She arrived at SFO on Sunday night, right on time. She was the most amazingly cute ball of fluff I have ever seen. We opened her crate in the dark, empty parking lot and she jumped right into my arms and covered my face with puppy kisses as Jim slipped her new collar and leash on. Tressa took her for a short walk, but she had done her business in the crate (poor puppy), so we piled into the van for the ride home. She laid on towels between Tressa and me, because we didn't want her to have to go back in the crate so soon. She spent the first half of the ride home cuddling with Tressa (after happily trying to eat her hair). The best part was the smile on Tressa's face as she looked from her new puppy to me and whispered, "Thank you!"
Zuzu cuddled with me for the second half of the trip, and when we were just about home, she looked up at me with her loving puppy eyes...and threw up in my lap! Luv ya, Mommy!! :)
Darby was waiting for us at home, and everyone had fun hugging and playing in the backyard for a bit. Then Zuzu had her 1st quick bath. She wasn't too thrilled, but Jim was quick. He loved that there was almost no hair in the drain hair catcher!
I fed Zuzu some dinner and we went to bed. I was a sucker and slept on the floor next to her crate until she calmed down each time. At 3:30, I just stayed down there and scratched her until the alarms went off at 6am.
As soon as the kids were off to school, Jim, Zuzu, and I went back to sleep. The phone rang almost an hour later. It was Nana, wanted to hear all about the puppy. I yawned through our five minute conversation, then got out of bed to officially start the day.
Zuzu LOVES our backyard and being outside! She loves the dirt, the trees, climbing under all of the bushes, and laying in the shade on the patio. There was so much new to discover, that she only sat still for short intervals. She even went for her 1st short walk.
When Darby got home, they played lots of tag and tug of war. By the time poor Tressa got home, Zuzu was all worn out!
She slept in her crate during Tressa's lacrosse practice. I never knew one dog could make as many pathetic crying barky noises as she did before she relaxed in the crate! She sounded like an entire kennel full of puppies and dogs! Darby let her out to play before we got home, and by the time we finished with dinner, Zuzu was done for the day. We had one pooped out puppy!
Last night went much better. She only went out 3 times and I slept in my bed instead of on the floor. Now if I could just convince her that time zones are real and just because it's morning in North Carolina does NOT mean it's morning in California!
She is much more calm this morning. We went on a little longer walk and she met one neighbor. She did a thorough inspection of the back yard and chewed on some trees. She played a little chase and a little tug of war and I tried to play soccer with her. She loved soccer, but my feet and ankles were way more fun to chase than the ball! Now, she's laying at my feet on the patio, patiently waiting for 'what's next'.
Things I have learned:
- sometimes when I think I'm training her, she's really training me
- Estrela's are MUCH more persistent and stubborn than Cavaliers
- Estela's already come with their 'big girl barks' installed, but only use them if something really makes them nervous
- Estrellas look really fluffy, but their fur dries super fast
- Sometimes 'no' makes things more interesting, where ignoring can make it stop (like biting plastic furniture or chewing on rose bushes)
- cats are less interesting to Zuzu than pretty much everything else, which confuses the crud out of the cat
- and finally, if you’re going to raise a new puppy in January that loves the outdoors, it’s much better to live in California than in NY!
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