It’s hard to believe we’ve had our little Hershey for two weeks already. I have not died from exhaustion as I earlier predicted on those first few howl-filled, sleepless nights. She has surprised me by taking to her crate quite well after all that initial fuss. (Not to say she never cries when she’s in there.) But we have fallen into some routines.
I go to bed around 11:30. She cries in the crate for about five minutes once we leave her alone downstairs, but then she’s usually good until my husband gets home at 5:30 am. Then he lets her out, she goes back in the crate, and might cry again for a little bit, but she goes back in for a few more hours of sleep. However, if she howls and cries relentlessly during the night, this means she’s messed her crate and wants out. So, we’ve had some middle of the night crate/dog washings. Super, super fun. I thought I was being smart, waiting out her cries, teaching her it was time to sleep, time to stay in the crate. But she was either telling me she needed to go out, or wanted out of the dirty crate. We’re definitely learning as we go!
She gets up in the morning when the kids are getting ready for school and she and the cat go CRAZY, running around, nipping and jumping. If I have somewhere to go in the morning, I’ve learned I have to tack on twenty extra minutes to immediately let the dog out, feed the cat and dog, and let the dog out again after she eats. On the mornings I am home, it’s pretty funny to see how quickly she’s wiped out, and falls asleep. She and the cat play-fight for a while, and then sleep together for a while. They wake up, I let Hershey out, she play-fights with the cat and goes to sleep again.
Hershey and her buddy!
And because I’m home with her most of the day, she does seem to be turning into a Mama’s girl, which I didn’t really want. I want her to be equally excited to see everyone in our family. But she does come to me most often when she wants to cuddle or play. I wonder if it’s just puppy love or if she thinks I’m “her human.”
We’re making itty-bitty baby steps with the potty training. She certainly knows she gets a treat when she does her business outside. However, she’s not looking for a reward when she does it inside. When is she going to make the connection that she should let me know when she needs to go out to do her business so she’ll get that treat? The whole potty training thing is bothering more than I expected. Even though I clean her messes thoroughly with pet-odor removing enzymes, I just feel a little grossed out by all the messes on my carpet.
And it doesn’t help to hear all the potty success stories. Our friend with a lab claims she messed once as a pup, and then knew to go outside. (Although I heard his daughter in the background while we were on the phone, reminding her father that they had newspapers down for the dog for a while.) So I don’t know the real story, but it seems some folks had it easier than it’s going for us and Hershey.
Another friend claims her Daschund puppy was trained by a video! She bought a DVD meant to explain to the owner how to potty train a puppy. Well, apparently her puppy sat down, watched the video, and scratched at the door to be let out once it was over. She says he’s been trained ever since! She swears it’s a true story (and not one made up just to annoy me.) Who knows, maybe two weeks down the road, I’ll give it a try.
Hershey’s not the only one in the house who needs a bit of training. The kids need a few doggie lessons, too. My son Jack has been taking turns letting the dog out. (He gets a quarter each time he takes her out, kind of like his own little doggie treat.) He does pretty well with her, and patiently lets her stake out her spots to do her business. My daughter isn’t so great with the dog on the leash yet. There’s just a little bit too much dragging going on when Riley takes the dog out. We’re working on it.
We’ve had a bit of a warm spell here and Hershey has been in her glory. No longer does she have to dash out into the cold, do her thing, and dash back in; now she can romp through the yard, sniff a thousand different things, and poke her head under bushes—as long as it isn’t raining. She might not like the cold, but she hates the rain, we found out the other day. Perhaps I’ll have to take an umbrella out next time?
So, all in all, Hershey is blending into the family nicely after two weeks. After establishing some sense of routine and normalcy, I’m gearing up to try clicker training next. Maybe that will help with the potty training. Who knows?
But we must be doing something right. We took her over to see our neighbors the other day. She was great meeting a bunch of new people, and was outgoing and friendly. After an hour of playing and hugging and petting Hershey, they are now looking up breeders to find their own lab. So, Hershey might have a best bud living just a few doors down. (And we’ve found the perfect babysitters when we take our next vacation!) Puppy love can be contagious!
But I can’t forget that our other neighbors also oohed and ahhed over how cute she was. Then they set her down and said, “No way could I ever do the puppy thing again.” And promptly went inside.
It’s good to know we’re not the only ones who’ve experienced new puppy growing pains.
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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.
Related posts:
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Worst Lab
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Holding Tight
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Who is the Boss?
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Fairy Dog Mother – Part 2
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Hello Stranger
