I've paid my deposit, in 7 weeks I'll have a puppy!
The day was not without its trials. Like, what do you do when you only want one dog and you're confronted with this?!

Fortunately these guys had already been sold:

...so there was no danger of me caving to the cuteness and accidentally taking all nine:

And I only had to choose between these four boys:

I pikced up the little guy in the dark blue and he snuffled around, trying to find something to suckle:

...at which point I fell completely in love. But I thought, No! Give the other guys a chance too! So I put My Puppy back with his brothers:

And picked up thegreedy one former!runt of the litter:

Who tested my resolve by slumping bonelessly on me, and by being unfairly adorable:

Then thegreedy one former!runt started making really pathetic but totally determined squealy noises going 'I can smell you guys eating! But this giant has DOGNAPPED me, and I'm going to STARVE to DEATH in the next TEN SECONDS,' so I put him with his mum:

And then I put the my little guy with them all as well (because his brother had swayed me, he could have starved):

And then the other two unsold brothers as well:

And then I watched them all wriggle around and squeak for a further two hours, but my guy came out on top:

...leaving me with no choice but to put down a deposit on my little buddy in the dark blue.
He weighs 700 grams and his eyes and ears haven't opened yet. He's nine days old and will be ready on July 6th. I fully intend to visit at least a six million times between now and then.
In conclusion: PUPPIES!!
And also after seeing Iron Man (awesome!) and Charlie Bartlett (distinctly average) in the space of a week, I've developed a huge crush on Robert Downey Junior. That is all.
ETA: Wait, no that's not all. I'm open to naming suggestions. Anyone? I don't want a person-name; a verb or something sci-fi/space related would be fun, but something I wouldn't be embarrassed to shout across a park. My shortlist so far: Storm, Sputnik, Echo, Loco, Caper, Link, Gambol. Ideas?
The day was not without its trials. Like, what do you do when you only want one dog and you're confronted with this?!

Fortunately these guys had already been sold:

...so there was no danger of me caving to the cuteness and accidentally taking all nine:

And I only had to choose between these four boys:

I pikced up the little guy in the dark blue and he snuffled around, trying to find something to suckle:

...at which point I fell completely in love. But I thought, No! Give the other guys a chance too! So I put My Puppy back with his brothers:

And picked up the

Who tested my resolve by slumping bonelessly on me, and by being unfairly adorable:

Then the

And then I put the my little guy with them all as well (because his brother had swayed me, he could have starved):

And then the other two unsold brothers as well:

And then I watched them all wriggle around and squeak for a further two hours, but my guy came out on top:

...leaving me with no choice but to put down a deposit on my little buddy in the dark blue.
He weighs 700 grams and his eyes and ears haven't opened yet. He's nine days old and will be ready on July 6th. I fully intend to visit at least a six million times between now and then.
In conclusion: PUPPIES!!
And also after seeing Iron Man (awesome!) and Charlie Bartlett (distinctly average) in the space of a week, I've developed a huge crush on Robert Downey Junior. That is all.
ETA: Wait, no that's not all. I'm open to naming suggestions. Anyone? I don't want a person-name; a verb or something sci-fi/space related would be fun, but something I wouldn't be embarrassed to shout across a park. My shortlist so far: Storm, Sputnik, Echo, Loco, Caper, Link, Gambol. Ideas?
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Date: 2008-05-17 12:36 am (UTC)Of course, my mom always said that if you wait a few weeks, the puppy will name itself. My first dog, the second day we had him, got into the pepper in one of the cabinets and sneezed all over the place for hours, so we named him pepper. My current dog, Furball, was shedding as a puppy, which i'd never seen before.
But, OMG HOW CUTE. They have such pretty coats!
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Date: 2008-05-17 02:24 am (UTC)SO cute!
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Date: 2008-05-17 03:09 am (UTC)We almost named Sam "Six" except try shouting that one loud. :-) We ended up with Sam because we couldn't agree on a girls name at the time. We thought we were getting a boy, and we were going to call him Milo, and then there was only one boy in the little and people higher on the list wanted him. :-) But I'm super happy with Sam. It's easy to shout.
Our next pup is going to be named Rooney (short of Macaroon). We also may or may not want to name dogs Pancake and Waffles. :-)
Yay! puppies! :-) Let me know if you have any questions.
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Date: 2008-05-17 10:00 am (UTC)Their coats are gorgeous, aren't they? That's part of what drew me to my guy; his was the nicest colour.
I'm going to go visit again in a couple of weeks and meet his personality - right now he's just a wiggling little wrinkled thing. Because yeah, I want to know him before I pick out a name.
So fun! This whole process is rocking, so far.
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Date: 2008-05-17 10:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-17 10:10 am (UTC)You're getting another dog? Or is that a hypothetical dog-of-the-future thing?
Rooney's a great name! I think it's limited to dogs outside of the UK though, as we've got a footballer called that. I see a food theme in your naming process,
I might just call on you with dog questions, thanks! None of my RL friends have dogs and I'm a newbie at all this. I've been reading up, but that only goes so far, you know? I'm looking forward to taking him to puppy training - partly so I can meet local dog owners, too. And because I do feel slightly guilty for taking him away from the rest of the litter and I want him to have doggy friends.
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Date: 2008-05-17 11:22 am (UTC)I now ded from cute overload. Sorry. Not much help except FLAIL and SQUEE and TOO TOO TOO cute. I don't see how it could be ALLOWED to be that cute. Ahkjlhghdfjdsahgd WANT.
I mean. Um. Do you think there will be a chance to visit the little guy, since you'll take him home the week after we leave, which is terrible timing for someone wanting a dose of this adorable. Though it might just make me pass out or something. Because - PUPPY. And also - KITTEN. Expect a LOT of brianmelt once you start posting pics of BOTH. (Where are you finding Kitten?)
I think you should give them matching names, by the way. ♥
In conclusion - eeeeeeeeeeeee, PUPPY. ♥♥♥
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Date: 2008-05-17 12:15 pm (UTC)That's pretty much what I was saying to the mum's owners. It was so hard to leave! They were very nice about it though - it's their first litter, so they've been spending a lot of time watching them wiggle as well. ♥
We could totally visit!! It would actually be really good timing for the pup, as I want to take a blanket or something that smells of my house in the week before I collect him, so that he can get used to it and so my place won't feel so alien when I rudely take him from his littermates. You think DC will be up for it? I'll ask her.
I'm going to get the kitten from a rescue shelter. I was leery of getting a rescue dog because I'm more worried about dogs with Issues than I am about cats. Maybe it's because I know cats better than I know dogs. I wanted to get a pedigree so that I could meet its parents and have a reasonable idea of how it'll turn out. Labs are known for being good with kids, which, as it should live until I'm 40ish, is a concern. If cats don't like kids then the kid gets a scratch and it's no big deal. But dogs are more of a worry. So, £300 pedigree dog, free rescue cat.
Matching names would be so cute! I don't know if the kitten'll be a boy or a girl. But... Link and Zelda? Loco and Orbit? Hmmm.....
::bounces::
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Date: 2008-05-17 07:54 pm (UTC)And I think you've got such a beautiful, excellent plan! If I could, I'd get a rescue kittie, too, for the same reasons you listed. And then a little pedigree puppy, to be certain you get a nice dog, and then the two of them togeter just - awww. They'll be so sweet! (*crossing fingers*) ♥
Like this, maybe? One dog mommy with puppies and kittens!
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Date: 2008-05-17 09:48 pm (UTC)I like Sputnik, don't mind the others but I am very against storm. the only other suggestions I have are Krypton or Xenon (or Plutonium!). But given my history with dog names, I wouldn't take my advice on the matter.
Also, um, hi!
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Date: 2008-05-17 11:20 pm (UTC)Like that link. Is it fickle of me that I actually feel way better now? I forgot how tiny kittens are! God, so cute. Thanks. ♥
I can't wait to have my little guys at home. I sort of feel like it'll be cute overload and it'd make a certain sense to space it out a little: protract the cuteness. But it also seems much more efficient this way. One period of house training, one period of not leaving home for more than a couple of hours, plus the socialisation aspect for the animals. And... does cuteness add up linearly? Or does cute puppy plus cute kitten equal infinite cuteness?
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Date: 2008-05-17 11:32 pm (UTC)Yuddle is an awesome name! It makes me think of a really cheery, dippy dog. It's not a trying-too-hard-to-be-clever kind of name; it's more like 'Dude. It's a dog'. Which I find pretty refreshing after reading a bunch of dog name lists of pretentious suggestions like Aristotle or Archimedes. Seriously, Yuddle is cute.
I like Sputnik as well. I'm sure I'd end up shortening it to Spud, which, for some reason, amuses me. Is there a reason you're anti-Storm? Just curious - if there's an ethnic group/atrocity/historical event I'd be inadvertantly disrespecting, you'd let me know, right?
I want the puppy now now now!
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Date: 2008-05-18 08:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-18 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-19 02:49 pm (UTC)How many of them are you taking in again? Only the one? How did you manage that?! (I *so* want to visit him, btw!)
As for names, DHD is still out of question, huh? *g* And I just thought -- why, I have no idea -- 'Hey, what about Frell?' but given its meaning that's probably not such a good choice. *vbg*
Okay. *laughs* Don't ask me about names. Next thing I thought of right now was X-wing! Why? No clue!
I'm useless! Do not let me name anything. Maybe it's the cute that melted my brain.
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Date: 2008-05-19 02:56 pm (UTC)I'm already planning when I'll go visit him again. His eyes have probably opened by now, and I'm missing it! And, 80 miles isn't that far, right?
I keep looking at the pictures and smiling, I can't help myself. And I went to a dog event in a park near here yesterday and got some insanely cheap, good quality second hand toys for him. I'm besotted already!
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Date: 2008-05-19 03:14 pm (UTC)Have you thought about going to dog school with him? This friend of mine went with her dog. They had a class especially for dogs younger than six months. (Hers was older but untrained, because she'd taken him in from an animal shelter.) I accompanied them twice, and the puppies there were absolutely able to make people spontaneously combust from overexposure to cuteness. They just let their dogs play a lot there -- it was mostly about learning to deal with other dogs. Oh, and to get the general principle of 'sit'.
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Date: 2008-05-19 06:10 pm (UTC)I've got a sort of a business plan in my mind for some sort of dog-walking social event once a week, somewhere local. I can't seem to find anything online, which is crazy! There must be other people who want to walk their dogs in a sociable environment. I can't work out how to make any money out of it though, which is a problem!
A month is forever! I'm gonna go down and visit on the 29th, on my way home from a night in London. There will be picspam!
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Date: 2008-05-20 03:01 am (UTC)This is a hypothetical future dog - I need a more reasonable job before I can get another one.
We are rather FOND of food in this house. :-)
Socializing is a great thing - I MISS my dog park friends SO MUCH.