Adaptation

Tess had her first vet appointment yesterday, and I must say – she did GREAT! She slept the whole time—well, except for the fecal exam part. That got her up quick! Here are some stats for the interested: Tess is 7 weeks old today, weighs 9lbs, and is as healthy as can be. No worms, perfect (the Vet’s words, not mine…) gums, fur, walk, clean bum, nose and ears (which is usually tough for labs. Their ears get really dirty). She is the perfect weight and has good hip joints.…. all wonderful news. I always get nervous bringing a new pet home, because you just never know what may be wrong. So my fingers were crossed the whole time, and she passed with flying colors. I have to say that our breeder, HR Kennels, is fantastic, and breeds the best labs. They are so well taken care of, loved, and played with. We really got ourselves an excellent pup.



A little bit of info on the kenneling and ‘eliminating’ progress (because that seems to be what everyone has been asking us about). Tess had a rough night on Saturday…we all did. So after hours of research, we switched things up. She is now kenneling in our room, instead of the dark laundry room, and we will gradually move her kennel toward the laundry room over time. Sunday she slept really well, about 4 ½ hours, and woke us up at 1am to go potty. Problem is, she wanted to play. But ‘night time is not play time’ so back into the kennel she went. She wasn’t too happy about that, but we slept near the kennel to help her feel protected and she slept well the rest of the night. Yesterday was her first day ‘alone’ while we went to work. She did SO good! I got home about 11am to let her out and she only had a small wet spot on her towel. After some play and potty time, she went back into the kennel until I got home, and NO ACCIDENTS the second half of the day! Last night was proof that the routine is working, because she slept for almost 5 hours, got up to go potty, and then went right back to bed. She fussed a little, but not like Sunday night, and I woke up to find her cuddled in her bed and Troy cuddled on the floor next to her kennel. Hehe. I know that this is not a habit we need to form, but we got good advice that this was okay for the first few days, while she stops missing her mom and brothers and sisters and starts adapting to the Davis household. It is totally working too. We will see what happens tonight…

One last note – Lucy. Oh Lucycat. The ever-sassy queen of our roost. She had a rough weekend when Tess arrived, and we didn’t see too much of her (willingly that is). But I am happy to announce that she has started lurking around, checking Tess out. She creeps up to the kennel at night, stares at her from the second floor banister, and has participated in a show-down as of this morning. Tess walked right up to her (actually acknowledging Lucy for the first time), and they just stood there, looking at each other. No sudden moves people! If you know Lucy, you know she is skittish. I am tense just writing this! But progress is definitely being made and I think a long friendship is in the works. If only I knew what went on when the parents were away…

PS: I have some more-than-precious pics of Jackson and Tess from Sunday night’s dinner that I will post soon. They are oh so cute! If you want to check out some that Lindsey took for now, visit their blog.

Lots of love~