This is a horrible photo I know. I took it with my phone. I should know better than to be without my real camera I guess. I'm sure if I knew how to photo shop at all I could at least fix the glowing eyes.
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This morning a co-worker friend called and said she was going to train at Lowes with her dog Ryka, did I want to join them? Hell ya. I've decided to take part in an upcoming dog training flash mob so we definitely need to practice a few skills. If anyone is interested, you can join the Positive Dog Training Flash Mob group on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1170300640&ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/338885719459292/ There is video being posted of the routine and training tips as well as a list of participants so you can find others near you to train with.
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I admit that I have been slacking lately with Jenny because Zola has been taking up all of my energy. Of course that is partly due to my own idiocy. Zola is still waking up in the middle of the night for a potty break. Now what I would tell a client to do, and I started doing myself, would be to take the puppy out and then re-crate and ignore any barking til they went back to sleep. What am I doing? Well after the potty break I am laying down on the couch with a pillow, blanket and puppy tucked up next to me under the blanket for the last few hours before I have to get up for work. Yeah I know. Epic fail. It actually isn't bad IF I can get back to sleep. Thing is sometimes she moves around or wakes up to go out again. I am a person that doesn't do well on limited sleep so it catches up with me. I am hoping that at some point she will sleep later and it won't be an issue anymore. Tho sometimes I think about getting her a bigger crate and putting a potty pad in one end so she has a different option than waking me up. However that could definitely set her back in the whole house training process. At the moment she usually starts circling (sometimes near the door) if she needs to go out. Do I want to ruin that progress? And what if she poos and then walks through it? I would need to add a puppy bath to my morning routine. I. Just. Need. More. Sleep.
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~Sigh~ I suppose I should just do the back in the crate thing and let her bark herself back to sleep. The only thing is, I kinda like the cuddling. So that is the real confession. I have become soft and helpless to the charms of a 10 pound puppy.
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The good news is that she seems to be doing very well. Her ammonia levels were high when we checked them last week so I had to increase her lactulose. Thankfully it hasn't caused any diarrhea which can be a problem. We will check it again in another week. I really need to get video of her and Jack on here to share. They play SO well together. It is really fun to watch. Jack is such a great big brother for her.
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By the way Ryka is a stunning Blue Heeler Cattle Dog from Cattle Dog Rescue. We had a good time at Lowes today. I am very lucky to have such a great training space close to home for when it is to chilly to work outside.
2 comments:
Your reminded me of the first few months we had our new puppy. I really, really wanted him to sleep in a crate (he's an "into everything" sort of dog), but I didn't want to deal with the personal insanity that would occur without enough sleep. I ended up sleeping on an old mattress in our living room - one hand stuck between the bars of our puppy's crate. I gradually moved my hand out of the crate and then moved the mattress farther and farther away until he felt secure enough to sleep soundly without me. I still miss the puppy breath :)
Going through a similer housebreaking problem here. New pup, 9 weeks today. He's got a good coat on him, but he does get cold really quick if temps drop to the low 20's or colder. Course temps have been pretty warm this year, but not consistantly. We're potty training to piddle pads, and we'll work it from there. Crate training's been harder, he SHRIEKS when we put him in it, and has proved capable of keeping it up for a very long period of time....
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