Time for a pup-date

I can't hold out any longer. Addy is growing like a weed. My hubby just came home from the 'final' of basic obediance and she got second place with 146 out of 160 points. He was shocked at how well she did tonight. (Good thing instructor didn't see her at the park yesterday being a bonehead)
I'm proud. Now how do we get her to stop peeing in the hallway? The two four-year-old cats here are adjusting- Chester is sometimes found with dog spit all over the backs of his ears. The other night, both cats were brave enough to go past her crate (at 3 am) to come to our bedroom. It was cute. would have enjoyed it more at 7 am though.

Who else has a pup-date? recent photos or how are your shopping plans going?

Sally, take her out immediately any time she has just woken up, had anything to eat or drink or just come out of her crate. Also, get some of the good enzyme based urine cleaners at the pet store because that's the only way to get out the scent that is drawing her back to that spot. Nature's Miracle and Simple Solution are two brands that are good.

She sure is one beautiful puppy. I love those ears. You think maybe she's part rabbit? LOL

By the way, I hope you puppy lovers clicked to see the bigger version of the trick or treaters photo I posted in the happy birthday Ruby thread. Those aren't children. LOL

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 11:35 PM

hart, thanks for the tips. I don't have the enzyme stuff yet. Does it come in a gallon?

The trick or treater are fabulous! I love that picture.

Isn't that photo cute? A friend who is another dog lover sent it to me a couple of years ago.

Yes, the enzyme stuff comes in gallons. Do you have a Petsmart close by? I know they sell the gallons. The problem with the non-enzyme stuff is it removes the smell as far as human noses are concerned but not for doggy noses.

I've tried some of the cheaper stuff from Walmart that claims to be enzyme cleaner and it's not nearly as good as the stuff from the pet store.

Here you go.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750969&cp=2767032.2767116&fbx=0&fbn=Taxonomy%7CStain+%26+Odor+Removers&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2767116&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 11:53 PM

LOL hart, I never "blew" up that photo and didn't even realize they were dogs!!

sally, OMG Addie's ears are HUGE!!! Is that sledgehammer nearby for a reason - like when she pees in the hallway? Just kidding :) Congrats to both Addie and your DH on successful obedience training! Can sympathize with you - it's only been less than a month since Phoebe arrived, basically she's doing great with housetraining, but she's had a couple of bad days :( Phoebe's new 'treat' is playing fetch with a tennis ball - we wore her out last night! Thankfully, she loves all her "toys" and we haven't had a problem with her chewing on anything she's not supposed to. Rick was just saying yesterday that we have to get more pictures soon, she's grown so much we're going to miss out on all those cute "puppy" pics! If they could just stay little longer :) I won't have a chance to post any updates for a week, heading to Phoenix tomorrow, but will be sure to check back and bring you up to date on Phoebe.

Sally, she is crazy cute! I second Hart's tips about the accidents indoors. What's your current routine with crate, food & drink, and taking her outside?

I met my breeders at the Great Dane specialty in PA last week. We hit it off like old friends. Before that, we only had telephone and email contact as they live up in CT. They are still searching for the perfect sire to their future pups. I'm crossing my fingers that they find him in time for her next "cycle" which should be some time in November. If all goes well, that would mean that we'd get our puppy in the Spring.

hart- thanks again. I do have a Petsmart close, good thing eh? I guess I'll go large on my bottle of NM and treat all the spots I can see . She definitely likes the hallway.

rcn- sledgehammer is for No 2 in the house~~~~ Just kidding~~~She has grown into the ears since this picture. Puppies grow sofast!!! we looked at pics from justthree months ago and they look so funny because she ahs changed so much.

wrightie~ since you asked~~
Well, without writing a whole book on it~~~ She is in crate when home alone, when we're here, she's being somewhat supervised or played with or is out with someone. But you know how fast she can squat! Hallway is private and no one ever is sitting in eyesight of it. Rule is to take her out whenever someone lets her out of crate. Shes great at doing 1 as soon as she hits the grass. I always thank her , Good pee. Three meals a day, in crate. Never ever messes her crate. Taken outat least five-six times a day.
My biggest question at this point is, how does she learn to ask to go out for potty????

That's great that you hit it off with the breeders. Its a nice thing to have that relationship and enjoy the whole event with them. Spring is a good time to get a puppy, nice weather for all the time in the yard waiting for potties....

I get it now "pup-date" "up-date". I'm a little slow today. I thought you were asking for a puppy round-up for a meet-and-greet sort of thing since so many of you have new pups :)

I've found that they just "grow into" signaling to be let out as they mature and get better control of their bitty bodies, but that's not a very good answer, is it? Hmmm... You could put down some prophylactics (absorbent peepeepadz) in the hallway for the time being to try to protect the carpet. But, even better would be to put up a baby gate across the hallway temporarily so that she cannot move out of your view. Unfortunately, I think of puppyhood as being all about the humans working their bums off to maintain consistency in training the new "child". Feel free to slap me the next time you see me.

