Rambunctious

19w3d
Today Luna weighed 32.5 pounds.

When I left for Tennessee 10 days ago, she weighed 30 pounds. I don't know where she gets the energy to grow because one would think she's using it all to run around like a banshee. While I suppose she is getting better, she still has her incredibly crazy moments of rambunctious pandemonium. She also still has the occasional accident in the house. Tonight, for instance, we left her alone for about 30 minutes and came back to a couple of little gifts in the floor. The occasional teeth marks on things and the fetish she has for paper products is tolerable, but because her pop is SO soft, I really wish we could completely break her of these accidents.

A few weeks ago, we had a little visitor for a couple of days. This is Corndog.

Terrible Twos

Saturday, February 20, 2010

I'm not sure where in human development Luna falls right now, but at 13 weeks yesterday, she seems to fall awfully close to the terrible twos. Today has been full of mischief and energy and "oopses." While I slept, Dad had to constantly work to keep her out of things and constantly take her outside to potty. Regardless, she had a couple of accidents in the house. Her pooping habits have changed, too, and she no longer has to poop as frequently. She's also sort of decided that pee and poop shouldn't happen in the same trip outside, so no matter how long we stay out on the first trip, she waits until we go in to ask to go back outside at which time she poops. Whew! And big sister has figured that out and waits in the shadows until she is left alone with food in Luna's bowl, at which point she pounces on it. We've worked really hard to get Abbie to an acceptable weight, so we have to figure out a way around this problem.

Over the last few days, though, Dad has solidified "sit" and "down" with Luna. She learned it quickly Thursday, the first day he worked with her, and is quite proficient now. She does the cutest thing with "down," taking her front paws into the air and lauching herself forward. The little stinker seems to do very well with instructions like this, but is still incredibly hardheaded when it comes to not biting her sister and being potty trained. I think we're about ready to start advancing to the long line work for "come."

Gremlin Ears

Monday, February 15, 2010

The days are flying by, and Luna is growing by leaps and bounds. I suspect we have little more than a couple of weeks left in our current "den" before we will need to buy the next size up. She is showing the changes in her structure as well. The "puppy" is leaving her cute little face little-by-little, and today for the first time, Marc saw both of her ears standing straight up. He said he noticed it when she was in her den, so his initial reaction was, "What the heck is that in her den with her?!" Then he realized it was her ears! LOL. They didn't stay that way long, though, and by the time I got up, she was back to having gremlin ears.

She is becoming more bold, too. She ran from Marc for the first time today. BAD PUPPY! This particular bad behavior is a particularly frustrating one, and I think we'll have to do some long line work and really start a concerted effort at getting her trained at "sit" and "down." I think we have been so focused on the potty training we have been slightly remiss on further issues. Not to mention we are both fairly worn out from lack of sleep and constant vigilance, trying to prevent accidents. She is so unbelievably hard-headed with the issues we have tried correcting thus-far that I am a little worried about getting all of this under control.

We have a new, temporary addition too. T.L. has come down to stay a couple of months with us and brought his little guy Tank, an English bulldog/American bulldog mix. He is very sweet and mild mannered. Luna, however, was none too impressed and did not want him near her house or her dad. She did her best to herd him away from the door, raised hackles and all. Having failed, she decided she needed to bite him on the back to show him who was boss. After it was established that she was in charge--of him anyway--all was good, and he was allowed to come in the house and even to play a little bit. Wow, what an adventure this will be!

Going For A Ride

Since Chelsea died, Marc and I have missed having a dog who likes to ride. There's just something about driving down the road with a dog by your side. Abbie is not that dog. She hates to ride--HATES it. We try to limit how frequently we torture her with it, so we're hoping that Luna will not dread it the same way her big sister does. To help her not hate it so much, I wanted to take Luna on fun rides as frequently as possible, and doing so was one of our projects for the day. She and I rode to town to get the mail and pick up Big Sister's prescription. Luna even had to stay in the truck by herself for a little while while I went into places, and did great while she did! She waited calmly in the passenger's seat, and didn't even seem freaked out about it. I guess that will have to make up for the couple of accidents she had...

