Learning How to Walk

Since she's so little, we still have to carry Maggie up and down the stairs to and from our apartment. She tries really hard to go up, but her little legs just aren't long enough. She gets really scared going down though and won't even try that. When she was playing with my best friend's dogs, she climbed the stairs following them, but only because Mommy & Daddy wouldn't help her out and she wanted to go play. And watching her try to jump up on the bed or the couch is HILARIOUS. We'll help her after a couple good tries to get up, but we don't want her getting used to us helping her do everything - because otherwise when she gets bigger, she won't know that she can actually do it herself.

We've been working with Maggie on getting her used to wearing a leash. We started Friday night with a retractable leash - just so she got the idea that she was connected to us. She was really really REALLY unhappy with it at first, but she got the hang of it pretty quick and just ignored the leash as she pranced about the yard next to our apartment and we followed. The next step was switching the retractable with a regular 6 foot leash. We let her run around with it on and drag it behind her a couple times so she would get used to the bigger one. (She's too little to really get too far from David and I, so we don't have a problem with her running around unleashed right now. And when she gets older, we bought a tie-out to put in the ground so she can still run around the yard.) Once she got used to it being attached, we picked up the leash and just followed her a little bit with it.

Then it came time for walking! Maggie got really scared and started whining when we tried to leave the front yard - most likely because that was really the only outside area that she knew. But David and I kept coaxing her and calling her and finally she got the picture that it was time to move. And as soon as she stepped on the sidewalk, she was like a different dog! She trotted right along next to us almost the whole time with hardly any coaxing at all!!!

We made a friend over in a nearby building that likes to sit outside. Melissa is probably in her 30s and works at the pool (which opens today!). She has a younger son that rides his bike around the neighborhood with his friends from other buildings. Maggie met her the first day she was home, but I didn't think she would remember her. But when we turned the corner and went around the building, Maggie saw her and ran right up and gave her kisses! We were so proud! The kids rode by on their bikes and as soon as they saw Maggie, they jumped off their bikes and wanted to play. I asked them to come up slowly so she doesn't get scared and they were very respectful. When they sat down on the grass, Maggie looked at us for permission and when we told her to go play, she ran right over and tumbled all over the kids with plenty of kisses. The girls picked her up and were in her face wanting kisses, and Maggie did so great! She loved the attention!!

On the way home, she stopped one more time to say hello to an excited elderly couple walking to their apartment.

We were very proud of her for being so friendly and good with the kids! What happened to the timid little girl we brought home last week??? Where did she go? Now we've got a bright, smart, friendly little puppy who wants to say hello to everyone!

Videos

David and I are learning how to use our cameras, iPhone, iPad, and computer to upload and share videos and pictures on the internet. Here are some videos of Maggie running about the past two days. :)

First Two Days

On Thursday, David and I went to go pick Maggie up from the breeder! I'm surprised at how unable I've been to post anything yet! Maggie has been keeping us so busy! When we got there to pick her up, the breeder showed & talked to us about her hernia, gave us a giant bag of food to mix with her new stuff, and a blanket with her siblings scent on it.

Everything has really been great! Maggie absolutely LOVED the car ride home, which was totally crazy for us, as we were expecting the worst. She's been sleeping alot, but when she's not sleeping, she's playing with her toys. We even had our own mini-Shiba 500. Last night when it was bedtime, she hopped right in her kennel with her blankie and slept all night. We were prepared to wake up and take her out through the night, but at 6am, neither David nor I had heard her make a peep! We got dressed real quick and as soon as we turned on the light, she was sitting in her kennel just waiting patiently until we woke up. She hasn't gone to the bathroom in the house once, and earlier, she ran right up to the door to go outside! I'm pretty sure she was born housebroken & crate trained!!! Hahaha love it!

