A Tough Lesson Learned

I've been debating with myself about how to write this post.  Actually, I haven't wanted to say anything but felt I couldn't leave you all just hanging, wondering what had happened.  It's been a tough two weeks trying to adjust to having a new puppy in our home.  I thought I could do it but it turns out that I couldn't.  Auggie has a new home now.

Here are some tough lessons that I learned through this process:

1.  You can never expect a new dog to replace a dog that you've lost.  I have desperately missed Fresca the Wonder Dog who was my constant companion for almost 15 years.  I thought that a new puppy would fill that gap and take up where she left off.  Auggie will make his new owner a wonderful companion but he will never be Fresca.  It was unrealistic to expect that and unfair to him to put that expectation on him.

2.  Consider your lifestyle long and hard before committing to a pet.  I've known this but somehow that went out the window in the excitement of the moment.  I'm a sedentary person. I thrive on HOURS spent at the computer or in a recliner curled up with a book or my knitting.  This is hardly the personality of a person who is a good match for an energetic little puppy.

3.  Be honest about your personality needs.  I have never been a person who has a lot of patience.  The only time I am patient is when I'm engrossed in a clerical task.  When I was raising my children, it was the Commander who would step in when I was becoming unraveled.  He is a very steady person.  He'd take over and give me a chance to regroup and calm down and then I'd be back in the thick of things.  With a new dog or puppy, you need a lot of patience.  I thought by being home all day, I'd have an easier time training a puppy.  Instead I had more time to be frustrated.  I also need LOTS of structure/order to my day.  I can't handle chaos or a bunch of things happening at once.  I have to assess one thing at a time, deal with it, and then go on to the next item of business.  When I'm rushed or stressed, I fall apart.  I don't think puppies read that manual.  They are, by definition, chaos with a tail.  I've been in a perpetual state of stress since Auggie came home.

4.  Do you have other demands for your time?  Do you work all day?  Getting a dog is going to be tough.  You'll need to make arrangements for a dog walker or someone to come over during the day.  In my case, I'm called down to Texas frequently to help out with the grandchildren.  I knew this beforehand but had  blithely told the Commander that I'd just take the dog with me.  Reality hit home when I saw Auggie in action and realized that it would be some time before I could comfortably take this little guy down to a house of toddlers.  For one, he'd eat most of their toys.  Two, he'd chew up their house.  Three, he'd probably pee all over it.  And four, he was firmly in the nipping stage and they were too young to understand being careful around sharp, little puppy teeth.  With time and training, these behaviors would disappear but I don't have time.  My next Texas trip is December.

5.  Do you have a support network?  I've often been envious over the years of friends who have family living near them who can "pet sit" for them when they travel.  I've never had that luxury since we've been a military family living far from family.  Luckily, with Fresca, I had friends with a dog who was Fresca's best friend.  We ended up trading dogsitting duties with each other when we'd go on vacations.  I certainly couldn't ask them to watch a puppy who wasn't housebroken and still had a puppy's destructive behavior patterns for 2-3 weeks at a stretch.

To make a long story short, I was fast reaching the point where I was exhausted and almost starting to hate this little puppy.  I felt like I couldn't let my guard down more than 1-2 minutes at a time and then I'd have to rush him outdoors or rush to clean up after another mistake.  I knew that I'd made a terrible mistake and I didn't want sweet little Auggie to suffer from my lack of good judgement.  Luckily, I have a terrific friend.  She had one of his littermates and she stepped in to take him until she could find him a good home.

Auggie now has a new mom.  He has gone to live with a lady who is a widow who had also lost her dog awhile ago.  This lady is experienced with puppies.  Indeed, she fostered six Labrador puppies not too long ago.  She understands the challenges.  She also lives on acreage so he'll have room to romp and run.  His new mom has a friend who is a dog trainer and has offered to be available to help if she encounters any special challenges.  She has grown children nearby who love dogs and quite a few grandchildren who adore Auggie.  I'm so happy for him.

I will admit that I'm still very emotional over the whole thing.  I've cried many a tear over this decision but I know that it is for the best for all of us.  I'm not used to failing at things and I do feel like I failed Auggie but yet, in my heart, I know I made the right decision.  Hopefully by being honest about this difficult time, those of you who are considering adding a dog or puppy to your home can learn from my errors.

Not Quite on the Same Page Yet!

