Nature is unpredictable

I guess that is something to keep in mind when waiting for a puppy to be ehm... bred.

I sent an email to Mrs. Wittwer to inform her that we had decided to go for a Hayowenta pup. She mailed back to congratulate us with our choice of breeder (very nice) and then she also wrote that things had not worked out between Stukki and Baxx. No mating took place between them. No puppies are on their way.

Now that was of course a bit of a shocker. And it immediately had me thinking: "What if it doesn't work out between Dazhitaa and her mating-partner-to-be?" Would it only mean a 6 months longer wait? Would they try again or maybe not? I will have to ask Nicole and see what she says.

I don't have a clue how often it doesn't work out when breeders put together a bitch in season and a dog... but it has me worried a little now.

On the other hand... it is probably better to stay positive and trust that things will work out just fine and that we will have a lovely pup somewhere mid August. Worrying is not going to change the course of things and it is so much more fun to trust that everything will go well now!

Still... comments saying: "Don't worry it will all work out fine" will be highly appreciated! ;-)

YAY!!!

Nicole just called and we are on the list for one of the Dazhitaa puppies!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!

Here you can see Dazhitaa: http://www.hayowenta.ch/hunde/dazhitaa/dazhitaa1.php

We don't know yet who will be the dad, as that is not 100% certain yet. Nicole will keep us informed as soon as it is certain.

If all goes well, we will be able to take a puppy home somewhere around mid August. It is a long wait, but am so happy that we are at least getting closer to that now! Mid August is actually pretty good, because that will be right after we return from our summer holiday.

I cannot tell you how EXCITED I AM!!!

Almost there!

Finally ... we visited the third breeder. And it was a great experience! Reto and Lorenzo came with me, Tina had to go to the scouts and couldn't come along. This time it only took us 1 hour 40 minutes to get there. We were enthusiastically greeted by dogs (Dazhitaa and Duscha) and breeders (Nicole and Peter). Dazhitaa immediately stole a piece of my heart. What a lovely and beautiful dog! We talked to Nicole and Peter for almost an hour. They told us some things, we asked questions and it was all very friendly and relaxed. Afterwards, we went for a walk with the dogs. Lorenzo got to hide a ball and the Dazhitaa had to find it. We were suprised by her speed! Wow! And how well her nose works. The ball was found in no time, even when she didn't see where Lorenzo went because she was being distracted by Nicole. Duscha is an older Toller, 14 years old and therefore didn't play much. She did go after the ball too, when Nicole threw it only 2 meters away. It was sweet.
After a while, Dazhitaa disappeared in the woods for a short while and when Nicole called her, she came back, only to dash off again. And suddenly we saw a deer running through the woods. Great sight! Dazhitaa didn't go after the deer and appeared shortly afterwards.

After the walk we drove back home and Reto and I are both very happy with the way the afternoon went. We feel that Nicole and Peter are very nice and very competent. We really like the way they handle and treat their dogs. Dazhitaa is a fantastic dog, very lively and sweet and also very very pretty.

So when we came home, after we had dinner, I immediately called Nicole to tell her that we would really like to buy a puppy from Dazhitaa's nest. She said that she also had a good feeling, but that they always "sleep 1 night over it", before they make a definite decision. So... tomorrow afternoon, she will call me back and let me know if we can buy a pup with them.

I cannot tell you how excited I am!! I have a good feeling about it and I would be soooo disappointed if we would be turned down. So... keep your fingers crossed for us. And check back here tomorrow evening to hear whether we are on the list for a Dazhitaa puppy or not.

More preparations

I got all my books from Amazon! Great reading material, especially the book from Nona Kilgore Bauer, called "Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever" (Special Rare-breed edition, a comprehensive owner's guide). I finished it today and it is a really good book. Easy to read and still chuck full with information.

The other books I got are:

Cesar Millan - Cesar's Way
Cesar Millan - Be the Pack Leader
Schlegl-Kofler - Hunde Sprache ("dog language")
Norma Zvolsky - Retriever Schule ("Retriever school")

I have already learned so much about dogs and their behavior and ways to train them. I find it very interesting and lots of fun to read about it and I can't wait to put some of it into practise.

Today we have decided where we will put the water/food bowls and the crate. Reto doesn't like the idea of a crate in the house, but I will convince him that it is nothing mean. And that the dog will feel safe(r) in a crate.

