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| Whatever it was, I didn't do it. |
Emma's mentor, Mitzie, brought over a number of toys, collected from other puppy raisers, to help keep Lexus happily occupied. We are so grateful, not only for the toys, but for Mitzie's constant support and encouragement on this journey.
To sum up the last couple of months...
I'm becoming an expert at repairing gentle leaders and other dog halters after they've been chewed apart.
Silence is veeerrrryyy suspicious, crunchy noises even more so.
Housebroken is housebroken, until she grows faster than her bladder.
After Lexus eats, we now plan on spending time in some crazy puppy play. Gotta help her find reasonable ways to burn off energy or she'll find a few unreasonable ways.
on the more positive side...
Lexus hasn't had an accident in the house in weeks. When we go outside and tell her to "hurry", the command for "okay, either pee, poop, or both, before we go back inside, and do it now", she'll obey right away.
She has the sit and stay commands down.
She knows the commands here, let's go, wait, release, down, and shake. She's not always consistent, but she's getting there.
She's learning to go get something and bring it back to us. Occasionally, she'll even drop it on command. Once in a while, she'll even drop it in my lap. Unfortunately, she sometimes accompanies the object and climbs or jumps into our laps, too.
She's learning what we mean when we say "DON'T!" She just sometimes chooses to ignore us. We know it's just a phase she's going through. She's testing us to find out who's boss and finding out that when we say, "DON'T", we mean it.
The best part is Lexus seems to really enjoy getting out and around people. We've gone into stores, a pizza restaurant, the ballet studio, and she accompanied me to school one day. She's been great! We're looking forward to getting her used to bus rides on the 16th St. Mall downtown and then, maybe, she can go to my University classes with me now and then. For sure, she'll attend community college with Emma in the fall.
It's a lot of work. Like with children, it's not always easy to tell we're doing the right thing. Are we too strict or not strict enough? Do we balance the work with play? Are we consistent?
I think she'll turn out just fine. Just like the kids.
Housebroken is housebroken, until she grows faster than her bladder.
After Lexus eats, we now plan on spending time in some crazy puppy play. Gotta help her find reasonable ways to burn off energy or she'll find a few unreasonable ways.
on the more positive side...
Lexus hasn't had an accident in the house in weeks. When we go outside and tell her to "hurry", the command for "okay, either pee, poop, or both, before we go back inside, and do it now", she'll obey right away.
She has the sit and stay commands down.
She knows the commands here, let's go, wait, release, down, and shake. She's not always consistent, but she's getting there.
She's learning to go get something and bring it back to us. Occasionally, she'll even drop it on command. Once in a while, she'll even drop it in my lap. Unfortunately, she sometimes accompanies the object and climbs or jumps into our laps, too.
She's learning what we mean when we say "DON'T!" She just sometimes chooses to ignore us. We know it's just a phase she's going through. She's testing us to find out who's boss and finding out that when we say, "DON'T", we mean it.
The best part is Lexus seems to really enjoy getting out and around people. We've gone into stores, a pizza restaurant, the ballet studio, and she accompanied me to school one day. She's been great! We're looking forward to getting her used to bus rides on the 16th St. Mall downtown and then, maybe, she can go to my University classes with me now and then. For sure, she'll attend community college with Emma in the fall.
It's a lot of work. Like with children, it's not always easy to tell we're doing the right thing. Are we too strict or not strict enough? Do we balance the work with play? Are we consistent?
I think she'll turn out just fine. Just like the kids.
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| Lexus meets Stormy the donkey |
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