Is this embarassing?

Winnie - 3 months old and 7lbs 2oz (last Friday)

Breakfast (between 5:30-7am)
- 2-3 nuggets of Primal
- plus 1 tsp of salmon oil

* I feed her breakfast out of a dog dish but I hide it and let her find it.
** We use chicken, beef, lamb or duck Primal. Our Toy Poodle will not eat the venison or pheasant.

Lunch (between 12-2pm)
- 2 nuggets of Primal
OR
- about a 1/2 cup of Royal Canin Puppy 33 in a tricky treat ball or scattered around her pen.

Dinner (between 6-7:30pm)
- 3 nuggets of primal
OR
- about a 1/2 cup of RC Pup 33 used in training
OR
- Stella & Chewy's dehydrated patties (2)


She also regularly gets:
- canned green tripe (small amounts)
- pet kind tripe chews
- bully sticks
- plain lowfat organic yogurt (on top of a dinner or breakfast)
- bits of white cheese & cooked chicken for training
- Sojo's "Good Dog" apple dumpling dog cookies
- venison jerky training treats (various brands)

No photographic evidence -

Mornings are an exciting time here .... this morning we got up at 5:10am (ugh) for a pee and a play session. (the play was not my idea!) The back into the crate for about an hour - some fussing involved. We got up and went out again this time she pooped. I put her in her pen (and listened to her fuss) until Dolce got up then we went out for a 3rd time. She harasses him a lot these days and he has been really (REALLY) patient with her. I do save him a lot but will also let him tell her when she is out of line.

There was only 1 teeny attempt to play this morning (from Dolce that is) at the very top of the stairs, in front of our back door he did his playbow/growl invitation. I think W is finally recognizing what he is offering and she slammed into him...he of course really growled/huffed at her and that was the end of it.

Although W was playing with her pink & purple stuffed spring toy (well for the $$) and having a ball. I managed to get Dolce to take one end (it is probably 18" when pulled straight) and they PLAYED TUG!!!!!!! She is MUCH stronger than Dolce though so it wasn't a great game. I don't have any pics though which is very sad. I didn't want to leave them b/c I wanted to make sure the game ended well and I wanted to make a big deal about how clever they both were for playing like that. OMG - that was SO cool!

Kim tried to let W hang with her dogs at her desk yesterday but W was irritating the big dogs too much. (jumping, licking, pawing....in your face puppy stuff)

OH! W peed outside in avanzino yesterday. I am probably very foolish for taking her out there but I am afraid that she will eat another puppy pad. = (

Winnie is growing like a weed. She met Jean yesterday who gushed over her for close to 10 minutes. W was initially very scared of Buffy but after a while she seemed to forget about her. Jean gave W lots of chicken treats and even did her famous "take treats from a person's mouth" thing. Jean said that W was sure to go oversize.

Wow

So they played this morning - a real honest-to-God semi-normal play session. Dolce started it. He was play-bowing and growling (not his guarding growl). W wasn't sure how to take this info so she did some appeasing wiggles and a play paw. They are really cure when they play but D isn't too clear so W gets worried and appeases/hides on my foot then it all begins again. Dolce did a lot of whirling, pracning in place and hip-checking. W was pawing at his face (smacked him in the nose once), standing on his head/shoulders and even nibbling on his ears! Then they progressed to chase - there was actually some demeanor shifting on the chase. Unfortunately Dolce really shouts when he plays so I had to end it. I picked him up and calmed him down then set him down again. He ran back up the short stairs (right outside of Frank/Sonja's doors) and crouched again to initial more play. We had to come back inside at it is too early (7:30am) for all of the noise he makes.

3 months old today

• Winnie is 3 months old....we have had her for a month!
• Yesterday she stole his stuffed hamburger and today she stole his tripe chew
• She is scared of Jean's dog Buffy
• She got scared by Sally at work today and peed all over the hallway.
• She walked through the lobby today and met the Maddie statue which was a bit scary at first but then was ok.
• We cruised around MPR for the first time too.
• She peed on a bed at work this morning and her bed in her pen this afternoon. (I switched Poodles at lunch). Clearly need to work on house-training
  
• She was much more confident at puppy class last night. She has started to play a bit roughly and I actually had to time her our and have her take a break from playing with a malti-poo. The Lab in class is still a bit hard forh er to handle but she is getting better. She got rolled by a 17 week old Cocker and bounced back. At least 2 of the pups in class are already over 4 months old!!
• She got very bored of my treats and wanted to play with the pups and work the room. She was still excited about her tug though! She has a very short attention span.
• As of yesterday she has begun to play keep away when I want to come back in from the yard so I have institited random grab/treats in the yard and treats for coming back in the house.
  