Day Three with Auggie our Westie and we're still trying to learn each other's rhythms.  So far we've discovered that the little guy likes to watch TV.  He's quite enthralled with what goes on on the big screen and will settle down on your lap for a good long stretch.

We've learned that keeping him in the big crate on one floor while we sleep on the other floor at night isn't working because he didn't make a fuss to let us know that he needed to go out.  Instead he wet in his crate while letting me sleep through the night until 5.  I'm a light sleeper and was awake off and on all that first night expecting him to bark or whine when he needed to go out but I didn't hear a peep out of him.  We had the crate divider in, too, so he would have a small space.  The prevailing theory is that a dog won't soil their sleeping space/den.  Uh-huh.    We now have him in the small portable kennel and are putting him next to my side of the bed and I'm setting my alarm for the wee hours of the morning to get up and take him out.  It worked last night.  He kept things dry and he stirred and woke me up again at 5 a.m. to let him out again.

I've read so many books on how to potty train/crate train/stop biting and nipping/etc. that I'm going cross-eyed.  Apparently Auggie hasn't read those same books.  I mean, the prevailing wisdom is that a puppy will need to relieve itself 15 minutes or so after eating.  Auggie interrupts his meal to walk into the middle of the kitchen and let loose.  And how the heck do you distinguish the difference between sniffing for a spot to "go" and just exploring the scents of new surroundings?  Our little guy doesn't do the circling thing that my other dogs would do when they were ready to go.  He just lets loose.  Consequently, I'm spending LOTS of time running out with him to the dog yard.

Speaking of our dog yard........Auggie likes to eat rocks.  He also likes to stick his nose down and tunnel through the mulch.  He likes to dig in the mulch too and it doesn't take long before he is down to the landscape mat covering.  Oy!  He has also discovered our heat pump and all the wires and hoses leading out from it and is determined to chew on those.  No matter how I redirect him, he goes right back to it.  So I'm now having to take him out on a leash and stand out there holding the leash so he can't bother the pump and cords.  As for standing out there, one book said to just stand there and not interact with your dog until he goes.  That's hard to do when said dog is tugging on your pant legs or chewing on your shoes or biting your socks (and thus, your legs).  I read in another book that you could try spraying mouthwash spray slightly ahead of his muzzle when he tugs on your pants and this should cure him.  The Commander was out shopping tonight so I asked him to bring some back.  He couldn't find any.  I had to laugh when he asked if I thought the air freshener spray up in the bathroom would work just as well.

This is my first time trying crate training/potty training.  Before we always set up a wired enclosure in our kitchen lined with newspapers and then would take the puppy out from that.  This crate stuff is hard to figure out.  It sounds like they are to be out only when you are watching them every second or if they just went potty outside.  Then you can reward them with some play time.  You have to potty them after a nap, after eating, after playing, and if a certain length of time has gone by.  If they go, you can reward them with some play time.  But wait, doesn't that mean then that you have to take them out again?  Oy, maybe I should build a temporary little hut in the dog yard for myself.  I'm out there enough, eh?

I just ordered one of those leashes that snap around your waist so you can tether the dog to you as you go about your daily activities.  This way, he can't bounce off (and he moves fast) and get under furniture.  He thinks he's made up a new game called "Hide and Go Seek and Make Mommy's Knees Creak."

Auggie does seem to have some tendencies that I think we could make work for us.  The other day he grabbed a rubber broom and headed out of the kitchen with it.  Now this is a tiny puppy and it was a big broom but he managed to grab it and drag it through the doorway and down into the living room.  When we grabbed it from him, he streaked back into the kitchen and came bouncing out with the dustpan.

Butter my biscuits, if he didn't go around the room trying to scoop up his toys with the dustpan.  Now if we could take those cleaning tendencies and develop them, maybe we could get him to wield a dust rag, too.

Guess where the broom and dustpan are now being temporarily stored?  His nice, new dog bed is sitting on one of our living room chairs because he tried to rip it to shreds.  Our living room curtains are draped over the Florida shutters since he also tried to eat those.  Maybe he's part shark.    Well, gotta go and finish reading some more of those training books.  Baby's napping!

Meet Auggie MacDuff!

Meet the newest member of our family - our little 9-week old West Highland White Terrier, Auggie MacDuff!   We headed up to midstate PA yesterday on a gorgeous, crisp day with my friend, Judy and two of her grandchildren and Judy's dog, Sadie, to pick up our puppies.  Judy was getting a littermate of Auggie's - a little girl Westie.

