11 posts tagged “puppy”
The more I work with Marly and take her places, the more I am beginning to realize that her meeting-new-people issue is really just at the house. A territorial thing and especially outside in the yard. Inside she usually gets over it much faster and settles down. Maybe because inside it is easier for people to appear that they belong there because they can settle in more easily by sitting on the couch or being in the kitchen (where the food comes from). Outside usually everyone is just standing around talking. Her MO is to sort of hide behind me and bark at whomever I am talking to. She will strain her neck to sniff at them, but is careful not to get close enough for them to touch her. All the while her tail is wagging like I have never seen and she is smiling - she has a totally happy posture (with the exception of the hiding behind me part). The only thing that truly worries me is on occasion she will put her fur up during the process. She does this when she is playing with Sadie too, sometimes. I am not really sure what to make of it since I know it is typically an aggressive or fearful show.
OK critter lovers out there...what suggestions do you have for dealing with puppy separation anxiety. During the day, Marly does just fine being in her kennel when I can't keep a close eye on her while I am working. We take breaks every couple hours for a potty break and some good romping. At night, though, it is a different story. I am sure it is because I am sleeping and she can't hear me moving about or I am not walking through the room to get to the kitchen for something to drink every so often. The occasional whimpering/whining I can deal with...it usually passes fairly quickly. It is the full on panicky sounding barking sessions (usually mixed with some whining) that I am not sure exactly how to handle.
I mean, I know that if I get up while she is throwing the fit that it could exacerbate the problem into her barking every time she wants my attention. But how long do I let the fit go on before doing something about it? And then what should I even do? The thing is, I don't even have to say anything to her. As soon as I walk into the room she settles right down...and she will even sleep most of the night if I am on the couch where she can see/hear me. And generally speaking, it is a separation/attention issue, not a needing to potty thing.
All ideas and suggestions are welcome. I guess as nuts as Sadie drove me at times as a pup, I didn't realize how good I had it! *laugh* Good thing I do know they will outgrow most of these things with a little time and patience.
Finally! With a LOT of coaxing and rewarding, Marly finally got past our street...and then for whatever reason (with the exception of just a couple times) was perfectly OK with going for a walk! We were out for about 30 minutes and will try again this evening after it has cooled off again. Something I have noticed is that she is not at all fond of being outside mid-day when it is still so warm outside. Maybe this week I will be able to find a little wading pool I can set up on the patio...we can see if she likes the water. Heck, it will be shallow enough maybe Sadie will join her.
Sadie was such a patient, good big sister on the walk. She really wanted to get going, but wasn't too terrible about pulling on the leash. We are working on this more/again, especially now that there will be two big dogs that we are walking soon. If they aren't well behaved there is no way I will be able to handle taking them both out anywhere.
Oh, and silly story of the day...the little black and white kitty came trotting righ in the backdoor this morning when I was taking the pups out to go potty. There were a few moments of chaos before I got a hold of him and escorted him back out on to the patio. Silly critters!
What a day. I am exhausted and still won't be going to bed anytime soon. Due to Marly's lack of wanting to walk with me she didn't burn enough energy yesterday and was up and LOUD several times last night...and unfortunately today is pretty much the same story. And I just got home a bit ago so I think we will be up awhile playing and trying to at least do better than we did last night, even if we don't make it all night again. At least the crate accidents seem to be over and done with.
Using the vacuum today went quite well, she just looked at it and then wandered into her crate and slept while I was doing that. Sadie, as usual, tried to eat it. Tomorrow I need to do some organizing and straightening up of rooms here - in particular, my bedroom. It is a pigsty. Then maybe the office if I am feeling really ambitious.
OK, off to instigate some more puppy playtime so I have a chance of at least a few consecutive hours of sleep.
Tonight something clicked with Sadie and she is now back in full obedience mode. This is a good thing...except for the kennel issue. I raised her using the command "kennel" whenever I wanted her to go to bed or otherwise get in her crate. Since the move last year (actually, a few months before the move) she became terrified of being shut in her kennel. She broke out twice - I think it contributed seriously to her torn cruciate ligament - and since then I haven't been able to get her in one for any length of time. Really this is OK for her because she is so good loose in the house and I use the living room chair as her 'safe spot'. However, Marly is now in the process of being crate-trained and out of habit I use the command "kennel".
This evening Sadie promptly went into the kennel with her when I told Marly what a good puppy she was for going into her kennel all by herself. Sadie then wouldn't come out. She looked as though she was afraid of getting in trouble if she did.
So, now I have to find another command to use with Marly so that Sadie doesn't get confused. Luckily Marly hasn't really learned the command at all yet so it will be easy to change up this early in the game. "Crate" just never comes out right for me...maybe "bed"? Anyone have any other suggestions?
(Sorry for the poor photo quality...it was still dark this morning and I grabbed the camera and just started shooting to get these "action" shots. I never got the chance to look at the settings.)
Today is Marly's first trip to the vet. It ought to be interesting - Sadie is going too for her rabies shot (finally!), so hopefully she can help keep Marly calm. My biggest concern is the whole puppy carsickness thing. Sadie used to get so sick as a puppy that she would start salivating and drooling all over the place before we ever even got IN the car. A sort of Pavlovian reaction from getting sick on previous rides. And then inevitably she would barf all over the place (even if she hadn't eaten anything). I have my fingers crossed that Marly will not get so sick (or maybe not sick at all). We'll see. At least now I have the Xterra, the back of which will be much easier to clean than the back seat of my old tiny Honda Civic.