I noticed today that

my bathroom is too small. With me and two poodles there simply isn't enough room!

Our day:

• we went to bed last night at 8:30 or 9pm (NO LAUGHING)
• woke up at 5am with Tim. That is the first time that I have felt rested since Winnie came home
• I ran the pup outside (almost literally) since she had last gone out at about 8:30pm last night. She peed/pooped but was not in a panic. I checked and her crate was NOT soiled.
• I gave her breakfast and she ate 2 nuggets. Her appetite has been smaller the past few meals.
• After another trip outside I let her hang out with me in the dining rom
  
• I did some clippering d/s and a tiny bit of clippering of her front paws.
• Then went out to run errands - she was quiet when I left and when I returned
• She ate 2 Stella & Chewy beef (dehydrated raw) patties for lunch and seemed to LOVE them.
• I did some clippering of her face. We could use a little more practice with that. It is very difficult to safely clip your pup while she tried to jerk away!
• Winnie played in the hose.
  

If you were a Mini Poodle pup would you ......

think that the shag rug in the front room was a conveniently located patch of grass?!

Today Winnie, Dolce and I went to the ODTC members match at CSEB. She did very well on the leash and waspretty confident most of the time. She was scared of the 3 Saints, the Huskys and a GSD. (She backed away whining and sort of growling). We did lots of laps and passed the different dogs from 5-15' away. She got better with lots of gentle exposure. She also greeted a very forward young Basenji and a young Papillon. I worked her on a few sits/down/stands and fed her in heel position a few times. My main focus was trying to help her get used to those surroundings and let her walk around on her own. She also got her first free play with her Uncle C. They are very cute together trying to figure out how to communicate. I wasn't sure if she would come back or not so I let her drag her leash. She checked in frequently which was cool. = )

Later when we wandered away from the practice area to check out a few statues I let W off of the leash entirely. As I feared she totally blew me off.... I ended up catching her.....next time she is going on my light long line!

We also got to see a few lone people approaching and hear big booms coming from inside the gym building.

Winnie traveled pretty well though she did pee in her bag at least once. We visited both a PetCo and Petsmart trying to find a new blade for our clipper. Winnie wasn't particularly interested in the stores but she was locked in her bag.

W napped the entire time Deirdre & I groomed Dolce. He looks FABULOUS except for his head = (

Winnie woke up about an hour ago and I took her out to pee. She peed and then we all came back upstairs. She hung out chewing on a bone for a while then was trotting up and down the hall with Dolce. I saw them go into the front room so I scampered up there and saw W sniffing. I tried to get to her but she PEED on the white shag rug. DAMN IT!!!!!!!!

I screamed (which is rare) and she looked at me quite confused. Poor thing. I ran her back to her pen and ran back to clean the HUGE PEE off of the rug. Can a Poodle look confused? I think she thought she was peeing on grass.....

Saturdays suck

For much of the world, Saturday is the long awaited first day of the weekend. For me it is typically a very Disney-riffic day where my work turns into a destination for an amazing number of people.

The poor dogs were down stairs alone for most of the day. I took Dolce out to pee at about 1 (when I had to take lunch b/c I was in such a BAD mood). UGH!

Winnie shredded her pee pad today - it was everywhere! All over her coat, in her nose, in her mouth, in her water dish....it was quite a sight!

I carried her out to the park when I took Dolce out to pee.

We had a pretty uneventful day really.....

An apple a day.......

I said yesterday that I would be delighted if Winnie let me sleep until 6:15am.....well I shouldn't have been so conservative.....should have asked for 7:30am or something. She woke up today and made a comment which I ignored and then she was quiet. I realized that I was ignoring her and sat up in bed which caused more fussing. I got her up and she seemed typically frantic to get out to the yard. I rushed her down the stairs and to the dirt but she ended back up on the cement rolling around and chewing on a piece of salmon skin bone that had adhered itself to her hair. She eventually got around to peeing when I picked her up and put her on the poodle potty spot. She hasn't pooped yet this morning. She also only ate about 1/2 of her breakfast.....I noticed the other day that she seemed awfully skinny so I decided to feed her 10 nuggets a day instead of 8. The last 2 meals she hasn't finished so maybe I will drop her back to 9 nuggets.