The Commander had picked out Auggie from the litter when he was 5 weeks old when I was in Texas so I had never met him.  I was a tad nervous wondering how I'd feel about the little guy.  Well it was love at first sight.  Here is a picture of our first moments together.  I think the feelings were mutual.

Judy and her little Kinzie got along well, too.  Kinzie was so funny to watch compared to Auggie.  Auggie is all boy and Kinzie was such a little princess.

The two puppies shadowed Sadie all over the room, pouncing on her and pestering her.  Of course, she retaliated by "sliming" them - licking them all over.

This is Sadie and her new little sister, Kinzie.  I think they're going to have LOTS of fun together, don't you?

Judy and her granddaughter tried to help me get a shot of the puppies where they aren't a blur of motion.  Kinzie is saying, "Be sure you photograph my best side."  Auggie is saying, "Ma, Ma......what's she doing?  Let me down.  I've got places to go." His little feet were a blur of motion.

Towards the end of our time at the breeder's, little Kinzie conked out.  You'd think that Auggie would have been tuckered out, too, wouldn't you?  You'd be wrong.

He had swiped Judy's camera case and was making off with it before she realized what had happened and was able to retrieve it from his little jaws.

We got some last minute instruction from our breeder along with some paperwork before it was time to make the 4-hour drive back home.  At this point, Auggie settled right down to sleep contentedly in my lap.  I told the gang that Auggie's philosophy must be "party hardy and then collapse and sleep."

We are now beginning the slippery negotiating of crate/potty training.  It's amazing how much I've forgotten and it's also amazing how different each dog is when it comes to the "signs" they give when they have to "go."   I'm confident that Auggie and I will both figure it out.  In the meantime, I foresee a LOT of fresh air in my future.

Fall and Leafy Sweaters

I've been knitting up a storm these past few weeks knowing that I might not have the luxury of spending undivided attention on what's on my needles the next few weeks with a new puppy in the house.  I'm rather hoping that he will want to snuggle on my lap but NOT want to attack my yarn but I'll let you know if my hope and the reality happen to coincide.

Anyway, with the leaves turning colors here in Pennsylvania, what better project to finish then a nice comfy garter-stitch sweater?  If you aren't a knitter, I'll give you fair warning.  Most of the rest of this post is going to be about knitting.  You have my permission to wander off, make yourself a nice cup of coffee and cuddle with your furry friend(s) or your honey.  As I was saying, this particular pattern is called Lily and it is from the book Essentially Feminine Knits.  It features easy-peasy garter-stitch knitting until you get up to the yoke of the garment and then a very easy lace pattern.

The lace chart is just 38 rows and it results in a lovely border of leaves going around the sweater.  What could be more perfect for Fall?  And my goodness, is this sweater ever comfortable.  I can already tell that it is going to be one of my "go-to" sweaters this fall and winter.

The knitting is quite easy.  I only had one hiccup.  I'm not terribly sure how it happened but, when you get to a certain spot on each of the garment pieces, you have to bind off a certain number of stitches on the right side and then put the remaining stitches on a holder.  I did that for each piece.  However, when you are ready to do the yoke, you put all the pieces together again on to one circular needle and start knitting the yoke.  After a few rows, I realized that I had one spot where my garter-stitch wasn't right.  It looked like I had a row of stockinette on just one section.  Of course, it would be right in the front.  AARGH!  I ripped out a row and tried to undo and redo the offending stitches to make them be purls instead of stockinette but the end result was a raised area in the front and a small 2-row section of stockinette in the back.  Hey, at least the stockinette was no longer visible on the front.  I could live with the raised area.  I call things like that "design elements."

Here is what I think happened.  I think I bound off the number of stitches required in that section and then FINISHED KNITTING THE ROW before putting those stitches on a holder.  For the rest of the sections, I must have bound off the stitches and stopped at that point and put the rest of the stitches (not yet knitted) on a holder.  That is the only way it could have come out differently.  So be warned if you are making this pattern.  STOP after you have bound off the stitches and put the rest of the stitches on a holder.

There was one other thing that had me a bit confused.  When the time came to put all of the pieces onto the one needle, I wasn't quite sure how those bound off parts were supposed to line up.  There are some pictures shown but I guess I needed a "blow-out" section showing all of the pieces lined up for assembly.  I took a gamble and lay it all out with bound stitches to bound stitches when laying it out flat and then took my circular needle and picked up all the stitches that were on the holders as I came to them.  I STILL couldn't quite visualize how it was all going to be seamed but lo and behold, once it was finished, I just seamed up the side seams and then I seamed the sleeve seams and that left me with one obvious small seam under each arm that I seamed and everything was good.  Yay!