I am going to get rid of our old VHS tapes and the shelves they are on, to make space for the water/food bowls. I will probably bring the tapes to a charity shop. I will then have to put a big waterproof mat (like a place mat, but bigger) on the carpet in that corner. It would be easier if we could put the bowls in the kitchen, but we have no handy corner for that in the kitchen.

We have already pushed Lorenzo's keyboard to the side, so that the crate can stand next to it. I am not sure yet, that that will be the best spot for it, because it is behind the sofa and the sofa works a bit like a room divider. So if we are all in the sitting area, the dog wouldn't be able to see us. I am considering another spot, that is right next to the sofa and would be overlooking the whole living room plus offer a view of the kitchen and the hallway.

I am looking forward to visiting the third breeder on Saturday. I hope it will click so well, that we can really put in an "order" for a puppy.

Is it the 26th yet?

Impatience is hitting me. I haven't yet received the books I've ordered. I am trying to read the book on Clicker training for puppies, but it is so boring (not the clicker training, but the way it has been written), that I can only read small segments before I need a break. That is so not like me when it comes to reading. I have finished the book on body language (of dogs) and the one about the "child safe dog". The book with all the dog breeds in it has aged considerably since I got it from the library. Thumbed through that one a million times.

And right now there is nothing I can do to get us closer to getting a Toller puppy. Sigh.

Names

I thought it was necessary to give the dog a name that starts with the letter of the nest. But I have seen that many breeders take care of that name and that the owners then give the dog a different or extra "calling name". And that can be just about anything you like. So that makes it at least easier to name the dog.

Together with Tina and Lorenzo, I have been trying to find names for our future dog. At first we thought that we wanted a female dog and we came up with the names "Ohana" (means "family" in Hawaiian) and "Mindy" (just because I like the sound). Now that we are not sure whether it will be a male or a female dog, we have been looking for names for a boy too. I really like "Robbie" (sounds good when you call it out loud, you should try it) and "Rocco". Tina likes "Cody" but Lorenzo and I don't. We all like "Nicky" for a boy OR a girl. Lorenzo and I also like "Nando"

I am searching the dog names lists on the web. There are millions of names. Most of them NOT what I am looking for, LOL!

So here are our lists for now. When they change, I will post again.

Female dog names:
Mindy
Ohana
Nicky

Male dog names:
Robbie
Rocco
Nando
Nicky

No smells

I forgot to mention that Reto and I were positively surprised that neither of the breeders' houses smelled like dog. The second breeder had 3 Tollers (plus the puppies) and 1 Golden Retriever and she said that the Golden Retriever does have that typical "dog smell", but that Tollers don't. Another plus point for the Tollers!

BARF-ing is also known to reduce that typical dog smell, btw.

Breeder visits day trip

Okay... so yesterday we had to get up early (not what we usually do on a Sunday) and leave the house by 08.30. We picked up Michaela and her dog Stukki at the train station of Winterthur. Stukki made a very good first impression on us. She seems very calm, balanced and sweet. She jumped into the back of our car without hesitation and we never once heard her during more than 2 hours drive to Couvet. We had one "pee stop", but that was on Tina's request, not Stukki's. It was nice to have Michaela with us, because we could ask her lots of questions and she patiently answered them all for us. She is also "BARF-ing" and she said it is really not a big deal. Quite easy. Stukki is her first dog and she got her from the breeder that also BARF's, so she didn't know any better.

The last bit of the drive was on winding roads over hills and ... there was fresh snow! It had snowed all Saturday.

The arrival at the Wittwer's was chaotic to say the least. They have 5 tollers themselves and with Stukki in heat, the dogs were overexcited, LOL! Especially of course the two males. We were standing in a hall way, 6 dogs and 7 people. There was lots of action. Lorenzo was a bit overwhelmed and he pulled up his hands when one of the dogs got too curious about him, of course the dog reacted by jumping up and we told Lorenzo to keep his hands down. But that was somehow hard for him to do. After a while, Mr. Wittwer let the male dogs out into the garden and then it slowly got a bit more quiet. The dogs each found a spot to lie down (plenty of dog beds in the house) and we could talk and have lunch. The house was cold, because the heating was broken, but in the living room there was an old wood burning stove and it was warm in there.

