9 Weeks

Puppy rearing is labor intensive and time consuming.  I am having a hard time finding the time to blog, but I want to document all the cute and fun things she does before she grows up and all is forgotten.

I take tons of pictures and videos and need to get organized.  This week was all about socializing, adjusting to the routine, and having fun. We did not do much training.

Everyone says that Maddie looks smaller in person than in the photos.  She came home weighing 13.5 pounds.

We arrived home with Maddie on her 9 week birthday. Recall that it was 4AM in the morning, I had played with her for 2 hours and then napped for 2 hours. My head was so foggy.

My agility trainer had asked me to call when I was awake. After a short discussion, I decided to bring the hounds over to her place as it would be an easy way to tire out the puppy, Seven, and Riley without a lot of brain waves. It was a no brainer and Maddie had traveled so well that I was not worried about whisking her off again.

As I was getting ready to leave, Maddie ran into the living room and within 30 seconds was screaming her head off. Seven had dinged her. Nothing major, but it was a nip that left a mark on her ear and neck. I was so mad at myself for not protecting them both. Maddie deserved it.  She already had proved to have no manners around the adults and would mug them, but I did not want her scolded in the first day.  Well, off we went...

We arrived and introduced Maddie to my trainer's border collie pup, Fire. The wind had been knocked out of Maddie's sails from the incident with Seven so she was leary of the exuberant pup. We brought out an adult border collie who was less excited and Maddie was more interested in interacting and liked her fluffy tail.

We hiked the 20 plus acres with Riley, Seven, and the two border collies on leash. Being off leash, Maddie became very sassy and started to play with Fire. They wrestled and played as long as Fire was on leash (like having one arm tied behind her back).  Mission accomplished for Day 1.

My fog continued for most of the week since I was getting up in the middle of the night to take Maddie out and then I would continue to wake up over and over until it was time to get up. Eventually, I think she started to play me for the fool and wanted to just go outside to play. Honestly, I cannot remember now.

The entire week was devoted to socializing with people and dogs and introducing Maddie to new sights, sounds,and places. A few friends came over to meet and play with the puppy.

We went to my agility field and met my parents and their three dogs.

I took Maddie to Seven's agility class on Wednesday night where she met more people and dogs.

And then the Mack Daddy of all tests was taking her to an agility trial on Saturday and Sunday.

 And she did awesome! Honestly, Maddie's reaction, behavior, etc. could not have been better.

 We arrived at the trial early for a good parking spot.  I crated Riley and Maddie in the van and pulled a crate out for Seven so she was nearby, but unable to demonstrate her naughtiness to the pup.  Riley is to be the mentor for good crate behavior.

 On the sidelines, Maddie was very curious about everything, but not afraid.  She was always eager to see new things and check out strange noises.

Of course, everyone was anamored with Maddie having never seen a greyhound puppy before.  The big joke of the weekend was that she was a unicorn.... mystical and elusive.  No one thought they existed until she showed up at the trial.

Maddie also got to play with her border collie pup friend, Fire.  They got down and dirty.

One concern I had at the trial was that Maddie would be crated alone in the van for a short time while Riley competed.  However, Maddie was by then tired and in need of a nap.  In fact, she never complained about being crated and rested very well during her down time which is awesome.

So then after a long day at the trial on Saturday, we went to my trainer's place to hang out on her deck.  Maddie got to see a little girl swim and meet more people.

She then ran two border collie pups ragged.  I could not believe how much energy she had after such a long day already.  Even after the other pups had started to have enough, Maddie was still looking for things to chew or playing with the little girl.

All in all, a very successful and busy week for us.

Here is a video of Maddie being Maddie at 9 weeks.