This particular sweater was knit out of Cascade 220 yarn, a wonderful workhorse of a yarn in my all-time favorite color, which I call "Spring green."

On the dog front, my fellow "expectant puppy mom" mentioned that she had purchased a pink Bobo for her puppy.  I'd heard of these Bobo toys and most of the comments about them were that dogs found them irresistible.  So when I went over to the pet store today to pick up something, I decided to swing over to the toy aisle and check them out.  There were quite a few in many styles.

I was looking at this one and trying to find the squeaker to check out the sound.  I finally located it and boy, did it have a great squeak.  Just then I heard whining.  I turned around and here was a lady and her dog.  The dog was going nuts.  He was doing everything but crawling on his belly over to me.  He was whining and looking at me with a big grin and finally he sat on his haunches and gave me a look that said, "Please, oh, please....could you toss it this way?"

"Well," I told his owner.  "If THAT isn't a ringing endorsement by a doggy customer, I don't know what is.  This Bobo is definitely going home with me."


 

Waiting on a Westie

In three days, the Commander, myself, and my friend, Judy (along with her dog, Sadie) will be heading up to midstate Pennsylvania to pick up our Westie puppies.  I'll be bringing home our little male puppy and Judy will be bringing home a new little sister for Sadie.

The time has gotten close enough that I'm now setting out things for our little guy.  I've got a little bed set out by the fireplace with a few toys by it.  I must confess that I felt rather guilty setting that bed down in the very same spot where my beloved Fresca's bed had always sat.

I've placed his main crate beside my computer.  I figure since that's where I spend the majority of my time each day, writing and researching, that my little guy can crawl in there to nap and, since the side panel curtain also folds up, he can see me at all times.  I can also shut the computer room door while in there and keep a close eye on him when he's outside the crate.

His dog dishes are in place beside our refrigerator in the same spot where Fresca's dishes used to stand.  I have to keep reminding myself that Fresca understands and approves, looking down from doggy heaven.  After all, it is a great tribute to Fresca the Wonder Dog that her love and companionship was so special to me that it has made me want to have that again with another dog.

The leashes are in place beside the front door, waiting for those walks that our new little one and I will be taking.

Today I'll be heading off to the pet store to pick up puppy food and any last-minute supplies that I don't have on hand.  I'll also be picking up some fleece material from the fabric store and will be sure to handle it quite a bit between now and Saturday so that it will have my scent on it.  That way it should prove comforting to our pup when I place it in his little bed in the crate at night.  (I'll let you know how THAT goes.)

I'll leave you today with a glimpse of my latest desktop wallpaper - a picture of little Spud shopping for pumpkins.  I figure it's the perfect wallpaper for this Fall weather.

A Dog Yard Remodel

 Our new puppy is going to be joining our household one week from today.  I'm pretty excited while, at the same time, realizing that our mornings of sleeping in on the weekends and lazing about in the evenings are going to be over for awhile.  Life will be assuming the tempo of "new parents."

One of the last things to deal with was our fenced-in dog yard.  It opens up from our sunporch and is just a small portion of our total yard.  We have always used it to let Fresca, the Wonder Dog go out and in to do her business.  She was never left out there any longer than it took her to "sniff and go" but still, the dog yard was in terrible shape.  There were bare patches where we just couldn't get grass to grow and these areas always turned into a muddy mess any time it rained.  I didn't want to bring our new puppy into this mess.

 I did a lot of research looking at pictures on the Web and reading the few books dealing with "pet landscaping."  I finally came up with a plan of what I wanted.  I basically wanted a Zen-garden look.  With every marriage there are always compromises, so the Commander and I put our heads together and then consulted with our landscaper and this is what we ended up with.  We decided on a combination of mulched areas and pathways of crushed stone.

The crew showed up the first day and laid the framework for the stone paths.  They also covered the entire area with heavy-duty landscaping fabric and put the mulch down in the areas where we wanted mulch to go.

The next day they brought in the rock and put that in the pathways.  After hauling lots of wheelbarrel-fulls of rock, they tamped it all down and watered it thoroughly.

