4th of July

I know this post is a little late, sorry. Saturday was 4th of July as we all know! I was fretting what was about to unfold... Callie had never heard fireworks before and I know 100% I absolutely didn't want a dog who was fearful of fireworks. We all know that dog, the one who gets overly stressed out, hides in corners all while shivering. Mom and I were out all day and Callie was home with Joseph. Then he went to a friend's house and didn't crate her, instead put her outside. When we heard this we rushed home before the fireworks started.

I was prepared for what was to come, thinking Callie would have to be ignored when she was acting fearful or barking, then praising immensely for appropriate behavior. Well, to my surprise it was nothing like this! I believe during her 30 minutes in the backyard during the start of the fireworks no one was there to "comfort" her, thus she learned to get over it so to speak. Many people don't know this, so let me explain. Dogs aren't humans so they don't think the same way we do. Not to mention the language barrier. So when we see our dogs scared many of us think "oh I should comfort him/her" which would be wrong. Why? Because comforting is petting, cooing, cuddling, etc. all are reinforcing behaviors. So without you knowing it your fueling the fear, telling them this is how they should react to whatever they're being fearful of. Unfortunately we don't think about this in the moment so nearly all of us fall victim of this. Since we weren't there to make this mistake, I think Callie learned it was no big deal and got over it.

We then took Callie out with us to firework hunt. We didn't hear any, anc Callie just laid down in the car next to me like usual. When we parked at the high school where there was a good view big booms sounded. She perked her ears and showed interest, I praised. When she barked I just ignored the behavior. She caught on. Showing interest is okay, but barking or acting fearful isn't.

Next Mom and I were hungry and I had planned to make hamburgers but that seemed shot now that is was 9:30pm. So we went searching for an open place. Found that Papa Johns was open and decided pizza sounded good. I walked Callie around the parking lot while Mom ordered, and then we crossed the street to Walgreens. It was hilarious to tell Callie "let's go" (her run command when we're already walking) and see her grab her leash and start running. For whatever reason she cannot run without holding the leash in her mouth... I'm hoping this is her being smart and grabbing it because it whacks her in the face rather than her trying to drag me behind her!

Anyways not much else is new with her... She's just a puppy hanging out during the day with me. In two weeks we start her next obedience class. After 8 weeks of that, we move up to 6 weeks of advanced training, then we finish her training ourselves and prepare for her Canine Good Citizen test. She has to be 1 year old to take it so it gives us time. Then we go and have her evaluated by someone to see if she's therapy dog material and then if she passes, we get a badge and start our work! Just seeing her temparament and how she reacts in new situations plus how well socialized she is I think she'll do great. She really is an amazing dog!

Where do I begin?!

Saturday was quite the adventure I must say. Woke up in the morning and we decided we'd take Callie around with us in the town. First stop, PetSmart!

Let's just say Callie loves PetSmart. It's where we go for classes and she adores her trainer Kathy. Along with this admiration is her submissive peeing. For some reason whenever she even smells Kathy it's like Niagra Falls!! I walk in while Mom parked the car and Kathy just stuck her hand through to let Callie sniff her and yep, she peed. No one else was around to hold Callie so I had to tie her around my waist while cleaning up her mess. All was going well until mom came in, then Callie got a little wild. Hmm... 70lb dog pulling while tied around my waist? Yes, it DID hurt. I felt like I was getting punched in the stomach repeatedly. Once that little ordeal was over we got to deal with what mom calls, "The heffer". She apparently works in food and saw us having some trouble with Callie getting extremely excited and looks at my mom with a completely straight face and says, "Oh, she'll be good once she's trained." Then glances down at Callie and walks away! My mom and I both agreed we wanted to punch her in the face.