The tollers all looked different, only Stukki and her mother are so alike that we had a hard time to keep them apart. Tina knew all the dogs by name in no time. Amazing! The dog that is to cover Stukki is a large, dark red dog called "Baxx". He has a very long back and to be honest, he was the only dog that I didn't like the looks of. He was friendly enough. But his dimensions were just off the chart.


We had lunch with Michaela and the Wittwers. (Yummy "finnish" sandwiches) Mrs. Wittwer was talking a lot and Mr. Wittwer was quietly taking care of the dogs (letting them in and out of the house) and after lunch he smoked a pipe. They made a really good impression on us: friendly and very competent. We learned a lot of new things, like: male dogs are more into cuddling than female dogs for instance. I really didn't know that. And that dogs really only shed twice a year if you don't castrate them. Once they are castrated, they shed a little all year round. (That was an "aha" moment for us).
Mrs. Wittwer told us that she doesn't let people choose a puppy from a nest themselves. She first spends a lot of time with the people that want one. And then when the puppies are getting a bit older and show their character, she matches them to the people. So we wouldn't have a say in it. I was surprised by this, but I trust her to make the right matches and I wouldn't have a problem with that.

After lunch, there were suddenly 7 Tollers in the house! The Wittwers also have a dog hotel and the 7th Toller was staying there. Later, another 5 dogs (all different breeds) were let into a room too. There was a small wooden fence in front of every dooropening and when I came to greet those dogs (from labrador to spaniel to tiny mixed breed), they all were very excited. I had not enough hands to stroke them all, LOL!

All too soon, we had to leave again, because it was a 2 hours drive the next breeder and we had to be there around 15.00 hrs. We said our goodbyes and drove through winter wonderland for the first few miles. Snow, blue sky, sunshine. Gorgeous!





Once it went down hill again, we were back underneath the fog in a gray world without snow!

It took us 2 hours and a bit of searching to get to the second breeder. The word "boondocks" comes to when to describe where they are living...
We were welcomed by Paul Hulbert and taken into the house. We took our shoes off outside and stepped right into the living room. Part of the living room was made into a dog pen, with a low gate surrounding it. There were 2 grown up dogs in it and 7 puppies. The grown ups were the mother and the grandmother of the puppies. When we walked in, there was another family visiting and they were sitting in the dog pen, with puppies in their hands and on their laps. Soon they left and it was our turn. We had to desinfect our hands (and in hindsight we shouldn't have visited another breeder before, because of the puppies) and then we could step into the dog pen. The puppies were born on 27 Dec 2007. Their eyes were open, they could crawl a little and they were of course adorable. To my surprise, I wasn't immediately melting at the sight of them. They were still so small... I think they are cuter when they start running around and playing. The kids had a ball (as you could see on the pics yesterday). Reto and I talked a bit with Anna Hulbert.

Somehow, it was a totally different visit than with the Wittwers. When we left after about 1 hour, Reto and I both didn't have such a good feeling about it. We couldn't really say what it was. I guess we just didn't really "click" with the breeders.

It was another 2,5 hours drive back home. On the way, we stopped to eat dinner at a McDonald's and we were back home by 19.30. Very tired! As soon as the kids were in bed, Reto fell asleep on the sofa and I woke him up at 22.30 to go to bed. (Wake up, it is time to go to sleep... LOL!)

When I checked my email (while Reto was sleeping on the sofa), I was surprised to see an email from Anna Hulbert. She said that her feelings were, that we should try to get a puppy from another breeder. Her gutt feeling told her that would be better. So it seemed we had the same feeling. I told her that and that we wished them lots of success and fun with breeding.

While we were there, she had told me that another breeder, Nicole Molenaar, is planning a nest this summer. And when I got home, I looked her up in the internet and had a look at the dog that will be the mother of the puppies. It is a beautiful dog, dark red with white on the face. So I emailed her and we made an appointment for Saturday 26 January. I called her to make that appointment and she sounded very nice. (She is married to a Dutch man, btw)

So ... now we wait again. We did really enjoy our time with the Wittwers and we would like to order a puppy from their next nest. But I didn't like the looks of the dad-to-be. So that is keeping me from doing that right now. Both Stukki and Baxx are very big for the breed and we were more looking for a small Toller. But then again... you never know how big the puppies become exactly. Mrs. Wittwer told us that the small male dog they have, has "made" big tollers. And even within one nest, the difference in sizes are big.

