Sunday, January 21, 2024, 10:16 p.m.
Psssst.... Site members.... exclusive for you....
Tomorrow at noon I'll be picking up a new travel companion in Viroqua, Wisconsin.
I'm so so so so so excited!
I promise to update the blog daily with our adventures for a whole week before telling anyone else on social media.
Thank you for following my blog, loyal readers!
SOJOURN ON!
Monday, January 22, 2024, 9:00 p.m.
I'm in love! Meet my new travel companion:
I haven't given her a proper name yet. Suggestions are welcome! The family who raised her called her "Light Pink" for the color of her collar. She is 9 1/2 weeks old, a Golden Retriever and perfect.
Photos are all I can really manage tonight. We're both smelly and sleepy and trying to get on a schedule. Now is bedtime.
I promise to fill you in on the back story soon. For now enjoy some cuteness and then sleep like a puppy!
Monday, January 22, 2024, 11:30 p.m.
If you need to feel less jealous, just know that sweet baby girl puked twice in the car, peed three times in the house, and whined for the last hour in her crate.
Tuesday, January 24, 2024, 7:50 a.m.
It's a good thing she's cute.
Our first night was always going to be rough. Separation anxiety, first time away from her siblings, new environment with weird noises and smells, and "Um, excuse me, what is this crate thing?"
Our set-up:
I’m in my bed and she is in a crate in the hallway outside my room - crate door closed; bedroom door open - 6 feet away from each other. I am taking her out every 2-3 hours to pee. And she made it! No messes in her crate! But after going out she does NOT want to go back to sleep in the crate. To be expected. All I can hope for is less whining each time.
Which I think we accomplished? But it’s a bit of a blur!
9 planned bedtime
10:30 actual bedtime
11:30 still whining and crying (see note above)
Midnight ?? Asleep
1:00 - Alarm - peed outside!
1:22-1:43 Really whining. Puppy barking/howling as if injured.
Quiet.
(I reach for phone to make note- she starts again!)
2-3. Some sleep....I think.
3:00 Alarm - peed outside
3:33 whiny but 5 min settle
6 am awake -peed outside-yippee!
6:13 super playful - I guess this is morning
Tuesday update
Our Tuesday schedule was play, nap, pee, training, eat, repeat. We went for one car ride (gotta train for sojourns!) then went home and did it all over again. I introduced her to the kitchen area so I could cook and get dishes put away. She is not a fan.
Wisconsin weather has thrown us some challenges. The last 24 hours offered a mix of rain, icy rain, and snow. Have you ever tried to hold an umbrella and a puppy who has never been on a leash before? How about shoveling with a ball of fur bounding after the blade? How about just walking on a slightly sloped icy driveway while tracking a puppy who is slipping and sliding in the cutest way ever? Comedy gold.
This is the only video or photo I managed to capture :
A particular problem I'm having is providing puppy a consistent place to go potty outside. Lots of recent snow is piled up in front of the house and along both sides of the driveway. I need to clear an area or we will fall behind on important potty training. Weather is warming up a bit tomorrow, so that should help.
Inside play has been endlessly fun. Before picking her up, I moved the couch to the side of the living room, blocking off the kitchen. The recliner too. And I built a small platform for training - something I saw in a Cesar Millan video. So effectively the entire living room is a puppy playland. Toys are scattered about. Favorites so far are Larry the Llama ...
...and an old tennis ball. She treats it like a soccer ball, using her feet more than her nose. She also pounces at it like an arctic fox...
I'm excited for everyone to meet her in person! She will have a vet appointment on Thursday for her next round of shots, and I believe she'll be ready for visits after that. Lots of training and play and socializing ahead!
Sojourn on!
Wednesday, January 25, 2024, 7:15 p.m.
Last night was rough sleeping again. But still no accidents in the crate - so that's awesome! Today we will spend more time getting comfy and cozy around the crate...to make sure it's not all just trauma at night.