People just look at her size and think she's older. She's 5 months old barely and is a PUPPY. She's very well trained and listens to us, but her excitement gets out of control so even though she's doing what we ask she's still going to be bouncing all over. We ask her to sit and wait, she does so, but 5 seconds later she's back up, her whole body wagging, begging us to take her over to where people are so she can hang out with them. That's her puppyness. That's not something we can fix with training, it'll be fixed once she's older. If you're relating her age to human years, she's about 5 years old. When you have a 5 y/o can you expect them to stay right next to you while shopping, not saying a word, not touching anything, and doing everything you ask percisely? Of course not. It's the same with her.

Thankfully once we checked out she was doing a bit better. Peed 3 more times just there. The cashier was very happy to hold Callie for us while my mom signed and I cleaned her messes. The other cashier was completely fawning over her announcing her love for Great Danes. That experience was much better! Then the manager got a huge smile over his face as he walked by her to help check out someone else with a little Australian Shepherd puppy. The Aussie whose name is "Rocky" and Callie were sniffing each other and showing off play signals but Rocky sure did not know about Callie's size! The manager kind of laughed at Callie becoming vocal and explained to the woman she was just a puppy. I guess he knew his breeds because we never talked to him. A little girl who was a part of Rocky's family giggled and got a shower of kisses by Callie which she adored. At least PetSmart ended on a good note!

We were driving by Lucy's place and decided to drop by. Both her and Josh were home. We let Callie hang out and play in the grass in the shade outside of their apartment. For some odd reason Callie only jumps on Lucy! Mom and I were mortified but luckily Callie didn't scratch her this time. We don't even expect it because she jumps on rarely anyone else... Callie, we need to work on that. Anyways, we got to talking and found out Tammy was over at Aunt Wendy's house and thought it'd be fun to have Callie and Tammy play, but since no one was home during that time we brought the dog's over to Josh's house.

Tammy, Callie, and Beasty all played nicely but Bear didn't enjoy it which he boldly showed by growling! The three played around the yard awhile until Lucy got Tammy to go into the horse's/cow's/mule's pen. We laughed SO hard watching Tammy getting chased down by the horse! Then the horse began rearing and running after her again, until they reached the turkey cage and Tammy would go on one side, the horse on the other, and they kept turning around it. Callie got in the pen, too, but quickly realized the size of the animals in there and looked up at them like, "WOW! You're a big doggy!!" She got smart quick in there and decided it was best if she stayed out of the pen and by us. Tammy did not get that concept at all. She enjoyed having those animals running after her and didn't get hurt at all.

Now that Callie was tired out we took her over to Aunt Wendy's house. She stayed in the garage with Tammy while everyone did their thing. Poor Tammy, Callie still wanted to play even though she was tired out. Tammy kept getting annoyed by Callie pawing at her and nipping playfully at her. Tammy went home though and Callie just layed down and relaxed in the garage until we brought her around back to see the other dogs. Scout and Zoey were down from Utah with out family. Last visit Scout, who's a German Shorthaired Pointer to get the size, towered over Callie. He was dominant towards her because she was so small. This visit Scout looked at her and just sniffed. Callie is now towering over him!

We soon left after that and took Callie home while we ran some errands. We had to go to WalMart and we asked about what their policy is on dogs. Turns out even though she's a therapy dog in training we can't bring her in until she IS certified. Oh well. Other places will let her in. She really needs that type of socialization. She needs to be around foreign things to her, be around large quantities of people, and learn how to calm herself when many stimulating things are around. PetSmart alone cannot provide that. Once we get her vest that states she's a therapy dog in training we'll call management and see about what the true policy is rather than just go by what the cashier says.