I am curious to see Dazhitaa, the dog that Nicole Molenaar is going to have a nest of in summer.

Reto and I have now decided that we don't really care whether we have a male or a female dog. There are pros and cons for each of them. And by not choosing one or the other... it is also easier to get a dog from the nest that you want.

Tina and Lorenzo would of course have loved to take one of the puppies home, LOL! I explained them that the dogs would be a lot bigger before they could be taken away from their mother and they had peace with that. They also liked Stukki a lot and said they would want one of her puppies.

Patience, patience...

Pics now, story tomorrow

We visited 2 breeders today. I am too tired to type out our story (it has been a long day), but here are the only 2 pics that I took. And crops of the puppies just because they are so cute.

BARF?

No, this is not what you are thinking! BARF is a way of feeding your dog. (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food. In German: Biologisches Artgerechtes Rohes Futter). This means that you feed your dog in the way that wolves eat. Raw meat, bones and some veggies and fruit. The first time I read about it I was shocked and kinda disgusted. But then I started reading more about it. And also about the negative sides of feeding your dog manufactured dog food. And now it really got me thinking... and I might even go for it. There are so much positive side effects of "BARFing" that it seems really worth while.

So for those of you who haven't heard about it yet... please do an online search and read about BARF.

Reading, reading, reading

I cannot stop reading about dogs. I have 4 books from the library (pic to the right) topics:
- dog breeds
- clicker training
- kids and dogs
- body language of dogs.

I have ordered 5 books from Amazon.de (3 in German and 2 in English), I bought 2 thin books, a dog-magazine and a dog-diary...

Oh, and I borrowed a book from my friend Barbara!

I just had a bath and read the first of the thin books. It is about keeping the coat of the dog healthy. Lots of info in it about food, brushing, combing, bathing, checking ears and eyes etc.
The other thin one is about fitness for dog and owner. (I skimmed this one and it is not of much use).
The "Dogs" magazine is very cool and I have read that one already too.

Dino

Way back when I was a kid, I was nuts about dogs. I had a book with all dog breeds in it and I really, really wanted a dog. Unfortunately I had some problems with my lungs and due to allergies, I was not allowed to have one. But when I was 11 years old, the allergy-test showed that I wasn't allergic to dogs... my parents decided to get one anyway. I didn't know anything about it. My sis and I were staying over at my grandparents'. When I had my mum on the phone, the day before we went back home, I told my grandma and grandpa "We have a dog at home". I just knew it.
So our grandparents drove us home and when we got out of the car, the door of the house opened and out came the dog! HA! I knew it!
His name was Dino and he was a .. well... mixed breed dog. Black and white (if I remember well, I don't even remember how old I was) and with a rough coat. He was kinda cute. And also a total un-educated dog. He would not listen to any commands... When we took him out for a walk, he would pull so hard on his leash, that he just about passed out by lack of oxygen. It was hard for us kids to walk him. He ran after anything on wheels. He ran after anything that looked like an animal. He was riding our legs all the time. So all in all... he didn't make us very happy.

My parents had gotten him out of an animal shelter. The story is, that he belonged to an older person that couldn't handle him. Dino was the boss at home. I am not sure if the owner died or if he/she just couldn't take him anymore. But Dino ended up in the shelter.

I don't know how long we had him. But in the end, we had to bring him back. In hindsight, I think he would have profited from a dog training course. I don't know if my parents ever thought of that.

But from then on, I wasn't interested in having a dog anymore. Shame that it was such a bad experience.

Tycho

Tycho was my first dog-love. I met him during a sailing holiday. We were sailing up with its owner for a while and I could spend a lot of time with him. I was 13, it was 1981. Tycho was a Golden Retriever. He was listening to me perfectly when I took him for walks. His owners only had to tell me some commands that I should use and I had the perfect dog with me! He would jump over fences if I would say "hop!" and back again with the next "hop!". I went swimming with him more than once too. That was a lot of splashy fun.

I really loved that dog to bits.