Our neighbor has an apple tree that dumps fruit into our yard. Winnie loves the apples and will carry them around either by the stem or like a ball. I am surprised that she will carry something that heavy but she does! She also pounces on them and chases them around as they roll. Quite cute to see!

Dolce wanted to play this morning..... I have to figure out how to trigger his interest in playing after 7am in the morning!

The loooooooong awaited

second shot (DHPP) was yesterday morning. We drove out to the vet for our 8:10 appointment. All went well and Winnie handled it all in stride though I am anticipating visit #3 will be less composed now that she has an idea of what goes on in these places. The tech was able to weigh her in the small animal/baby animal scale but not for much longer! Winnie weighs 7lbs 2oz!!!!
Her big brother Dolce weighs 7lbs and 6 or 8oz depending.

Our appointment was for her distemper combo shot but while I was there I asked about her itchy ears (waxing and should resolved with ear wash and hair removal) and he goopy eye (minor infection). I have only seen this vet 2x and I really like him but when he told with to hold a warm compress over Winnie's eye (right one) for 3 minutes and then put in a little ointment I laughed out loud at him. We are going to try the compress this morning and I am sorry that no one will be here to enjoy the show! = )

Yesterday Winnie spent the day and my friend's small dog daycare. I am So very lucky to have this gal as a friend...she is a rock star. Apparently Winnie did very well and her bounce back is getting faster.

At work today, when I was floating along because Winnie finally had her 2nd shot and can now venture more places with less risk, Marti was telling me the horror story of her friend's new pup (a recent shelter rescue with 2 DHPPs) contracting parvo. AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhh.

Winnie got to meet MVM today. She greeted him but then went about her business. He hung out with Dolce who LOVES him.

We went out to a bar tonight had intended to bring W but she was sooooo sacked out from her shot and daycare that she fell asleep before finishing her dinner!!!! We left all poodles home.

Top Priority

I have noticed (and been told by others) that one thing that is especially challenging about puppies is the urgency with which everything is supposed to happen.

Top priorities: (all equally important)

• getting her socialized to people/places/things/dogs/puppies/sights/sounds etc
• keeping her healthy
• teaching her to accept grooming
• alone time training
• confinement training
• house-manners training
• house-training
  
• starting an obedience foundation

At this point I completely understand while people leave the "training" until the last thing. The list of must-dos is simply impossible to accomplish unless, perhaps, you can take the first 2-3 months off of work. Theoretically Winnie is from sound enough "stock" that even if I miss a category it will not end up an unsurmountable problem. I am a BIG believer in genetics....much more of a nature than nurture at this point. (Though I once was fairly religious about the nurture aspect). I must say the pressure that I feel to cover the important bases everyday is enough to make me crazy.

In addition to raising a puppy (chosen specifically for performance) we are (in no particular order):

• welcoming new partners to our building,
• working on a re-fi
• keeping our marriage healthy and happy
• working full time (more than full time in Tim's case)
• and keeping our older dog healthy and happy.

When I miss a category I begin to feel this burdensome guilt and doom about how that category is now likely to become a life long problem and how I am not doing a good enough job raising this dog. Interesting isn't it. (No comments required) = )

Winnie was an excellent girl yesterday. I had her at work and Dolce at home because Jennifer was coming to take him to the park for some individual attention and fun.

I set Winnie up under my desk and came and went throughout the day. She peed 2x - once on the floor near her pad (a theme really) and 1x on her wool pad which was next to the dog bed that she was napping on.

Tomorrow is the loooooooong awaited 2nd shot. I feel like a 5 y/o waiting for Santa!

So far she has been excellent in the office. She does fuss occasionally when I come in and leave and she has some some real excitement dancing when I come in (which I try desperately to ignore but it is SUPER cute). No body to play with yesterday as Kim is out on vacation.

I took her to the garage with me to get a soda and a snack so that she can see the maintenance area.

When I got home I let them go to the bathroom outside and hang out while I made dinner. In the evening she does racing laps up and down the house. I have been giving her more and more time outside of the pen and keeping an eye on her. So far, so good.