Our driveway was still icy in the morning, and poor pupper was slipping while trying to poop. So I put her in the crate and went out and shoveled a potty area, complete with snow walls. If this weather continues I may need to invite the neighbor kids to help. We live on a cul-de-sac with like 100 kids, so picture a whole army ranging from age 2 to 12 building a giant snow fort for this little 16 lb. fuzzball.
Still no name yet. But soon! I tried out all sorts of names today and texted with my boys. A name shall rise.
Big learning day for puppy!
Puppy Kong for food...
What the heck is a cat?
And how to be a trailblazer in snow!
All of this made us very sleepy at times....
Sweet sleep, friends!
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Proud moment at puppy training today:
This may not look like much - but we've been working on this all week in small sessions. She used to jump off the platform. Or wander around the platform and whine. Or chew on the platform. (!) She is an energetic pup who loves to run and jump and play and bite - and she has learned to wait on the platform and give me her full attention. This is the precursor to all future training!!
Ok one last thing and then I'll stop bragging about my smart puppy (for now): Watch again, and this time listen for the sigh that I give off camera. I was 10 feet away across the living room. She got distracted by the cat. But then she heard me sigh and snapped her eyes to me. That's gold, baby!
(ALL CREDIT TO CESAR MILLAN, THE DOG WHISPERER! I learned this technique from one short YouTube video, linked here.)
And now...
the moment you've all been waiting for...
Her name!
Hi! My name is BUTTERCUP!
AKA Princess Buttercup
AKA Warrior Princess Buttercup
AKA Butters
AKA Butter
AKA Lil Butt Butt
Soon I'll be cleared by my vet for play dates - so I can't wait to meet a lot of new friends! I like short walks in the cul-de-sac, fast zoomies in the snow, being redirected from biting (on furniture, clothing and toes) and belly rubs.
Sojourn on!
Friday, January 26, 2024
Hi all! Here is some Friday wisdom from Buttercup (and friends)...
"Be curious, not judgemental" -Ted Lasso
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
"It's me, hi, I'm the problem it's me" -T. Swift
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." - Carol Burnett
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"Nap on!" -Mama and Lil Butt Butt
Happy Friday!
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Today I thought I was being really smart. I bought some temporary fencing and created an outdoor play area for Buttercup in the backyard.
Guess how long it took her to tunnel under the fence and get away?
Answer? Less time than it took you to read this sentence.
Tomorrow I'll work on a solution. Off the top of my head I think it might include tube socks and leftover playground sand from the garage. Weigh down the bottom and she'll never get out, right?
Or maybe I'd better get some rest and keep thinking.
Gnite!
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Dear blog readers...I just realized that I forgot to tell you where the name Buttercup came from! (Blame it on lack of sleep this week.)
It came from kids!
My dear friend Jenna teaches 4K in Madison, WI. As a site member, she was one of the first to read this blog post. She knew I was having trouble naming the puppy. So she showed her 4K students the puppy's picture and this is the list of names they brainstormed:
They figured out her name from just one picture! The wisdom of youth.
In other name news... just today two nicknames have surfaced for Buttercup....
1.
My friends in Moms Demand Action (a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence) join me in calling her "Buttercup the Gun Sense Pup". We have many events on our 2024 calendar that include her royal cuteness as a volunteer draw. We think it will work, don't you? To find our local events, write to me or click here: https://momsdemandaction.org/events/
2.
A second nickname was discovered on a Zoom call last night with my best friends from high school, collectively known as GNO. Our brilliant friend Angie pointed out that if Princess Buttercup and Jenny are going for a hike, one could just say "PB & J are going for a hike"
PB&J!!!!
Thanks for coming along on this week-long journey with PB& J. What a life-altering, heart-expanding turn of events for this solo traveler!
Please become a site member to receive direct notification when new stories are posted. Who knows what's on the horizon for PB&J??
Sojourn on!
What a special friend in Buttercup!❤️