It's been a little over a month now at our cute house. So far home life has been full of little projects that I can't wait to share with you. But about a week ago it all came to a screeching halt when Jonathan and I decided to adopt a little ankle bitter. (literally)<---------This is Rosie
Look at that sweet look on her face!
She is our absolutely adorable stubborn angel. We got her at about 9 weeks, so now she is of course 10 weeks old. A Belgian/ Dutch Shepherd mix that was abandoned by her mother. The family did not want to hand feed 10 (she had 9 brothers and sisters) of these cute little bundles of joy, so the gave them to the shelter. We saw an add on craigslist and responded immediately. The woman that had hand fed them was very nice and obviously knew what she was talking about and the baby's had already had there first shots.
Rosie really chose me. She came over immediately and let me pick her up, and contently sat on my lap for a while watching her siblings romp around. I, of course, immediately melted and bonded at once. Poor Jonathan had to deal we me trying my hardest in a non pushy way (well I though it was non pushy but I guess that is really hard for me to do. ) to convenience him that this little girl was the one. We had another choice, but we ended up taking her home. Love my husband.
Since my job hasn't quite started yet (I got a job as a teller for Wells Fargo!) I have been spending all of my time with Rosie. Let me tell you the mix of utter awe at her cuteness and intelligence and frustration you get from raising a puppy is overwhelming. I'm sure it is 10 times that for a human baby, so I'm just calling this a warmer upper for the main event.
We also adopted a 6 year old kitty cat named Chowder! We got her about 4 weeks before the puppy and she has fully established this place as her permanent home. She sleeps with us every night, and is quite good at teaching the puppy who is the boss around here. She is also very sweet, and never uses her claws. We lucked out with such an even tempered easy cat.<-------This is Chowder
And she likes to cuddle under blankets!
The dog also loves Chowder, though I don't think the cat feels the same. She just tends to tolerate Rosie most of the time. When Rosie first arrived tensions were high, and I thing maybe a bit of jealousy on Chowders part. Now they can tolerate sleeping and being in the same area together. I'm hoping some day maybe become friends?
So are you looking to get a puppy?
Let me be the first to tell you they are awesome, but also a lot of work. Don't expect the puppy to learn what they are suppose to do in a week (like for some odd reason I thought). Or to sleep when you want them to. Puppies will take time to learn, and you will be learning a lot along with them. Lots of hours on YouTube trying to figure out what you are doing wrong.
So here are a few things to expect the first week.
- They Chew, everything. Don't just get 1 chew toy expecting they will except that as their only option of things to tare up. They need at least 5 different ones to chew on, and they will pick a favorite. That one will work the best for training.
- They Pee, because they can't hold there bladders. Try not to get mad at them too much for this. If you do they might just think peeing is a bad thing and that will cause a lot of problems in your future. Just pick them up and put them were they are suppose to go, and when they go there give them lots of praise.
- They will wake you up early, and keep you up. You will have to slowly adjust their sleeping time to yours. Be sure to have a specific spot were they sleep, that will help a lot for regulating a sleep schedule. You put them there and they will eventually get that is my sleeping spot. (It didn't take Rosie long to figure it out and now she sleeps 7 or 8 hours every night without waking us up. )
Here are a few tips to help you handle.
- Patience! be patient, I mean visit your inner yogi and meditate if you have too. They will frustrate the crap out of you, and you need to be on your game about training them right. You can't slip up or that will create more problems in your future. Trust me, it's just been a week and she has gone back and forth with doing the right and wrong thing within a sec of each other.
- Persistence. I know it's hard to make her stay on her bed in the middle of the night when you are exhausted and don't really care, but it pays off. Rosie would not have anything to do with her bed, its only been a week and now she will go on it and stay on it most of the time. (but we have to be right there enforcing it, or she sneaks off. lol)
- Do Research! Before you start training her, look up on YouTube and other family animal sites for the best ways to do it. I thought I was a know it all since I helped train my family dog years ago. Well I don't know smack. After the first 2 days of being frustrated and doing things wrong, I looked it up. Rosie immediately responded better after I did.
- Time. Dedicate at least an hour a day for focused training, and when you are home spend all your time with your new puppy. No excuses. They need to develop a close relationship with you and if you neglect them they could get aggressive, shy, non social, and all sorts of other stuff in the future.
- Exercise!!!! I cant stress enough how much easier Rosie is to deal with when she has gotten the proper amount of exercise in a day. Oh the relief! (just remember not too much because they are still babies and will have horrible growing pains, that might keep them up at night)
Here are some videos I found helpful.
This guy has a lot of energy and great tips, just try to ignore his advertising at the beginning
This nice lady is a great teacher for positive reinforcement! I looked up her stuff first and it totally works. I would suggest looking through all of her videos.
I think the best thing anyone can do is adopt! there are so many good animals out there that need homes. I know there is a lot of hesitation with adopting, not knowing the animals physical and mental history, or bad habits it has picked up. On and on. Seriously though, the benefits out way the possible negatives, and animals adjust to knew environments and rules quite well, and quickly. Like with any animal you just got to give it a lot of time and love.
Just think about my cat Chowder. We have only had her for a little over a month and she is one of the most well behaved cats I have ever known!
Any who.... have a wonderful week!
Tootles!
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