A Whole New World

The Calm After the Storm

Oh my God, I feel like I've just run a marathon... or emerged from a week stranded in the woods.

After an hour of grocery shopping and other errands, I came home to find that Shadow wet his bed. Not his fault. But then he went puppy crazy for the next 90 minutes, biting, scratching, running and flipping all over the place on the leash, and acting in such a way that I couldn't allow him near our neighbors' kids because he was too hyper.

Figuring I'd exhaust some of his pent up energy, I took him outside for a game of fetch and chase-your-owner-all-around-the-yard. I was having a blast. He was having a blast. Then he stumbled upon some more interesting feces left by the neighbor's dog (who should not even be in our yard, let alone defecating there), and decided it might make a tasty treat.

Within two minutes he was whisked inside his play pen and a call frantic phone call was placed to his vet. "Just watch him," she said, adding that it's gross but all dogs do it. Phew, okay.

After a first-time tooth brushing (all he wanted to do was eat the brush),  it was time to clean his bed. During this time he had another accident in the pen and cried for the better part of the next half hour.

When I looked like the novice mother of triplet toddlers (hair frizzy in all directions, body sagging, raccoon eyes), it was finally time for dinner. When finished, he conked out under the coffee table, enabling me to pop a beer and regain my sanity (or at least take the edge off a bit).

Now the former devil is chewing quietly on his bully stick and leaning his adorable little face into my feet. And I once again become a sucker...

(Sorry for the glorified Twitter post... but if you want to know what it's like to raise a brand new puppy, this is as real as it gets!)

Progress

 If dogs could go to college, Shadow would be a shoo-in. He's already got the merchandise, the golden boy good looks, and lots of smarts!

Shadow has made great progress in the last week in terms of obedience and behavior. Our biggest breakthrough is that he will stay put with a treat just a few feet away -- even when Chris or I move behind him -- until we give the "okay." There is something special about how he looks up at me, waiting for my approval, like he’s a little kid.

In terms of biting/mouthing/nipping, he's still got work to do. Sunday night, however, he made a breakthrough.  While he was in a calm state, Chris and I each began scratching his belly. The moment he pressed his teeth into one of our hands, that person would cry a high-pitched "ouch!" and both of us would either turn our attention elsewhere or leave the room entirely. We repeated this many times, and finally he began to keep his mouth closed.

Today and yesterday, it was amazing and so rewarding to see him working it out in his head that he isn’t supposed to use his teeth. Like a fish gulping air, he now opens and closes his mouth but the vast majority of the time doesn’t actually bite. I’ve actually felt him soften his mouth when my hand (my fault) accidentally strayed to his teeth. Because it’s natural for a dog to play bite with his siblings, there’s something really touching about him holding back so as to not hurt us.

Like his accidents, there are still nips, but they are pebbles compared to boulders.

He isn’t going to win any obedience competitions, but I have it from several experienced dog owners that a 10-week-old puppy who can already sit, stay, lay down, and offer his paw has a very bright future : )

Speedbumps

Just finished three-hour deja vu, cleaning up accident after accident... then the accident he added while I was cleaning up. Two steps forward, one step back, right?

Our Retriever Learns to Retrieve (or at least tries)

On Saturday, under beautiful blue skies and weather more typical of late summer, Shadow learned to play "fetch."

Shadow the Victorious

It was a step-by-step process for him -- first realizing he was supposed to go get the disc, then that we expected him to return to us, and finally that he had to actually give his new toy back -- but within a few minutes he was racing back and forth like a true outdoor dog.

It really is amazing watching him work things out in his head and change some small behavior in accordance with the new knowledge. More about that tomorrow, but for now enjoy the photos of Shadow and his flying disc.

Very good job, Shadow ;)

(Doesn't he look so proud?)

Snoozing

Even Shadow has trouble dragging himself out of bed after a nap. Here he emerges a few inches at a time -- with plenty of rests on his exhausting three-foot journey.

Some Tidbits

Shadow spent much of the beautiful 80-plus degree weekend outside, learning to play fetch (pictures tomorrow) and still trying (ugh) to eat dandelions.

Here are a few discoveries I've made that new dog owners might find helpful:

- A good hand lotion is a must. Even obsessive compulsive hand washers do it more often once the dog arrives, turning even spring or summer hands into sandpaper.

- Dogs dream, and in Dream Land they often bark, "run," and spasm. The first day Shadow came home, this caught me off guard and I feared something was wrong. However, as is also the case with people, there is a clear difference between sleep spasms and seizures.

- The area rug my husband had for three years lasted an entire week under the wrath of Shadow. In addition to accidents (which are hardest to clean on rugs), he saw it as a toy to be pulled up and unraveled. In its place, we invested in a cheap interlocking exercise mat. Not only does it protect the wood floor, it's soft to sit on and individual squares can be removed for cleaning after accidents.

- Baby oil works great to remove sap from dog hair.

- Filled hollow bones are the canine equivalent of babysitters. I have a few already stuffed with peanut butter and kibble (there are also pre-filled ones, but DIY is cheaper) sitting in a plastic bag in the freezer. This was an ingenious tip passed on to me by a family friend. Shadow thinks he won the lottery when he gets one, and the fact that it's frozen inside buys me more time as it takes him longer to lick out all the filling.

- I'm in the process of finishing two puppy playlists (without ultra loud noises or things that will scare Shadow).. When I'm finished, I'll have one playlist full of songs I will actually enjoy listening to while he's around, and another of soft (sappy, boring) songs that would drive me crazy on repeat but are soothing to Shadow when he's alone.

- There are hundreds of toxic plants out there, and many are in our yard. As soon as Shadow began feasting on all the dandelions, I got the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) application for my iPhone so it would always be with me. There are many other resources as well, but the app I have was free, lists every plant that can hurt your dog (or cat or horse), and includes both descriptions of symptoms and photos of the plants.

- Shadow sleeps a lot, but because I have to be on guard as soon as he wakes up, finding time to exercise is a harder than I'd expected. Sometimes I can manage to get in a 30-minute run, but otherwise I use the 10-Minute Solution DVDs. Each contains five 10-minute workouts, so I can do 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 minutes... depending on what Shadow allows!

- We didn't want Shadow to be too focused on food, so Chris and I initially rewarded his bathroom achievements with praise and affection rather than treats. After too many bouts of leash tugging and puppy freak outs, I threw my hands up last week and began giving him just half a treat immediately after each time he goes outside. It's made a huge difference; I only wish we'd done that from the beginning.

* If you have a tip of your own you'd like to add, please send it to LauraShadow219@gmail.com, along with your first name and the name and breed of your pet. I'll collect them and use the results in a future post.