Journey to the Great White North

All day Friday, I was asking for it by saying, "Well, at least it's rain and not snow."

Dayna and I drove over 10 hours in the dark and pouring rain and fog on deserted country roads to get to our destination.  By the time we arrived, my upper back, and shoulders were spasming and my hands were cramping from my death grip on the steering wheel.

But we arrived and that's what's important.  

Our hostess was amazing.   Teri Best Murphy and her TickLwood Australian shepherds made us very much at home, and, of course there were puppies.   Lots and lots of puppies.

8 little hellionis romping about like a herd of elephants, chasing, tackling, wrestling, and cuddling.   Most of them even managed to get at least one foot on a puppy pad before going potty.   I would have taken any one of them home.

To be honest, you couldn't tell Rogue was any different from her siblings in that environment.   I had heard that deaf puppies have problems because they can't hear the auditory cues other puppies give when they are being hurt, but she didn't seem to have any issues with that. 

She was snuggling and sweet and a little hellion.  In fact, I had brought my other girl, Ruby with me to keep her company on the way back and Rogue desperately wanted to play.  Her way of initiating play with Ruby was to leap at her face.   Ruby started with minimal correction (lip curl) and Rogue would back up and then launch herself back in with reckless abandon.  Finally, Ruby had enough and she whapped the offending pup across the room with her paw.   I'm not sure if Rogue finally took the hint or if she was far enough away that she got distracted by something shiny.

 

You're bringing it home???

Rogue has no fear.  I had to be careful when holding her in my lap because she'd just dive off towards the floor with no notice.  I don't think that has anything to do with her hearing and everything to do with her being a fearless, confident puppy and that's good breeding.

So we spent a lazy Saturday with puppies.   Teri arranged a shoulder and foot massage for me which I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed and the essential oils the massage therapist used, relaxed Ruby for the first time since we arrived.   I may have to do some research into this.

The trip back had a rocky start.  All the rain had melted the snow into ice and I couldn't get my car out.   Teri called on some strapping young Kanuks to help and in no time we were on the road.  Rogue had brief tantrums when we put her in her crate, but otherwise was a great traveler.  She peed on her pee pads in the car when we let her out and was a devil trying to get by us so she could dive off the end of the back.  I did mention fearless, right?

We got home late and so she got a lot to drink before bed so she was up a couple of times during the night.  This is typical puppy and totally our fault.

In less than 24 hours, she's fetching, going to the back door to be let out for potty and sitting on command.  Did I mention smart?  She's eating like a pig but is a self moderator which I found out when I fed her BEFORE taking her to Petsmart for some socialization and she wasn't much interested in the treats.  (doh).  

So far, the flickers (visual clickers) seem to be doing well, though she is not very fond of this not getting her own way all the time thing.

 My life is hell!!!

 I can't say enough about how much of this is because of her breeder's care of her in her early weeks.   It's an advantage a lot of people with deaf dogs DON'T have because few people get them from a good breeder, they're often dumped at shelters and rescues by bad breeders who can't make money off them when they're not killed. 

She's currently passed out upstairs which will aggravate my husband since he couldn't get her to sleep for more than a few minutes while I was at work today.   I'll wake her up at 8 so we can bounce her and hope she sleeps better tonight.

Next up...  Puppy class