One feature that our landscaper had suggested was to break up the path area with a small structural piece in the middle.  We remembered that we had a birdbath that had been languishing in our garage for several years and told him about it.  "Perfect," he said.  I have to agree.  I really like that feature and so do the birds.

The Commander wanted room to put our big gas grill so that it wouldn't have to be kept in the garage and pulled out into the driveway every time we grill.  He got his wish.  Now he can keep it in the back corner of the dog yard, I think.  We'll see how it works.

Here's the view from the far corner of the dog yard looking toward the sunporch.  It was late afternoon so I'm sorry about the shadows in the pictures.

So the plan is to encourage the new puppy to use the mulched area to the right of the steps when he goes outside.  We're quite pleased with how it turned out, although we both agree that we wish we had installed more rock, instead of so much mulch.  (Hmmph.....that WAS my original vision.)  But we can always have the landscaper enlarge the paths next year, after we've had some time to watch how the dog utilizes the space.

One thing is for sure, though.  It looks 100% better than it did several days ago.  Now we just need to add our little guy to the picture.

Of Piddles, Puppies, and Poo

In ten days, the Commander and I will be picking up this little guy and he'll be joining our family.  I can't wait.   However, I'm not going into this with oblivious optimism either.  I KNOW what is ahead.  We're making a big-time commitment to our puppy to train him and help him be a responsible member of canine society, not to mention a beloved member of our family.

After fifteen years, I'm going to be potty-training a puppy once more.  It's like childbirth.  You kind of selectively forget those days.  The big difference this time is that I'm going to be home and not working.  I hope that makes it easier on all of us.  I've also been reading lots of books on potty-training a dog.  Hey, I'm a reader.  What can I say?  I've already picked out some good ideas and noticed some things that we did wrong with our Fresca the Wonder Dog.  She ended up potty trained quite well (even rang bells to go outside SO successfully that I eventually had to take the darn bells and hide them) but I see where I could have made it easier on both of us.

We're also having the dog yard portion of our yard re-landscaped.  It has always been a disaster.  We could never get grass to grow there with any degree of success because it is in a totally shaded area.  Even after Fresca passed away, grass still wouldn't grow.  When it rained, it would turn into a muddy mess.  Fresca shed dirt with no problem but she would track mud into the house so I was always having to wipe her paws whenever she'd go in and out to do her business.  This little Westie will probably have the tendency to be a digger.  It's a characteristic of the breed.  I'm not going to give him a muddy playground.  That's a recipe for disaster.

Consequently, we are having ALL of the grass removed.  The landscapers have arrived today and are in the process of transforming the dog yard into a vision I've had all along......more of a zen garden type of place.  There will be sections of mulch and crushed rock paths with a spot in the center for a bird bath.  The dog will be able to go potty on the rock paths or on the mulch.  I don't really care.  We can replenish the mulch each year and hose off the rock and keep things cleaned easier than sloughing through muddy patches looking for poo.  That's the theory, anyway.  Only time will tell if I'm correct.

I'll keep you posted on how the dog yard turns out.  Until then, I'm off to read about "dog socialization."  Happy Yapping!

You're Getting a What?

It seems like many of my recent conversations with friends and extended family have migrated around to the inevitable "What's new with you?" question.  That's when I share our latest news.  We're getting a puppy.  It's been interesting to note the types of responses this elicits.

1.  Hey, that's great!  These folks seem quite happy for us.  They're enthusiastic, go-with-the-flow types of folks.

2.  Why?  This response usually comes after a moment of stunned silence followed by a wide-eyed look of astonishment and the unspoken (or sometimes plainly stated) feeling of "Are you NUTS?"  Often these folks are empty-nesters themselves who are now footloose and fancy-free and can't imagine why we'd voluntarily tie ourselves down to a new little one in our family.

3.  What kind?  The folks asking this question are often dog-people themselves and are naturally curious about the breed we are getting.  Of course, they COULD just be nosy but hey, let's be generous here, ok?  I would fall into this category.  I always want to know what kind of dog a person is getting because it gives me a clue into the type of person they are.   It just seems like certain personalities are drawn to certain breeds of dogs.  And therein lies my dilemma.

Let me just categorically state here that I do NOT have a terrier personality.  At least I don't think that I do.  I have never in my entire life felt that I had to get one of the terrier breeds.  I always was drawn to the herding breeds or the working breeds.  I had two Shetland Sheepdogs and an Australian Shepherd.  They were smart as could be.

