Exhausted, discouraged and guilty are three good adjectives to describe how I feel. Gracie is a handful. I've had several moments where I just wish she came to us already trained. The potty issue isn't even the biggest stressor. We bought her the Rascal Dog Litter and she is getting the gist of it. She'll go when we put her in there but she still needs to work on going in there on her own. She's done it about 3-4x's on her own and she goes when we go outside. We've only had two wee wee accidents on the carpet which is better than I hoped for but I'm still thinking of investing in the Bissell Little Green because Slice throws up now at least once a week (a whole other issue).
The biggest issue is her incessant whining, crying, and barking when we leave her alone. I know it's hard for her being away from her siblings and mother but it's really taking a toll on everyone. The poor cat has pretty much restricted himself to the second floor. We've tried transitional objects with her like the heartbeat puppy bone. We turn it on when she goes in her crate to let her know it's alone time but she freaks out. I'm finding that she is freaking out more than she did on Friday and it doesn't last just 5 minutes. No it lasts a long time. I just don't know how to manage this behavior. Aside from that she's fine. She loves to play. She loves to snuggle by your feet and fall asleep. She loves dress up and going outside. It's just being alone that she hates. Any suggestions?
On a ttc note, it was a no go this time around. It's really interesting being on the other side of the stick. I find that although I'm disappointed, I'm not heartbroken like when I'm the person poas. However, I don't think I realized how Danielle was going to take it. I mean she's still a trooper and she knew statistically that it wouldn't happen on the first try but I think she's a little more bummed out about it than I expected. I stupidly didn't go in for my follie check on day of +opk because I took the test at 11am and in order to comply with my RE's rules, you have to test at 6:45am to get the same day testing. So I'll do it next month and we will continue with Danielle.
6 comments:
http://www.googobits.com/articles/469-puppy-behavior-that-doggone-separation-anxiety.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Cesar%20Millan%20Dog&tag=dogbreedinfo05&index=dvd&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/separationanxiety.htm
lisa - here are some suggested items. My advice is read a lot / check out a video / be patient and believe in the power of behaviorism and conditioning and be confident in what you decide to do. Also ask the woman who bred the dogs for her advice - she has probably bred others before and knows how the puppies react in that breed and may have some good tips.
Good luck - I know it's hard at first. Hope things get better. Have you enrolled in puppy class? That would be another thing to do that would help her and give her some stimulation.
oh, i so feel your pain. we almost took our puppy back to the shelter we were so frustrated! it does get better as they get older, i promise. all this headache will be worth it!
my dog *hated* being in her crate. it never really got better, she just got old enough that we started trusting her to leave her out during the day (she has taken over an arm-chair by the front window) and letting her sleep on our floor at night.
hang in there, you'll have a great companion at the end of this puppy stage!
When we first got Campbell he would get VERY upset when we left. What worked for us was to give him an AWESOME toy (what ever that may be) that he only get when we leave, when we come home the toy get put away.
What we got him was a kong and filled it with carrots and dog treats and peanut butter (or the cheese in a can). This would give him a project to work on (getting all the treats out) while we were gone.
We still do it and now it's to the point that when he sees the kong come out he runs to his doggy bed waiting for the toy and for us to leave.
Try doing it in small increments. Leave for 15 min and come back so she knows you aren't leaving for good and slowly build up the time.
Hang in there! Sorry about the BFN :(
Crate training a puppy is hard. I've been a dog breeder and have bread Maltese/Shih-tzu's. When I first got my Maltese we use pads to potty train them. If you put them on the pad after they eat and after they wake up or if you see them sniffing the floor and going in circles then you know they are getting ready to go and if you put them on the pad a few times they'll get the hang of it, especially if they smell their pee already on the pad and then take her outside every hours or so, they'll get the hand of going outside too. As for the Crate. Mine has always cried all night being in a crate. They love to sleep by people. I would suggest maybe getting a bigger crate or try leaving her in a room with nothing on the floor but her crate. They'll usually go in the crate that way if you leave it open as to not sleep on the floor, but not sure if that would work if you have carpet. Some pups are fine with crates and others aren't. Maybe try waiting until she goes to sleep and then carefully put her in the crate and see if she stays in it and if she does keep doing that and maybe she'll get the hang of it at night.
Sorry about the BFN! insemination was probably too early.
I guess puppies are a lot like human babies in that they take a while to settle in. I think that it's often a matter of finding out what your dog likes and work with that. Our dog absolutely hated being in the crate, so we only put here there when we were going out and wanted to make sure she didn't get into things. Her biggest motivator has always been food, so we would give her a peanut butter filled kong when we had to leave her alone. (If you freeze the kong after it's filled, it will take her longer to get everything out.)
We've also found that it helps to make sure she's had a walk or some good playtime so she's not bored or restless when she's left alone. It might take a while, but it really will get better.
Sorry to hear about the BFN. First time is just a practice run, right?
Hi Lisa! I would LOVE to see some baby patterns. My email is amy dot melissa at hotmail dot com. And we can coordinate. Thanks for the offer, a distraction would be great right now.
I also have some dog behavior stuff to send you that can help with Gracie. I got it when I took Campbell to training.
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