The trainer told the class how she trained her bunch of dogs to all go 2 together, involves the use of suppositories... I am not quite up to THAT
I kept a d++n baby gate for years after the kids grew out and gave it away just a few yrs ago of course.
I do feel that we two leggers are working harder than the four!

I'll bet you could find one through Freecycle!

now there's a thought

Oh, your suppositories reminded me ... I was telling a friend about the dog show last week. Unlike me, she has been active in conformation shows with her dogs. I told her that I was surprised by the number of dogs that pooped in the ring. She then mentioned that there are tricks that handlers can do to make their dogs go *before* they enter the ring. My jaw just about hit the floor when she said that some people will push a matchstick up the dogs' bums in order to induce twosies.... YIKES.

yeah, it was something like that. I was pretty agog too. I can't see me reaching that level.

No kidding.

Sally, she'll keep going back to that spot as long as she can smell the prior pee. I think the baby gate is a great idea but she will find another spot if you don't take her out.

Puppies don't have a lot of control and they need to be taken out often. Definitely use the schedule I wrote about above. I can guarantee you within 10-15 minutes of waking and eating or drinking she has to go. Sooner if she isn't being taken out often enough. Don't expect her to tell you when she has to go. She doesn't have enough control to have time to tell that silly human to get the leash.

Usually they're good about not going in the crate because they won't mess where they sleep - in their "den." That doesn't mean she doesn't have her legs crossed because she's eaten and no one has taken her out.

too right, hart

I hear you! Bye

Pup-date: The breeder just informed me that my (future) BabyMomma has come into season a full month sooner than expected. LOL, that means that they now have nine days to make their decision about who is gonna be my BabyDaddy and then do the deed. Otherwise, I won't be able to get a puppy until next Summer/Autumn. The race is on!

How exciting, Wrightie! How long before puppies once the two boogie woogie?

BTW, y'all, that lump on Java was a mast cell cancer. The doctor is very upbeat, though. Said it hadn't gone into the muscle or anything, which is very good, and she's healing very quickly, which is a very good sign.

She's doing very well but I'm sure will be glad to get rid of the conehead, hopefully tomorrow if he can take the staples out then.

I'm glad that you nipped java's lump, Hart!

I think it's a 62 day gestation, so I'm guessing that if all goes well (and there are enough puppies to go round) then we should have a new baby around March.

Best wishes for Java
((Java)) is that how we do hugs?
wrightie- mid march birth or coming home to you? Cmon, don't make me do math!!! OOOH, an Irish name if born on the 17th

Sallyg, I see that you are as good at math as me. Join me at the back of the class, won't you? Pup would be born in January-ish, so March-ish would be when we could take him/her home. I cannot seem to decide whether I'd prefer a male or female, but my first color choice will be harlequin, followed by mantle, but that's up to the puppygodz to decide for us.

maybe the one with the yellow neck ribbon- worked for us~~

Boy Addy was playful today. Getting used to me being here a bit to play with her instead of having to run off.

Oh, the miracle of life ... Breeder contacted me to say that they are taking the dam to "see" the sire tomorrow (and subsequent two days), so they will perform an ultrasound in early December to confirm a pregnancy. If all goes well, the puppies shall land in early January.

Think good thoughts, please! :~)

Fingers crossed &&&&

Nothing but "good thoughts" for you here wrightie :)) I can only imagine how excited you must be - once we finally found our puppy, we only had to wait two weeks to pick her up - a long two weeks!

hart, so glad to hear that Java is healing quickly and that the prognosis is good, hugs from me too :)

Pup-date here, Phoebe was so happy to see me when I arrived home from my trip :) Rick took good care of her while I was gone and taught her to "stay", I was so impressed! Read a book on dog training on my flight to Phoenix and found a few things I had been doing 'wrong', but also pleased to discover I had been doing alot of things 'right'! LOL Have a long way to go with training, but at least I know we've started out on the right path :)

Question for all of you dog lovers - has anyone read "Marley & Me" by John Grogan?? I had read reviews earlier and wanted to read it but knew it would be hard for me after losing Flopsy. My daughter bought it for me as a birthday present, said now that we had Phoebe I just HAD to read it. I absolutely loved it!!! I started reading it in the terminal waiting for my flight back from Phoenix, almost finished it on my layover in Cincinnati and had to stop when I got to the last 10 pages - was tearing up just thinking of him losing Marley and knew I'd be bawling and didn't want to embarass myself waiting for the final leg of my trip. I was so tired after getting up at 3:00 AM, long flight, 3 hr layover in Cincinnati, then hour drive back home arriving at 7:30 PM, but I couldn't wait to finish it - stayed awake just long enough to finish it and have a good cry - but it was a good cry, incredible dog story. Had me laughing all the way through it, probably got some "looks" from other people in the terminal but I didn't notice I was so engrossed with the book! LOL Highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it - I want Rick to hurry up and read it so I can pass it along to my friends :)

Oh yeah, read Marley, and kinda knew halfway- oh crap its goin to the end...talk about tears. And I hadn't had a dog for thirty years.
Now reading the Loved Dog by Tamar Geller. I want to get Addy walking with me instead of pulling, and to poop outside in a timely fashion. Sorry for the potty talk. We were getting kind of grossed out asking each other daily, "well did she p**p for you? when did she p**p last" , etd. After discussing with the family, my daugter came up with the best euphemism. Pee is a base hit and you can figure out what's a home run.