That night we took Callie out for a walk around the high school. She loves that place! We did like a loop around it and realized Callie was no where near being tired so we decided to go get our water jugs filled up with her then stop by McDonalds and get $1 sodas. We then went back to the high school and played around tons more. Then back home to where Callie promptly laid down and slept! :)

Since yesterday was Sunday we couldn't do much. So we had Callie hang around the house until night time came. Went over to the high school again as usual. It was seriously 11:30pm when we got out. Of course there was still a couple I guess "romancing" there. Didn't see them then they suddenly popped up on the bleechers. We let them be and played with Callie in the sprinklers there. They soon left. Let's get one thing straight, once they got on the track Callie was right back on their leash. Callie NEVER made contact with them or anything like that. We just minded our own business. Well maybe 15 minutes later they're still sitting in their car. Then a local rent-a-cop showed up and called my mom over. I grabbed Callie fast and put her on her leash. We headed down and he began telling us dogs aren't allowed on the fields. Apparently, "Children play on there and we don't want dogs pooping all over the grass and dirt." Wished my mom had a more of talking back attitude and showed him our poop bags and told him we were better owners than that. Oh well. Of course, we're still going back just never on the track again. We'll just make sure no one is there to call the cops on us.

Oops!

Oops! Guess I forgot to update things on here... Sorry!

Things have been good with her. She walks very well on a leash, graduated her first obedience class, is fully house trained (has been for awhile), and she gets along well with the kitties! What more could we ask for?

Let me get you guys caught up here...

TRAINING:
Knows commands very well, still needs treats as motivation due to her puppyness. Apparently once we've gone a month with a command we can wean her off needing treats because it will be a habit. Good to know. She knows sit, down, paw with both, wait, stay, come, let's go (loose leash walking), go pee, go lay down (goes to her bed and lays down), almost knows leave it, and is getting the concept of dropping it she'll drop it maybe 80% of the time. Her trainer loves her to death, and I think she's doing very well in her classes seeing everyone else there was close to a year old. Although I must say I was very proud of all the other dogs in the class! We all did so well!! Unfortunately she's still learning to sit and wait at the door when people come in and we desperately need to work on that before she gets too big. The biggest things I'm proud of for her are her stays and comes. Goodness! She's 5 months old and will stay perfectly still even in PetSmart when I leave her and disappear out of view. Her comes are about 95% effective. Can let her out without a leash in the front yard and she'll stick by and come when we call. We even feel good enough to let her run off-leash and know she'll come. Sometimes it takes her longer but she does. We learned an emergency come command, verbal word is "Now/Hurry". In case she was in immediate danger we can use this to have her come back quickly. We have to play a game with her where when we use this command she comes up to us she gets a mouthful of hot dogs. Let's just say after one round of this she was booking it to us! She will begin her intermediate class the 11th or the 18th. Not sure... From there she'll move up to advanced, and we'll work with her to get her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and she'll move on to being a therapy. She'll go to hospitals, nursing home, and maybe even schools for educational seminars. Good job Callie!

HOME:
She's becoming more true to her breed. Most of the day she just sleeps now. We got a doggie door finally. Waking up at 5:30am then periodically letting her in and out every 5 minutes until 8:00am then sleeping and letting her out every 30 minutes after that was really taking a toll. The first day we got it installed she would go through without a problem, but didn't get the concept and still whined at the door. That night I was sitting awake watching TV at 1:00am, and then I hear the doggie door opening. I flipped out because Callie was at my feet! Frantic that someone was breaking in, I ran into my mom's room and immediately woke her up. She listened and got scared as well, we could here the doggie door opening and closing. Hesitantly we moved to her sliding glass door and flipped on the light, afraid as to what we were going to find. Was it a stray dog? A burglar? Nope! It was Snickers, our cat, coming IN. He learned how to function the flippin doggie door before Callie and no one showed him how! So now both kitties use it efficiently and can go in and out. Callie learned how to use it after a couple of days and now we never have to worry about not getting there to open the door in time and her having an accident. She's also doing very well with the cats. They have their riffs every-so-often but for the most part they leave each other alone.

