We weren't supposed to get the puppy until next week. I was waiting until the kids' social security check came in so I would have the money to pay for our new chocolate lab puppy and so I would be finished with the yearbook deadline and would have the time to devote to the ten-week old pup that she needs.
Instead it snowed on Saturday. And school was called off on Monday (today). They're calling for another three to five inches tonight followed by ice. In my mountain home, this means that we'll more than likely be out of school for the rest of the week. Which means that my yearbook deadline working late after school every day will be moved to the week that I was supposed to pick up the puppy.
So after we slept in this snow day morning, I piled the kids in the car and took the money I borrowed from my dad to the bank to deposit it. Then we went shopping for puppy supplies.
Our first stop was Walgreens because some woman in the PetSmart last week told me that Walgreens had puppy pads at almost unbelievable prices. She was right; they were only $10 for 100 pads. Unfortunately, other puppy owners must know about this since they were completely sold out. So we headed to PetSmart.
I spent a while on Saturday pricing all the puppy materials that we would need since money is so tight right now, and knew that Tractor Supply didn't have any puppy pads and that the ones they did have were almost $1 a pad. Too pricey for my wallet. The kids were beside themselves with excitement and picked out toys for her.
I've never owned a dog that actually played with the toys bought for it, but maybe this one will be the first. I can hope, right?
Then we headed over to Tractor Supply for the crate and the rest of the supplies because everything there was significantly cheaper. I spent a while looking for just the right brand of treats for rewards in training her; I wanted something cheap, but with not too much filler because I do not want to clean up extra poop. We settled on a brand and then bought shampoo (I'm going to own a dog that I have to wash? Why?) and a brush for her. We already have a brush for Percy, but since I usually use it to brush out the matts of fur that are usually mixed with cow manure, the indoor dog needed a new one.
We then got her a crate with the help of a nice employee (I really like all the employees at the Tractor Supply in Christiansburg; I recommend shopping there for everything you can) and made our way to the check out.
My boy helped me load the car and we were off, with a quick stop at Due South BBQ for lunch. (YUM!)
The snow was really coming down by this point, so I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get the puppy from the breeder in time. I remembered that we had to go home and get more checks since I wrote the last one yesterday.
The girl busted her chops getting her room cleaned and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the crate set up. We put down the puppy pad, loaded up the chew toy with the appropriate nibbles, and screwed on the water bowl.
The girl loaded the pillow bed and a towel into the car and the boy jumped in. We were ready to roll as soon as I called the breeder and made sure she was ready for us. Her cell rang over 20 times with no answering system. I called the kids in out of the car and looked up her home number on my laptop. No answer. So the boy fired up his XBox and the girl disappeared to the computer in the basement for a little Wizard101.
All puppy ready and no puppy pretty much sucks.
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