I had to go down to Frank's for yet another meeting and left the dogs upstairs. They did very well(read were quiet and relaxed). I came up to photocopy some paperwork and took W out to potty - she pooped/peed. Good girl!!

She slept well last night and got up at 6am. I took her out to the bathroom and then back to bed for 30 minutes. She fussed loudly for a minute or so then settled until 6:30 when I got her up.

Today we worked on grooming restraint as she is starting to get fussy/fidgeting about restraint.

I worked on:

• front leg holds - c/t for not pulling back(and sitting still) and worked up to gently extending her leg. I am really gonna need her cooperation for grooming!)
• gentle muzzle grabs - c/t for a close reach or brief touch. This is tough for her. again the grooming require her cooperation!
• lifting her ear flaps - c/t for sitting still I need to be able to scissor her ears and pull the hair. Yuck!

Dolce tried to play with her again today....... woo hoo!!

Some what like a dream.....

I attempted to make my morning blog entry only to find that blogspot.com seemed to be "down". I considered writing my entry and then pasting it in later on but never got around to it. So now my blog is up and running again and I can't remember all that I wanted to write about (like I can't remember my dreams usually).

A few exciting happenings/things:

• Winnie is starting to tell me when she has to go out!!!! Woo Hoo!
• She can now go down the stairs to the garage (as well as up)
• She is able to be out of her pen more and more. I am impressed that she seems to choose her dog beds. She isn't a lap dog like Dolce.
• She gets her 2nd shot at the end of the week. (FINALLY, MY GOD)
• She gets the zooms in the evening and flies up and down the hallway - literally bouncing off of the walls.
• We have been working on her acceptance of face restraint - a necessary evil for clippering, eye washing etc. She is getting better
• She is already very aware of where food comes from. She is eating 7-9 nuggets of Primal a day. This week it is duck and beef. Last week was lamb or chicken.
• She still tries hard to get Dolce to play with her. He hasn't tried to play since Sunday =(
• She woke me up at 5am to go our but then settled quickly and slept until 6am
• We walked to work yesterday - to be specific Dolce and I walked while Winnie rode in the backpack
• She is about the same size as Dolce now....I am curious to hear how much she weighs.
  

Vague memories

Monday was not a particularly note-able day with the exception of it being the first day of Winnie's first puppy class.

We had a bumpy morning that involved and early bathroom run (5:30) and then more crate time which was unapproved by her highness. Since she had not approved of the extra crate time there was much fussing which caused much grumping from the husband. I eventually managed about another 30 minutes of sleep but as is now normal I spend the rest of the day tired. Sigh.

We did some training until Dolce woke up (the basics)

Masae came over for her 2nd visit p.w. (post Winnie) and while I was outside Dolce really snarked the pup hard! I don't know what happened but I can guess. Masae is one of Dolce's favorite people and he had 1 of his favorite toys with him to greet her (the carrot). Apparently Winnie tried to pick the carrot up....... oops! Perhaps I should pick the carrot up for a while.... and make it disappear.

We went out and ran some errands leaving the dogs home with Tim. It was so hot today that poor Winnie was miserable. She was flopped out on the hard wood floor panting. I turned a fan on for her and pointed it towards her pen. I also hung a sheet to block off some of the sun. My poor "performance pup" can't cope with the heat! She even threw up this afternoon! (No other real signs of illness)

I am wondering if Winnie has allergies like Dolce - her eyes are sometimes a bit runny and her ears itch. It looks like I need to pull a little hair from her ears which will probably help.

When we got back from errands we did some cleaning around the house and walked/carried the dogs down to get the comforter from the dry cleaners. Winnie was very fidgety in her bag but didn't seem distressed by the neighborhood goings on. She peed immediately when we got back to the yard.

Puppy class was fun. Shannon is an excellent trainer. There are several other small breed pups in class which makes me happy. Winnie did well with focus in the beginning but after the first play session her focus turned more and more away from me. She greeted/sniffed the other dogs but no "playing". She also carefully hoovered the classroom so that Shannon wouldn't have to stay late to clean up lost treats. Very thoughtful. I think it would be a good time to teach her a leave it!

In puppy class we worked on gotcha (collar grab), sit, finish, and cradling. Winnie got very frustrated and did an odd bucking bronco routine while Shannon was talking. I was laughing at Winnie and trying to prevent her from distracting anyone...not sure if I was successful or not. I tried to get her to pee on her pad or in the room but she wouldn't.

