Hi Carol and Kara,
Joe said you called today; I had been planning to call you to tell you that everything is going well.
I think we have decided to rename Heidi – ‘Nico’ since she was not Heidi for very long. Nico is a handful, but no more than we expected. She has only chewed on one pair of shoes so far. She is quite oral as any puppy her age would be, but I am gently working to teach her not to bite ankles and wrists. She seems to enjoy the Elk antler we bought her. She is lots of fun to work with. She seems to know that she is home and she is mostly with me wherever I go, but she also really likes Joe. She is gaining the confidence to go sleep in her bed in another room when I am working at my computer, although she is not ready for us to leave her at home alone for more than a few minutes. She sleeps in our bedroom with us in her own bed. It is good that I am not working right now. She is obeying the sit command pretty well, learning to tell us when she needs to go out and she is sleeping well, in the same room with us.
She has started jogging with me and loves being out. This morning we went for a long walk to visit a friend. I am introducing her to all of our friends and she is very good with people.
Next week I will take her out with other dogs to start socializing her with a professional dog walker. We have not formally introduced Nico to our dog Vyta, as we want to take them to a neutral place and have them meet. We are hoping to let Vyta first adjust to her wheelchair. We have a large home, so we spend time in different parts of the house with them. They should be adjusting to each other’s smells. I don’t think Vyta is terribly pleased, but we are still doting on her too and making sure that she does not feel like she has been replaced. Vyta mostly sleeps these days, so is not that aware that Nico is running around another part of the house.
A couple of days ago, when I was walking Nico, she managed to quickly eat an enormous brown mushroom from someone’s yard. Having no idea whether it would be harmful, I call our vet and they recommended that we induce vomiting, as a number of Revelstoke dogs have poisoned themselves recently. So Nico has now met our Revelstoke vet and the staff at the office really liked her. I am working to teach her to heal, so I can keep her away from the mushrooms.
I am confident that Nico will be a great addition to our family, and I will email you an update in a few days with some more photos. I am really glad that I have the experience of raising a German Shepherd puppy. I forgot how much work puppies can be, but well worth the effort. We are already having so much fun with her. She is truly delightful.
Thanks for checking in with us and please contact us to check in as often as you like.
Thank you,
Becky
