Dog Days!

So the big news in our household recently has been that we are getting a dog!!!  As many of you know, I LOVE dogs and so does Brandon.  My whole life I have wanted a dog....but at the same time I wasn't sure if I would know how to take care of one or if I was ready to "sacrifice" my home. :)  But, that all changed when Brandon suggested that maybe for Christmas we could get a dog.  I was instantly excited.  Now, we didn't just go on that gut reaction....we prayed about it and thought seriously about the responsibility we would be taking on.  After a lot of thought, we decided that we would indeed become dog owners.  And I was SO excited!

Most of you that know me well know that I have always wanted a Golden Retriever.  They are adorable and so friendly....and sometimes ditzy just like me. ;)  But Brandon on the other hand has always wanted a dog who will play soccer with him and who might be good at agility.  He had a Border Collie in mind. 

I honestly knew nothing about Border Collies...that has changed!  He persuaded me that we would love a Border Collie and after showing me a picture of how cute they are, I agreed.  Because I had never seen a Border Collie in real life (that I could recall) we tagged along to a dog show with Brandon's mom.  She owns a kennel and is very familiar with dogs and dog shows.



This is the agility course.  I did not get pictures from the show side.  That is a border collie going into the tunnel!



A lab doing the uprights.  They are much slower than the border collies at this particular stunt.

 

Doing the jumps



The other agility course.  I liked this one.

 

That was a really cool day!  I got to meet a couple of Border Collies and they were wonderful.  Since that day we have found a breeder out of state that is awesome!  We had originally found a breeder that already had pups and was willing to have us get it that weekend but that was waaaay too soon!  We weren't ready!  Since then we have spent a couple of months preparing and slowly stocking up on supplies.  Currently we have everything we need except the food! (and the dog!!!)

Our cute little toy basket from Target's new Spring Collection is on the left and our new dog bed is on the right. :)  Below is our new leash and collar if you can see it. (It's black and white polka dots with bright blue edges)

And here is our basket of practical dog items in the closet and also the new food container (there's a whole story there too....for another time perhaps!) and some pee pee pads.

 

And how about a shot of the closet as a whole.....since I just cleaned the whole thing!  Haha!

And finally, we have my mom's one "dog contribution".  Haha, she's not an animal lover :)  Oh and she got us lint rollers, can't forget that!

Oh and don't forget, one last thing, the puppy cages that Brandon's mom is lending us from the kennel.  (And the pooper scooper...we bought that don't worry!)

And I bet you are wondering about our actual dog now huh?  Well, Zoey is here!  As of today she is 3 weeks and 1 day old. :)  She was born on Superbowl Sunday and given the name Raven originally in honor of the winners of the Superbowl.  We have changed her name to Zoey so our breeder now calls her Zoey so that she can get used to it.  She has 3 brothers and 1 sister. 

Here is the most recent picture of her at 3 weeks:

Adorable.  I can't wait to go get her!  We get to pick her up on March 23rd...right before my Spring Break!  I have been reading puppy and dog books like crazy.  My favorite has been Cesar Millan's: How to Raise the Perfect Dog.  He is a little strange but has really great ideas.  I also love his show, "The Dog Whisperer".  I watch lots of the episodes on youtube.  We will definitely keep you updated on Zoey....in fact, I don't think you'll have a choice. :)  Unless you quit reading of course....haha.