We're... back?

[Toad]

Was this site around quite a while ago, and then disappeared for a bit? Pretty sure I used to be a member, some of your names and dogs are familiar

Harvey is my 2010 dudley yellow - he's basically the best. We moved to a big horse ranch near Sacramento where I run the barn and a horse breeding program and Harvey is the official greeter. He's doing quite well and still very active and energetic - he still jumps in the bed of my lifted truck no problem (sometimes he forgets to wait for me to put the tailgate down LOL)!

Harvey will become a big brother this Saturday - we're heading up to Hightest Kennels near Oroville to pick up his little brother, who is black. I am wildly excited and Harvey will be, too, once he figures out what's going on.

[Berna]

Hi and welcome back! I remember you and Harvey, glad to hear he is doing well! And congrats on the new addition to your family

[smartrock]

Hi! Sounds like things are going well for you and Harvey. We'll be happy to hear how things go with the new little guy!

[barry581]

Welcome back and congrats on the new addition!

[Toad]

Hi and welcome back! I remember you and Harvey, glad to hear he is doing well! And congrats on the new addition to your family

Of course I remember you and Cookie, I'm glad he's still doing well!

[Toad]

Thanks for the welcomes! Harvey has been having some health stuff, randomly low blood sugar and a couple of episodes of weakness. He's had a ton of diagnostics that haven't pointed to anything for sure (we're not able to rule out insulinoma yet but it's too soon to be sure either way) but what seems to be helping the symptoms is simply feeding him more, which is fine. He's getting 4-5 cups of food per day when previously he did well on 2-3 but I guess everyone changes with age and I'm just glad that he still has good energy and seems to be having a great time.

I'm nervous about getting a puppy - Harvey was about 18 months, housebroken, and had basic obedience when we got him at a local shelter 10 years ago, so this will be my first puppy as an adult. I've had dozens of fosters but none that stuck around very long (and mostly bottle babies - certainly very demanding but also completely different from a keeper 8-week-old)!

I have been wanting to get a puppy for about 2 years - as I become more aware of Harvey's advancing age I have gotten paranoid about losing him, to the point where my vet probably thinks I'm a real hypochondriac (she may be correct) and I've realized a couple of things about myself: * I will not be okay without a dog; I'm with Harvey pretty much 24/7 and rely on his companionship for emotional support and * If Harvey dies I will not be able to bring myself to "replace" him, so the only solution is to have him overlap with the new kid. That might be morbid but it's what I needed to do for my own peace of mind. My partner has not been ready. We are both self-employed workaholics who work from home and are pretty much constantly busy, so adding the extra work of a puppy is a big deal and will affect us and probably our work. At the same time, my partner understood my perspective and acknowledged that we would be needing a new puppy at some point in the not too distant future. About a month ago my friend's husband announced to her that he was ready for a new kitten and he was getting one for himself even though she wasn't quite ready, and I used that to talk to my partner about "hey I'm not at the point of simply overruling you and bringing home a puppy whether you like it or not, but 'soon' won't cut it as an answer forever." He was just finishing up flight school and said, "I hear where you're coming from, you're not wrong, but can we please talk about this next week [meaning after his final exam which to be fair I should have realized the following week was a better time to talk]" So I agreed and didn't say anything else and the next week he came to me and said, "It's time to revisit the conversation you tried to start last week... I think you're right, it's time to look for a puppy." I am extremely glad that I waited for him to agree because he has really thrown himself into this - helping to puppy-proof the house and yard, splitting the cost of supplies, helping me set up crates at home and in my office.

I had called several breeders a while back and was really set on one, whose breeding practices and contract made sense to me (I value heritable disease screening and won't accept a contract that tells me when to neuter; that's a conversation I'll have with my vet and we'll decide on neuter age together when the time comes), but all his dogs are in various locations all over the west coast which makes sense for what he's doing but my partner wasn't comfortable not being able to meet some dogs in person before committing - which I understand even though I felt comfortable with that breeder - so I called Hightest back. The first time I spoke to them was early Covid and I think they were overwhelmed with the demand for pandemic puppies so I didn't get a great feel for who they were and what they're about, but the second, more recent call was wonderful and I was invited to drop by at any time during their open hours to have a peek, no appointment necessary - which just absolutely felt great. So we went! We saw clean kennels, healthy dogs, and got an in-depth guided tour (with no appointment). We were allowed to look at (but not touch) a brand new litter and a 6-week-old litter, both all black, and we were told about upcoming litters planned. There was no pressure, just information, and all of my questions were answered. It just felt right, so we said we'd call them when we were ready to commit. Got in my partner's truck and he said, "So we're definitely buying a puppy from these people, right?" and I said I sure hoped so and he said, "Do you want to go reserve one now?" so we went back into the office and said we changed our minds, we're ready. They had two males left to choose from in their 6-week-old litter and we decided we wanted one because we'd gotten to watch them play in the yard for about an hour and found them charming. Pick up day is this Saturday and choosing the actual puppy will happen then; there will be two boys when it's our turn and we will talk to the girl who spends the most time with them, describe our lifestyle and what we are hoping for, and she will help us pick. Of course if the right one isn't in that litter we can always hold off but I have a hard time picturing that happening.

Whooooo that was a big wall-o-text! LOL. I am (obviously) soooooooo excited.

Meanwhile foaling season will start any minute now so that's cool timing - I'll have a baby puppy to raise while waking up in the night to deliver foals. I'm really lucky to have the support network I have or it would never work...

[smartrock]

It sounds so exciting and like you really found the right situation for you. Getting a young puppy will certainly be different. Your new little guy will probably learn a lot from Harvey which could be food for you. An 8 week old is a lot different than an 18 month old! I look forward to hearing all about how it goes, assuming you have any time to share what's going on! All our labs have been black- that photo of all those little black puppies makes me want to jump through the computer screen!

[Toad]

It sounds so exciting and like you really found the right situation for you. Getting a young puppy will certainly be different. Your new little guy will probably learn a lot from Harvey which could be food for you. An 8 week old is a lot different than an 18 month old! I look forward to hearing all about how it goes, assuming you have any time to share what's going on! All our labs have been black- that photo of all those little black puppies makes me want to jump through the computer screen!

I'm actually really nervous! I keep reminding myself that other people get puppies and do fine, it might be new and hard but it's totally doable. But yeah, 8 weeks will be a big adjustment for all of us.

[Toad]

I used to work with my breeder's vet about 10 years ago when she was a vet at the hospital where I was a technician - really great vet and we got along well, and I still have her on FB. I reached out to her for a reference when I was thinking about going with this breeder and she was warmly in favor. She did a well puppy visit with them yesterday and sent me photos of each of the boys: "Not a bad one in the bunch. I really like this litter. NICE pairing. They always have nice litters but I particularly like this pairing." Sooooo now I'm triple excited It was super nice to have her vouch for them but now to hear that she especially likes this litter makes me so happy.

[janedoe]

Congratulations!! Post pics!