The puppy is driving me insane, and when I stop and breathe I KNOW she's just being a regular puppy (well, a slightly high intensity puppy since she was bred that way) but I don't know how to encourage her natural puppiness and still retain my sanity (and clothing. and furniture. and shoes. and fingers.)
She chews. and chews. and chews. she has the sharpest teeth in the WORLD - so sharp that I wince just reaching to pet her or get the toy to throw. Her nails are sharp too. I am covered in well-meant scratches. I am trying to do what everyone says -ignore the bad and encourage the good and redirect when she chews the wrong thing, but she isn't INTERESTED in the right things! There are only so many stupid chew toys she'll pay attention to before going SHOES SHOES SHOES ROYA'S FEET ADAM'S HANDS CLOTHES SHOES BED PAPER BOOKS DVDS WIRES WIRES WIRES. She loves these dental dogbone things - it's the only thing she will actually sit and concentrate on until it's done (which usually lasts a whole half an hour) - but I am not sure how many of those I should give her in a day.
She's fine in her crate when we drive, but she hates going in it in the morning so I can take a shower and get ready for work. So I started putting her in the backyard so Rommel and her could play - but she jumps at the back door and scratches and whines and it has to bother the neighbors.
When I'm not home, she refuses to sleep at all. Last night I was out with a friend til 10pm, and Adam had to be in bed at like 8:00, and when I got home he was up with her, because she wouldn't sleep. Once I got there, she went in her crate and slept, no problem. ARGH.
Okay. so those things are frustrating. Here are the amazing bits
-she's house trained already. It took 4 days. Every time she goes outside on our lawn now she at least tries to pee, even if she doesn't have to. If she's inside, she heads to the front door and whimpers and I let her out and she pees. At work it's the same thing. It's awesome. She's so smart.
-When she's crying in her crate at night, she stops instantly if I stick my fingers in the holes in the crate. I think all she needs is to know I (someone?) is there. It's very sweet, and makes me feel needed.
-When she pushes her limits with Rommel (read: jumping next to him and biting his face) she turns around and runs as FASTASPOSSIBLE back to me for protection. She doesn't stay there long, but I am her off-limits-safe-place, apparently.
-She wants to eat grown up dog food rather than puppy food, which I find precocious.
-According to everything I've read, she is exhibiting all the signs of an "adolescent" dog - one many months older than her. All of the things that are frustrating are only because she's SO smart and SO driven. I am comparing this in my head to my sisters and I in school - or any really smart child who's bored to death sitting in a classroom. Instead of being annoyed that she won't sit still, I really need to give her more chances for her to expend that energy and use her smarts. I can't wait til she's had all her shots and I can take her everywhere. She'll be good at running with me, she'll love meeting new dogs, and I really, really, really, really, really can't wait to start obedience classes.
-I think obedience classes won't be enough for her. I also can't wait to start her on the Adlerhorst Police Training. She will learn to bite and to track and I will learn how to be good at having her.
I just wish I had more ideas about how to keep her interested in my office and at home. Regular old toys aren't really doing the trick. Maybe it's time for a trip to Petsmart to find something that lights up, squeaks, runs away from her and bounces. ....hm... maybe I could feed a lightbulb to a guinea pig.
I gave her an ice cube the other day. She liked that for about 45 minutes and 3 ice cubes. The fourth one melted somewhere in my living room without her interest.
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In non-puppy news..
...I have no non-puppy news.
man.
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