Sleepy Puppy

I continue to love my walks with Bruce.  Not only is he more frequently doing his "business" outside (for which we give verbal praise and cuddles, more so than treats) but there are a few of the complex staff who just love him. On monday one of the staff told me that meeting Bruce brightened up their monday blues. :) He also met a big ol' dog on a walk and they sniffed each other and Bruce was very intrigued!

Since we found that the milkbones are a little too tough for his puppy teeth, I bought him a chewy treat instead. Cloud Star Chewy treats.  They're adorable! They're shaped like little gingerbread men! Bruce got one yesterday because he was a very good boy. He loved it!

Yesterday was a big day for Bruce! He had his first vet appointment! He did great.  He played with the "nurse" while she asked us questions, and he fell asleep in the doctors arms! Completely zonked right out! How many people can say that?  I like the doctor a lot and the staff seems great.  I'm not sure if we lucked out or not, but I'm happy we didn't hate them! She gave us our first month of heartworm meds. and told us in the summer we're going to need a stronger flea protection than Frontline, and as it turns out, their flea stuff is cheaper :p so yay! But since we got Frontline, she says it'll be fine for the winter. Apparently fleas have adapted to it, so it's not as effective. Who knew? I got him a new special toy for being such a good boy at the vet. I picked a good one, because it's quickly become the favorite toy!... and an effective pillow!

Today I decided to switch Bruce from his travel crate to his home crate (after all, once he learns to fear the vet, he's not going to like that travel crate anymore!!) I put his lobster blankie in the crate just to make sure he's not going to mess in there, but if he does good today, we're going to try putting in the awesome argyle pillow, which will be much more comfy for sleeping.

One of these days I'm going to get a pic of him awake.

Bruce is slowly finding his voice too.  But I think he's been encouraged from the other dogs in the complex who bark at him through the window and he tries to bark back.  It's adorable.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch a video of it soon.

Curb Hopping

I had today off, so this morning I took Bruce for a nice long walk.  In our apartment complex there are a long of sidewalks, but they all end eventually, and Bruce was scared of the curb.  He didn't think he could go up onto them or down. I tried to encourage him, and eventually he would jump down.  :) in my opinion, he did very well. Unfortunately, I wore him out!! Poor pup has been napping on and off all day.

Bruce Day

So they say bad things happen in 3s right?  If only. It was as if one thing just happened after another after another after another...

So we left for the airport around 11am.  We wanted to get there good and early so we could figure out where we needed to be.  We took my car.  We got about 4-5 minutes down the road when my car started jerking around.  It seems to be fine NOW, but we had to come back to the apartment and take Tom's car. On the way back to the apartment, the breeder called and told us his flight got delayed because the heater in the plane broke.  Now he wouldn't be coming in until 8pm. (he was supposed to come in at 2:30) All this on top of.. er... lady stuff. So I was really stressing.

We decided to make the best of a bad situation, and go ahead to the airport, figure everything out, and take the MARTA into Atlanta to kill time. We parked at the domestic side of the airport and went in and asked a Delta Rep. where we needed to pick up live animals. Over at the international side, at the cargo building of course.  So we went back to the car, and half way to the international side, we figured out that the cargo building was TOTALLY separate from the terminal.  We drove by a cargo building a couple times and eventually pulled into a Delta crew lot and asked the parking attendant where we needed to go.  Oh.  Delta has its OWN cargo building. So taking the attendants directions, we circled around the international area a few times.  We could see the Delta cargo area but we weren't sure where pick-up was or, actually, how to even get to the cargo area.  It seemed to be on this mysterious road no one could get to.  I swear we circled this thing 5 times, went back on the highway, got off, and circled again.  At this point I had laid the chair in the car down and given up on life.  Tom hollared at some staff member (idk, I was in my own little turmoil world) and we FINALLY got someone to tell us we had to take the trucker road (which sign said NOTHING about cargo) down a ramp, rather than head towards the parking/pick-up for the terminal.  So we noted that there are 3 signs on the trucker ramp before the TURN which tells you that the Cargo Building was on the turn.  Again, pulling into the parking lot of the cargo area, we asked where we parked for pick up.  The attendant was very nice and pointed everything out for us.  We stopped into the pick up area to talk to the staff and get a better estimate on when the plane was supposed to get in, now. 7:47pm.  It was about 2:20pm at this point.  So we parked at International, took the shuttle back to South terminal and  got onto the MARTA to go to Olympic Centennial Park.

We had our hearts set on going to Googie Burger for lunch/dinner. We got off and accidentally started off in the complete wrong direction. We definitely ended up on the wrong side of town and asked a couple cops what we did wrong. Just go straight back the way you came, they told us, so we did! Took a few more wrong turns, but eventually I found a landmark I knew and we made it to the park.  And Googie was closed as of an hour after we got to it. Bummer.  On the way, we had passed Ted's Montana Grill and I had been curious about trying it.  We got Bison Nachos and Bison burgers and they were delicious! Would definitely go back.

It was about 5:30pm when we left there, so we head back to the MARTA and went back to the airport, took the shuttle back to the International terminal and we drove back to the cargo building.  We settled in and watched the Patriots game. The flight kept getting pushed back.  But around 8:30 they brought out our little pup! I cuddled him all the way home and he fell asleep in my arms.  (squee!) This of course, did not stop him from wanting to play when we got home.

