Getting a new puppy

Last Friday, I saw an ad of Facebook for free puppies in our area.  After a bit of phone tag and texting I finally arranged to go look at the little critters.

When I got there, I was met by the gentleman and the mama dog.  She seemed friendly enough.  The man was very nice, let me look at all the puppies.  I got them out of the kennel and looked them over.  One puppy in particular struck me.  Rather small compared to the others and much thinner.  She came right to me & didn't whimper or squeal when I picked her up.  I took her home.

She didn't have a good ride in the car.  She howled.  She cried.  She threw up all over.

And then she had diarrhea.  And vomited some more.  John was very upset with me for bringing home a puppy in such a sad state.  I stayed up all night with her.  She had to go outside every 45 minutes or so!  Oh the poor little thing!

I took her to the vet first thing on Saturday morning.  We take our pets to Shaw Veterinary Clinic in Highland, AR.  Their great.  They've been in business for 30 year.  They've provided care to both Rusty and Peanut these past 7 years.  When Peanut was bitten by the snake earlier this year, we took her there.  We've boarded our pets there.  Very nice.    Shaw Vet Clinic

I had to give them a name to open a new file.  Earlier that morning, I'd been trying to get the pup to come to me by calling her with different names.  The only name she responded to was Cricket.  So, Cricket it is.

Doctor Roger looked the puppy over and said she'd need to stay for the morning.  She had worms (tests would be done to see which kind) and ringworms.  He'd also test her for parvo and get her all cleaned up.

Josh and I went  back at 11:45 to pick her up.  She was all ready.  It turns out she had 3 different kinds of worms (round, hook and tapeworms!), some intestinal parasite which we got medication for, and ringworms (actually a fungus).  No wonder the poor little thing was so thin!  No parvo, thank goodness. 

We brought her home.  She slept most of that day, and wouldn't eat.  But by Sunday morning she'd passed all those worms and was looking for some food.  Man, was she hungry!

After recuperating these past few days, she's really turning out to be a very nice puppy.  Playful, smart and friendly.  And I'm sure she'll have accidents, but she already knows to go to the door to go outside!  She's only 8 weeks old!  WOW!

Here's a picture of our new little cutie.  I'm smitten!

Guess who wants all the toys....