GROWTH:
Callie eats about 6 cups of food per day. Some days she only eats 3, some days 8-10. Depends on how much she's growing that day. Our vet averaged that she should be growing .5lbs daily, and she is living up to that. No idea how tall she is, except the scary thing is that she's only 20 weeks old and if she stretches her neck her head can touch the tops of the counters! Yikes! Her tail is a lethal weapon. Not to mention her enormous paws. One night Callie stepped on my mom's foot and it turned purple and swelled up. For a little bit we thought her foot was broken but she was able to walk on it so we knew it really wasn't. I think Callie is up to 70lbs now. She no longer fits on her bed when she stretches out. Well, that isn't anything new. Luckily we bought her toys in extremely large sizes so those still work out for her. The crate is getting bigger. We've resulted in only crating her when it's too hot outside to leave her out or when we're not going to be gone long. We're hoping by time I go back to school we can teach her all of her house manners and make sure her newly developed separation anxiety has passed.

QUIRKS:
She now is a drooler. You can ask Lucy. When she gets a drink of water I swear she never even swallows it the water just pours out the sides! Then she drags it with her everywhere. By time she's done greeting you you're practically soaked. She drools for food. Nice habit there... Not to mention she'll just drool randomly. Oh boy can't wait until she's bigger and has bigger drools. On a funnier side, Callie has developed this very weird habit. She runs back and forth around the sofa and is like a maniac! We thought she was just releasing energy then found out the true reason, when a cat goes behind the sofa she'll run to both sides in a desperate attempt to see which side they go out of! Silly pup! She's also doing this thing where she walks by you and lifts up one back leg and places it in your lap. Don't know what that's about. She'll also do it to the sofa like she's trying to sit on it. She really does think she's the size of a toy dog and can fit in your lap! When you're sitting on the couch she'll give you paw. Oh no, not because she wants attention, but because from there she tries creeping up on the sofa. She'll then proceed to stand up, move her leg further back, try giving you other paw, and climbing up. Sorry babe! You're only allowed up when WE say. That's the rule.

Just for humorous purposes and for those of you without a Dane know what it's like to have a Dane, here are some excerpts from this website:

http://www.ginnie.com/Danes.htm

-You can carry on a conversation with a dog's muzzle firmly in your crotch

No joke on this one. You hardly even notice this anymore!

-Your dog can hide an entire tennis ball (among other things) fully inside his lips and give you that innocent look that says, "What? I'm not eating anything!"

One night we clipped her nails, she rolled over, her jowls opened up and we found a STICK in there.

-You've learned to force a smile when asked "do you have a saddle for that thing?"

Oh yes. Hear this one daily. As well as "She's going to get huge!" Yes, we know.

-Your dog stands in your lap and reaches over you to stick his head in the drive-through window at MacDonald's and nearly gives the cashier a heart attack when she turns around to give you your change

Oh goodness. The funniest one that's happened yet is we were getting sodas at McDonalds and the woman turns around, sees Callie stands up, and jumped and said, "OH MY GOD!" Then was talking about how freaked out she got by Callie all while handing us our food, then turned to a worker thinking we couldn't hear her and said, "Did you see that? Their dog is HUGE."

-Your boss commented, "If you were married, I'd call the police," after you showed up at work with a black eye

Oh this is hilarious when you own a Dane. Not having a bruise is uncommon!

-A visitor yelled "No!!!" while telling a story, and your Dane hid for 3 hours behind the door in the bathroom before you found him

These dogs are big babies. One night Callie got scared and tried hiding under a chair that was much too small for her.

-Your dog sneak onto the bed in the middle of the night, and you wake up feeling like one of those dividers in a TV dinner

One morning I woke up and thought, "Wow, Annie! (Our cat.) You've gotten bigger..." then looked at my legs to see in the night she snuck up on my bed and slept with me.

-The term "lap dog" takes on a whole new meaning

Most definitely. 70lbs or so and she thinks she's 2lbs. Sit on the floor and she's sitting in your lap.

-You jump 3 feet when he barks

She's a girl, she's a puppy, yet her bark is SO deep and even freaks ME out.


Well, there you go! I'll try and post everyday if I can.

