My boss is a "new dad" . . .

I'll tell you what - apparently I decide which jobs I'll really love based on more than what the work entails.  My boss up in Cincinnati raises and trains Icelandic horses and his wife does equine therapy.  They're serious horse people.

And now both my bosses are "dog people," but John? . . . well he is a SERIOUS dog guy.  He just got a new Golden Retriever (he named her "KT") and she will be competing -- along with Khay, his current star -- in various national dog competitions.  Is she adorable or what???

Here he is, picking up KT up at the breeder's place up in New York.

That breeder (Gaylan's Golden Retrievers) is amazing - she takes continual pictures of the litters from birth on to adoption.   That link above shows each of the puppies with their new "parents," but if you click on those links on the right, there will be photos of that litter from day ONE!  KT was the one with a red ribbon collar (not rust and not wine color but clear red).

Anyway - here are his notes (and a couple of photos) about her status as of her first two days here in BR:

KT's first 24 hours:

KT is doing remarkably well, considering how drastically her entire universe has changed in the last 24 hours.
 
She started whining something awful before we were even to the end of Walmer Lane, so before I left Gayle's neighborhood I gave her ½ a Benadryl. She calmed down in the car mostly, but still I put my hand in her carrier from time to time to comfort her. I gave her the other ½ Benadryl just after we boarded the plane.
 
She wouldn't potty at the Newark airport, neither in the grass near the rental car place (with pellets on the ground), nor on a pad in the terminal (with pellets) before we boarded the plane. She finally peed 7 hours after leaving Gayle's, on a pad with pellets at the N.O. airport. (That's better than Khay's 11 hours when Khay first came home.)
 
She got treats from a few people in the terminal while we waited. She was very good on the plane. I think the engine's rumbling soothed her. I filled her plastic water container from Gayle with ice, and put it in the crate with her. She curled up on top of the ice container.
  
KT's introduction to Khay last night at the preschool went well. Khay sometimes checked KT out, sometimes ran around pretending to ignore her. Sometimes she raced in KT's direction, and KT dropped into a submissive posture, but of course Khay just went right on by without touching her.
  
There was a lot of protesting in the crate last night. We went to bed around 1, I took her out around 5 and she peed and pooed. Then Khay helpfully got me out of bed for good at 7 and both dogs then peed.
  
House training is going well -- zero accidents so far.
 
We went for a woods walk this morning. I lost her -- briefly -- three times. She quickly found me each time. We then went to Lowes to do some shopping, and she got treats from several people. She didn't particularly care for riding in the shopping cart, even though I was right there.
 
We've practiced retrieves, sit, down, stay, and recall today. She did very well at all of them. She hasn't quite figured out what to do with a Kong yet.
 
Khay is starting to play with KT today, and Khay seems to have already accepted the newest member of our household. KT is submitting to Khay (so far), but isn't afraid of her by any stretch.
  
KT's appetite is subdued. She's eating, but not a lot. I'm not adding any supplements to her diet, nor am I starting to switch her over to Nature's Variety, until her appetite improves some. She accepts treats, but not (yet) with the same alacrity as I've come to expect from Goldens generally.
  
She wants to be physically closer to me or Karen than I remember our earlier Golden puppies acting -- no doubt a consequence of the extra handling she got when she was younger.
  
I've covered the bedroom crate and the dog room crate with sheets or towels to make them cozier for her. Copying what we saw at Gayle's, I've put a mirror just outside the dog room crate so she can see another puppy close by. I don't really know what she thinks of it. KT likes to climb on top of the Sherpa carrier.
 
I placed some temporary border fencing around the base of the carport in our backyard. Otherwise, at her current size she could crawl under the latticework that separates the carport from the backyard. The border fencing is nothing fancy, and it would not withstand a determined escape effort. It is really intended as a psychological barrier just to keep her from thinking about crawling under, until she reaches a size where she's too big.
 
She's broken off a couple of azalea twigs and started to chew them. I took them away immediately. This is worrisome, since azaleas are toxic to dogs and we have many azaleas in our back yard. It's never been an issue before -- no dog has ever previously shown interest in our azalea bushes. I'm not yet sure if she's attracted to azaleas per se, or if those two twigs just happened to be what was dangling in front of her at opportune moments, and she would have done the same to convenient twigs from any other plant. I'll ask our vet tomorrow about azaleas.
  