My Eskie was very smart, too, and my personal bodyguard par excellence.  I also really liked the idea of owning really big dogs.  When I was a teenager, I wanted Irish Wolfhounds or Scottish Deerhounds.  In college, I lusted after owning an Afghan Hound.  I always thought that it would be nice to have a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Well, we're getting a West Highland White Terrier.....a Westie!  I'm not quite sure how that happened.  One of my friends has one and when she went up to see her breeder about getting another dog, I rode along.  I had a hole in my heart  after Fresca's death and apparently, it was just the right size for a Westie.

I've done my research and know that this is NOT going to be a herding dog.  Westie folks (and I'll be one of them shortly) say that they are smart dogs in their own way but stubborn and that THEY have to decide they want to do something before they will do it.  Hmmm, this will be different.  My other dogs all lived to please me.  I was the Queen Mum in their lives.

 "Run an agility course?  No problem, Mom.  Here I go!"

" Run circles around the rest of the group in this Obedience class?  Just give me the training manual, Mom, and go sit down.  I'll read it myself and have it all figured out."

I can't wait to see how Puppy Kindergarten and the subsequent obedience classes will pan out with my little Westie.

I was describing our upcoming puppy to someone today.  "He's a West Highland White Terrier," I told her.

"A terrier?  What do they look like?" she asked.

"You know the dog that is on the front of the Caesar Dog Food containers?  That's a Westie," I responded.

She looked blank so I tried again.  "Do you know what a Scottie dog looks like?" I asked.

"Yes," she grinned, her face brightening.

"Well, they look kind of like a Scotty but they are all white, their faces are rounder and they tend to be a little shorter," I explained.

"Are they the ones with the long hair?" she asked.

"Oh,oh...she's thinking of a Maltese or a Lhasa Apso," I thought.

"Their hair is more wiry....like a cairn terrier's," I told her but she just looked at me blankly.

"Well, I DID want a greyhound rescue but my husband thought they were too big. They're nice, quiet couch potatoes, though," I continued.

"Aren't terriers happy little dogs that have a lot of energy?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm going from a couch potato that just wants to sit around or eat to one that wants to run around or eat and I just hope it's not the grandkids," I laughed.

I'm getting a puppy....a terrier puppy.  Batten down the hatches, hide your children, and pass the Prozac!

Naming Your New Dog

In my last post, I described the lessons I've learned on how NOT to come up with names for a new dog.  Well, now I'm going to give you some ideas to find just the right name for that new puppy or rescue that will be joining your household.  Let's get creative, shall we?

1.  Do you have a special hobby or activity that you are passionate about?  Let's say you LOVE to motorbike.  Perhaps you'd like to name your dog "Harley?"  Do you enjoy eating?  Go do an internet search on "culinary terms" or things like "names of desserts."  Maybe your new dog is a "Muffin" or a "Beignet"?  Do you love that cup of coffee every morning?  How about calling the pup "Starbucks?" Then there's one of my personal favorites...."Snickers."   I love to read so I've been doing searches for lists of famous English authors and poets to see if there are any particular names that jump out at me.  I also love music.  I did a search of musical terms and found potential names like "Largo" and "Rondo."  I've pulled potential names from lists of composers.  You all know that I love to knit but knitting terms have been kind of a bust.  "Purl" and "yarn-over" don't really thrill me.  Are you a Dungeons and Dragons kind of person?  Try Famous Dragon Names and you might get lucky.

2.  What is your ethnic heritage?  I'm particularly proud of my Viking  and German ancestry.  Some of my name searches have centered around websites that list Viking names like Viking Given Names and  Norse Pantheon.

3.  What is the country that your dog's breed originated in?  My pup's breed originated in Scotland so I've been doing internet searches for "Scottish place names", "Scottish mythology", even "Scotch whiskey" and visiting links like ScotchWhiskey.net to check out names of distilleries.  I've looked at maps of Scotland and her islands and considered names of some of the towns that might be suitable as a dog's name.

4.  What color is your dog?  Westies are white dogs.  I've looked up synonyms for "white" to see if anything might click with me.  I've even looked up the word "white" in different languages.

5.  What are your favorite movies or TV shows?  Are you a big fan of the "Lord of the Rings" movie?  Maybe "Bilbo" or a "Gandalf" would work.  Are you nuts about the Harry Potter movies?  Think of all the characters in those movies.  There are some dandy names in them.  Wikipedia always is a quick source of names and if you type in something like "characters in the Harry Potter books" in your search engine, Wikipedia will most likely be one of your top choices that come up.