Mom & Dad Have A Date

Luna and Abbie are fortunate to have a stay-at-home dad who gets to set his schedule around their needs. Since we have brought Luna home, we have only had to leave her alone in her kennel for more than a couple of hours twice, and those two times were chosen specifically to get her accustomed to our having to be away on occasion. We decided to make tonight a longer trial run and have our Valentine's Day date a little early. We left the girls for about six hours while we headed to Gainesville to catch dinner and see Avatar (thus the 3-D glasses :) ). They did well, and Luna managed not to soil her "den." Potty training is certainly progressing better for all parties involved.
Tomorrow we just might head out on a little adventure to build socialization skills.

On a side note, we have scheduled Luna's appointment to have her dermoid removed from her left eye. We had initially thought we had to wait until she was 14 weeks old, but the vet said we could do it next week, just shy of 13 weeks. So we'll be heading over to Jacksonville for that on Wednesday.

Yucky Tummy

Luna woke us up yesterday morning by making yucky tummy noises, heaving in her den. The first time she threw up I didn't get too excited. The second time I turned into an overprotective parent and called the vet. They reassured me, and we started our day with small meals and taking it easy. The nausea apparently didn't phase her much, though, because she barreled into the day as usual, as playful as ever, becoming more so as the day wore on. Today she seems to be 100%, thank goodness.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk while Dad was gone to Jacksonville. Luna was definitely feeling her oats by this point, and Big Sister finally got enough. She barked! And growled!! And snapped at Luna!!! I was SO proud of her! She can, after all, teach Luna her manners much better than we can.

Check out these Gremlin ears. Aren't they GREAT?! They're a new development.

Oh, and potty training is still a bit hit-or-miss. Yesterday, no accidents. Today...THREE. Argh!

Briefly

We have little on which to comment today. We are simply moving along. Luna has had two and a "half" accidents today but we are picking up on her cues a little better and have avoided as many as we have had. As much as potty training, inappropriate chewing has creeped into the picture as a small issue. She seems to want to gnaw on everything, not exactly chew it up, just gnaw. When we tell her no or spat her, she will occasionally talk back, grumbling and barking. She is quite a vocal puppy which is entertaining since Big Sister and Bigger Sister (our deceased black lab, Chelsea) have never been particularly talkative. Big Sister continues to require a diaper though we have gotten one that is a bit easier to manage and I would imagine a bit more comfortable for her. Hopefully we'll only need that for another week, maybe less.

Both Ends of the Spectrum

We can't have progression every single day, so instead we get today. Not one, not two, but three accidents, rebellion in the form of tasting everything she could, bugging the Big Sister incessantly, raising nine kinds of Cain while in her den, and generally being a pain in the heiney. But then she does this and just melts the heart. She LOVES Big Sister. (Pardon the phone pic. It was the only thing I had handy.)

Our First Vet Appointment

The girls and I have had quite a day today with a trip to Gainesville to PetCo, a trip to the vet, and a trip to visit friends. When we got to the vet's office, we were informed that he was in an emergency surgery and our appointment would have to be bumped back by a couple of hours. This was okay with us, though, because we had already been considering a drive to PetCo for some goodies. Big Sister stayed in the cool car while I took Luna inside to pick out some treats, get some Big Sister food, get some ID tags engraved, and find some more comfortable diapers for the Big Sister. Frankly, I didn't think I could handle both puppies at the same time, and I wanted to be able to concentrate on Luna's first social experience. She was a little afraid, but handled herself nicely. Initially I carried her, but when I finally put her down, she handled being on the leash nicely and was slightly shy around the strangers, not aggressive or over ebullient. Abbie handled being in the car well and was lying down calmly when we got back.

By the time we finished at the pet store, we had just enough time to get to the vet for our rescheduled appointment. We needed Abbie to be seen to get her claws clipped and have a small mass on her face examined which turned out to be essentially a sebaceous cyst--no big deal. And Luna, of course, was there for an introduction, another set of vaccinations, to be microchipped and for a referral to an ophthalmologist. Dr. Clint Greene at Hilltop Animal Hospital said that Luna has a great bill of health with the exception of her dermoid which we will remove in a few weeks, and a very small umbilical hernia which will be repaired when she gets spayed. Her hips had no click or evidence of dysplasia, and we'll continue to keep an eye on them and on her elbows which apparently can also have some issues in GSD's. Big Sister and I were very proud of Luna. She never flinched, not even once, and never offered to bite. She even walked well on her leash the whole time.

