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 =)