My dad digged out a photo for me and scanned it:

Dog Talk

So how did this start? I started seeing Jack Russell Terriers everywhere and I liked them so much. I liked them so much, that I started thinking about having one myself. Now, Reto (hubby) had said that he didn't want any pets, so I didn't really think it would ever be possible. After a couple of weeks of thinking about dogs, I casually mentioned it to Reto. No reaction. A couple of days later I tried again... asking him if it wouldn't be nice to have a Jack Russell Terrier. So small, easy to take anywhere. He only "oompfed" and said that it is nice to have a dog (his parents always had a dog when he grew up), but that it is also a big responsibility and sometimes also restriction.

I drew hope from his admittance that it is nice to have a dog. When I started talking about dogs again the next time, he said that he wouldn't want such a small dog. By then I had started researching a bit and I had read that the "Jackies" are pretty head strong and are even sometimes advised against to buy if you never had a dog before.

And before he knew it, I had books at home with all the dog breeds in it, I was reading a lot on the internet too. And we had more talks about having a dog. I became more and more convinced that I could persuade Reto.

And last Monday, it finally happened. I had found a breed that I really, really liked a lot, the Flat Coated Retriever. Beautiful, black dog with wonderful characteristics. The kids were also very enthusiastic about it. So when Reto came home, I showed him the dog and he liked it too. And that evening, I asked him if we were going to get a dog for real. And he said yes. We looked at the Flat Coated Retriever description in the book together and then we realised that it is a pretty big dog. Bigger than a Golden Retriever (and those are already big in my eyes)... So I had to find another breed. I was disappointed, because I thought we really had found the breed that we wanted.

I wanted a Retriever, because they are so friendly, they learn so quickly, they love water and swimming (so do I) and ... because I have very very good memories of a Golden Retriever that I knew when I was a teenager. (I will tell you about him in my next post)

And then I saw the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever... smaller, but with the same characteristics as the Flat Coated. I searched for breeders online, read their pages and saw many pictures of the "Toller" as they call it. I was not so convinced by its looks, but the characteristics made up for that. The Toller is not an ugly dog by any means. I just had to get used to the colour(s) of the coat. The Toller is a "red head". Just like Tina, my daughter. They will fit so well together, optically, LOL! The Toller is sometimes almost completely red (orange), with little white. Sometimes they have more white, but the red is always the main colour. Reto liked it too and on Tuesday (8 Jan 2008) we informed Tina and Lorenzo (kiddies) that we are going to buy a Toller!
Tina liked it a lot straight away (might be because of the colour of the coat), Lorenzo was a bit harder to convince, because he really liked the Flat Coated Retriever a lot better. But that was of course only based on its looks.

I wrote various breeders, to ask if we could visit them. And next Sunday (13 Jan 2008), we are going to visit two of them! I am very very excited! AND... we are going to meet a Toller for the first time during our drive to the first breeder!!

Michaela lives in Zurich and she has a Toller called "Stukki". Stukki is in heat right now and she was planning to go to the breeder by train on Sunday, to get the dog "covered" by one of the male dogs there. When Stukki is about to give birth, she will bring her back to the breeders, and they will take care of Stukki and the pups until the pups are all sold.
Since we are driving down there this Sunday, we are picking up Michaela and Stukki in Winterthur. It is then about a 2.5 hour drive to the Breeder. So... that will be our first meeting with a Toller. And there is a very small chance that we will get one of her pups! Exciting, exciting! I will soon post a pic of Stukki.

The second breeder that we are going to visit is almost 2 hours away from the first. They have a nest at the moment with pups that were born on 27 Dec 2007. The female pups have all been sold already and the breeder said that there was only a small chance that they still had a male one available.

I am very impatient and I would rather have the pup today than tomorrow.. but I have to realise that it might be autumn or even winter before we have a pup. Especially if we only want a female one. (Reto prefers a female because she is slightly smaller and because they are less prone to running off. I have no real preference yet.) I also have to let my "belly" decide when choosing a pup.

I am also in touch (email) with a third breeder. That one asked for some information about us before they want to make an appointment for a visit. I wrote them a long email about us and I hope to hear from them soon.

In choosing a breeder, I will just go with my belly. Do I like the people? Do they give lots of information about the dogs and how they raise them and feed them etc? Do I like their surroundings (clean, nice for the dogs)? Do I like their dogs? Do I like the way they treat their dogs? Those will be the deciding factors.

Oh, this post is becoming longer than I had thought. Can you imagine that I am driving the people around me crazy with my incessant talking about dogs? Even Lorenzo said: "You are only talking about dogs lately, can't you talk about something else now?!" LOL!