6.  What is your occupation?  My husband works in Information Technology.  He's a computer whiz.  I could come up with a name like "Asci" or "Spooler".  I would NOT recommend "Byte" though.  If you're a doctor, is there a medical term that might be fun as a name?  Are you an artist?  How about "Pixel" or "Dither?"  Goodness, think of all the famous painters that have great names for a pet.

7.  Do you already have a pet?  Perhaps you'd like to name your new pet a name that would complement the pet you already have on hand.  You can go to Famous Couples to get some ideas, like "Pebbles & Bam Bam" or "Bert & Ernie".

8.  Check out some websites set up for expectant parents looking for names.    There are so many websites that list page after page of boy and girl names along with their meanings and place of origin.  Many also have additional lists like "German names", "French names," etc.

9.  Try these dog-naming sites.  Fun Dog Names doesn't list just funny names.  It has name lists by breed, countries, and many other categories.  Dog Names Woof! is another similar website.

Finally....if your dog is going to be registered with the American Kennel Club, you'll definitely want to go to their Dog Name Check Site.  Here you can put in the dog breed you'll be getting, enter your name (it doesn't matter if you haven't actually got the dog in hand yet or its papers) and then just type in a name.  It will tell you if it is taken or not.  Don't be discouraged if your choice is already taken.  You can always add a middle name and often that frees up your choice OR they might suggest you add a number after the name , i.e. "Laddie IV".  Who care about the number?  He'll be "Laddie" to you.  As you find names that are available, you can jot them down for future reference and then you'll be all set when you DO have your dog's papers and can do a quick search to make sure your choice is still available.  You can now register your dog online. Wow, I still remember the days when you sent in your name choice by mail and hoped and prayed that the name wasn't already taken.

Good luck and have fun in coming up with that perfect name for your newest canine member of the family.

How NOT to Name a Dog!

For the past month, I've been on a mission to pick a name for the West Highland Terrier puppy who will be joining our family in October.  You would not BELIEVE the hours I've spent perusing the Internet, looking through dictionaries, leafing through books, skimming indexes, trying to come up with a list of potential names.  It was never this hard with my other dogs.

My first dog was a Shetland Sheepdog that came into my life when I was about twelve years old.  A friend of the family had a litter of pups and my mom walked me down the street to their house and I picked a puppy out of the litter.  On the way back to our house, Mom asked me what I thought we should call her.  With very little thought, I said, "I think she should be called Tichi because you're a teacher and that name sounds like your job."  She was "Tichi" until the day she died.

I got my next dog on the day before I left Colorado and grad school to impulsively move back to Minnesota and the family farm.  She was an Australian Shepherd mix and I grabbed an atlas and looked through a list of towns in Minnesota and decided on the name "Waseca" in celebration of moving back to "God's country."  It had taken me less than a day to come up with her name.

Our third dog took a bit more thought.  We were preparing to move to Morocco, courtesy of the Navy.  We were going to be taking our cat and now, a new Shetland Sheepdog puppy.  I wanted a name that would sound Arabic.  The movie "Ishtar" had just come out in theaters and I liked that name.  We happened to have a neighbor from Saudi Arabia on our base so I walked over to his house and asked him if the word "Ishtar" meant anything bad in Arabic.  He and his wife both looked a little puzzled but they assured me that it didn't mean anything offensive that they were aware of.  I also knew that the "official" language of diplomacy and commerce in Morocco was French.  We were learning French so I wanted to include some French in his name.  Thus we named our dog "Bon Chance Ishtar" which translated to "Lucky Ishtar."  Only later did I discover that "Ishtar" was the name of some ancient fertility goddess.  Luckily our male dog never held a grudge.

Our fourth and latest dog was a Miniature American Eskimo dog.  I went to look at the puppies available, she jumped on my lap and wouldn't get off and I ended up taking her home.  On the way home, I was thinking that she needed a name that reflected something fresh and bubbly and refreshing.  "That's it!" I thought.  "I'll name her Fresca."  If you're a regular reader, you know that Fresca appointed herself my personal protector.  She felt that was her mission in life.  She never left my side when I was in the house.  She was a dear, unique, and challenging dog.  There were days when I thought I should have more appropriately named her "Molotov."  But she was Fresca the Wonder Dog, named on the first day I saw her, and I loved her dearly.