People Seem Nicer When You Have A Dog

Yesterday we ended up being really lazy. We slept in and did not want to get up to go anywhere! Finally we did, though. We went and ate at Rubios where one worker recognized my mom and excitedly asked, "Aren't you the one with the cute Great Dane puppy?" She later came out to say hi. There was an outdoor party going on there, and Callie was VERY upset that not everyone came and petted her! She was whining some and even let out some barks of frustration, but after a few repremands she learned that it wasn't okay and laid down at our feet. Some people did come up and pet her, and another guy was looking at her and smiling, but seemed it would be inappropriate to ask us if he could pet her since he was with a girl. Mom asked me later, "Have you realized that people are nicer to you if you have a dog?" And it's true! It's like they're an invitation to have people say hi or smile at you, and to have them start a conversation. We're really enjoying this! Feels like the South again...

We also went to Home Depot with her. Me and her waited outside while Mom went in and asked if it was ok for her to come in. They were more than happy to let her in! She came in, got all excited, and let everyone pet her. It was really funny because there we saw our vet, Dr. Hunt! He petted her and just said that this is the famous Callie he had heard about. (Remember that scorpion bite?) We found tubs to put her dog food in, and later when she's on one food (right now she needs a mix so she doesn't grow too fast) the other can be used for cat food. It worked out quite well.

After we headed to Fresh and Easy. The worker was kind enough to let me and her stand in the little entry. It was actually like sliding doors leading into a small area where they kept the shopping carts, and then another set of sliding doors that led into the store. He has dogs at home and understood. I was very disappointed in Callie when she submissively peed! I'd been able to keep her calm all night, but she had a full bladder and just couldn't help herself! I felt soo bad because he was kind enough to let us in and she pees. But I cleaned it up and all was well.

Let's just say she was out cold the rest of the night! We bought her a new bed at WalMart for the car, and when I got her leash to take her out to try it, she saw the leash and turned around and went back for her bed! It was the cutest sight and I knew then that she was really tuckered out.

Today we just stayed home. We were supposed to go to get water, but we were once again, too lazy! We were able to get her out of the house though, because I had to stop by a friend's house. So she got to meet her little siblings. Great for socializing! Holly, Lucy, and Josh came over, too, and brought Tammy. Wow, Tammy has all this muscling and really looks like a pit bull! Tammy was very good with Callie, and it seemed like she knew that Callie was just a puppy and was gentle. Holly later told us that she had a long talk with Tammy on the way over ;-) We liked that Callie could have another dog to play with, and now she's all tired!

We realized that Callie is so socialable that if someone doesn't come up to greet her or if she can't greet a dog, she gets upset! We'll have to work on that with her because it's embarassing to take her to a petstore and have her barking and whining because not everyone there can just come up. It's better than her being aggressive though, right? I think once obedience starts we'll have more control over her and be able to handle the situation better. She's very smart and will learn soon.

Mom is spoiling her rotten. Callie is chewing on one of her now I would assume *hundreds* of bones her Nana has bought her! But life is good, and Callie is well, so the household is happy.

Getting Caught Up

Well, I didn't post in a few days because things have been crazy! Tuesday night Callie got stung by a scorpion right by her eye, and if it weren't for her large size, then we would have had to take her to the ER and see about her living or not. She's absolutely fine now which is good.

Anyways, Wednesday we had Callie's appointment with the trainer. We love her trainer because she's very nice and understands, and she has the cutest dog! He's about 10 years old and is a mix, part black Labrador Retriever, and he's huge! Except, not so little miss Callie is already about his height! He's heavier and longer, though. ;-) The trainer is very happy to see that Callie knows how to walk on a leash, I swear it's like she was already taught! (Maybe she was?) She was also glad to hear that Callie will automatically sit for a treat like we've trained her to, and that she already knows a few commands. She helped us to work on her puppy biting, and gave us some tips for finishing off her house training. She's doing extremely well now! The advice is working out great and I think we have a model citizen puppy! After we went out to eat before Mutual at Subway, where all the workers just had to come out and pet her. Mom had to get some meat just for Callie. She loved it, and gobbled it all down. She got cold though and so I went and ate in the car while she curled up and slept in warmth.