Dr. Greene and Mario check out the baby girl.

After our vet appointment, we dropped Abbie off with Dad and headed to Miss Pam's house to visit Beefy (Miss Pam's French bulldog) and Miss Pam's family. We had hoped Lulu the shih tzu would be there too, but she was out. Luna did well, acting politely and pottying only outside. As a matter of fact, we've had only one itty-bitty accident in the last three days. We've had a big, big day!

Luna's First Adventure

Dad correctly assumed I would want to participate and woke me early this afternoon so I could participate in Luna's first adventure around the homestead. Ever intuitive, or maybe just hopeful, Abbie headed out ahead of us as soon as we were all out the door. Luna followed her step for step, sniff for sniff, in perfect Big Sister adoration.

We even jumped a deer while we were out.

The potty training is going some better with scheduled time in and out of the den. So far, no accidents for the last two days. Our first vet appointment is tomorrow, another adventure to add to the list.

Waffles

We saw some new behavior from Luna today while I was cooking dinner. After taking her outside to potty, I came in to cook dinner. Shortly thereafter, Luna shimmied her way into the far corner of the living room and began to whimper. This whimpering and cowering was different from her fear behavior exhibited thus far. Each time she has been afraid or startled up until now, she has taken a step or two back, growled and then barked, gradually coming back to check out whatever it was scared her. We couldn't figure out what was the matter. Marc took her outside to potty again just in case that was the issue, but she didn't want to come back in the house. When she did come back in, she pressed herself up next to the door and resumed her whimpering. We kept thinking she was acting like something was hurting her, but we didn't know what it could be. While she and Dad had been outside, I noticed that the steam coming off of the waffles I was making was hissing very softly and wondered if maybe they were making a sound as they cooked that hurt her ears. Sure enough, when the waffles were done and the waffle maker empty, she was suddenly fine and happy again. Sensitive little puppy ears!

Abbie watches dad and hopes for food, Little Sister watches Big Sister and hopes for love.

Potty training went some better yesterday with no accidents to report. Dad kept her crated in intervals for the first half or so of the day, taking her out specifically to potty then play for a half hour to an hour every 2 hours or so. For the last half of the day, she was let to roam just the living room, again barricaded from the rest of the house. She is doing well with not soiling her den, having stayed in it for about 6 hours last night between the time Marc went to be and the time I came home without pottying. This ability to control her bowels and bladder in her den leads us to believe she is not entirely too young to expect progress with potty training, so we are hopeful that we are on our way to real progress. She is picking up other things (like not jumping up onto people and not biting to love and play) quickly, so we think we are just not communicating what we want very well. We'll just have to work on the message we are sending.

Another Approach

After four full days of consistently watching, waiting, and taking scheduled potty breaks, Luna is still showing little progress toward being housebroken. She potties well when we take her out, but she still potties inside which confounds us. Yesterday wasn't too bad of a day with only a couple of teeny accidents, but today, despite having just been outside, Luna pooped in the floor. No more had Dad cleaned that up than she took a teedle, too. She does these with no warning whatsoever--no circling, no sniffing, no nothing--just squat and go, which makes our taking quick preemptive measures difficult. We have the luxury of Marc's being able to stay with her all the time, so she is getting consistent training and attention. She eats, plays, and potties on a very regular schedule and is never unsupervised. Marc has been amazing with her. She has had more effort spent with her than any other dog I have ever seen be house broken, but she is making slower progress. Certainly she isn't stupid; she just doesn't seem to "get it."
Frustrated and bumfuzzled, Marc reviewed the articles we have been following (http://www.worldclassgsd.com/Tips_Resources_For_German_Shepherds/House_Breaking_Your_Puppy.htm & http://www.total-german-shepherd.com/PuppyHousebreaking.html) one more time and decided that we needed to go back to the crate (or the "den," as we call it). We had thought that since we were limiting her space significantly, the space in which we were keeping her would function as a sort of den all on its own. Obviously it is not, so we are putting her in the crate between potty and play breaks. We drink and/or eat, potty, play then go back into the den. She had been tolerating this surprisingly well, but seems to have gotten a little frustrated with it this evening. We are heartbroken to have to do this. We want her by our sides, with us, not put in a box, but we don't know what else to do. We're not even sure where you go from this schedule, honestly. Do we eventually give her trial runs with some more space, gradually opening the space we put her in? Will she magically know what to do after a few days of this? We are at a loss since both of us grew up training them "the old-fashioned way" like we were trained as kids, with a spat on the butt when needed. We both continue to research further methods, and I'll call Linda, the breeder, tomorrow to see if she has any recommendations. Otherwise I'll pick the vet's brain later this week when we see her for our first vet visit (other than the opthalmologist).

