Holy cow. Raelyn has been having total conniption fits. She has decided being in the crate is not fun (again). She will whine, whiny bark, bark, dig around, and just generally go crazy for more than 30 minutes. I know she doesn't have to go potty, so is just being difficult. It happened on Friday when I was home and had her in the crate downstairs for a bit. She wasn't having any of that. However, I left her down there and finally she went to sleep (after about 30 minutes of complaining loudly). This morning was a similar thing. She didn't want to be in the crate and wanted me to come let her out. Too bad sucker. She had to stay in there despite being very convincing that she was in throws of agony. Now she has finally given up and gone to sleep.
I think the problem is 3 fold. First, she doesn't like doing things she doesn't want to do. Second, she can be stubborn as all get out. And thirdly, she may have some separation issues. To combat Little Miss Sassypants' first 2 issues, we will just keep making her do things she doesn't like and just outlast her stubbornness. This is a total pain in the ass as she is so annoying. And we will work on the separation issues by having her in the crate in a different room from where we are. We need to get her used to being by herself and being okay with it.
Wish me luck! :)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Puppy Sitting Adventures!
Today Dale and I had tickets to go to the Maker Faire (crazy cool hippie DIY engineering and art fair). Needless to say we couldn't take Raelyn so she went to a puppy sitters for the day. This was her first adventure in puppy sitting that she will actually remember, so we were hoping that she would be on good behavior and not be a total monster. She spent the day with the awesome and active Farley family. They have kids 14, 12, and 10 and a cul-de-sac full of other kids just waiting to play. We knew Raelyn would have a great time and wouldn't want to come back as Dale and I are boring stodgy folk.
Dale and I had a great day sans puppy. We kept thinking, "Man we should do this more often!" :) So I think we will try to have her puppy sat at least once or twice a month so we can have some puppy-free time and it is a great experience for Raelyn to be with other people besides us.
Raelyn came back in the evening and was happy to see us. After she had dinner, she plopped down on her bed and didn't look up once. She was totally tuckered out. I think she had a lot of fun! The Farleys said they had a great time with her and would enjoy puppy sitting her again. Yay for Raelyn not being a crazy puppy monster! She was on good behavior and obeyed commands, but ended up having an accident in the house. (Not too suprising as it took us a month to figure her out and stop the house accidents!)
So thanks again to the Farleys!
Dale and I had a great day sans puppy. We kept thinking, "Man we should do this more often!" :) So I think we will try to have her puppy sat at least once or twice a month so we can have some puppy-free time and it is a great experience for Raelyn to be with other people besides us.
Raelyn came back in the evening and was happy to see us. After she had dinner, she plopped down on her bed and didn't look up once. She was totally tuckered out. I think she had a lot of fun! The Farleys said they had a great time with her and would enjoy puppy sitting her again. Yay for Raelyn not being a crazy puppy monster! She was on good behavior and obeyed commands, but ended up having an accident in the house. (Not too suprising as it took us a month to figure her out and stop the house accidents!)
So thanks again to the Farleys!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Safeway survived the wrath of Raelyn
We went in the late afternoon when she is most calm, but her batteries only lasted so long and in the middle of the bread aisle she decided she had enough so she laid down on her slide and tried to go to sleep. I kept telling her Let's Go, but that just meant I dragged her along the floor and swept for the cleaning crew. I needed to go back and pick her up and put her back on her feet. When we were moving it was fine, but as soon as we stopped down she went again. Pretty funny really. :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Just another day at the hardware store
We have been hesitating to take Raelyn into stores because well, she can be crazy and pretty much all over the place. Today I took her into the Orchard Supply Hardware store and guess what? She did AMAZING! I had her in the head collar and she was so good. She walked right next to me the whole time. She didn't pay attention to the people walking by. She didn't try to get into any of the items on the shelves or even eat the plants in the nursery. Even while I was tediously deciding between which tree to buy, she sat and waited patiently. Completely astounding! Now I feel much more comfortable actually taking her into the Safeway instead of just sitting outside. There is hope for her yet! :)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Little Miss Sassypants
Well Raelyn has gone through her first "phase". We have regressed in training, which is inevitiable as she can't just have a positive learning curve (that is somehow mathematically impossible).
