kimbersmom (11-12-2018)
Love the idea of your diary.Can't wait for the next entry. You and hubby are going to make such great parents.
Kathy--mom to:
Mac--chocolate lab
Scotty--Arabian gelding
No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.
(Herman Melville Redburn)
kimbersmom (11-12-2018)
Sounds like a pretty successful day, minus the no sleep!
Agree with Shelley on the trading thing. Otherwise, you can create puppies that run away with stuff and hide, resource guard and/or gulp. Obviously you don't want the puppy to eat a tummy full of mulch, but it's not am emergency if they chomp on a stick or a leaf. Presto brings them into the house all the time, chews them up on the rug in the kitchen, and leaves me with a mess. Often, I trade him for a cookie and throw out the object. He doesn't swallow, so I don't make a huge deal of it. I know he'll outgrow it. And, I practiced a lot of "leave it". When I say it he stops what he's doing and comes for a treat. I don't yell "Leave It!", I just say it in a positive voice. He calls off horse poop, dogs, cat, food, etc. happily. This has worked well with all of my dogs and unless I'm in the ring, I always reward them. I mean, for a dog, leaving food on the floor is a big deal and IMHO they should be rewarded. If I don't have a cookie on me, a physical reward works, but I don't take advantage of their willingness! As for the crating at night, try putting a chewy in there (bully stick is great!) and if you aren't already, put the crate at eye level and put your hand in there (assuming it's wire). I'm not big on correcting my puppies for crying in the crate in any way. The fact is, it's a scary, unsettling time for them, and we need to try to understand that and support them while also crate training them. For some pups, it's harder than for others, but somehow most people -- and puppies -- manage. With Presto, I kept a chewy in his bed crate and only crated him at nap-times (other than bed-time) the first couple of weeks. He always had a chewy or a Kong and I always knew he was tired. I crated him the least of all of my puppies and I'm liking his attitude toward crates better than the others. However, it could be just who he is vs. what I'm doing. Or a mix. Hard to say!
kimbersmom (11-12-2018)
Loved reading you entry and the fact that many many smiles were made not only for you and your husband but for all of us, Thanks for sharing
kimbersmom (11-12-2018)
Oh, this is going to be fun reading about Stormy. Not having had a puppy in more years than I care to remember, sounds pretty normal for the first day/night. It will get easier.
Love Shelley's trade method. From experience, it's never too late to start that. And, there is nothing better than positive reinforcement training.
Looking forward to the next chapter, ah, when your eyes are open and you have a little time.
Hidden Content
Kissing Bandit
kimbersmom (11-12-2018)
Love the 'novel'!!! I can see in my mind's eye all that is going on and the smiles from you and your husband. Stormy is going to be a wonderful dog in her later years because of your training and her pedigree along with her puppy training.
You seem to have neglected providing PICTURES or VIDEOS to go along with your novel. We do NEED these, PLEASE.
Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
Hidden Content
Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts
barry581 (11-13-2018), Blackboy98 (11-13-2018), JackK (11-13-2018), MightyThor (11-12-2018)
Not sure if you can find one, but for Hemi I got a metal crate that also opened in the top. I would leave the top opened as a puppy couldn't jump out, when he would fuss at night I would just put my hand down in the crate and that was enough to quiet him. 5-10 minutes and he was back asleep.
Then Yeah I totally agree with Shelly. Funny I was just telling my sister the same thing. She rescued a new dog that wants to take things and flee. What I did with Hemi is antlers cut in half were pretty awesome. As a pup he could get the marrow. Well I would ask him for it, no way dad. So I would gently take it being happy and telling him good boy when it got loose. Put little smear of peanut butter on it give it back all happy see dad makes it better. About 5 times of this and I would ask him if I can have it and he practically threw it at me. We did this for several days with several toys. We do this for everything, and keep treats right by the bed. Every night I take off my socks and throw them on the floor, every night Hemi picks them up and hands them to me for his good night treat.
I bet your detailed diary will be very helpful for any other new puppy owners who stumble by the board, great idea! Your experience is very similar to our first night with Barley. He is a LOUD crier. We let him wail it out the first night but on night two my husband laid down next to the crate until Barley fell asleep. That eliminated the bedtime cries. It only took two more nights to break him of the bedtime cries entirely.
Sounds like a pretty typical first night!!!
I did everything I could to make their crates a happy place. I fed them in the crates. I played games where I'd toss pieces of food or a toy into the crate so they'd run right in. Once they were in I'd give them more food or exchange the toys for a piece of kibble. I eventually worked it up to they would stay in the crate, door open until I released them. In addition to the crate in the bedroom, we had a crate in the family room where the pups could see us in the kitchen too. We would randomly close them in the crate while we watched TV or were preparing meals. Once they were in there we'd ignore them if the fussed, and treat them when them were quiet. We also had a strict rule (my wife is a softy) that once in the crate there was no talking to the pup.
I never set alarms to get up in the night. The crate was right next to my bed, and I could hear them when they stirred or whined. I'd just get up and take them out to do there business. The only time I would talk to them is to praise for peeing or pooing, and it would be right back to the crate, little treat and back to sleep. I do have a crate with an adjustable divider so I could keep their space just big enough to move around in and sleep, which helped discourage messing in the crate. I think Brooks may have peed once or twice, Bruce and Sophie never messed in there. I think it may have been because Brooks was 8 weeks when I got him, and Bruce and Sophie were 10 weeks old.
It took about 2 weeks to get into a pretty solid routine, and all the pups were sleeping through the night (6-7 AM) when the were about 12 weeks old. I also found that doing 3-4 short training sessions every day did a lot to wear them out mentally, and it was so much fun to watch them learn, they really are like little sponges at that age.
Have fun with little Miss Stormy, these times are so short with them!!!
Congrats on the new addition of Stormy. So cute.
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