Tired. That's me right now, just Tired. Indy has started to sleep better but it's still a crap shoot on how the night will go. Last night we went to bed around ten and he didn't get up until 3 and then slept until 6am. The night before he was awake for random reasons every hour or two. Even with last nights much better schedule I still wake up exhausted. I don't do the split sleepy times well. I want all of my sleep to happen at the same time... and preferably 9 to 10 hours of it. I just don't function well on less. So basically I'm not functioning at 100%.
Zoe (11 year old daughter) is still getting used to Indy being a constant. She says she feels like we're just watching him and he'll be going "home" soon. I love that he's in charge of waking her up. I bring him up with me and turn off her fan then he goes and stands on her lowest rail for her lader and wimpers until she gets down to hold him.
We have not had a problem with her running late in the morning since he showed up Homework in the evening is getting easier too. For the first few days it was impossible to get her to pay attention long enough to get it finished but we're slowly moving into a new normal.
My current Mantra is: "It's only been x# of weeks."
Indy has been in our home less than 3 weeks and he's not quite 3 months old. Yesterday I spent two straight hours ignoring him in order to get all the house chores finished. Zoe was in the living room with him but apparently that wasn't enough. He peed three different times. I'm not sure when the first happened but I saw the other two. I was on the phone once and was standing in the kitchen the last time. He didn't even attempt to let anyone know (he has been SO good about going to the door and ringing bells). I'm pretty sure he was acting out. Fine, two hours with random pets for attention is not enough right now. Message received! ...Puddles cleaned up. "It's only been 2 weeks."
He's sleeping anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours before needing to go outside at night. Three hours is the most common which works well enough. We're usually in bed around 10pm so I get up again anywhere between 1 and 3 and then he'll sleep until around 5:30 or so. The alarm goes off at 6 so we're up until everyone leaves the house and then Indy and I curl up for another hour on the couch. I think he likes these naps more than I do. He just follows me around watching until I sit down and then pounces me. The only down side is when it changes from Nap time to Play time and the only warning I get is my nose or ear being attacked. We've also started running into the problem that during the day Indy wants ALL his naps to be on me. This is cute but really not a sustainable practice. With as tired as I am it is REALLY hard not to lay down with his puppy dog face but so far I've only given in to the one morning nap (pretty sure I deserve a cookie for that).
Yesterday was the first day he was left in the puppy play pen. We started with 10 minutes and I left the room to work upstairs. I was quiet (folding and putting away laundry) and listened to him whimper and cry the full ten minutes. I went back down and ignored him until he calmed down and then let him out and sat down on the couch to give him lots of cuddles. Today we'll do 20 minutes and see how things go. Tomorrow the goal is 30. If it's consistant with his night time crate training he should stop crying at 20 minutes and just lay down. I have no doubt it won't be anything like crate training at night. I would really really like to be able to leave the house again one day but ... "It has only been two weeks."
We went over to a friends house on Monday. Indy was able to "play" with a much bigger dog (she's not huge but it's all relative to a 5 pound pup). Misty has so much energy and could not understand why Indy wouldn't chase her. Indy was stepped on once and was a little gun shy but he was interested the whole time and would play with all of her toys - just not her. He would go chase a tennis ball but as soon as Misty went after it he'd drop it and bolt in the opposite direction (usually ending up behind my legs). We all went on a walk and with the help of four additional people and another dogs lead to follow Indy walked for nearly a mile at a not so snailish pace! We passed about ten other dogs while we were out and he would sit calmly and let them sniff him and even walked up to a few of them on his own. My favorite was the giant St Bernard looking bear of a dog leaning all the way down to sniff this fur ball that is smaller than most cats. The first set of dogs he was nervous around and tried to climb into my arms but after some reassurance and pets he was fine and didn't have any problems with the other meet ups. At the end of the walk we heard someone yelling behind us. Turning around there was a larger dog (maybe a pointer of some sort?) bolting our direction. I scooped Indy up and the dog was right there. Pretty sure he thought Indy was a rabbit. The owner came up and directly came over to make sure Indy was ok and was apologetic. I'm pretty sure Indy didn't have any idea what was going on. At no point was he shaking or showing any signs of nervousness. As far as he was concerned, I'd finally picked him up. Something he'd been trying to get me to do for at least ten minutes straight. We made it back to their house and Indy saw their cats again (both of whom are bigger than he is) and then we came home for dinner. The best news is that he has gotten SO MUCH better at walking on a leash. We still have a LOT of work to do but I no longer think he's a lost cause.
