I HAVE A PUPPY!!!!!

Pre pickup 7 weeks 3 days old

SUCCESS!!!!!!! Well, I will have a puppy in six days, that is.

My husband and I, with the help of the breeder, temperament tested six puppies yesterday, and the very last puppy, number six.... is now MY PUPPY!!!

Puppy three, a fairly large medium gold coloured puppy was pretty good, he tested highly (mostly excellents and goods) - but he struggled quite forcefully on my lap, for which I gave him a "NG", not good, for that test. I wasn't all that happy with that reaction - but wondered if the puppy was tired, or just hot. Apparently they had all been playing for two hours with all his brother and sisters (10 siblings!), and it was a hot day, so I thought either of these reasons could be causing his behaviour. However, I had my misgivings that he could be a rather independent, unwilling to cuddle puppy.

So when eventually puppy six came out, a slightly larger cream coloured pup, from the very first test (lap cuddle), we just knew he was the one. There wasn't a test where he didn't score an excellent or good, and the vast majority were excellent. He was so curious on my lap, crawling up my chest, licking, sniffing and wagging. His recall was excellent, he retrieved with a proper ball, he tugged with whatever he was given.... my husband and I kept on looking at each other. We knew so quickly that he was THE ONE. Wow.

I'm going to write up the whole temperament testing, but I'll put up two of my favourite photos of the pup, who we think is going to be called Knightley.

Our pup being held by my husband. We tried again and again
to get him to look at the camera, but we didn't have all that
long, so they were just quick shots intended to capture some
of the testing, and the moment of chosing.

Knightley, meet the internet.

I do hope we made the right choice, he was certainly the best there, but I am nervous about his hips, his elbows.... just a bit nervous. Can't help it! This is it. Planning time is over. It just got real.

We drive up to Sydney to pick him up on Saturday, only SIX days from now. How exciting!!!! On the way back today, via Sydney, we were looking for out of the way rest stops where we could stop to let a little pup out for toilet breaks - keeping in mind that we don't want him in places that put in contact with places adult dogs have been... since his vaccinations obviously won't be active.

Our puppy aka Knightley (maybe), having a scratch at his
new collar and looking very dirty, fluffy and cute.

So we have a week to get a few final things ready for the pup, and to puppy proof the front part of the house, where he will have supervised run. For when he can't be supervised, we have the crate and the exercise pen. We have a medium sized soft crate that will go in our bedroom for the first couple of weeks while he needs to go out during the night, then I'll slowly wean him out into the living room and into his bigger wire crate, and after that I'll give it a good wash and sell it as I am sure he will outgrow it pretty quickly!

I think I'm pretty ready for this adventure to start, very excited, and I'm very keen to see what this pup can do! Finally, I have found my puppy, my assistance dog prospect!!!!