First week home, first blog post, first blah blah blah- Moral of the story- My dog is a blessing!
Delia is really something else. First, I have never had a puppy this young. 5 months had previously been my youngest. And Second, I have never had a small ish dog. My other dogs are a German Shepherd/blue heeler mix and a black lab. So when I got the unexpected email that there might be a puppy for me, I was all smiles.
See, after expecting to be in a little born in June, I was informed that the mom did not have enough in her litter to get down to my name on the list. I was so bummed! So eager little me, knowing another litter was expected in August, emailed my breeder asking about any updates. She responded a very short reply saying no new puppies... However, I might have one in this litter for you! Some folks in my original litter had decided it was bad timing and backed out!
So not only did I have to skip the whole...wait 8 weeks of impatient misery as she grew up enough, I also got to get her TWO DAYS LATER! It was so surreal. I'm a planner. And like to be well prepared. So I had two days to get EVERYTHING a puppy would need. (I work 12 hour hospital shifts... that happened to be both Tuesday and Wednesday before I got her. So I had from 8-9pm each night to shop)
So finally. Thursday came. I had to pick her up at 10am. So, obviously, I was up at 4 in the morning-Giddy. I cleaned and puppy proofed. Call me a nester. haha. We left to go get her, ran into a couple road ragers- Even they couldn't kill my mood! And we got to her country birthplace right on time.
My breeder comes out to greet me. Says she has a little boy out of one mom and two little girls out of the other. But she also told me she could almost guarantee which one I would pick. So I meet them. Hold them. Play with them. Little boy: adorable tri color, but I wanted a girl. Both little girls: Red with white markings. Girl 1: quiet, cuddly Girl 2: quiet and squirmy. And brave! She climbed on EVERYTHING. So after much deliberation, I was more drawn to Girl 2 (Now named Delia.) My breeder just smiles and said "I knew it." We went back inside, did some paper work. Got some instructions. Did some more petting, etc.
Skipping the uneventful drive home.
We are home. Dilly Dog was sleepy and never been on grass before. She walked through it like it was on fire, never letting her feet touch for too long. Finally, we went potty and went inside. I gave her a bath, we explored. Slept. Peed. Ya know, the puppy thing. Day two was very similar. We just got to know each other more.
Then day three came. And she's a little shit! That comfort switch must of turned on because she was nasty when I gave her breakfast. Side note: She was the smallest in her litter at first and needed additional protien/nutrition. But once she caught up, she was blatantly alpha puppy. Anyway, after discovering the puppy food aggression I immediately wanted to nip that in the butt.
Then when playing with the other dogs, she discovered pulling on tails. As hilarious as I thought it was, my other furry friends looked at me like, "Take it back." She tried pulling dominance on my german shepherd. It lasted about 3 seconds before she was put in her place. Then she tried pulling dominance on me... We are still working on that one.
It's been 5 days now and we have only had one accident and we are almost completely house trained. She has a webcam on her kennel so I can check on her when I am at work. This is just my dog child... Imagine how anxious I'll be when I have people children! HA!
Moral of the story, is we are still trying to figure it out, but we will do it together. She is a blessing and came at a perfect time for me. After a hard break up and some more discouraging news, she was a little ray of sunshine I needed and the perfect distraction. She keeps me busy...day and night...Who needs sleep anyway? Not a newly graduated college student.
Thanks to anyone that read it! Just wanted to share her story. It's rambled, but I wanted to tell someone. =)
Side notes/forgot to mentions:
Dilly's litter was my breeders 1st attempt at frozen semen. Her dad is from Canada I think. I think its a great way to get new genes in the pool!
I can't decide if we are house trained completely yet or I just take her out every two hours and it saves accidents. Because I have only had one and it was my fault, but I take her out consistently. Am I dreaming or could she really maybe understand the concept?
She is SO quiet at night. Maybe it's the inner RN in me, but I feel the need to check on her at night to make sure she is still breathing. Haha When I am not home, I just stalk the Hell out of her on the webcam.
She isn't a cuddly dog. Which is almost a disappointment, but I hope maybe she will start when she gets to know me more. I keep having to tell myself I have had her for 5 days now. She's still learning. And all the bad habits I see aren't permanent. IE-food aggression, dominance battles, chewing my face, etc
Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated. 8 week old puppies aren't my expertise at all!