During the cradle Winnie pitched a fit - she struggled and cried/whined and moaned and groaned.

After class I was certain that she needed to pee so we stayed for the 1st playgroup of the next class (still no luck). Winnie was much more unsure with these bigger/older pups but she bounced back and cruised the room seeking out both people and puppies. She climbed into the arms of a young boy (8?) who was on the floor. The big SPoo pup (6m and huge) scared Winnie and she told her to buzz off....the the pups mom intervened and all was well.

I took Winnie upstairs to the people bathroom where it was more quiet and she pee next to her pad . Grrrrr. At least she didn't pee in her bag!!

I got home and left the dogs in the house while I joined the TIC meeting in progress. Winnie was passed out and Dolce was quiet.

We came back upstairs for a few minutes and then left to get some dinner - the dogs were great.

Puppy's first party....

Winnie's puppy shower was yesterday the 19th at Shura's. What a great host she is!!!

Winnie had her second bath and nail clip in preparation for her big moment. This was first time that several of my friends had met her!

There was an initial bit of struggle on the nails. The struggle seemed to be more in protest of being on her back than the nail clipping part. She has beautiful shiny thick black nail so I put her on her back as I can then see underneath them when the quick is. My friend Monterey (Jack Cheese) was a big help!

She did pretty well in the bath and was able to eat cheese on a few occasions. It is tough to hold on to a wet puppy and still offer her treats! No pictures because again - wet puppy + camera = bad things. (wet camera, dropped puppy or ???)

I ran her outside after the bath and she barely made it to the dirt before peeing. Good girl Winnie! The blow drying was tricky but we muddled through. The time has come the walrus said......for Mollie to buy a proper grooming set up! I manage to get her mostly dry and brushed out. I did about 15 seconds worth of d/s wit the electric clippers. I intended to clipper her feet but it was obvious that I have some work to do before that can happen. = )

When in doubt - bite at the clippers = ) Dolce and Winnie agree upon something!!!

Deirdre picked us up at 2pm. I had a hard time leaving Dolce behind....not beause I felt badly but because he was barking like a frantic poodle and he dashed out the door. He was determined that I was not leaving without him!!!! Tim was home so I eventually convinced Dolce to make good use of this Tim-Poodle time.

Winnie and I watched her Uncle Clancy practice is out-of-sight stays for AKC Open class. We agreed with him that this particular exercise is out-dated and ridiculous!

Winnie rode in her Sherpa - she has gotten to be quite good (read quiet) in the car) (KNOCK ON WOOD if you are reading this)

We were the first ones to Shura's which was nice for Winnie.

There were quite a few dogs milling about when we arrived - all dogs that Winnie had previously met at Day care. Percy bull-dozed her a few times which upset me but they got into their rhythm. He was very tolerant and let her chew on his ears!

Winnie and her Uncle C did some nice sniffing/greeting. Clancy even tried to play with her a little which was TOO cute.

As more and more dogs arrived I did pick up Winnie a few times. All in all she was wonderful. She seemed to take exception to the 8m old Golden F Dax and the 2? y/o F GSD Brissy. In the end everyone seemed to get things worked out. I was delighted with Winnie's bounce-back and to see her out there hanging out with everyone.

The party was SO fun and we got a ton of amazing gifts!

Let's see if I can remember them all:

• Shura - an amazing party with all of the fixings - including pink poodle balloons, a full sushi spread and a dog friendly home-made bone shaped carrot cake!!
  
• Deirdre - a gorgeous pink collar, salmon oil (she Winnie doesn't grow up dumb), rawhide flips (very popular around here) beef chews, and a strawberry cookie cutter (metal article training)
• Tammy - Very yummy beef jerky chews and fabulous handmade poodle themed greeting cards
• Natalie - 2 big bully sticks and a nice bottle of wine for me
• Amy - 4 bully sticks, a flossie, a barking stuffed dogs and 2 fur mice
• Cerena - a photo bracelet so that I can torment people with pictures of my dogs, a kong (from Cerena or Melody? I combined the gifts into 1 bag and not I am not sure - dumb!), a tricky treat ball (see after Kong), a Winnie-the-Pooh stuffy with a visor that fits my Winnie, portable dog bowls, and a choke chain.
  
