Sadie Mae Arrives! The First Day
After many forces of evil did everything possible to keep us from getting on the road at 2pm as we had intended, we finally arrived at Al and Susan Crown's home last night at 8pm. Any questions about being at the right house were quickly put to rest by the Wailing Wall of basset sounds which greeted us at the gate. Originally, we were going to meet them in Barstow, halfway between Las Vegas and Acton to save a little driving, but I am so glad things turned out the way they did! We got to meet every one of the dogs: Samson, Delilah, Venus, Aphrodite, Juliet, Roxy, Barney, Maxine....and the food slaves Susan and Al, too. In fact, we happily took home a little bit of every one of the hounds! They were the most gorgeous bassets we've ever seen. Barney, the all brown, mahogany boy was stunning, but those lemon lap dogs were just so cute, too.
Susan rubbed her blanket on Maxine and the other hounds so she would have scents from home. So, after all of the paperwork was out of the way and Allison had been thoroughly pee'd on, we loaded up the car with the girls in the back, toys strewn around the seat and the bright pink collar shining in the night. Once we hit the highway, it wasn't long before she was trying to keep from falling asleep by looking out the rear window.
The trip home was a lot shorter than going out. It seemed like the miles were flying by and we were off Pearblossom Highway in no time. We stopped at Target for a piddle and a good session of whining when I tried to get the precious little one to walk. :)
Allison drove from there to The World's Largest Thermometer while the newly named Sadie Mae slept on my left shoulder, on my right shoulder, then finally in my lap. She spent the better part of ten minutes running in her sleep, chasing unseen rabbits and food dishes and grunting when they ran out of sight. Her snoring was just the cutest thing and made it a tad difficult not to drift off ourselves!
We stopped at the World's Largest Thermometer for another potty break.
We should have stopped in Primm for another one, but what do we know? The blanket scented with home was now scented with Sadie. Eh, oh well...
After the last few miles of I-15, she was thoroughly asleep. We drove through Del Taco and heard the "thump, thump, thump" of somebody's tail wagging to let us know that the Pwincess was awake.
The trip odometer rolled over to 503 miles and we pulled into the garage. Sadie was finally home. She lumbered around, excited but dog tired, tripping over those eight inch ears. She impressed us by almost immediately using the puppy pad I put in front of the door. Then, after much praise and rejoicing and a trip outside, she piddled two more times inside well away from the pad. They were just nervous reactions, I'm sure because they were only quarter-sized spots.
Allison prepared a bed for her in the corner of our room from an old pillow and blanket and her blanket from the car. After the little princess decided that she and her big butt did not like the concept of stairs, I carried her up and placed her in her bed. It didn't take long for her to figure out that it was sleepy time and, after a through round of scratching to get the pillow just right, she settled down for a few hours' sleep.
The night was uneventful. No crying or whining, just the occasional thud of a puppy rolling off of her pillow and bouncing off the wall. I was awoken by the enthusiastic front paws and wet nose of a puppy who could only lunge at me while her butt stays firmly out of the air. A carry downstairs to go outside and a spot on the carpet, regardless of what she did outside, then back upstairs. Before I knew it, there was company in bed. It only took about fifteen minutes of belly rubs before she finally went back to sleep. I'm convinced that she is part potbellied pig because of her constant grunting to tell us just where to rub.
She spent parts of the next few hours in various places on the bed, in various levels of slumber. It wasn't too long before I heard the start of an "arroooo", no doubt the product of dreams of her family or those pesky rabbits. It was about two seconds long. We still haven't heard an actual bark out of her.
Sadie happily slept until 10:30 this morning.
Yup, she'll fit right in!
For those of you playing the home game, we currently stand at:
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Two
After fooling us with a false sense of security, the little darling was up five times last night. Grrrr. That's a lot of trips down the stairs while holding a 17# dog!
Allison discovered that our ferret Spirit is a perfect babysitter, as any older sister should be. They romp and play and chase each other around the living room. Spirit's "escape" up the stairs even inspired Sadie to try her hand at climbing them. It was less than inspiring. Like any good older sister, she taught her something new: how to crawl under the bed and couch.
Spirit also got her to howl and bark for the first time in our house. She ran to hide under the couch in a spot which was too small for lard butt and naturally, the only recourse was to express her displeasure vocally. Sadie played guard dog last night, too! She saw her reflection in the patio door and let the interloper know exactly who was boss!
Allison and Sadie came to pick me up at work and she got a good round of kisses and pats from some of my coworkers (the dog, not my wife). We were trying to keep her awake to let her sleep through the night, so she was pretty beat. When we got home, Spirit was still out, so I thought we would try scent tracking her. I took one of Spirit's blankets and let Sadie get a good sniff of it and set her down upstairs. Her little nose was to the floor as she went into the bedroom. The trail wasn't hot enough, so she turned around and went into the sitting room.
I gave her another sniff or two and kept telling her to "Find her." She took a trip behind the couch, then behind the chair, and finally stopped at the righthand side of the couch and scratched at it. There was no way for me to know where Spirit was hiding because she was asleep, but a few minutes later she appeared...right in front of the couch.
I'm definitely going to look into actual scent training after that experiment!