This is how Indy asks to be picked up. He stops in front of you and puts his paws on your feet. If you can keep in front of him and just not stop - you can make it all the way around the block at a decent speed. Indy is not impressed with snow. >.<
Indy has had two baths since moving in. Zoe helped me with one and Brad helped with the other. Odd as it may sound, Zoe was a better helper I think it's because she's used to taking instruction so she can see what I need her to do and she picks up on cues faster than Brad does. Both times Indy wasn't thrilled but he wasn't really upset either. He doesn't like the hair dryer but with his hair he's going to have to just get used to it. He's also TINY when wet. The next time I'll have to get Zoe to help so that Brad can take pictures.
Last night Brad brought out an old beard trimmer that he doesn't like and we managed to cut the hair between Indy's paw pads. That went pretty well too as long as I held him and kept the treats coming. That will get easier too because Brad will get faster and Indy will know what to expect. Face washing has become a little more of a pain. At first he was so good about just curling up in my lap and I could wash his face and around his eyes with a warm wash cloth. Now... he sees the wash cloth and runs the opposite direction. This is something I'm hoping gets better with time. He's a Hav. He has to have his face washed. As a chocolate the tear stains won't be as big of a deal but the eye crusties can't be comfortable and if they're ignored they'll just get worse.
There is a 20 minute period of time before he crashes for a nap where he goes CRAZY. It reminds me of a toddler who is trying so hard to stay awake that they can't sit still. The problem is that during this time Indy chews on EVERYTHING. If he nips one of us we immediately say "Ouch!", stand up and look away from him for a few minutes. This doesn't always help but I'm hoping if we just keep doing it he will eventually figure it out. I have less ideas on how to get him to stop chewing on: the wall, the couch, the curtains, the chair legs, even the grout! I can't get Apple Bitter spray locally so I'm waiting for some I've ordered. Hopefully that will help.
He's finally figured out his name and he's getting better with the simple "Sit" command but everything else is a lost cause. I try to spend ten minutes with him every day while the house is quiet working on simple commands but I don't want to do too much too quickly. It's also hard to keep Zoe training him the same way Brad and I are consistantly. She really just wants an excuse to give him treats.
Thank you again to everyone here! I spend a lot of time going through old threads and having my questions answered before I even have to ask them. Indy appreciates it too
*****
And HOW do you add a picture to show up under your name?
Zoe (11 year old daughter) is still getting used to Indy being a constant. She says she feels like we're just watching him and he'll be going "home" soon. I love that he's in charge of waking her up. I bring him up with me and turn off her fan then he goes and stands on her lowest rail for her lader and wimpers until she gets down to hold him.
We have not had a problem with her running late in the morning since he showed up Homework in the evening is getting easier too. For the first few days it was impossible to get her to pay attention long enough to get it finished but we're slowly moving into a new normal.
My current Mantra is: "It's only been x# of weeks."
Indy has been in our home less than 3 weeks and he's not quite 3 months old. Yesterday I spent two straight hours ignoring him in order to get all the house chores finished. Zoe was in the living room with him but apparently that wasn't enough. He peed three different times. I'm not sure when the first happened but I saw the other two. I was on the phone once and was standing in the kitchen the last time. He didn't even attempt to let anyone know (he has been SO good about going to the door and ringing bells). I'm pretty sure he was acting out. Fine, two hours with random pets for attention is not enough right now. Message received! ...Puddles cleaned up. "It's only been 2 weeks."
He's sleeping anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours before needing to go outside at night. Three hours is the most common which works well enough. We're usually in bed around 10pm so I get up again anywhere between 1 and 3 and then he'll sleep until around 5:30 or so. The alarm goes off at 6 so we're up until everyone leaves the house and then Indy and I curl up for another hour on the couch. I think he likes these naps more than I do. He just follows me around watching until I sit down and then pounces me. The only down side is when it changes from Nap time to Play time and the only warning I get is my nose or ear being attacked. We've also started running into the problem that during the day Indy wants ALL his naps to be on me. This is cute but really not a sustainable practice. With as tired as I am it is REALLY hard not to lay down with his puppy dog face but so far I've only given in to the one morning nap (pretty sure I deserve a cookie for that).