Sally, do you throw in many changes in direction when you walk her? I found with Sophie, that by making lots of 90 degree turns while teaching her to walk on a leash, she would learn to pay attention to me and where I was going. She quickly learned not to pull. You can also drop treats to her from your mouth (hint: teach her to catch them from your mouth) so that she gets in the habit of watching you instead of focusing on going wherever she wants. Just some ideas to spitatcha.

Oh, I appreciate any ideas. Now that my mom as much less Dr visits, I am actually home some. I take Addy to the nearby park, or on Tuesday, I went to the woods looking for the magnolia. I know there's tons of stuff to sniff, but with my right wrist in a cast, I really didn't want to be falling down the hill and can only use one arm basically on the leash. Maybe she needs me to decide, are we here to sniff and look at trees, or are we walking? She sure does know the word Treat from me, so I am trying to expand on that. Maybe next is a walk with treats like you say. Thanks.

Did I know that your wrist is in a cast? What'd ya do?

oh I have been toughing it out so bravely...LOL. am a certified klutz, tripped and fell at kids school a month ago and cracked the end of my ulna, or is it radius? so earned me a cast but not all that much sympathy from the other members of the household. Life's much better this week with just a short cast instead of the first two weeks in above-elbow. So that's my little sob story! I managed some pretty good digging on Saturday despite it. Hope that a litlle shower of mulch doesn't come off with the cast.

sally, I'm with wrightie, how did I miss that you had a cast? bummer, sorry to hear that you're not getting any sympathy, but glad that it's getting a little easier for you with the short cast. She sure does know the word Treat from me LOL, yes I'm guilty too, Rick calls me the "Treat Lady" :-) Hard to resist with the treats, I can't just give Phoebe one for looking cute, or can I? LOL As soon as I catch up from my trip, really need to start some regular training. Phoebe's doing incredibly well with the leash, but need to work on the "heel" aspect - found out in my reading that I was doing it backwards - you always keep the dog on your left? I'm more comfortable with her on my right side - but then I'm French, so I'm supposed to be backwards, right? LOL

Sally, I hope your wrist is better soon!

Wrightie, thanks for the leash tips. I'm trying to teach Jello and she's doing pretty well but I hadn't thought to try the 90 degree thing. The guy on the show with the monks and the dogs, name of which escapes me, does that all the time.

Well, I typed a reply only to have it gobbled up by the ghost-in-the-machine...

Hart, I hope that Jello responds well to that idea. I tend to think of dog training similarly to training horses - throw in lots and lots of changes of directions, changes in speed, including halts. Also, try to keep it interesting by hopping over logs/ground poles, some figure eights around two stationary objects and other patterns... If the dog starts pulling, then I'll go another direction and use lots of "super happy voice encouragement" to get them to come with me, if that makes any sense. Lots and lots of rewards throughout the exercises, of course.

I've got Puppy Fever in the worst way! According to the breeder, there has been some GREAT dane romance going on these past couple of days. :)

Woo wooo! Great dane romance!

I've mainly been working on teaching her the perimeter of the yard so she'll stay in the yard. She's doing real well with that.

hart- how do you teach perimeter? and don't say she adds up each length...
I am going to use more treats .

LOL Every time you walk them, use the leash and as they approach the edge of the yard, say "no" loudly and pull them back. When they follow, praise them profusely and give them a treat. After a while, they will start avoiding the perimeter on their own.

I have no fence in my yard and since Java was trained, have had no problems at all with her leaving the yard. Not even for great temptations like the neighbors' wandering dogs coming down the road or to follow me to the mailbox across the road.

I really need to get busy with training - Phoebe is "ripe" for it, just turned 3 months yesterday and she's picking up things fast! I'll have to use all of your tips to teach her where the perimeters are. She has so much room to roam here but the road is not going to be one of them! Although we live on a back country road and there's not much traffic, still makes me plenty nervous because there are a few idiot drivers - the UPS driver is probably one of the worst! Our cat is allowed to explore everywhere and even though I worry about him near the road he's alot smarter than Phoebe right now - and she follows him everywhere!

The road is my main worry although I also don't want to have dogs that wander into neighbor's yards like some of my neighbor's dogs do here.

Like you, we have a country road with little traffic but there are some people who fly and with all the curves and hills, they would hit an animal before they saw it.

Speaking of wandering dogs, I have to tell you one story. I went out one day last year and there was a dog in the yard. I shouted at him to chase him home and he ran. But he ran around the side of the house, straight up what looks like just a stack of rocks from that angle and *splash* straight into the water garden. LOL If you could have seen the look on his face. It was priceless.

He scrambled out and took off. I haven't seen him back since. I guess he figures he'd better find yards that aren't booby trapped with invisible ponds. LOL