Thursday was her vet appointment. We went to her appointment and got another one of her shots. Callie was so intrigued by the chew she gave her she didn't notice! Vet said that her lungs and heart sound fabulous and she looks good! We also went out to eat with her at Sonic. She just sat next to us the whole time and her Nana (Mom) just loves spoiling her so ordered a hamburger patty just for her! We also stopped by the petstore who knew Callie, and we showed some pictures of her. Did I mention in the 5 days we've had her she's gained 4 pounds?! They couldn't believe how big she's gotten just from Saturday!!

Today we're taking her to the pet store to show her off in person. We may even stop by Home Depot to return some PVC pipes that I thought would work in covering the cords for puppy proofing, if I can get Mom to go along with it!

Another thing, this morning I woke up to Callie laying next to me on the sofa! This bad puppy, she knows she's not allowed on the furniture! I just had to laugh, because I thought it was one of the cats, and I couldn't believe I didn't wake up to her jumping up! She of course got disciplined for it, but not until I got a smile on my face.

As of today, Callie knows "sit", "come", "stay", "go pee", and "paw" (shake)! She also has her house training almost finished up, and we're now going on regular walks to the mailbox. I can't wait for her to learn more and start her obedience classes! What a great puppy.

Each Day Slowly Gets Better

Last night Callie didn't even whine at all! All of us actually slept. At 2:30am I took her out, and when I put her back in, she didn't cry. Instead she fell right back asleep. Thankfully Mom was up at 5 so at 5:30 she took Callie out for me. The bad thing was that after us being with her for the 2 hours before everyone was out of the house, she whined in her crate when we put her in!

I gave her a bath later in the day when it was hotter. We started out in the backyard, but she did not like the hose. Every time I brought her over and sprayed her she would run away and was sitting by the back door. So I picked her up and carried her wet self through the house and into the bathtub. Once I closed the curtain and got her sitting she was fine. I realized she didn't like the hose because the water was cold! She was shaking and so I turned the bathtub water to warm and she settled down for that. After we finished I dried her off and immediately she climbed onto her bed and curled up. I got her brush and began brushing her which she liked, and it helped with drying out her coat.

Since she has all this puppy energy I took her on a short walk. But, of course, since she's just a puppy, after a block she was worn out! Because of this I just took her up the street and back. The sun warmed her up and now she was fully dry.

The kitties now have this game. Snickers enjoys watching Callie in the backyard, and whenever she comes up he will look at her and then hiss, and then Callie will get upset and start barking, and he'll whack the door, and Callie will get freaked out and won't go anywhere near that door, but then when she stays away Snickers will meow! And Annie will sneak under the baby gate and see how far she can sneak through the house without Callie noticing, and then once Callie does, she'll taunt her and Callie will run after and Annie will either sneak behind the couch or will run back under the baby gate. Then ten minutes later she'll be back out playing this game. Both cats aren't afraid of her, and Snickers won't actually run away. If Callie is out of the room, he's himself. Annie hasn't been affected at all. So this is working out nicely!

Unfortunately we couldn't get Callie out today. So this is the first day we haven't had her socializing with anything. But out in the backyard she did hear a jet plane, so I guess we sort have gotten her socialization done. Tomorrow hopefully we can take her to Home Depot because we have PVC pipes we need to return. (Thought they'd work for putting wires in, but they don't fit.)

Now she's playing with her toys with that endless puppy energy. Good girl, Callie.

Callie, why do you do that?

