I mentioned last week,
http://silaria.livejournal.com/14148.html?nc=24, that we were fairly close to bringing a new 4 footed furry friend into our home; a little Sheltie [currently] named Pete.
Yesterday
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swift_fox, Melody (our Finnish Spitz) and I had an opportunity to meet and interact with Pete, his breeder, and a few of his relatives (Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Half-Sister, and Cousin).
The first thing we noticed when we entered the home was that the Mother's and Grandmother's barks (they were the only 2 our of their crates) were a bit muffled so the first question was "have they been de-barked?". (Info on Debarking:
http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/debark_qna.htm) Cathy, the breeder, said that all her shelties have been debarked. This surprised us because we were under the impression that dogs being shown could not be altered. However, the fact that he's de-barked, in our opinion, is not a show stopper.
Once all of Pete's relatives were outside, we got to meet him. I'll be perfectly honest, my first reaction was 'he's so small'. (He only comes up to Melody's shoulder.)
He's a very friendly little pup. At first he was only interested in Mel. The two of them checked out each other's scent and were perfectly fine with one another. (We didn't really expect anything different.) Once he as done checking out Mel, he came over to me then finally Swifty. For about 5 minutes he moved back and forth between us and breeder before getting very insistent about going out. (It was that time of the night after all.)
Pete's a fairly laid back guy. Out of his litter of 6, he was toward the middle of the pecking order.
It was also that time of the night for Mel too so, with Cathy's permission Glen took Mel out into the yard with all the other dogs. After about 10 minutes, the Shelties lost interest in her since Cathy's sister and brother-in-law were working in the yard next door. While Glen was outside watching over Mel, Pete came up for about 10 minutes worth of scritching.
I, on the other hand, stayed inside with Cathy, Mom (Emma) and Grandmom (can't remember her name). We started moving down the list of questions we had and there were no surprises. The night even included a quick grooming lesson for the Shelties - including brushing techniques and using a dremel tool for the nails.
Cathy will give me some food so we can either wean him onto something different or keep him on what he currently eats, Eukanuba Small Breed Adult Weight Control. (She doesn't use puppy food because the extra protein in the puppy food tends to make the pup grow too fast and can lead to join problems.) We figure this is equivalent to the Iams Weight Control Lamb Meal & Rice Formula we use to feed Mel and Candy. So, we are debating whether to keep the dogs on separate food or to move Mel off the Iams Senior formula back to the Weight Control. Problem is, I'm not sure what is in the Senior formula that isn't in the Weight Control. The last thing we want to do is hurt Mel to save some money on pet food.
The final thing we discussed was the contract to purchase him. A few of the requirements, which were quite reasonable, was that we had to take him to our vet within 10 days so we can have piece of mind that everything we've been told about his health was true. (We'll also have a copy of his current health certificate showing his shot record.) We also have to have him neutered before we get his AKC papers; something I'm going to need if I want to participate in AKC Sponsored Agility Trials. Lastly, if for whatever reason we can't keep him, we need to return him to Cathy to be placed in another home OR have Cathy's approval if we have someone who wants to adopt him. (This is because she doesn't want him to end up at a shelter.)
So... long story short... we own a Sheltie. Pete comes home on the 27th.
This next week will include purchasing the things we need (crate, collar, leash, food, toys, etc.) and finishing the puppy proofing of the home.
We are also trying to come up with a new name for him. He just DOESN'T feel like a Pete. One name we are kicking around is Bandit (since he's a little heart stealer). If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them.
Tags: sheltie
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