Our New Arrival

Pret went hunting with his dad and brothers over Christmas and came back wanting a dog.  He talked to his brother Dave, who has bred many a dog and we were on our way.  He let us know that he was planning on breeding his English (Llewelyn) Setter in the spring and we could have one of the puppies.

Here are some pictures of the puppy we got--Kate.  

So, Kate was born six weeks ago tomorrow and came to us on Friday night.  Pret went and picked her up and took her over to some friends' house where she scared their dog Nally (see post about cat or dog?).  He finally came to pick me up from the Wright's house at about 1:00 a.m. where we introduced her to a few of the family (Michael, Shannon, Aunt Diane and cousins Sarah and Amy).  Then we brought her home to my in-laws (I guess I need to update everyone on that--it will come, I promise) and introduced her to her room.  

She had fun sniffing around, playing a bit with her towel/ball, hiding under the bed, and snuggling with Pret.  After about 15 minutes, though, she was just plain tuckered out.  So she fell asleep on the bed.  We set up a little bed to the side and by 2:15 we were all asleep.  She slept fairly soundly for about 3 hours, but then I had to get up and let her out.  She is not house-trained, but we are working on that.  She played with me for a bit, but then she was tuckered out again.  I tried to go back to sleep with her in bed next to me, but I think I was a little too excited, so it never really happened.  

Finally, at about 6:30, she had to go out again.  I took her out and by 7 we were both fast asleep.  She slept in bed with us, occasionally  interrupted by puppy-mares, until about 9:30, when none of our bladders could hold it any more.  She played and slept off and on for the rest of the day, but then we left at about 5:00 to go to Lava Hot Springs, ID for our 2nd Anniversary.

We stayed at the Lions Gate Manor and enjoyed a night in the Medieval room in a four-poster, canopy bed after a nice soak in the VERY HOT hot pools.  We recommend the city (if the outside temperature is between 50 and 70 degrees, but definitely no more and less only if you like that kind of thing) and the accommodations to anyone who is willing to pay a little more (it is an "Anniversary Inn-type place), but really enjoy the experience.  

As we were pulling into the driveway back home, we were both entirely too anxious to see our baby again.  Dan and Brenda (my in-laws)  had taken very good care of it, but are now anxious to get a good night's sleep.  Dan said that they had a good play at about 2:30 this morning for about 15 minutes before she was ready to go back to bed.  Brenda just keeps laughing at me because I really used to not like dogs, but having been around their four dogs for the last few years, they are growing on me.  I think I still like cats better, and am definitely missing Miss Kitty, but I already love Kate a lot and look forward to watching her grow.  

I will try and post pictures of her weekly growth, although I don't guarantee that they will get posted weekly.  Come visit her soon if you can--she's pretty cute!