Finally, something joyous!
Meet Lady Bird.
We have big news!
Please meet Lady Bird. She is eight weeks old, and we picked her up yesterday. We couldn’t be happier. She is already a champion cuddler and is being very brave with our older, bigger dog Woody.
As our regular readers know, we lost our sweet, sweet boy Rudy in November in a car accident. It was a very hard winter without him. We decided Woody needed a new companion, and we needed to heal our hearts.
Roberto and I have always had rescue dogs but we had some new parameters this time. We decided on a puppy so that we could train her to be a good flyer, and we chose her breed, Coton de Tulear, because their typical weight is less than 15 lbs and the airline limit is 20 lbs to fly inside the cabin.
It sounds like a French breed, but in fact they are originally from Madagascar. They’re related to Bichons and are know for their friendliness, intelligence, and happy-go-lucky demeanor.
For those of you considering flying internationally with dogs we have written about it extensively here and here. It is not for the weak of heart—it is expensive and stressful.
We want to train Lady Bird to feel safe and happy in her travel carrier. We adopted Rudy when he was three. He had not been properly socialized as a puppy and then we went straight into lockdown. At the airport the people, noises, and smells really frightened him.
As soon as she is fully vaccinated we plan to take Lady Bird to as many new places as possible so she can be an excellent world traveler. The people I have met at airports with really calm dogs always say they started flying with them as puppies.
I am very lucky that Roberto needs much less sleep than I do. He slept downstairs with both dogs last night and made sure Lady Bird could go to the bathroom as often as she needed. She is currently napping and has been asleep for more than four hours!
It’s has been MANY years since I had a tiny puppy (like, when I still lived with my parents as a teenager), and I have been a little nervous. She is SO tiny. I tend to panic shop so I ordered toys and accessories galore. Look at the size of the harness!
We love the name Lady Bird (there is a Lady Bird lake and Lady Bird Wildflower Center in Austin) but it won’t make a lot of sense to the French. While in Montpellier I will probably end up calling her loulou, which is a French term of endearment for small children and cute dogs.
I have been doing my French Duolingo with the sound good and loud so she can start to hear the language. I expect her to learn how to sit and assieds-toi.
It is a tough time in the world right now. Don’t we all need more fuzzy puppies?
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois (until next time),
Carolyn & Roberto
P.S. Any and all dog pictures are encouraged in the comments!
Oh my heart! Especially seeing Woody excited to play with her. I wish you lots of luck with your newly expanded family.
At the beginning of Covid, we lost our little fella, Bisou, to old age. It's been hard to decide on another as we aren't settled - will we stay in Washington, will we move to France, will we do both? Your moving forward with Lady Bird inspires me to move forward no matter what we end up doing. Thanks for sharing, and I wish you all lots of joyful moments. Looks like they've already begun!