Which brings me to my problem.  I think I just have too much time waiting for this puppy.  It's giving me WAY too much time to choose a name. This should have been approached like I do my shopping.....Bag it and Tag it and That's it!  Here are some lessons learned on what NOT to do:

1.  Do NOT ask your extended family's opinion!  I made the mistake of sending a list of names to my children and extended family, asking them which ones were their favorites.  Mind you, I already had some favorites but I thought I'd be diplomatic and ask their opinions.  Maybe I didn't really want their opinions.  My son shredded one of my favorites.

"Really, Mom?  Puck?  That might sound like a bad word if you're standing out on the back porch calling out  'Puck, go potty....Puck, hurry up and go potty.'  Think about it", he said.

My daughter bowled over several of my other favorites, not liking how they might be shortened.  My brother and sister-in-law came up with names that weren't on the list.  Hey, as if this wasn't hard enough.

2.  Do NOT post your list of potential names on Facebook and ask your friends for their opinions.
What was I thinking?  Well, actually I was thinking that I would apply the scientific method of making hash marks by each name according to how many voted for what names.  Logically, I could end up with two or three front-runners.  First off, the votes were all over the place.  Secondly, people were suggesting other names that weren't on the list.  Again, no, no, no!  And now I had just added peer pressure to family pressure in the matter of my name choice.

3.  Do NOT think that you and your spouse will agree on a name.  If it hasn't happened in the past 30+ years, it isn't suddenly going to happen now.  I had had this rosy picture in my mind that the Commander and I would come up with our puppy's name together since this is going to be our "empty nest" puppy.  He's going to be a team effort.   That's why, when I ran over my list with my hubby, I kept watching for his face to light up and listening for him to exclaim, "Yes, THAT'S the one!  Instead, what I got was a lot of "Eh, it's ok" and "Might work" opinions on my whole list.  Helpful?  Not!

4.  Do NOT expect the name to come to you in a dream.    Well, in my defense, things HAVE come to me in dreams before but apparently dog names aren't one of them.  Instead, I've been waking up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and then returning to bed and lying there for the next half hour while combination after combination of potential names run through my head.  Aaaaargh!  Turn it off!

5.  Do NOT announce to the world what name you've picked until you have your puppy in hand.  I made the mistake of thinking I had settled on a name and told my family and friends what it was going to be. I had basically picked the name that the majority of my friends liked.  But it was niggling at me and I just didn't feel settled about that name.  So I changed my mind.  I picked another name.  But I'm still having second thoughts (or would that be "third" thoughts?).  I've decided that I'm going to come up with a short list of names and practice calling the puppy those names (in my head) off and on in the coming days.  I'm hoping that one will just feel more right than the rest.

In the meantime, I've come up with some great sources for picking names.  In my next post, I'll share those links with you and also share what methods I use to begin my search for potential names.

Preparing the Nest

As I wait (impatiently, I must admit) for our new puppy to be born, I've started preparing the house for our little one.  It's been over 14 years since we've had a puppy living with us so puppy-proofing is in order.  I'm also starting a new project.  I'll give you a sneak peak.  See if you can figure out what it is going to be.  Here is the fabric I picked out at the store the other day.  I must admit that I hadn't figured on the fact that I probably would want to line this project but I had fabric on hand at home that coordinated, thank goodness.

Today I ironed all of the fabric which I had pre-washed yesterday.  I was a little worried that I might not have enough fabric since I don't have a pattern for this project but since I was able to pull other fabric out of my stash, I think I'll be in good shape.

I took careful measurements and then went upstairs to my cutting board with my freshly ironed fabric and proceeded to cut out my pieces.  As with any project, but especially with one that you are doing by the seat of your pants, I measured each piece and then measured one more time before I cut each piece.  It's so easy to slip up and forget things like seam allowances.

Tonight I started on the trim.  I think it is going to work out ok.  Of course, I only have a vague idea of how I'm going to attach this trim.  I'm more of a "creative - what if...." thinker.  I'm definitely not a spatial thinker so trying to take an idea and turn it into a tangible object is a real challenge for me without a concrete pattern or instructions to follow.

Not to say that I don't have some idea of what I want the finished project to look like.  However, getting to that point is going to be an adventure.  That's why I'm stopping for tonight and heading downstairs to knit and watch a show.  I think I need my mind to be fresh to tackle the next step on this creative endeavor.