16 hours!

I can't believe Bruce will finally be in our lives tomorrow!!! When we asked about how big Bruce was now, she sent us a couple more pics!  She says the pictures make him look a lot bigger than he is.  He's 4lbs now :)

I can't wait to snuggle the babe!!!!

Four Days!!

Man, we're so prepared that I've had nothing to blog about.  But tonight it occurred to me; should we take a treat and a toy when we go to pick Bruce up? Surely he will be frightened and stressed and we want to make him feel as comfortable as possible. We decided it should be a plush toy and one without a squeaker (I think we only have one or two of those!)

The Green Love Monster!

I had been meaning to show off the food dish we got.  It was on the more expensive side, but the size is big enough that he'll be able to use it for his lifetime (or until we decide to change them) but it's small enough that he'll be able to use it now, and a big plus: the bowls have a lifetime guarantee!  Ok ok, I mostly got it because it's the most freaking stylish dog bowls I've ever seen!

We decided it was time to put up the gate and start getting used to going over it to get in and out of the kitchen.  Yeah, it doesn't look like much, but it's sturdy (and the nice ones were $80+!!!!)  

I know my few readers are certainly done reading about my preparations and are ready for REAL puppy stories.... well so am I!!!! Just a few more days!!!!

Six Days!

Today was my first day back at work since our "vacation" ended.  I couldn't gush enough to my co-workers.  I would call people over, "Come look at my puppy!!!!!" and all my friends are telling me they will be coming over to play with him all the time :) Yay! Bruce is going to be so happy and so loved. Sunday can't come soon enough!

7 Days :)

Well, Bruce will be here in less than 7 days (I'm about to go to bed, so I'm SO tempted to say 6 days... but I'll leave that for tomorrow!)

I've been on "vacation" at home with hubs and tomorrow is monday so it must come to an end. Boo! The one good thing about work though, is it will make the week go by quicker, as I'm sure there is PLENTY of back-work for me to do.

I can't wait to have little Bruce in my life.

The Day of Preparation!

I think I spent almost as much on stuff as I did on the puppy today. We had some fantastic help at our local PetCo. We've been talking a lot with the staff and learning about their services.  We found out they do a free puppy get together every sunday, which will be great for Bruce.  If you don't know, if not socialized, corgis can have a difficult time accepting other dogs. Therefore, we want to make sure Bruce can get some interaction as much as possible. :)

We went to Target and Petco and got everything we should need...and then some.  Lots of toys! :) and the most darling crate on the earth!!! PHOTO MONTAGE!

His tag, our phone number edited out, of course. 

THE TOY STASH!!!! (and our rat, Rambo's exer-ball)

Treats galore! (lots of training in our future...)

Bruce's big-boy bed (or well, once he stops piddling himself and the house)

Bruce's crate and matching pillow, which we won't put in till he doesn't have accidents in the crate. (the brand, btw, is Snoozy Baby. AWWW!!!)

We also got (but I didn't photo) a gate for the kitchen, his collar and leash, tick/flea meds, food/dishes, bath products, dootie bags, and potty pads (also told my parents to be saving all their newspaper)  We are so ready!!!

I'm SUPER excited to announce that Bruce is officially paid for and will be joining our family on the 20th at 2:30ish.  LOTS of pics will be taken. So excited!!!!

Learning the Trade...

So this will be my first dog ever, right?  I've had lots of time with dogs, but never really training or grooming them.  I've been taking care to read up (and if anyone has tips/tricks to help puppy adjust, please share!) on little things like nail clipping, grooming, and helping my puppy be as comfortable as possible during the first few weeks of adjustment into a new home.
Well in my search for a shopping check list, I came across a surprising source of knowledge from none other than the PetSmart webstore. Naturally, they always end off their grooming tips by saying "...or just bring him to the PetSmart groomers!"
But anyway, I found their checklist to be as thorough as I was and helped me with my shopping list.  Even better than a "checklist from the trainer", which was very minimal. It made me sad!

So today, Tom and I will be going to Target and Petco to fully stock our home with puppy goodness. I can't even express how exciting this is for us. :) I will probably make another post later and tell/show you what we got!!

Not like anyone really reads this, but, does anyone have a puppy food preference? While looking at PetCo reviews the only one (that i was comparing) that had less than 4 "paws" was Pedigree, so naturally, I scratched that one off my list!!

Pre-Bruce Journal 1

Hello!!!
My name's Becky and I'm about to get my VERY FIRST DOG with my husband Tom (who actually does have dog experience)

For legit YEARS Tom and I have talked about owning a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and naming him Bruce.  Well the time has finally come!  We're in the stages of purchasing from a breeder a few states away.  We should get his flight info in the next couple days.  As for now, we're doggie-proofing the apartment.  We haven't bought ANYTHING which... we better do!!!!!!

Without further adu, meet our little Brucie Bruce!

We absolutely can't wait to meet him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to use this blog to tell our stories of his adjusting to our family and all the crazy things I'm sure he'll do. :) Can't wait to share his life with you!