Maybe the problem is that she is too smart for her own good...She knows all of her commands (including "Stand"), but now she has decided that she doesn't know if she really wants to follow the commands. She seems to look at you and ask, "How seriously are you? Do you really, really want me to sit? Are you sure? Can we just skip all of this and just get to the food part?" After staring her down, she will eventually do whatever command she was supposed to do. Also it is really weird because sometimes she will just stare at you when you tell her to "Go to bed". That is the command that has food as the reward, so it is dumb that she would choose not to obey that command. Ah well. The phase seems to have lasted about a week and now she appears to be almost back to normal. She still won't lay down in her Go to Bed if you are out of the room because obviously you can't see her lay down, so why should she exert herself? Too bad there are 2 of us and only 1 of her, so we are always watching...
Maybe the problem is that she is too smart for her own good...She knows all of her commands (including "Stand"), but now she has decided that she doesn't know if she really wants to follow the commands. She seems to look at you and ask, "How seriously are you? Do you really, really want me to sit? Are you sure? Can we just skip all of this and just get to the food part?" After staring her down, she will eventually do whatever command she was supposed to do. Also it is really weird because sometimes she will just stare at you when you tell her to "Go to bed". That is the command that has food as the reward, so it is dumb that she would choose not to obey that command. Ah well. The phase seems to have lasted about a week and now she appears to be almost back to normal. She still won't lay down in her Go to Bed if you are out of the room because obviously you can't see her lay down, so why should she exert herself? Too bad there are 2 of us and only 1 of her, so we are always watching...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Raelyn at 3 months
Raelyn had her 3 month birthday a few days ago and we have had her for a little over 1 month.
Here is an update of where she is now!
When we are home she will consistently follow the commands: Sit, Down, Come, Go to Bed, Stay, and Wait. We are starting to work on Stand, but she isn't interested yet. She will Come and Sit when outside with a few distractions, but if there are exciting things going on around her, she has no interest in following orders.
She still sleeps through the night for about 7-8 hours.
She likes to hang out and sleep in her crate now that we figured out she likes something soft to lay on. Yay!
She hasn't barked in a long time, but she is such a whiner! It is mostly when she is frustrated that she can't go somewhere she wants to or you aren't giving her what she wants. At least she isn't working herself up into whiny fits anymore. She will stay relatively calm and eventually go sit in her crate and go to sleep. (Unless she's whining since she is already in her crate and wants out...)
Her favorite chew toys are a jolly ball (large bouncy ball with a rope through it), a flat plush rabbit, kongs, a nasty nylabone dinosaur, sterilized bones, and her green nylon leash. Also on her list is kitty mouse toys, but unfortunately those are not approved puppy toys.
She is getting better walking with a loose leash. If nothing strikes her fancy, she will walk very well next to you with limited small collar corrections.
She is VERY alert and interested in noises and moving objects. Sneezes always distract her. She isn't afraid or nervous about loud, sudden noises, more just very aware of them. She loves to watch things blow in the wind. Leaves blowing around are irresistible, especially when they blow towards her. She likes to watch cars drive by and people walking by. Unless the people approach her, she is pretty good about sitting patiently and calmly.
She really LOVES to meet people and other dogs. She doesn't have the best greeting manners yet. When excited, she will lunge up to greet and have to be wretched down back into a sit.
Her typical day:
7-8: Wake up, Pee, Eat breakfast, Poop (In that order)
9-11: Pee, Sleep
Noon-2: Pee, Poop, Sleep
2-3: Lunch, Pee
4-6: Sleep, Pee
8-9: Dinner, Pee, Poop
10-Midnight: Sleep, Pee, Bedtime
Between pee, poop and sleep times, Raelyn will play around the house, go for walks, hang around outside of Safeway practicing manners, run around in the tennis courts, or torment the kitties.
So far so good! Here's to the next month!
Here is an update of where she is now!