My dad texted me first thing this morning to ask how much pee and poop was on the floor and was totally surprised when we told him how well-behaved Maggie is! He thinks something's wrong with her! But he doesn't know very much about her breed, so I guess I can understand that. 6 months ago, I would've thought the same thing! :P  

Today, we took her out to run some errands. The Apartment office ladies SWOONED over her and even gave Maggie some treats! Then we went to our Insurance Agency to work out stuff from the accident with one of the office girls, my friend Lori. Maggie completely FELL ASLEEP in her arms while we were talking, and then when Lori set her on her desk as we were trying to leave, Maggie just spread out and fell back asleep on her desk. Unbelievable!!!  After that, we took her to PetSmart as a treat. We blocked the big holes in the cart and let her ride up by us and everyone loved her! All the clerks said we won the Cutest Puppy of the Day Award. Hahaha, we were so proud.

Here are some pictures of her first couple days!

Loving the window on the ride home!

Curled up on Daddy's lap

Enjoying the air conditioning

Family car picture

Can you spot the Shiba?

Two Foxes :P

Had a long first day!

"Working" with Lori

Desk Puppy

First trip to PetSmart!

Posing with Daddy

"Thank you for looking at my pictures!"

Pictures of Maggie Thusfar

We have our own little timeline of Maggie since she was born from the pictures the breeder has been sending us every other week!

Left - 4 days old

Right - 2 weeks old

Left - 5 weeks old

And on May 9th, we went to go visit the breeder and see the puppies they had and choose from the two beautiful girls you see above. Here are some pictures from that visit!

David holding Maggie

Sitting patiently while we talk

Sisters Playing

Shy Maggie

Maggie and Mom!

Since David and I both have the day off work and don't have any plans, we decided we're not going to wait around here all day. We're headed out to Fort Wayne for the day! We're going to the zoo, the mall, and maybe meet up with some friends. So glad to have a Choice Hotel Employee Discount, that's for sure! We'll stay overnight there, and then tomorrow morning, leave bright and early to go pick Maggie up from Ohio! The next time we're home, we'll have a bright-eyed little furry girl with us! Hooray!  :)

Let Me Introduce Myself

Hi all,
My name is Sarah and I live with my fiance, David, in South Bend, Indiana. I am a 20 year old Nursing student at Indiana University South Bend and he graduated this year with a double major in Business Management and Economics from Purdue University North Central. We've been together for about two and a half years, but our love story started long before that. We live in a small little one-bedroom apartment and we're learning how to live with each other, but for the most part, it's been fun. After a long history of being apart, it's nice to know he's there - and vice versa, I'm sure! We will be getting married on September 22 (this year) and we're very excited about what the future has to offer.

In January, while I was still living with them in our old apartment, my roommates adopted puppy from the humane society. At first I wasn't all that interested (I grew up into a cat person), but after about a week or so with Sheldon running around, I got insanely jealous & thus began the dog-hunt for David and I.

He asked me to move in with him alot earlier than we had been talking about, but it was absolutely for the best and it also opened up the opportunity of getting a dog sooner. We really wanted a Siberian Husky, but for a one-bedroom apartment, it just would not be the best lifestyle for an insanely active breed as that. We started looking for small dog breeds, and to our surprise, we found a Spitz-type dog that was ADORABLE - the Shiba Inu.

We then had to decide: Breeder vs. Adopt? We talked about it for a long time, and ultimately decided to find a breeder and raise a puppy. My family never had a dog, so the only real experience around dogs is with my best friend Megan's dogs. David grew up around his father's dogs, so he has plenty of doggie knowledge. Since we don't plan on having any children until after I have graduated & started working at a hospital, we wanted the chance to raise a puppy. We wanted to go through all the trials and tribulations of training and raising our own dog. We tried looking at humane societies, but since Shiba Inus are such a rare breed, it was very difficult to find one at all - much less a puppy young enough to start fresh with training. So we decided to look for a breeder.

After contacting several breeders, and waiting a month for a nearby litter to be born, two little girls were born to the dam & sire of a breeder in Ohio on March 29. We quickly asked for pictures and sent in our deposit the next day to secure our first pick of the girls. And the 8 week wait began.