get on another wait list?

I’m not sure what the best thing to do is. All I do know is there will be no pitter patter of little paws this July and who knows when the stork will come. Sadness…

Today was Mother’s Day. I hope all you mothers out there had a great day of rest. I was pretty happy. I woke up to breakfast in bed and then presents on the couch. And what did my kids and husband get me for Mother’s Day you ask? Jewelry? A spa treatment? Nooo. No, my family knows EXACTLY how to get to my heart. They got me dog paraphernalia: leash, toys and dog treats. Lots of little presents to get me excited for that day in the future when we can bring our puppy home.

Speaking of puppies.. remember that waiting list we are on? The pups were born by c-section on Wednesday. 6 boys and 5 girls. Apparently all is going well and the mom dog is doing great. I am dying to see pictures but the breeder hasn’t posted any yet. I can’t wait to see them!