When we are home she will consistently follow the commands: Sit, Down, Come, Go to Bed, Stay, and Wait. We are starting to work on Stand, but she isn't interested yet. She will Come and Sit when outside with a few distractions, but if there are exciting things going on around her, she has no interest in following orders.
She still sleeps through the night for about 7-8 hours.
She likes to hang out and sleep in her crate now that we figured out she likes something soft to lay on. Yay!
She hasn't barked in a long time, but she is such a whiner! It is mostly when she is frustrated that she can't go somewhere she wants to or you aren't giving her what she wants. At least she isn't working herself up into whiny fits anymore. She will stay relatively calm and eventually go sit in her crate and go to sleep. (Unless she's whining since she is already in her crate and wants out...)
Her favorite chew toys are a jolly ball (large bouncy ball with a rope through it), a flat plush rabbit, kongs, a nasty nylabone dinosaur, sterilized bones, and her green nylon leash. Also on her list is kitty mouse toys, but unfortunately those are not approved puppy toys.
She is getting better walking with a loose leash. If nothing strikes her fancy, she will walk very well next to you with limited small collar corrections.
She is VERY alert and interested in noises and moving objects. Sneezes always distract her. She isn't afraid or nervous about loud, sudden noises, more just very aware of them. She loves to watch things blow in the wind. Leaves blowing around are irresistible, especially when they blow towards her. She likes to watch cars drive by and people walking by. Unless the people approach her, she is pretty good about sitting patiently and calmly.
She really LOVES to meet people and other dogs. She doesn't have the best greeting manners yet. When excited, she will lunge up to greet and have to be wretched down back into a sit.
Her typical day:
7-8: Wake up, Pee, Eat breakfast, Poop (In that order)
9-11: Pee, Sleep
Noon-2: Pee, Poop, Sleep
2-3: Lunch, Pee
4-6: Sleep, Pee
8-9: Dinner, Pee, Poop
10-Midnight: Sleep, Pee, Bedtime
Between pee, poop and sleep times, Raelyn will play around the house, go for walks, hang around outside of Safeway practicing manners, run around in the tennis courts, or torment the kitties.
So far so good! Here's to the next month!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Team Kitty vs. Team Puppy
Round 1:
In the first corner we have Daisy, in the gray and white, sitting comfortably on a dining room chair minding her own business. In the other corner, we have Raelyn in matte black bounding excitedly over to play with the fluff ball on the chair. Raelyn goes in first with the nose and OH! there goes Daisy with a wicked right cross. Raelyn backs down for just a second and then lunges in for another. Daisy lays it on her again and OH! Raelyn is down for the count! She backs away slowly and sulkily goes to chew on her dinosaur.
Round 1 - Team Kitty
--------------------------------------------------------
Round 2:
In the first corner we have Raelyn in a deep slumber laying quietly on her mat. In the other corner we have Shadow, the fraidy cat of all fraidy cats. Oh, what is this?! Shadow slowly creaps up on the sleeping form and carefully bends in to take a sniff. OH! and another sniff! Raelyn shifts slightly in her sleep which sends Shadow flying down the stairs to retreat to safety.
Round 2 - Team Puppy
Make sure to tune in for the next installment!
In the first corner we have Daisy, in the gray and white, sitting comfortably on a dining room chair minding her own business. In the other corner, we have Raelyn in matte black bounding excitedly over to play with the fluff ball on the chair. Raelyn goes in first with the nose and OH! there goes Daisy with a wicked right cross. Raelyn backs down for just a second and then lunges in for another. Daisy lays it on her again and OH! Raelyn is down for the count! She backs away slowly and sulkily goes to chew on her dinosaur.
Round 1 - Team Kitty
--------------------------------------------------------
Round 2:
In the first corner we have Raelyn in a deep slumber laying quietly on her mat. In the other corner we have Shadow, the fraidy cat of all fraidy cats. Oh, what is this?! Shadow slowly creaps up on the sleeping form and carefully bends in to take a sniff. OH! and another sniff! Raelyn shifts slightly in her sleep which sends Shadow flying down the stairs to retreat to safety.
Round 2 - Team Puppy
Make sure to tune in for the next installment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)