June in Coeur d'Alene: too hot for Ildi!

We took Ildi with us on a trip to Coeur d'Alene where Chad had an ironman race. It was actually a great experience with her because of the crowds - she actually settles down a bit and doesn't try to jump on everyone (which she would do if there was just one or two people around). It was also interesting as we discovered this crowd (of super athletic people) know her breed very well. And several couples came up to us to get their Vizsla fill as they had left their Vizsla at home. She was the star of the event!

Though it was also her first time in hot weather - with temps around 30C every day. While we tried to always keep her with us - not stuck in the car, we noticed that by the end of 2nd day she was drooling uncontrollably. One the 3rd day in CDA (2nd day of drooling), we were extremely concerned and started googling and emailing friends for advice. One site suggested it could be puppy warts and with a thorough check of her mouth we did discover some (they looked like canker sores as they were just beginning to form). But I actually think the problem was the heat (though it was good to discover the warts too). I kept her in the AC'ed hotel room on the 4th day in CDA (race day) and that stopped her drooling finally. It was scary to learn that just being outside (and usually in the shade) with only short car trips was having such an affect on her. We know for future we have to be super careful with her on our road trips! (the 2nd picture is of her hiding under the bed - heat exhausted)

Also of note, she was legendary on this trip for not coming when called! by the end (30min of trying to get a hold of her!) I was furious!! She would just turn and run in the opposite direction if I tried to get close to her and there was no way she was coming when I physically called her. I tried every tactic I could of - being super fun and cheerful as I called her, being very firm (but calm), running away from her, poking in the grass (so that it looked I discovered something interesting) and even trying to be very zen like and sitting on the ground sending positive thoughts for her to come. NOTHING worked!! Finally, I tried poking around in the dirt more (as that's what she kept returning to a certain sport for) - and had to lift this enormous log - so that it created a fresh spot of earth for her sniff.
I think this is beginning of her rebellious stage...

Day 4: meet the vet

up 3 times in the night, but we were faked out twice! and we're noticing that she's up for the day around 8am pretty consistently now.
We're still feeding her 60/40 of the old/ new food and she still has diarrhea most times. Troubling - should we do something different with the food? We also feed her 3 times/ day with a total of 3 cups of food/ day. Don't think I mentioned that before.

Today, Ildi met the vet for the first time, for her 2nd set of shots. Plus it was her first car ride in the kennel with us.
She did so well in the car, hardly a peep out of her and only at the beginning of the journey. We had her on the leash to walk into the vet's office (she's much better on the leash already!). The moment we walked through the door you could tell she nervous and excited. All the smells.... but the staff at the Westmount Animal Clinic are great! They were so excited to meet her (we're learning that everyone loves a Vizsla puppy!) so Ildi soon associated the vet's office with fun people and attention. Our Vet: Dr. Doone Watson was amazing - she spent 2 hours with us talking about all things puppy health. And in retrospect this was so helpful for Ildi to get used to her environment and the Dr. before getting her shots.
After the vet visit she fell asleep fast in her kennel for the car ride home!

Today, we were 18/18 - no indoor accidents and she learned to do her business somewhere other than the 'pee run' in our backyard (which is a bigger deal than you might think)

Day 1 - Ildi comes home to Calgary

Ildi survives a cross-Canada flight in the Canadian winter and seems unscathed by what must be a traumatic experience: leaving her mom, leaving her litter-mates, first car ride, first kennel day, first airplane ride (in heated cargo), meeting new family, etc...
On her first afternoon with us we successfully attempted to put on her collar and leash. She was fine with the collar, but using her leash to walk up the steps to the house for the first time was not her favorite thing. You could tell she didn't like that she wasn't in control of where she was going, though she didn't freak out at the having a leash on her - just that it controlled her. We ended up just carrying her in rather than try to make her walk on the leash.

Inside the house we had used baby gates to keep in the kitchen nook - which, thankfully is hardwood. So this controlled the area she that she had 'accidents' in and kept us all calm as we weren't running all over the house trying to limit any chewing damage she could have done.

We also felt lucky to call on my brother Jon and Randy to puppy sit that night. We hadn't known exactly when Ildi would arrive so we already had tickets to a play that night. Uncle Jon and Randy have been just as excited as us at the arrival of little Ildi so they jumped at the chance to sit for us! and they taught her well to cuddle! (see picture of Ildi and Jon)

We called Day 1 a success as Ildi seemed to have bonded with us right away, nothing was damaged from her chewing, she ate her first meal with us and fell asleep in her crate at night with hardly a protest.

She collapses after such an exciting day with her new toy/ companion - duck.