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to sew any clips onto one of the blankets so I can secure it to the tie-downs in the back, so for today I will just have to drive very slowly/carefully so they don't slide around too much in the back. Sadie is big enough now that she can brace herself around corners and such and her weight holds the blanket pretty much in place, but Marly, she's still just a wee thing!
In other critter news...Sadie went running to check on Marly today as she threw a rather boisterous fit from her kennel. This is the first time Sadie has shown any real interest in the puppy, let alone any nurturing or caring tendency toward her. Mostly it has just been a lot of growling and teeth baring while trying to protect her food dish, sleeping space, treats and toys. The best part of all that, though, is that Marly figured out very quickly that Sadie was all growl and no bite. Unless Sadie actually barks (which has only happened twice thus far), Marly usually will steal whatever toy or treat of Sadie's that she is after, or she will just barge her head into Sadie's dish. When Sadie does actually bark then Marly promptly sits in the place she was standing and stares at Sadie with her head cocked trying to figure out the situation.
It is all very cute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Potty training is coming along, slowly but surely. Crate training is going very, very well. Only the one real fit today, though now I am learning I have to be careful at night to try to distinguish Marly's 'need to potty' whine vs her 'dreaming of chasing things' whine. She talks a lot in her sleep. She also gets the hiccups. Does anyone know if this is a normal puppy thing? It cracks me up, but I don't want it ignore it if it can be an issue.
WOOHOO! This evening Marly went into her kennel all by herself. No coaxing. No putting her there. She just went in and plopped down in a couple places before finding the perfect napping spot.
I am so excited! I know this won't be the end of the anxiety woes, but it does mean that she is starting to figure out that it is "her place". Only a few accidents today...it was so hot and my house sucks for being energy efficient (read: my AC does not much when it gets into the 90's) so I am not sure if it was sweat or if she wet herself sleeping. She was soaked when she woke up - and I know she didn't get up and pee because I was watching a movie and keeping an eye on her the entire time. I will have to ask the vet about that one next week when she goes in for her first shots.
Last night I caught an earlier flight home from my work trip, so we decided to go pick her up then instead of waiting for today. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake - I really could use a full night's sleep, but cest la vie...too late now!
She is an absolute sweetheart! Sadie is getting along with her well, but doesn't really know what to make of her just yet either. And the cats...well, there will be some adjusting there.
Potty training is going to be some serious work...right now she is still such a small pup that she will just pee right there in the middle of whatever she is doing. Whether it is having one of her separation freak-outs in the kennel or playing with us on the floor. The poop is easier because she really seeks out a spot for that. So, for now, I am taking her out almost every half an hour until I can figure out her schedule and until things calm down into something more normal around here. The other part of the potty issue is that she drinks a lot of water - which is good, except it makes pee.
And then there is the separation anxiety attacks. Last night was her first night away from her mommy, outside of her old home, and being introduced to new people and animals. Maybe it is like when you have kids and you don't remember the labor pain...I don't remember Sadie freaking out quite like this! Last night actually went better than expected...around 3 there was some whining so we went outside to potty and then play a bit. She fussed a little when I put her back in her bed kennel but then went to sleep. Today, however, at first I thought it went fine...I put her in her kennel where she was whining a bit when I left to take Neil to work and was laying down and calm when I came home. But, then later this morning when I put her in there so I could have some good Sadie time outside we could hear her barking up a storm. I waited a while before coming back to let her out...and I do know it is going to take time, but it is definitely going to be difficult. This afternoon I am taking a different approach with the kennel - she has self-desiganted her safe space as under one of my living room end tables, so whenever I see her getting ready to crash out there, I am putting her in her kennel until she settles in there (with the door open). Just now I sneaked up and closed the door but didn't latch it. She woke and fussed the tiniest bit and then went back to sleep. Hopefully, soon she will recognize this as her "safe place" and that will help when I have to put her there when I leave the house. Unfortunately, there will be unhappy times when I have to leave the house too - I am just hoping to ease the transition this way. And we'll see how tonight goes, though it seems to help that I am in the room with her at night. (If anyone thinks that easing it in this manner is totally an issue, speak up! I need ideas and suggestions!)
Aside from the basics, so far so good! She is a chewer, but very receptive to her toys as we correct her. I am going to get some bitter apple spray to help with some of the spots that seem to be becoming her favorites. In particular, the legs of the office chairs in here.
The cute little girl sitting by the door will be the newest addition to the zoo here as of September 21. Yes, the black one. The litter consists of five black pups (all girls) and four yellow pups (3 boys & 1 girl). We (I) chose this little one because her white chest marking mimics her mommy, Daisy - it also mimics Sadie's. And also, because we were informed that it was one of the all black pups that was the vocal "guard" dog. She also isn't the runt and seems to be a fairly middle of the road dog which is exactly what I was looking for. Of course, only time will tell if we judged correctly there...but whatever the case, they are all sweet darlings and I can't wait to get her home!
We haven't totally settled on a name just yet, but are leaning strongly toward Lili Marlene (I started with Lily and then it somehow progressed to the name of the famous Marlene Deitrich song) with a nickname of Marly.
And yes, that is sawdust on a bathroom floor. The owner has turned his powder room into the puppy den for the time being. It was the easiest way to contain all the pups while still allowing Daisy free reign of the house (she hops over a barricade at the door). This is a still shot pulled from the 'puppy cam' feed so I apologize for the less than stellar quality of the photo.
