Ron always says HIS pick is the one sucking her thumb in the corner, but oh no, I have to bring home the baddest one! I'm exhausted and I'm not going to do anything today but relax and let her settle in. And take her outside every 20 minutes. And finish puppy-proofing the kitchen. And the living room. And the dog room. And find the baby gate to put on the stairs in the kitchen. And pick up the rugs. And get all the stuff back that she stole because I haven't put it away yet. Maybe I should hire a babysitter? I need a NAP!

Tonight try to keep her up later and feed her later, then put her in her puppy carrier again. She's not so ready to go this time, and starts yapping. Can't shut her up. I lift the carrier up and put it beside me in the bed - how to have a dog in your bed and not in your bed at the same time! That shuts her up. I pet her for a minute and then put the bag back on the floor and she's quiet. Has to go out at 5 the next morning. Well, it's better than 4!

And as it turns out, she sleeps all the way home, snug in her puppy carrier with toys and a blanket smelling like her littermates. Several times I reach in to make sure she's OK, to find her fast asleep on her back with a toy in her arms.

Late night - Ron's put a sign on the kitchen counter - Welcome Home Stitch! He's also changed the dog doors from the large, heavy Giant Schnauzer doors to middle-sized, softer, easier ones, and built some little stairs so the puppy can reach the doors. What a honey!

I'm worried about tonight. Travelling makes Scuba and me tired, I'm exhausted but Stitch has been fast asleep for hours. I offer to take her and sleep in the motor home so Ron at least can get some sleep, but he valiantly declines. I give her her supper, then run her around and wrestle with her until I can't keep my eyes open any more. One last trip outside, then stuff her back into her puppy carrier and immediately turn out the light. There's a little whimpering, but the carrier has a zipper so I can put my hand inside. She likes that and settles right down. Wakes up and has to pee about 4 AM (that would be 6 AM HER time, we're going to have to work on her internal clock!), then goes right back to sleep. Thank goodness. The carrier is small and cozy, and she's still got her litter-smelling toys and blankie in it. I'm sure that helps.

We start getting to know each other. There's a huge lawn with a lake at the end of it. We go for walks and Scuba shows her how to go in the water. She goes in until her elbows are wet, what a trouper! Elaine's been calling them with the traditional puppy call - "Puppy, puppy puuppyyy!" - and she comes very well to it. Loves her food. Runs into things full speed. Once she grabbed her front foot as it went by her face. Unfortunately she was running at the time, and her foot threw her. Made her mad and she ran sideways for a few steps. When she doesn't get what she wants, she yelps and barks and howls.

Today I notice that she's almost exactly the same colour as Scuba. Hope she keeps the amount of white she's got. Scuba lost a lot of hers.

I dream about the plane ride home. I've got a puppy carrier for her so she can go under the seat like carry-on luggage. I dream that she starts screeching on the plane. Everybody's glaring at me, Scuba moves to the floor in front of someone else's seat and denies that she came on the plane with us. Finally I give the puppy some pretzels to shut her up. She develops diarrhea from the pretzels and sprays it all over the plane, still screeching. When I wake up I'm all sweaty but I'm still in love.

We take each pup and evaluate her. Topline, tailset, front and back view, angulation, bite, bone. They're all good, several are very, very nice. In order of amount of white, #2 and #3 are about even, and the other two are close. Physically, none of them would be a mistake.

We take each pup out of the litter and evaluate her personality. Every pup in the litter brings back the rolled ball - wow, I don't think I've ever seen a whole litter do that before! It shows me good prey drive (useful and fun for training), and an interest in playing with people (they could have kept the ball, or run off with it rather than bringing it back to the tester). They test out eager and fun, none frightened. Good solid temperaments. Some a bit quieter than others. MY puppy is #2 white. I think "Wow, good thing I came along, this isn't a puppy I'd wish on a beginner!" She's over the top - too cheerful, too happy, too loud. Bites too hard. Barks too much. Wants to be over THERE when she's over HERE, and vice versa. I'm in love!

Scuba hates her. Stitch doesn't move like an adult dog, and Scuba's had no experience with puppies. Scuba's trying really hard to be polite, but she doesn't want to turn her back on any of the puppies, or even get too close to the puppy pen. We took them all to the ophthalmologist to get their eyes checked. The tech was carrying two of the pups and put them down on the floor so she could do something else, trapping Scuba in the room with two piranha. She snapped and snarled at them, dancing away on her tiptoes. I couldn't grab any of them as I had two in my arms as well. As I was trying to figure out how best to get her away from them, the tech said "Gosh, she really doesn't want them to nurse right now, does she!" When I pointed out that Scuba wasn't their mother, she put a little more effort into getting them out of the situation.

I know that Scuba looks like she's trying to kill them, and this could be worrying some people, but she's really just telling them to stay away from her. The more sound and fury she produces, the better the chance that they'll listen before she has to actually come in contact with them to MAKE them listen.

Scuba and I fly to Detroit to meet her. I feel like a mail-order bride. Will I be pleased with them? Will I be disappointed? If I don't like the puppies, I'll come home with nothing, in spite of all the research I did. That'll be VERY hard.

OK. I REALLY LIKE the puppies. They're solid, shiny, brave, obnoxious. Breed type (width of head, tail carriage, muzzle length) isn't important to me as the purchaser of a SD potential, but as a former judge, I'm very happy with their typiness. What IS necessary is what we'll examine tomorrow - build, running gear, attitude. But at least now I know I'll have a puppy tomorrow!

2001, 2002, 2003 - I have one aging Giant Schnauzer, and a middle-aged Service Dog. Given two to three years to train a replacement, I really should get started, but I'm tired and sore and the best I'll do before the Giant dies is research.

As I go around the US and Canada I am seeing Portuguese Water Dogs. I've seen some really nice ones. My mind keeps coming back to the ones I've seen in the Midwest and East Coast from Elaine Suter. Sound dogs physically. Sound dogs mentally. Dogs with the potential for good work in various competitive venues, yet with the capacity to - how to say it politely? Sit down and shut up on occasion. For my personality, service dog work with public access, and interest in using canine competitions to keep both myself and my dogs active, these dogs are looking like what I want.

The next step is to check out the breeder, make sure she's using the correct health tests, and then to have a talk with her. Over the next couple of years I'll be letting her know that I'm still interested, and try to tell her exactly what I'm looking for in my puppy.

May 2004 - Can't breathe, Giant Schnauzer was put down. I was hoping for another two years at least.

June 2004 - Can't wait any longer, it may take a long time to get a puppy. Thank goodness I've done all the research already. If I don't take the bit in my teeth and just make the order, I might chicken out!

July 2004 - Baby Stitch is born. She's one of 4 girls in a litter of ten. All bitches are black wavies with varying amounts of white "chrome". My fingers are tingling. Elaine emails me photos of the girls. Which one is Stitch? I'm cheering for the one with the most white, but that'll be the LAST thing I pick her on.