Bringing her home!

The day has come! I was finally back from my trip and picking up Nina from her old house. She was sweet as always and seemed happy. She did get sick in the car. Maybe nervous or carsick. But nothing major and she slept most the way. When she walked in the apartment, she smelled everything and didn't even try to get on the couch. She just went up this white chair I got and claimed it. Now that's her place in the living room.

Nina on her chair

We went on 2 walks and she was very good on the leash. She also ate and went to the 'bathroom'. I left her alone for 2,5 hours and I don't think she liked that too much. She peed in the kitchen a little and seemed very happy to see me when I got back.
She slept in her bed in my room from 12am till 9:30!

Oh the wait!

I have been thinking about Nina so much and counting down to the day I'll bring her home (22 days!).
Her (former) dad keeps sending me pictures of her! The one below shows you she doesn't really care about personal space, much like myself!

Nina and her friend taking a nap

I've been getting the house ready for her. I have taken two cars full of bags to the Salvation Army, sold some clothes, got rid of all my CDs, organed things in my closet in cute boxes, changed some furniture around and I even got myself a new headboard and put pictures on the wall. My bedroom looks great and that's already a good influence of Nina in my life.

Of course she will damage some stuff when she's home. But it will be worth it! I mean, look at those puppy eyes!!!

Countdown

24 days till Nina comes home!
Today I got this on the mail.

Meeting Nina!

Today I finally got to meet her.

Nina and I

She is living in a ranch with horses and 8 other boxers. Very different life than she will have in Inman Park. Well, she wasn't always there. The guys told us that she was with a family, but they had a baby and wasn't working out, so brought her back! I would never do that. If I had a baby and they didn't like her, well, I guess the baby would have to go! :)

They told us the family had given her a redneck name: Daisy May! So cute. And now she gets a high brow name, Nina, after Nina Simone. The family told me they'd start calling her Nina now, so she starts getting used to it!

She is really sweet and well behaved for a boxer puppy for sure. She was off the leash and wouldn't go far from the house at all (and there was a lot of room for sprinting, that's for sure!). She also let me pick her up a few times and was on my arms for a while. Would be somewhat still for pictures, too. My boxers weren't that way! She had another puppy she was playing really well with, so I am glad I have so many friends with nice dogs for play dates or she would miss other dogs companies!

Her mom was a good looking old boxer lady (she's 8) and as you can see, she gave me her blessings to adopt her daughter!

Nina's mom giving me her seal of approval!

Now good luck to me having to wait another freaking 4 weeks till I bring her home!
Can't you tell I'm completely in love?

Puppy smell!

Thanks to my friend Monica who came with me on the long drive to Silver Creek (almost Alabama!) and also got some puppy love!

Monica and Nina

Can you see the size of my smile?

Now let the countdown begin!!!

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I get to meet Nina. She has no idea, but all I have done the last week was obsess about her, buy her stuff and do a major cleanning in my place that resulted in about 10 big bags to the salvation army, some CDs sold to Wax n' Facts, some clothes sold to Psycho Sisters and even some furniture give away!

All that to make my place puppy proof (if there is such a thing) for when I come back from my trip and she comes home. I will even replace my bookshelf, afraid she would bump in to mine and make it fall and possibly hurt her. I need a heavier one. From Ikea, so if she chews on it, at last it wasn't expensive!

She even has a Godfather. My friend Gabriel, who lives across the street and loves dogs too. If anything happens to me, he's in charge of finding her a good home. :)

Top two most gaga things I've done this week:
I googled 'ukulele dog toy'. Luckily I didn't find some 80 dollar toy and had it shipped from the UK or something. Whew! And I showed her picture to the cashier lady at Publix. I know, no comments!

Picking The Perfect Dog

“Let’s be sane about this and get an ADULT dog. They are usually trained and less hyper than a puppy. Yes, it’s definitely the right thing to do”, I tell myself.

And then, of course, I pick this girl!

Nina, the perfect "adult" dog for me

Where you see cuteness, I see destruction.

Where you innocence, I see a chewed coffee table.

Where you see sweet eyes, I see holes on my couch.

But I'm in love.

I decide to name her Nina, after my favorite singer, Nina Simone. Nina means "little girl" and also "pretty eyes". Definitely a good name for her.

But now I have to wait to meet her this Sunday. And what's even worse, wait to get her when I get back from my Christmas trip, in the end of December! Argh, the wait!!! Not my forte. Patience is definitely not what latin scorpios are known for!

How It Started

10 years! It's how long I have been talking myself out of it for traveling and living in a condo. But I finally broke down and decided to get a BOXER DOG!

“But boxers are so hyper, it’s too much work”. Well, I know. But they’re also the dogs I grew up with and have loved ever since. 

Gold was ‘my’ boxer, the one closets to my age, who I lived with from when I was 6 till 16. I am pretty sure I'm a better person because I had him around. Imagine if I hadn’t!

Gold and I in Brazil in 1983, when we were both puppies!

Boxers are special. There’s something about that head tilt, that will probably make me go through a whole bag of treats each day, and that sad face, which I am sure will make me start sleeping in the dog bed and give them mine in no time.

I'm hopeless already.

I'M DOING IT!

DISCLAIMER (or shush): Before I hear a beep about having a big dog in an apartment, know that I did do my homework. I talked to a few people in boxer rescue shelters and read a lot about it. Yes, you can have a boxer in an apartment, it's not a problem or not unfair to them AS LONG as they get PLENTY OF EXERCISE. So I know what I have to do and I will do it. It will benefit us both.