You might think our life is chaotic enough without adding more chaos to it. True, but this Chaos is different and if her name is anything to go by, she will fit in just fine.
Meet Chaos. She's a two year old Norwegian Elkhound. We fell for the breed that night at the fairgrounds. It was love at first sight for us when we met the dog herself. And then after spending time with her, we couldn't imagine a better dog. Everything we wanted, everything we hoped for, we found with Chaos!We left on our spring break vacation the day after we met her and the entire trip, she kept coming up in discussion. More than once while we were doing something, it felt as if something were missing and we all realized it was her. Hubby and I exchanged cards for our anniversary yesterday, but finding out we could get Chaos was the best gift we could have given each other and our family.
We won't get her right away. She was spayed yesterday so needs time to heal. The timing should work out well. We're dogsitting Angus from Sunday to Sunday so it wouldn't be the best time to introduce Chaos to our household. She needs things to be normal when she comes for the first time. Needless to say, I was so excited last night, it was hard to sleep. I'm dragging a little today, but I don't care. Happiness trumps tiredness hands down.
We haven't told the kids yet. Everyday I get asked about Chaos. Yesterday, Rose asked if Chaos had her operation yet. If they knew she was coming to live with us, it would be non-stop questions until she arrived. I can only take so much so I'm going to wait until it's a little closer to give them the news or we might just surprise them. We haven't decided yet. Any thoughts on that?
Also, we'll be entering a whole new world with Chaos and want to be the best family we can for her. Does anyone have any doggy suggestions for me? Also any suggestions on introducing her to the three cats would be appreciated!
17 comments:
I am glad to here that you are finaly going to get your new family member soon. She looks like she is going to be a fantastic pet. I wish you all the luck with her.
She is a beautiful dogs and I think female dogs make the best pets. Good luck with the three cats and her. I should know some pointers since my brother was a veterinarian, but right now I can't think of any! Cindi
She's beautiful!!!
She is beautiful. Will you visit her on a daily basis until you get her home?
I would tell the kids the day before you pick her up; then again, wouldn't it be cool to drive to the place and say Chaos gets to come home with us. But then again, don't you have to buy items for Chaos before you get her home. so many decisions to make.
Congratulions on your new fur baby!
Oh, she's gorgeous! Since she's two, she's been trained right? If so, that should make things easier for you. Congratulations!
I am sure Chaos will be another blessing for your family!
Oh, yes, she's lovely.
We always had our dogs first and then brought in various cats and there never was a problem. Since she's two it may be easier than if she had been a puppy. I imagine the cats will just stay out of reach until they're ready.
Do you have far to go to pick her up? I'm thinking they'd love to go with you but if it's a long ride - not so great for you lol. Unless you can tell them you're taking them somewhere else that happens to be nearby. Can't wait to hear!
Congrats onto the addition to the family. Hubby and I do not have pets right now. We decided since our kids are so young not to add pets to the mix at least until they are much older. We have a 4 year old boy and a 17 month old girl.
She is gorgeous! Congratulations!
As far as suggestions: hide the cat poop.
Everything I've read about introducing dogs to cats is that you hold the dog and let the cats come to you. We kept the cats locked up for two days while Indy sniffed downstairs and then spent a lot of time holding Indy still when the cats ventured out.
What a beautiful dog! Congratulations on getting a new member in your family. How exciting!
I'll look forward to hearing how the settling in goes. I'm sorry but I don't have a stitch of advice; I've never had a dog so I know nothing about them. Sounds like everyone else does, though. Lots of good info here. :)
She's gorgeous, Melissa!!
I agree about holding back the dog and letting the cats go to her. It's their territory and they should feel that way when Chaos joins it. No matter what, the cats will be P'O'd at you ;-) Cats are just that way. But they'll get over it. I've had cats and dogs for years, and my mild dogs usually end up with the cats sleeping with them. It just takes cats a lot longer to come around.
We just got a puppy ourselves (she's on my blog...and I am going through SERIOUS withdrawal while I'm on Spring Break because we had to board her, since she wasn't housebroken yet) and the other two dogs have come around and get along great with her, but the cat will only play with her for a few minutes here and there. My cat JUST started "talking" to me before we left on SB, which was 3 1/2 weeks after we got the puppy. I figure she will give me a couple more weeks of cold shoulder when I get back ;-) and then we'll all be fine.
There's a product you can get, BTW, that will make poop taste icky. I don't remember the name offhand but Victoria Stillwell, the dog trainer, recommends it. We just have a covered cat pan and turn it into the wall (and put the extra litter on top to weight it down). The cat is thin enough to get in there, but the dogs are too big (and the puppy doesn't go upstairs where the litter is). We had one of those automatic pans but it kept jamming so this was a way cheaper, easy alternative.
I also got all the animals new toys and things of thier own before the puppy came. I keep the puppy apart from everyone else for a couple hours a day with gates to give the other animals a break, and give the other animals full run of the majority of the house.
I think that's all my tips :-). HTH!
Shirley
Beautiful animal, Melissa. I've never heard of that breed and probably missed the details of how you found her, but she looks like a winner.
As for me, I'd wait and surprise the kids. They'll go crazy!!
Linda g
She's so pretty, congrats to your family! It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride for you and I'm glad it ended so well.
As for introducing her to your cats, good luck. If she is good around cats that's a start and it will be a matter of the cats getting used to her.
Thanks, everyone!
Dru - we will not visit her. She's recovering from surgery, plus she lives on the opposite side of Portland so it's a bit of a drive over there.
Brandy - she is potty trained and knows some basic commands, but we need to take her to obedience classes. I already started looking at them and found one that starts in May.
Catslady - it's about an hour away I'd guess. Maybe a little less. They've been there before so would know exactly where we were going. We'll have to figure it out as it gets closer.
And thanks everyone for the suggestion. I'll have to figure out something to do about the litter boxes and I'll look into what Shirley suggested!
Right now, we're keeping it as a surprise from the kids. We'll see if that lasts though!
"There's a product you can get, BTW, that will make poop taste icky"
ROFLMAO That's hysterical when you first read the sentence and especially if it was taken out of context.
AHHHH YOU GOT THE PUPPY!! So cute! Shoot. I bought my sister some book about understanding your dog/their body language, and she says it's helped her a lot! Her breeder made her read a lot of books and take classes once she got her dog - even though she [the dog] has been trained - is actually a champion show dog... - if I dig it up I'll send you the name. I'm so excited for you!
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