How Did Anyone Make It...

[Kate]

How did anyone make it from the time you knew your Doodle was born, or from the time you knew you were getting another Doodle...how did you get from that time to the time when you could pick him/her up? My Little Dood is just over 3 weeks old and I have almost 5 weeks until I get to pick him up and take him home, but I do get to meet him in 2-1/2 weeks...

My question is...how the heck do you make it until D-Day (Doodle Day) without going crazy with excitement?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I came here (lots!) and bought loads of stuff!!!  Good luck to you, can't wait to hear all about your puppy and see lots of photo's.

[Kate]

Thanks Nicky! I feel like I am vicariously living the Doodle life thru DK until I get my guy!!! I have also bought loads of stuff already LOL!

[Dori & Rua]

I didn't discover DK until 11 days before I brought Rua home.  I then spent lot's of time on DK, did lot's of web surfing on taking care of puppies, bought/read books, and bought loads of stuff (common theme - some of us even went so far as to buy a new vehicle to haul around our Doodles)!

 

Now, I spend a less time on DK because I am taking lot's of pictures of Rua, spending time learning how to use photo-editing software, making cheerleading outfits for Rua and others, working on collar designs, blogging about Rua (www.lifewithrua.com), learning how to create a Wordpress website that will have a shopping chart so I can sell stuff (dog clothes, collars, agility equipment), taking Rua to training classes (right now we are enrolled in Agility Sampler class and Intro to Tracking), impatiently waiting for Oct 2012 Doodle Cruise (sans Doodles), learning how to groom Rua, and buying loads of stuff or spending money on something Rua-related.

 

It was difficult to make it to "gotcha day" without going crazy with excitement (9/24/2011 is the 1 year anniversary of our "gotcha day").  The problem is it doesn't get any better...I am still crazy wth excitement.  In fact, many of us are OCDM's (Obsessive Compulsive Doodle Mom's).

 

That being said...congratulations!  What is his name? 

[Kate]

Better sign me up for this club: OCDM's (Obsessive Compulsive Doodle Moms). I will be one for sure. :-)

I don't know what his name is yet! I can't decide! I will decide once I meet him!

I have been buying so much stuff, I need to get a handle on it!!!

But I am doing what you did too, like learning how to groom, checking out puppy classes, watching training videos, etc. to be as best prepared as possible.

Thanks for the tips, Dori!!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

That is so exciting! Enjoy every minute of the anticipation! You will have so much fun with the new puppy, but will also be very tired in just 5 weeks, so have fun getting ready for your new arrival now while you have the energy!

My dog is having pups in 8 days and all of them are already sold, so there must be a lot of people out there who are going through the same thing as you, only for a longer time!

[Kate]

Thanks Ginny! I can't wait!

[Leslie and Halas]

I went to Italy for 2 weeks of the wait.  That helped.  I also bought lots of puppy supplies, and checked the breeders website constantly for new puppy pictures.

[Kate]

Ha! Right on, Leslie! I went to NY last week for 5 days to take my mind off of it!!! :-) Didn't work so well b/c I brought my laptop with me so I could look at pics that my breeder sent me while I was away.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Lot's of DK time, we traveled while waiting for Murphy and with Bella I was just too busy and time flew. Shopping for puppy stuff is fun and helps too. At least the UPS guy comes quickly so you have something to look forward to every few days.

[Kate]

Sue...totally! I am seeing my UPS gal daily! Raised dog dish stand should come tomorrow. SnugglePuppie should come the next day. :-)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

There are some discussions on the raised dog dishes, Did you research that yet? Some studies say it can lead to bloat and some say it helps. I don't know for sure but my two have their bowls on the floor after the last research I read, but it's been a couple of years and it may have changed again. Just and FYI

[Kate]

Oh no, really? Bugger. I used one for 12 years with Haus and he did have one bloat scare, but that is while he was doing physical therapy and his physical therapist said do the leg hold exercises while he is eating (BAD idea). At the time my vet and all the obsessive reading I did was pretty inconclusive 6 on this side, half a dozen on the other side. You don't have any recent article links handy by chance, do you?