Meanwhile, big sister continues to get antibiotics for her bladder infection and require a diaper. Though the diaper is the bane of her existence, she is at least slightly happier now that the stinky puppy is corralled and out of her hair. Fortunately, we caught this one early, so she hasn't suffered the nausea and diarrhea that she often gets with this sort of thing. Hopefully having caught it early will keep her from having to wear the diaper as long as well. The diaper can occasionally be entertaining for the rest of us, though. She always things she's tied down when we first put it on and will keep her hind legs still, looking over each shoulder to ask us to free her. Then when she finally figures out she can move, she waddles around and sits down like an old lady. When she catches us not looking, she does a wiggle dance against the closest upright object she can find and tries to get the diaper off. If she weren't so pitiful, it'd be hilarious.

Poor Big Sister

Every year since Abbie joined us, she has gotten a urinary tract infection in January. We have tried many times and seen many doctors trying to figure out why this happens but have had no luck. We had hoped that her being able to roam more on the new 10 acres would increase how frequently she emptied her bladder, thus decreasing the likelihood for bacteria to grow. Unfortunately we were wrong. We noticed the tell-tell signs today, and now have one puppy in training, the other in diapers. Poor, Abbie, she has been so heartbroken and dejected about another addition to the family, and now she has to deal with feeling bad and having to wear a diaper, one of her least favorite things in the world.
Naturally, one of our first projects is house training. We are trying to do this as intelligently and humanely as possible, not repeating any previous mistakes or blindly following the advice of well-meaning friends and loved ones. We've read and researched and tried to make sense of conflicting "expert" advice. Our conclusion for now is to take little Luna our for frequent potty breaks, using treats and praise as reward, preceding the trip out the door with taking her paw and patting a large jingle bell hanging from the door and saying "outside." Some say that at 10 weeks, 1 day old, Luna is too young to begin this process; others seem to think starting the process as early as possible is best. Our thought is that we have no choice but to start now. Luna is responding to the treats and praise. She potties pretty well when taken outside, but she is showing no initiative to indicate to us when she is ready to go out. We are having to watch her diligently to catch her before she begins to "have an accident." Some information suggests that we should not scare her or punish her for peeing or pooping in the house, only provide frequent potty breaks and praise her when she does the right thing. We have been doing this, but we are beginning to doubt the value of it. Somehow the lack of negative reinforcement for the accidents resonates as a potential issue. This is a work in progress, and I suspect we will adjust our methods as we see their effects.
Because we have to watch her so closely, we have "fenced in" the living area with first one thing, and then another. Even the ottoman has to be shifted so we have a view of the entire area where she can't sneak around and teedle without our seeing it. I look forward to this phase being over. Everything, for now, has to be out of its ordinary spot, but the disarray messes with my fung shui.;)
Our other project is crate training. At least for a while, we need to have a safe place for Luna when we are unable to supervise her, and the crate will provide that safety. Our research tells us to leave the crate in our common area, so she becomes accustomed to its being a regular part of comfortable life. It tells us to hide treats in there, even feed her in there if need be, to make her comfortable and confident that the crate is not punishment, that it is a safe, good place. So we moved the crate to the living room and did just that. Here, Luna checks it out. She's now taken to randomly checking it for treats. :)
Of course, helping big sister understand that she is not being superceded, and we still love her just as much as we ever have is of the utmost importance. Here Dad works on doing just that.