• Melody - Sojos Apple dumpling dog cookies (they smell AMAZING and Dolce will not stop targeting the box (nose and paw) and offering downs to it), and 2 small crazy squeaky dog balls!
• Aryn - a gorgeous flowery, girlie collar
• I hope I am not forgetting anything!

We made our way back home with soooo many gifts and 2 platters of sushi!

Just to make sure I felt like a bad mom Winnie peed in her bag on the way home! She did however poop 2x at Shura's.

She was tired until about 9:30pm..... ah puppies!

I put her to bed at about 10 and she got me up at 5:50am. She pooped/peed and I put her back into her crate with a chew. She fussed for quite a while then settled for about an hour then fussed again. I ended up getting her up at about 7:20am.

I took her out when I took Dolce out but she wouldn't poop/pee. I checked her crate but found no evidence of soiling so she is on puppy lockdown.

A list of stuff

Things from last night and this morning.....

• We met our new neighbors - Teddy & Mona the pugs. They are both mellow old pugs 9 and 14 respectively. Initially Winnie cried and hid underneath me but then she greeting and attempted to play with them. Both of them tolerated her advances very well.
• She slept from about 10:30pm-6:40am this morning! I checked her crate 2x to see if she had soiled it but found no evidence.
• Poodles really like to have something in their mouths - both dogs are running around the house carrying various toys/bones.
• Winnie has the most incredible variety of vocalizations
  
• I did a shaping session this morning - nose targeting a stick (very early baby dumbbell)
• Winnie is getting quite fast at her position changes though stand from a sit is still sloppy. I am struggling to teach her to kick her back legs out rather than having her walk forward into the stand.
• Dolce really, really wants to play with her (in the morning outside). He tried to play with her this morning but he was so loud that I had to make him stop. It was 7:00 AM on a Sunday morning!
• We did our second nail clipping this morning. I did Dolce's nails first and then Winnie's. She struggled for a few seconds when I put her down on her back but I got through all of her nails with very little hassle/effort. (And I didn't quick her!!!)
  
• I can't believe how big she is getting......
  
• Today is the puppy party!!!!!!!!!!

A tiny training

The poor dogs were at the office for hours and hours. I stopped by a few times to say hello and check on them. Winnie seemed to be doing great. Dolce was stressed as usual.

We got home and I made myself find the energy to play tug and fetch with Winnie.

I gave Dolce a tripe chew and then did a 5 minute clicker lesson with Winnie.

We worked on :

• free stack
• tuck sit
• fold back down
• find front
• left finish
• sit in heel with attention

The I put her into her pen with a chicken stuffed Kong.

Ahhh a moment of guiltless peace.

Another day at the office.....

I took Winnie to work and I left Dolce at home because Jennifer was going to come and take him out for his weekly poodle play time.

Winnie was pretty good - a bit nervous/fussy. She is used to being with other dogs at work but she did well. She met lots of people. I took her up to Peets when I walked up to get a morning coffee. NO one wanted to talk to her - boggles my mind. Jennifer dropped Dolce off at work at 2pm - Winnie seemed more relaxed when he was there even though they were contained in separate but neighboring x-pens. She peed a zillion times - only 1 off of the pad. She ate a good lunch and helped me weed out people from the volunteer yahoo group.

Helen told me today that we have a dog at work that broke with distemper and one that is awaiting a more definitive diagnosis. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Deirdre came with me to puppy play group today. Winnie was much more confident today. She played with a Chix named Spud and her buddy Gus (Spud's brother). Spud and Winnie played/wrestled inside Spud's sherpa. She got trounced about 2x but I was much more willing to jump in and do what I thought needed to be done. She also sniffed the Shiba (Uni) and the Portie (Tella?). The SCWT was too much for Winnie. She did some play behavior (bouncing, play paw, elbow bending) but also some "defensive" things such as snapping, some barking/growling. All in all I was delighted . Thanks D for providing moral support!!!!

Winnie and her buddy Spud in the Sherpa and Murphy outside

When we got home Winnie peed immediately when I set her down in the yard. She pooped in class. We came up stairs and played fetch and she chewed on a bone for a while.

She ate her dinner and crashed for a nap.

