We are SO ready for this...

So I have made lists and double-checked them and I do believe that we are ready for our new lil lady coming home this weekend. I feel like I'm nesting all over again. haha. Only this time it's a furry baby...for my babies!

 Maiko is supposed to come home tomorrow night. She had her vet visit today for her first round of shots and was in good health. They said she weighed 1.8 lbs. Teensy! We've got her crate all set up, her puppy pads, some toys and chewys, blankets and a heating pad, small ceramic bowl, tiny collar and matching leash. We even found a medium sized play pen online that is made for critters, so we have something to put her in quickly if we need to leave the room to keep her safe from toddlers that don't know any better.

And I talked the husband into this whole litter box for the dog idea. We will see how long it takes her to get the puppy pad thing and move forward from there. I've done a lot of reading online about how to's and tips on litter box training and feel like I'm fairly prepared.

Here's the game plan: step one, assign a couple of pee pad locations for the puppy. One will be in the play pen. One will be somewhere else in the living room/kitchen area. (lol haven't decided yet!) The next step will just be getting the puppy to USE the pad consistently. These initial pee pad spots aren't where the litter box will end up ultimately. I'd like for the box to be somewhere out of the way, but obviously I can't put puppy pads out of the way or she will NEVER use them. So after she gets decent about using the puppy pads, then I will try moving them into a more out of the way area of the house. I may just add extra pads, one in the usual place and one in what will be the litter box place. Get her used to seeing one there. Get her to use it some. Then eliminate the one in the living area. After a couple of weeks of using the new puppy pad then I will put the litter box out with a puppy pad in it next to the puppy pad. And over the course of a week, gradually work the litter box ONTO the puppy pad, with a puppy pad in the box. Then remove the puppy pad from under the litter box. Once she seems really comfortable about using the litter box with the puppy pad I will start gradually adding litter (probably the paper stuff that they use for Guinea pigs or rabbits, since I don't want to risk puppy or toddlers eating it and getting sick!).

Eventually it will just be a litter box full of litter getting cleaned out daily or every other day. Depending on usage and odor and what not. Dog pee is not nearly as odorous as cat pee. And poop is poop. I have baby poop hanging out in my house already. haha. Dirty diapers certainly don't go out daily. So we'll just see how the odor situation goes! Either way, I will probably invest in another Glade plug in for the litter box room. Which humorously, may be the girls' play room...since it has spare space. Is that weird?

This whole plan is assuming that the puppy cooperates. Which I'm sure she won't. But I'm really excited about not spending 30 minutes every night standing out in the February chill waiting for a puppy to pee so we can all go to bed!

There will be plenty of pictures and I am going to document this whole litter box training thing. Let everyone know how it goes! And I'm hoping it will be a good and easy transition from litter box to outside once she's grown and trained and everything. We shall see!