Last night went pretty well. She didn't whine in her crate at all until I let her out at 3am to go potty. I took her out, and it was freezing outside. So she didn't want to step foot outside. I was outside, encouraging her to come out, when she turned around and peed! Lucky for me I caught her before it became a huge spot, and picked her up and placed her outside. She stayed out there while I cleaned up the mess, which you cannot see anymore today. While she was out there she went over to the grass and emptied her bladder, in which she got TONS of encouragement. When we came back in, I put her in the crate, and the whining went on for a good 15 minutes. Not fun at 3am!! Sure enough she calmed down and at 6 we went out and she went outside perfectly. She got fed, got some treats, fresh water, and then we played a bit. Then Mom came out to cover for me while I snoozed a bit longer. Then the two of us fell asleep and luckily Callie fell asleep, too!

The whole day was quite lazy actually. Since we're working on socializing with her we took her out for a car ride. She loved it and thought she'd figured out the car enough to stand up the whole way, but she was wrong! Callie finally gave up and laid down and enjoyed the ride. She got to see many different types of people, hear a loud motorcycle, and get to hear diesel trucks.

Poor Callie has no clue that she should poop outside. We're still working on that. The peeing thing is coming along, and we've even taught her the "go pee" command so that's good. I'm happy thought because she will only go on tile! It's quite hilarious and it makes clean up a breeze. Let's just say her poop is huge! Callie, can't you learn to poop outside too?

Last night we had all 3 of our animals in the same room. (The two kitties and Callie.) We thought for sure Snickers would freak out and never come out from under the bed, but he's slowly warming up. Annie is still fine, but Callie the stinker has all her puppy energy and has scared the two! She just wants to play and will run up, and the cats will run into the hall. (There's a baby gate blocking Callie off, but the cats can get under.) Come on, Callie! You were nose-to-nose with Annie last night and today you're blowing it! Oh well. Snickers will still come out and Annie will hang out in the living room with Callie there. So it's not all bad.

Now Callie is in her crate asleep. I'll take her out in a bit to go potty and then sleep on her bed until it's time for us humans to go to sleep. She has soo much puppy energy that it's better to let her sleep! She had her first walk today, and she didn't pull on the leash at all. Whenever she stopped, if I called her, she'd start walking again. She even met a dog on her walk, and the two did pretty good! I may have to take her out again because this puppy was just running around the house a second ago barking and grabbing at all her toys. Crazy baby. But still, nothing is chewed up!

Callie's First Day!

Today was quite the adventure! We picked her up at 10am this morning from the local Animal Kingdom. The breeder works with them sometimes and since it would be us to pick her up in Missouri, we instead worked out a deal to where they could send her there and we could pick her up! It worked out great ;-)

Anyways, we were concerned that she may be a dog that gets car sick. Lucky for us, she isn't! Basically she was nervous about the car, and shook awhile, but when she stopped she just laid in the back seat and watched the sights go by. Like a perfect little angel! Now we can take her with us because she doesn't have a fear of the car nor does she get car sick. Yay!

Once we picked her up we decided we'd head over to Gram's house. She was excited to meet her, and Callie behaved herself very well. Lucy even stopped by to see our little girl. Mom and I were SO happy to see that she wasn't a wild little puppy, except for her kangaroo hops around Gram's driveway! She ended up eating a rock, but we had a vet appointment at 1pm and the vet said she'd be fine. No worries here! Next up we headed to the Goodwill and picked up some towels for Callie. We needed more for her crate (Great Danes are very bony and need tons of padding for their joints) and the car. Miss Callie behaved herself very nicely! While Mom went in I waited in the car with her and she just laid down, ate a treat, and watched every one go by! Then we let her out once Mom got back and we ran around the parking lot a bit and surprisingly, she actually followed on the leash! Way to go Callie! From there we thought we were going home, but we just had to stop by a sister in our ward's house for her to meet Callie. Callie waited patiently in the car as she came up and petted her. Her daughter who loves puppies and is in college so she can't get one offered to be a dog sitter if we ever had to leave, and the sister said she'd be more than happy to come mid-day to let Callie out of her crate to use the bathroom and get some wiggles out. We were SO happy at that! We realized from there that we were going to be late for our vet appointment, so we headed straight over there. Everyone just loved her!

