Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Finally, he slept through the night last night. I hope I'm not jinxing it by bragging online, but this is definitely a good thing. The other news: no "accidents" in the last two days! He's managed to run to the back door in a if-I-don't-get-there-in-under-two-seconds-there's-gonna-be-trouble kind of way. And I've managed to follow him fast enough :-) Yippee!

Me and my shadow

Here we are, stopping for a rest on our loooooong drive home. This was taken in the Safeway parking long in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Isn't he cute?

Ouch!

I'd forgotten how sharp puppy teeth are. And it's not just the little needles he has growing from his healthy pink gums, it's the persistent snapping and biting. He's a shark. But despite the constant pain and attempted distractions a la "chew this, not me," I wish this adorable puppy stage lasted longer than it does.

As for the health scare, since we don't know what our last one died of, I've been afraid the "germs" are still in the house. So, every time he makes a noise at night, I'm wide awake thinking he's gasping for his last breath. In reality, he's been "dream nursing." It's really cute, he must dream about those frenzied feeding fests he and his brothers and sister enjoyed - weeks ago, at this point. His mouth twiches and he makes sucking noises and it's oh-so-cute to watch.

This weekend

We're bringing our new puppy home soon, and I'm petrified. I visited him two weeks ago...adorable. He'll be the 2nd greatest dog to walk the face of the earth, I know it. Maybe even tied for first. I only hope he lives much longer than numero uno did.

Honestly, not knowing why our first Toller died is freaking me out. The emergency vet said with certainty "it wasn't parvo." She said "bring home your new puppy and enjoy him." Nevertheless, we've bleached the floors and removed the rugs and made most of the back yard off limits for the time being. That's the best we can do against the unknown thing. For all I know, there's something worse and more potent than parvo out there, and our dog caught it. Dang, I wish it we knew what it was. Then we'd know what else to do, where else to avoid. We'd know how to make this new relationship last the 15+ years we expected the last one to...

I love this picture. His breeder calls it "come get me, mom." Puppy, I'm on my way!!!