Yesterday was the first day he was left in the puppy play pen. We started with 10 minutes and I left the room to work upstairs. I was quiet (folding and putting away laundry) and listened to him whimper and cry the full ten minutes. I went back down and ignored him until he calmed down and then let him out and sat down on the couch to give him lots of cuddles. Today we'll do 20 minutes and see how things go. Tomorrow the goal is 30. If it's consistant with his night time crate training he should stop crying at 20 minutes and just lay down. I have no doubt it won't be anything like crate training at night. I would really really like to be able to leave the house again one day but ... "It has only been two weeks."
We went over to a friends house on Monday. Indy was able to "play" with a much bigger dog (she's not huge but it's all relative to a 5 pound pup). Misty has so much energy and could not understand why Indy wouldn't chase her. Indy was stepped on once and was a little gun shy but he was interested the whole time and would play with all of her toys - just not her. He would go chase a tennis ball but as soon as Misty went after it he'd drop it and bolt in the opposite direction (usually ending up behind my legs). We all went on a walk and with the help of four additional people and another dogs lead to follow Indy walked for nearly a mile at a not so snailish pace! We passed about ten other dogs while we were out and he would sit calmly and let them sniff him and even walked up to a few of them on his own. My favorite was the giant St Bernard looking bear of a dog leaning all the way down to sniff this fur ball that is smaller than most cats. The first set of dogs he was nervous around and tried to climb into my arms but after some reassurance and pets he was fine and didn't have any problems with the other meet ups. At the end of the walk we heard someone yelling behind us. Turning around there was a larger dog (maybe a pointer of some sort?) bolting our direction. I scooped Indy up and the dog was right there. Pretty sure he thought Indy was a rabbit. The owner came up and directly came over to make sure Indy was ok and was apologetic. I'm pretty sure Indy didn't have any idea what was going on. At no point was he shaking or showing any signs of nervousness. As far as he was concerned, I'd finally picked him up. Something he'd been trying to get me to do for at least ten minutes straight. We made it back to their house and Indy saw their cats again (both of whom are bigger than he is) and then we came home for dinner. The best news is that he has gotten SO MUCH better at walking on a leash. We still have a LOT of work to do but I no longer think he's a lost cause.
This is how Indy asks to be picked up. He stops in front of you and puts his paws on your feet. If you can keep in front of him and just not stop - you can make it all the way around the block at a decent speed. Indy is not impressed with snow. >.<
Indy has had two baths since moving in. Zoe helped me with one and Brad helped with the other. Odd as it may sound, Zoe was a better helper I think it's because she's used to taking instruction so she can see what I need her to do and she picks up on cues faster than Brad does. Both times Indy wasn't thrilled but he wasn't really upset either. He doesn't like the hair dryer but with his hair he's going to have to just get used to it. He's also TINY when wet. The next time I'll have to get Zoe to help so that Brad can take pictures.
Last night Brad brought out an old beard trimmer that he doesn't like and we managed to cut the hair between Indy's paw pads. That went pretty well too as long as I held him and kept the treats coming. That will get easier too because Brad will get faster and Indy will know what to expect. Face washing has become a little more of a pain. At first he was so good about just curling up in my lap and I could wash his face and around his eyes with a warm wash cloth. Now... he sees the wash cloth and runs the opposite direction. This is something I'm hoping gets better with time. He's a Hav. He has to have his face washed. As a chocolate the tear stains won't be as big of a deal but the eye crusties can't be comfortable and if they're ignored they'll just get worse.
There is a 20 minute period of time before he crashes for a nap where he goes CRAZY. It reminds me of a toddler who is trying so hard to stay awake that they can't sit still. The problem is that during this time Indy chews on EVERYTHING. If he nips one of us we immediately say "Ouch!", stand up and look away from him for a few minutes. This doesn't always help but I'm hoping if we just keep doing it he will eventually figure it out. I have less ideas on how to get him to stop chewing on: the wall, the couch, the curtains, the chair legs, even the grout! I can't get Apple Bitter spray locally so I'm waiting for some I've ordered. Hopefully that will help.
He's finally figured out his name and he's getting better with the simple "Sit" command but everything else is a lost cause. I try to spend ten minutes with him every day while the house is quiet working on simple commands but I don't want to do too much too quickly. It's also hard to keep Zoe training him the same way Brad and I are consistantly. She really just wants an excuse to give him treats.
Thank you again to everyone here! I spend a lot of time going through old threads and having my questions answered before I even have to ask them. Indy appreciates it too
*****
And HOW do you add a picture to show up under your name?