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14905. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 6:01:16 PM I KNEW he looked familiar! 14906. jayackroyd - 5/9/2005 6:09:21 PM Arky--
I'm really sorry to hear about Diva. I look at Gracie lying in her usual spot to my right (it doesn't really seem to matter where I am, she ends up a couple of feet to my right) and can't imagine not having her here. I hope you can find a way to get Mojo a companion soon.
14907. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 9:13:52 PM Thanks so much, Jay. Diva stuck by me in the house and with Bob outside (her preference). I had Bob put Diva's bedding away when she disappeared (on the floor at the foot of my side of the bed). I had hoped to get it out again, but couldn't bear looking at it. We buried her with her favorite toy. It is hard. 14908. Magoseph - 5/10/2005 1:09:20 PM Hello, dear Arky--how do you feel today? 14909. alistairConnor - 5/10/2005 9:29:28 PM ahhh we're back folks... 14910. Magoseph - 5/10/2005 9:37:59 PM Thanks a bunch, Ali--I am disoriented when the Mote is down. I like my routine, I guess, and it is terrible when the Mote doesn’t come up. 14911. Jenerator - 5/10/2005 10:26:55 PM I just temporarily freaked out and thought that THE Diva (poster) had died!
Still, I am sorry to hear of your loss Arky. 14912. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 1:38:01 AM Thanks, Jen. Diva and I used to joke about my dog's name--like Bubba's dog CalGal, it was strictly coincidence. Mose named her, because I originally got the dog for her, but it ended up being mine and Bob's.
Thank you for asking Mags. I did better today. We're going to get another puppy in about three weeks because 1) Mojo is very down and I think it will help her to go ahead and get a puppy ASAP (why wait if we know we're doing it?), and 2) I need the summer to train a puppy.
Today we drove about three hours one way and picked out a 4 week old female, similarly colored to Diva, from a very nice young family who has one dog they bred. This is her first litter. Three weeks should give me time to adjust and get mentally and physically prepared. I don't think I could do it any sooner, and much later will make it difficult to get house training and routines established before I start back to work in August. 14913. Macnas - 5/11/2005 9:36:52 AM Excellent news Arky, great times ahead with your new pup. 14914. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 4:14:57 PM Thanks Mac, Dear. Your input has been very helpful.
The best advice I will implent with a new pup is yours on bringing her in after dark. If Bob's outside at night (which he usually is), he and I can just be sure she's trained to come in when he does. He was Diva's doorman, and no matter what time of day or night she wanted in or out, he or I would oblige her, because she never strayed from the property. She was out free all day every day while we were at work and stayed out very late many nights. She was home running free while I was in the hospital. But it's easy to take a routine for granted over six years and forget that sometimes it only takes one variation from it, and you don't get a chance to correct the problem.
I don't want to go through this again, and neither does Bob. He's grieved more over Diva than any pet we've ever had (and many relatives). I want this puppy to live to a ripe old age and die in her sleep--which, if she turns out to be a problem dog, is exactly what will happen, I'm sure. ;-) 14915. Macnas - 5/11/2005 4:35:26 PM Do you keep your dogs in your house? If that is the case, you'll have to try and ensure that the dog is as dry as can be before you keep it in overnight.
Otherwise you'll be getting up at odd hours to leave it out for a leak.
Have you considered a good kennel? You can buy great kennels ready made, or you and Bob could build one as a project. I know you might like having the dog in the house, so it's up to you. It is easier from a maintenance point of view to have a kennel for keeping your dog in at night, and I confess, I cannot abide animals in the house, but I know that others do not think its right to keep a pet from coming indoors. 14916. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 4:42:28 PM Bob couldn't stand house dogs either until I reformed him. ;-)
These dogs are very small--8 to 10 pounds at the most--but being hounds, they love outdoorsy stuff, so we have had ours both in and out, which has been the best of both worlds for all of us. It also means we both spend LOTS of time with the dog. Our big dog is strictly outdoors, and that's Bob's dog. She runs free too, but she came as a stray and we wouldn't ever pen her up.
What I'm going to do is get a kennel for the new dog for during the day and to go in at night when she needs to. It's a bit more trouble for me, but generally they can go all night without having to go once they are grown. We'd thought about putting in a doggy door, but out here you can't be sure that dogs are the only critters that will use it, and there's no way I'd have one now unless it opened right into the kennel into the back--which is a possibility, behind our garage, where we have a door. Hmmm.
It'll be a long while before this puppy is ready for much outdoor time, so that gives me something to think about. 14917. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 4:43:53 PM This little puppy, at four weeks, doesn't way over a pound. 14918. Macnas - 5/11/2005 4:52:09 PM I envy you Arky, the pup will come home with you, still smelling of his mothers milk.
When you bring them home like that, as much contact as possible is best, as you will become the new mother (Bob too). This makes establishing a good relationship so much easier as the pup matures.
I shouldn't be preaching to you about how to look after your dog, you know best. It's just a subject I'm keen on. 14919. Macnas - 5/11/2005 4:56:42 PM I'm away home, see y'all tomorrow. 14920. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 4:58:51 PM Nonono, I love the advice. If I didn't learn from past dogs and other people I wouldn't be fit to own a pet.
She'll be almost 7 weeks old when we get her, and Bob and I will be with her 24/7. That's why I wanted to get one before I start back to work. I could wait, and emotionally I don't have puppy fever or anything--I'd give anything to have Diva back right now--but it's a way, as you said, to move forward, and I need the time to bond and train a puppy, and Mojo needs to get used to a new pal while I'm home to supervise and the puppy's so tiny.
We've never been "breed" people, btw, until I got my first miniature dachshund about ten years ago. All our dogs have been strays, give aways, or pound puppies. They're just so right--size-wise and temperamentally--for our lives and location. 14921. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 4:59:21 PM Thanks again, Mac. 14922. judithathome - 5/11/2005 10:40:41 PM Arky, any thoughts on names for the new pooch? 14923. arkymalarky - 5/12/2005 12:52:59 AM No, so I'd welcome any Mote ideas. I thought of Moxie today, but Bob didn't like it and I wasn't overwhelmed with it, either. Mojo was easy to name. Maybe we can do a "name that dog" contest. I saw a segment on the news the other day about parents whose child was one and a half years old and they still hadn't named her. They need to have a contest to get that poor kid a name.
I'm torn about getting this puppy because I'm still really having a hard time over Diva and I'm not excited like I would be under normal circumstances, but it's almost 3 weeks before she arrives and she is very adorable. She barked--no whines at all being taken away from the other puppies to the living room. She also was alert, but not too hyper. She licked my nose when I put her face up to mine and she didn't do the puppy bite thing when I was holding her. She seemed smart and secure. 14924. judithathome - 5/12/2005 2:53:44 AM Smartygirl.
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