Who needs sleep?

[saffronhare]

Puppy is doing well. Rowan pointed out today that we should have called him Jack Sparrow, on account of his "eyeliner." (Kira vetoed changing his name to "Stinker" last night, so maybe Jack Sparrow will have to do.)


We're having a pretty good first week, overall. He slept for nearly five hours straight last night -- from his midnight walk until my alarm went off -- and might have slept longer if I let him. He ran away from Rowan when she was trying leash him up for a walk yesterday evening, and peed a little bit inside, but there haven't been any other indoor accidents. (Except for when he peed on the newspaper, but we won't call that an accident. It wasn't on the carpet; and he'd been paper-trained before we got him, after all.)

Like you all wanted to know that.
:) Also, he rides well in the car if he's held on somebody's lap. But in the kennel? You know, the way it's safe? SUCKS. He made sure everyone knew that.

It's possible he'll end up taking a bath with me sometime soon. He kept jumping up at the edge of the tub this morning -- I took a bath instead of a shower, because I figured having me disappear behind a shower curtain would have been very alarming for him -- and it won't be long before he over-shoots and ends up in the water. Doing what I can to train him to stay down, but it's gonna happen, I think. Splash!

Comments

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Thus far, he doesn't exhibit quite as much of the JRT destructo-pup tendencies as I was braced for. ::knocks on wood:: It helps that he has virtually zero unsupervised time. :)

Still, this is a doggie who will be happier (and possibly less trouble) with more training and lots of play/activity. Gotta figure out how to *teach* him to play fetch!

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Same way you teach "Come." Tie something to the leash so it's extended. You throw, he fetches, you reel them both in and praise lavishly.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much what happened! (except without the wisdom of extending the leash) OMG he's smart...and he LOVED it.

I squeaked the toy and tossed it a few feet. He bounded over and got it right away. He played with it for a second, and then happened to bring it my way to play with, as if to say "Wow! This is the Best Thing Ever!" He happened to drop it at my feet and I made a big deal about being delighted that he'd given it to me. We played at that for quite a while.

I'll try extending the leash next time, and getting more specific with the verbal and physical cues. Even with it happening sort of by accident, it's clear he loves the game -- and it's a great way for him to work off some energy. He's already walking very, very well on a leash too.

Extra training and games are going to be very important with this one. I really appreciate the advice. :)

When does Monica come home to you?

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

She will not be coming home with us. Neither will one of her sisters. They've been removed from the website, and the people who sent us the application never said a word about any possible adoptions in the works. We were told they had canine flu and wouldn't be able to be viewed until Saturday.

At least we assume this is what happened. They also did not return two phone calls inquiring about it.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Well, shit. I'm truly sorry to hear that.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Strangely, I'm A-OK with it. :-)