One Full Week!

Grete went to work for the first time today! I don't mean to brag, but... I think her cuteness exceeded the expectations of most people.

She did really great in Christel's office. Not one accident. She also slept like never before. I think the excitement of a new place wore her out pretty quickly. If I'm right, and it was just the excitement, then I dread the day when she's super comfortable at work. However, some folks pointed out that dogs somehow know that work is work and home is home -- so perhaps it will be easier to work at work and play at home. We shall see.

Given that one full week has passed, I should review some news and some stats...

She came home on Friday, and we spent the weekend trying to adjust. However, her poop just didn't want to solidify, so I took in a sample on Monday. It turned out that she had a weird parasite, but it wasn't really affecting her. It was a parasite that only affects things like chickens, rabbits, and giant ant eaters. (Eimeria.) Yes. Ant Eaters. I couldn't make that up.

Today the vet called and said her second sample on Thursday showed no sign of the weird non-parasite parasite, so she cleared it on her own. In fact, so far she's had two samples run, and nothing really serious has turned up - which, I think, is really good for a puppy. (Gesso's poop was also clear - so no transmission occurred either.)

Just to be safe from other real doggie parasites though, she's on Panacur Granules for three days. I call it her doggie cocaine because it comes in little dime bags that I mix in with her food.

A week after the Panacur runs out, I'll give her Sentinel Spectrum. It looks to be a monthly thing, but the vet didn't say anything about that so I'll have to follow up.

She does have a little lump to the left of her left shoulder blade. The vet took a sample, and she thinks it might a little bacterial infection from a fellow puppy bite. Grete is now on antibiotics just to be safe.

Although she didn't really sit still, she weighed in at 15.1 lbs on Thursday. If you believe that you can take their 8 week weight and triple it, she may get to a healthy 45 lbs. However, I found a breed specific growth chart, and it make it clear that it's too hard to say at 8 weeks without knowing the parents.

As for me, I've had a couple moments where I've thought, "Oh my god, what have I done?" but they actually pass fairly quickly. I think the first few months are going to be the hardest because there are lot of places we can't go yet.

The vet would prefer that she not meet other healthy work dogs until a week after her second set of boosters, and thus I'll be carrying her around my work to avoid other dogs (and to avoid accidents) until July 19th. Hopefully she doesn't get too big for me to carry before then.

I also got the impression that my vet would prefer we avoid the dog park and puppy classes until she's had her third set of boosters, which means sometime in August. This is a bummer, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

It's late, so I'm going to post this and head to bed. I promise there will be pictures in the next few posts.