On tomorrow's agenda: a visit to the preschool to meet young children, and her first visit to our vet. I'm staying home from work Monday, and Karen is staying home Thursday. On most days until she's six months or so, I plan to do as I did with Khay and race home at noon for lunchtime and a potty break. My schedule will depend on Karen's, since Karen works different hours on different days of the week. I've a feeling KT's not going to like being left here without people, even with chews in her crate, and with Khayenne in the same room with her. I hope it doesn't take her too long to get used to it.

Probably the road/sewer construction will be going on tomorrow, and I'll see how she reacts. We had a thunderstorm early this morning, and the thunder didn't seem to bother her.
 
Puppy kindergarten is on Thursday evenings. I've arranged with a friend who has backyard agility equipment (we have none) for us to visit from time to time to play with the agility equipment.
 
The one-day roundtrip from Baton Rouge to Cold Spring was exhausting for me, but everything went on schedule the entire day and it all worked out. Longest single-day round trip I've ever done, by far (cars + planes = 2600 miles r.t.). Not something I'd want to do often, but I would do it again if that's how things worked out. Gayle, for future litters I would suggest to anyone who is flying their pup home to shell out the extra bucks that the airlines charge nowadays for an economy seat with a few extra inches of legroom. I'm very glad we did. It made the trip more bearable, and in particular it allowed more room to open the top of the carrier a few inches to let air circulate, and to let a puppy head poke out from time to time.
  
Everyone loves KT. We Skyped with Emily and her boyfriend in France this afternoon (Emily is his daughter), and they adored her.
  
As I've typed this e-mail on my computer, she's been curled up at my feet the whole time. She really likes human contact.
 
John

KT meeting Khay

Miss KT had another busy day.
  
Eating OK, but still not great. Two house training accidents today. I was right there both times -- blink and it's already too late.
  
We visited the preschool and saw about 7 youngsters. Khay did an impromptu Doggy Demo for the other preschool students who couldn't see the puppy -- I didn't want to overwhelm KT.
  
We went to the vet and got a clean bill of health. Our vet was, frankly, a little skeptical about the parvo / distemper titer and vaccine protocol, but is going along with it. I sent off the serum to Dr.Schultz myself by FedEx for titers.
  
We did a "woods walk" of sorts in the corridors of a storage facility where we rent a unit. (Think Raiders of the Lost Ark.) I lost her twice, but only by moving fast. She found me both times. We went to the High School and met some more kids, saw my dad and stepmother, and did another woods walk, this time in the real woods behind the school. I couldn't lose her this time.
  
Everyone thinks she's adorable.
  
The vet said he's never heard of a dog eating enough azalea to cause a problem. As I've watched her in our back yard this afternoon, I think she's really more interested in sticks more than azaleas per se. But we still need to watch her!
 
It's definitely warmer in south Louisiana than in Putnam County, New York. She's resting in my lap in the backyard as I type this, panting.
  
Khay has decided she likes KT. Except when KT is whining to get out of her crate; then Khay looks at me with concern, like she thinks I should do something about it. If she can, Khay will go to another room when KT is whining.
  
I go back to work tomorrow. Karen will be here in the morning, and then I'll come by for puppy lunch and to let them have a quick romp in the back yard. Another new experience for her.
 
John

John told us that he's going to take off an hour or two in the middle of each day for the next couple months - various times, depending on when Karen (his wife) will be away at work herself - to go home and let the dogs out to play in the yard for a while.   And of course he always works really hard at training them constantly from the time he gets them until they're grown. 

Very lucky dogs.

Jan and Mike are also about to adopt a new puppy.  But theirs is going to be a BIT different.  ;-D  They want one who will protect their horses -- and THEM!  The ones they're seriously considering are a mix of Bullmastiff, Boxer and Doberman!  Check out their listings:   Tiger and Big Fuzz.  They're only a few months old and already weigh 40 lbs!  They should be FINE protective boys.

 . . . now "Gus" since Jan and Mike adopted him!

They found them originally on the Feliciana FAWS Facebook page.  The ones they're checking out (the brindles) are males since their Pyrenees, Betty, is a female who does NOT like other females.   But there's also a solid colored  female that I'd probably like - if Mark were ready for a new pup.  But I guess I'll hold out for a little while longer.