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Further adventures of puppy-raising
Jan. 17th, 2010 05:43 pmI love these guys, I really do but DAMN I miss Navarre. He was my source of sanity most days. When I needed to rest, he rested with me. When I was more active, he played with me. I do think we made a mistake adopting these two so quickly after Navarre's death - I didn't give myself time to grieve. But, I don't think I'd have done very well without them either -- it would be extremely lonely here during the week. Plus, we HAD to get Joker out of the pound before he was euthanized. So all in all, I have my bitches but I love these puppies.
House training is the hardest part. We've taken up all the rugs since I'd rather mop up wet spots on the wood floors than have to keep steam cleaning them. Joker can hold it, he's certainly old enough to do so. Even if he doesn't have to go, when we take them out, he'll squeeze out a few drops. Harley, on the other hand, can't hold it. She's learning to go to the door when she needs to go, but if we don't see her go down the hall, we don't know. She'll also forget and piddle wherever she is if she's playing. So, the work continues...we put a hanging bell on the door and I hope to be able to teach them to touch it when they're at the door so we know to take them out.
Oh, and Harley doesn't really like to go out in the rain. So, she'll go into the sun porch to do her business. It's outside, right? (Sort of). *sigh*
On a positive note: Both pups are learning "Sit" and "Come". Harley is pretty smart for a little one, she got "Sit" even before Joker did. Until I decipher which dog needs what commands reinforced, they can be trained together. The only ones I'll need to do separately will be "Heel" and "Stay". "Stay" is a tough one to teach, since puppies are so easily distracted. But for the most part, they are both doing well.
Joker needs education about his licking. He licks EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE. I've somewhat managed to get it across that I don't want him to lick me continuously...but that's another behavior that will take time to correct. He's slowly coming to realize that he's not going to starve, but he still gets into scavenger mode. He's counter-surfed and table-surfed already, so that's another issue to tackle.
Harley is too young to have any major issues, except bite inhibition. Joker can take a lot of punishment, but I'm sure at some point, he's going to set her straight. Even when he does correct her she just goes back for more. She's learning to be more careful with us, though. AND, she's lost two teeth!! It's so cute...she has holes where her little front teeth once were. Hehe.
When they're playing, you'd swear they were out to kill each other but now that Harley isn't quite so tiny, Joker can play a bit rougher with her. He still overdoes it on occasion, but so far so good.
They both play fetch. It's hysterical to see them running down the hall for the ball and now without the rugs, they don't have any way to stop their momentum. Lots of sliding around...
Suffice it to say, I'm exhausted. These guys keep me on my toes all day. I only get to rest when they're napping, and they often sleep when I'm not sleepy. They're not *quite* as unhappy in their crates as they used to be, but I got a battery for the no-bark collar, just in case (spray, not shock). I asked the neighbors if they heard the dogs and they said no, but...I can hear them outside so I doubt the neighbors were being truthful.
So pretty much, my life is puppy, puppy and more puppy. And pee. Lots of cleaning up pee. I can't WAIT until Harley is potty-trained. I'm just thankful that I'm home to take care of it. For the life of me, I can't remember how I got 'Beau and Navarre trained, it was so long ago. Then again, they were crated for large parts of the day while I was at work...maybe I need to crate them more...hmmmm...
House training is the hardest part. We've taken up all the rugs since I'd rather mop up wet spots on the wood floors than have to keep steam cleaning them. Joker can hold it, he's certainly old enough to do so. Even if he doesn't have to go, when we take them out, he'll squeeze out a few drops. Harley, on the other hand, can't hold it. She's learning to go to the door when she needs to go, but if we don't see her go down the hall, we don't know. She'll also forget and piddle wherever she is if she's playing. So, the work continues...we put a hanging bell on the door and I hope to be able to teach them to touch it when they're at the door so we know to take them out.
Oh, and Harley doesn't really like to go out in the rain. So, she'll go into the sun porch to do her business. It's outside, right? (Sort of). *sigh*
On a positive note: Both pups are learning "Sit" and "Come". Harley is pretty smart for a little one, she got "Sit" even before Joker did. Until I decipher which dog needs what commands reinforced, they can be trained together. The only ones I'll need to do separately will be "Heel" and "Stay". "Stay" is a tough one to teach, since puppies are so easily distracted. But for the most part, they are both doing well.
Joker needs education about his licking. He licks EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE. I've somewhat managed to get it across that I don't want him to lick me continuously...but that's another behavior that will take time to correct. He's slowly coming to realize that he's not going to starve, but he still gets into scavenger mode. He's counter-surfed and table-surfed already, so that's another issue to tackle.
Harley is too young to have any major issues, except bite inhibition. Joker can take a lot of punishment, but I'm sure at some point, he's going to set her straight. Even when he does correct her she just goes back for more. She's learning to be more careful with us, though. AND, she's lost two teeth!! It's so cute...she has holes where her little front teeth once were. Hehe.
When they're playing, you'd swear they were out to kill each other but now that Harley isn't quite so tiny, Joker can play a bit rougher with her. He still overdoes it on occasion, but so far so good.
They both play fetch. It's hysterical to see them running down the hall for the ball and now without the rugs, they don't have any way to stop their momentum. Lots of sliding around...
Suffice it to say, I'm exhausted. These guys keep me on my toes all day. I only get to rest when they're napping, and they often sleep when I'm not sleepy. They're not *quite* as unhappy in their crates as they used to be, but I got a battery for the no-bark collar, just in case (spray, not shock). I asked the neighbors if they heard the dogs and they said no, but...I can hear them outside so I doubt the neighbors were being truthful.
So pretty much, my life is puppy, puppy and more puppy. And pee. Lots of cleaning up pee. I can't WAIT until Harley is potty-trained. I'm just thankful that I'm home to take care of it. For the life of me, I can't remember how I got 'Beau and Navarre trained, it was so long ago. Then again, they were crated for large parts of the day while I was at work...maybe I need to crate them more...hmmmm...