The endless clear piddling continues, so we're going to try limiting her water intake. She will leave food standing in her dish, but not water. Every drop has to disappear every time while food can remain. So, we think we may have a "water hog" on our hands.
Missing in Action: One $1.97 Nylabone, petite size, chicken flavored. If found, please return to one certain Sadie Mae. She and the dresser by her bed will both thank you.
Life with Sadie Mae · Days Three through Five
A few things we've learned:
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Seven
Sadie amazed us yesterday. Allison decided to leave the patio door cracked since the cooler desert nights are here. After the pup figured out the door was open and she could come and go as she pleased, she did not have a *single* accident in the house afterwards. So, we had to clean up pee one time on the linoleum. What a difference from the past days! I suppose I'll have to rig up some kind of doggy door, but will seek the advice of other ferret owners as to how they handle it.
If anyone knows a way to make a doggy door for a sliding patio door look nice, let me know. The ones in the pet stores are way too expensive. I will live with a big piece of plywood in the track before I'll give them the satisfaction of $180 for something which should cost $90!
She's been with us a week. The crate isn't a big deal to her anymore because she only goes in it to sleep or when we both leave the house and the magic treats *always* fall from the sky. She whines a bit, but settles down after the lights dim. The one sure way to get us to let her out of the crate is when she attacks one of her toys. We know there's no way Sadie Mae will ever sleep with that much energy, so I let her out and chase her around the bedroom to wear her down.
Her head is noticably bigger now. The black is starting to give way to brown on top and along her shoulders. She's growing up already. I have to get a picture of her looking into the ferret cage. It's just too cute for words.
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Eight
The little "princess" requires air conditioning. Allison took me to work today. It was a lovely day to have the windows down. We arrived early enough to spend a few minutes in the car with the breeze blowing across us.
Someone in the back seat started to whine....because she actually had to pant! Of course, we couldn't allow that, so a few gallons of gas to run the A/C while we sat there was enough to placate Her Highness and get her delicate little tongue back in her mouth. :)
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Nine
Sadie's taken to being at my feet when I sit at the computer, so I suppose she wants some computer time. I'm not one to deny the basic needs of any living being, so here goes:
Hi everyone! So many folks are coming by to visit, I thought I would take a few minutes to thank each and every one of you. It's so nice to be loved and admired!
right????
Bye for now everyone,
PS: Belly rubs = good puppies.
Boy, things are going great here at my new home! I've already got them trained to not want to leave me alone and to keep the patio door open for me. The downside is that the big, noisy thing in the yard that blows warm air out the top seems to be awake a lot more than it was. That thing bothers me when I have to piddle.
Speaking of other uses for grass, it's getting to smell pretty good out there! It's almost to the point where I can't run in a straight line for all of the poop. Mom usually keeps it picked up fairly well, but I've been doing it a lot more the past two days. Some snack or treat decided to change my life dramatically. Maybe it was the T-Bonz or maybe the pizza crust, but I didn't eat too much of it....certainly not two day's worth! I hope it clears up soon, maybe that sticky white stuff I just ate will help, or I'll have to go back to the place where they poke you with needles and the little boy dogs go to get tutored.
anymore. Guess I need to pay more attention, huh?
My new favorite place to hang out is the under the couch. I used to love to lay on the top of the back of the couch, until I piddled up there and got in big trouble, so I don't get to go up there Dad calls it The Hovel of Shame...whatever that means. It's nice to have a place to go and pout and sulk on those rare occasions when I don't get my way or they forget that I am God's Perfect Puppy and they actually get on to me! Can you believe that?!?! They actually yell at me for things that the ferret does! Well, ya, she was in her cage at the time, but that just goes to prove how sneaky she is! I like her anyway, though.
Dad goes nuts when I fall asleep with my outside eyelids open! He says something about me being the Devil Dog. Not my fault...just like all the chewing! By the way, pine cones are a nice way to keep your own hovel smelling nice and can be a handy chew toy!
Well everyone, it's time to go wake up Momma and see if she'll hide her head under the blanket for me. They must think I'm stupid, but I play along to keep them happy. I mean she is still there.....right?
Sadie Mae
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Eighteen
Ants smell like Tickle
We looked over in time to watch Sadie sneeze.
A single ant flew out of her nostril and slid across the linoleum.
The only thought she probably formed from that learning experience is:
Ants smell like tickle.
Life with Sadie Mae · Day Twenty Two
Sadie the Psychic or I Feel the Earth Move....Under My Feet
So, Sadie was unusually active tonight: running back and forth checking where we were, being pretty persistent about wanting to go upstairs and in/outside. She was restless and very whiny for the past hour.
Then at 2:47 she went back outside. Our first thought was that she was underneath the couch having a fit, but we knew she wasn't strong enough to move the whole couch. At that moment, she walked back in!
We looked at each other, saw that neither one of us was moving the couch and realized the earth doing it. The swinging light in the kitchen confirmed. It swung for a good five minutes afterward. Granted, we are from the home of the most violent earthquake in American history (the New Madrid fault), but tremors there are very rare. I can remember one in my lifetime. So this was our first noticable earthquake or tremor and we're anxiously awaiting word of how strong it was!
Ten years and a few hours after the big one in California, our puppy let us know that something was wrong. She went almost immediately back to sleep after everything was normal again.
Back to my Sadie's page.