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Comment by Heather on August 22, 2012 at 12:04pm
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SO hard. I'm all paranoid that she bond more with them. haha
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Comment by Danielle and Sophia on August 22, 2012 at 11:59am
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Thank you for the info I will have to check it out! I bet it's sooo hard having her away for 3 days!!!
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Thanks for the compliment on her name though! It is a shortened version of the Welsh name Cordelia. Which means Jewel of the sea or something. So despite her not coming from the sea, I thought it was cute. haha Delia means heart I think in greek? Maybe Welsh? I forget.
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Its through a host website called my d link. Just get a wireless web cam and set it up wirelessly then set it up with the website and you should be good to go. There is an apple app for it too. So I can peak in on her every where I go!! The app is called my d link lite.
Unfortunately for me she is with my parents for 3 days. =( As I mentioned, she came a little sooner than I anticipated and I am working in a non-dog friendly community until tomorrow afternoon. Commitments I made BEFORE I found out she was coming. Go figure. haha
She loves their big dogs though. The lab-Topher- lets her climb all over him. And my german shepherd/blue heeler - Ashe- mothers her to death.... Cleans her ears, follows her around, tells her whats up etc
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Love the name Delia!!! Sophia will be 2 in January and she isn't much of a cuddle bug either, it's so funny I try everything to have her sleep in bed with me, if she decides she’s up for it she only lays by my feet for maybe a half hour, other wise she sleeps in a laundry basket..LOL She claimed the small laundry basket one night so I put blankets in it for her, now it’s her favorite spot to sleep.
I am not very savvy when it comes to technology. How do you do the web cam thing?
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Thanks guys for being so helpful!
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Comment by Beth on August 21, 2012 at 10:52pm
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Good luck with the little one! I have a reply to a blog post here about food "aggression." Resource guarding is actually very normal for puppies, who are used to eating in a competitive situation. It's usually easy to fix and is not necessarily a sign of dominance at all.
http://mycorgi.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1150197%3ABlogPost%3A13196...
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Ha, wow I just realized (and since, fixed) that I said I have never had a black dog. My mind was going a million miles and hour apparently. I have never had a small ish dog. I have two very large black dogs that live with my parents. That statement just got combined. oops.
And Ludi, you are definitely right! She is a very fierce girl. And a brat...but mostly fierce. She will tease my german shepherd (Who is alpha in the house and is smarter than some people) and quickly duck or run when she reacts. It's hilarious.
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Comment by Ludi on August 21, 2012 at 8:33pm
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Kymii makes a good point about the cuddliness! I wanted a dog who would stick to me like glue - like a Golden Retriever, or a Lab - but instead I ended up with Ace. He is quite independent, and his favourite activities in life do not really involve my direct presence (playing with other dogs and animals). But! Lately, after he turned a year old, he has DEFINITELY changed in character. Sometimes he'll lay his head and paws on me while I watch TV. Or he'll spoon me when I sleep in, on weekend mornings. Ace shows his affection and cuddles in his own manly, stoic way. Do not be disappointed if Delia turns out to be a fierce girl who can weather the world on her own! She already loves you. :-)
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Comment by Sebastian on August 21, 2012 at 8:08pm
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I got my Corgi around the 9 week mark. As far as house training I would consider if she understands where to go when she needs to relieve herself e.g, she heads to the door to let you know she wants to relieve herself and there are no accidents within the house for a few months. Corgis are pretty smart dogs. To help bonding I started to to teach my lil guy some of the basic tricks like sit,wait,shake,roll, high five using postive reinforcements plus treats....at 14 weeks were still trying to get the command "Ball" for him to fetch it out of his toy box....Socialize your pup as much as possible around dogs you know that are vaccinated and wait for the dog park around the 18th - 20th (post 16 week shots) week mark if you ever decide to take your dog there....as far as being cuddly that can range from each individual Corgi...the reason I picked mine was because he allowed me to hold him like a baby when I went to the Corgi Farm while the others are very squirmy. Good luck she looks beautiful.
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