While we waited to go into our exam room, Callie met a full-grown Great Dane! His name is Falcore and he was huge!! Mom and I instantly fell in love with him! He looked just like Callie with the markings, which made it look hilarious. Callie could walk underneath him without ducking! When Callie first saw Falcore she didn't notice him walking in and then caught sight of him, barked like crazy in shock, tried scooting back but since it was tile she slipped and all her legs slipped out from under her! It was quite the sight! After the inital meeting Callie fell in love with him and they became buddies. She was sad to see him go but we needed to get her exam started. We were there from an hour getting every test done possible to make sure she was 100% healthy. So far, she is! Keep it up Callie! She even got a couple of treats and rawhide chews. Callie was happy at that.

By this time we were starving. So we headed to Rubios because they allow dogs on their patios. While Mom ordered we had at least 10 different people fawning over her and greeting her. Our girl was so awesome! She didn't pay any mind and even got exposed to the sound of a baby crying/screaming. After she heard it, she was a little startled, but settled down quickly. This socializing thing is going GREAT.

After that we ran across the street to Petco. Since she doesn't have all her shots, we're trying to be careful to not take her to high-traffic dog areas, but we both needed to be inside and so we stuck Callie in the buggy and didn't let her greet any other dogs. We bought dog food, cat food, and kitty treats. Callie tried hopping out of the buggy a few times, but we caught her just in time! By now Callie knew that when she got her leash put on we were going somewhere and she needed to behave! So she's done extremely well for this being her first outting.

We then went home. For goodness sakes, it was now 5 hours since she last peed! So we waited in the backyard for her until she went. When she did finally we praised her enthusiastically and she was so happy for herself! We played a bit after because we knew that if you take a dog immediately inside after them relieving themselves they'll think of peeing outside as a bad thing because then they can't play. During this time Mom was inside watching the cats. We were shocked that Snickers was silent, he didn't growl or puff up or anything! He was eating his treats and just watching Callie. Maybe it was her size that he didn't feel so intimidating? Whatever it was he didn't hiss until they got nose-to-nose! Good boy Snickies! We brought her in, showed her around, and already Annie is just chill around her. Annie won't hiss, puff up, or swat at Callie. The two are coming along nicely. And Snickers is already coming around. We thought it'd be months before he would come out from under the bed, but he's actually adjusting nicely!

Callie is learning she sleeps in her crate, too. She also knows that she's not allowed in the hall or the bedrooms. (That's the kitties safe area.) Still she has puppy energy, and will start nipping again if you get down on the floor, but she hasn't jumped up on the furniture or chewed anything up yet! We're keeping an extremely close eye on her. She thought that the rug was her chew toy at first, but after a correction she leaves it alone. This first day was exhausting, but it's all worth it! She really isn't a bad puppy, and it's not so hard! (Yet.) Right now she's asleep on her bed cuddled up with her rope toy. It's the cutest sight. Finally, we get some peace =)

Introducing.... Miss Callie!

Callie is a 10 week old Great Dane puppy. We bought her from a breeder all the way in Missouri! Lucky for us, we got a good deal =) Tomorrow we bring home this little rascal and start having all the fun (and work...).

Great Danes are known for their size. But there really is more to them! While they are lazy indoors, they are great playmates outside. While they are large and hardy, they are extremely sensitive. They are full of contradictions! Our family chose this breed because we wanted a guard dog that was more docile, a dog that would be friendly towards strangers but could protect us if needed, and we needed a breed that got along with cats. Plus, Great Danes are "Velcro" dogs which means every second of the day they want to be with you. Which works out GREAT because we don't want a dog that will sit at home, we want one that'll come with us wherever we go! So far we're excited because many of our favorite restaurants have patios outside that allow dogs. Woot woot! Another bonus, they don't usually have separation anxiety so we can leave her home while we're at work and school and not have to worry about her at all.

There are more reasons why we chose her, like her sweet personality and cute face, but that's the base of it all. I can't wait to see where this adventure takes us!