Construction day

We had to wait for the appraiser to come and look at our unit and our neighbor's unit before i could go to work. Dolce stayed home because Jennifer is going to come and get him out while Brenda is on vacation. I wook Winnie with me to work because Kim's dog Willie was going to be there. We got to work at 9:45 and I set Winnie up with Willie. The office was very hectic which was great. Winnie got to see/hear the operations crew moving file cabinets, drilling into walls, climbing on ladders etc. She didn't seemed concerned by any of it. She also got to meet Janis for the first time today - Winnie was well received.

Winnie was much more confident this time with Willie and Mocha. She tried hard to get Willie to play and bounced back well when Mocha barked/growled at her. She did pee a few times but mostly hit her pads. = )

She sometimes fusses when I come or go from the office but so far, so good.

I ran home at lunch to get the veggie box and Dolce. Poor Dolce hates staying in the office and I am worried that Winnie will start in with his barking and stressing. She was good though.

At 5:45 we ran out the door (almost literealy) and headed to San Leandro for our clicker conformation class. I set Winnie up in a pen in the corner. The other dogs were in class this week ( a nearly 6m Staffy and a 3 1/2m flat coat)

I worked Dolce for most of the class because it is a bit more than I think Winnie can handle at this point except for the free stack. I worked Dolce on the down & backs and the around the rooms. I also worked him on the free stack but worked Winnie on the hand stack on the table. She did really well - seemed more confident on the table this week than last. She also really like jack cheese and chicken.

Winnie stayed in a fabric pen with mesh bone shaped "windows" so she sat on top of her Sherpa for most of the class so that she could see out. too cute!

We got home and she pooped/peed in the backyard and ate a good dinner. We played a bit but didn't do anymore training. She went to bed easily at about 11 and woke me up at 5:30 to pee. I put her back in her crate after she peed and slept until 6am. She fussed on and off. When I got her up and took her out she really had to poop.

Hectic

Tuesdays are Mondays in my world and therefore generally hectic. I left Winnie home when I left for work and took Dolce because he was supposed to participate in a rescue dog photoshoot for work. The photographer didn't call me up until 10 after 3pm. I left for lunch (to pick up the poor pup that had been home since 8:30) about 15 minutes before he called. Oh well - Dolce wanted to go home and I wanted to relieve the pup. Winnie had peed 2x in her pen - 1 on the pad and 1 on a fleece. Bummer -but I hadn't expected her to "hold it" for that long.

At work she was great - I set her up in a pen and she hung out. She did fuss a bit but not too much. After work we had TIC meeting with some potential buyers so our first 60 minutes home involved stress and frantic cleaning. Puppy's first intro to "crisis" cleaning. She hung out in her pen. When people came over I got her out to say hello but only Sonya was interested in her. Frank did greet her but he had met her many times before. The theory as to why people don't gush over her is b/c she doesn't look like a puppy - she looks like an adult. Winnie hung out in her pen silently during the entire 60 minute meeting. Afterwards I took the dogs out to the bathroom and the we played. Winnie was over flowing with energy. We played tug and kill the deedle dude. She did her own version of a JRT race up and down the hallway - literally bouncing off of the walls. You have to see it to believe it!

The the dogs took a break and chewed on bones about 4' apart - Dolce was on the rug under the table and Winnie on the dog bed.

I took them out just before bed and she settled nicely in her crate. She got up with my alarm at 6am. I took her out - she pooped/peed and then I put her back into her crate for a half hour. She settled within about a minute.

Ahhhhhhh = )

It is a good thing that we named her Winnie

because then we can call her "win" or "winner" for short. It appears that Winnie has won Tim over. He had a myriad of lovely things to say about her last night

• she is so beautiful
• she is so pretty
• she is such a nice dog
• if she grows up "messed up" it will be our fault
• your research paid off (referring to my countless hours over the past 2 years on the internet looking at poodles, breeders, pedigrees, health tests, etc)
• it is nice that her bladder is getting stronger
• she is settling much better now (and he complimented me on "sticking to my guns" with the confinement
  

She is a great dog and we are very luck to have her.

She and Tim wrestled for a while last night. They roll around on the floor together and she bites various parts of him (ears, chin, fingers etc) and he giggles. You really woudl have to see it to believe it. Then they hung out in the dining room while I fixed dinner. Winnie likes to sit on the dog bed and play with her toys and chew on stinky bones. It was obvious to me that Tim liked her when seh laid on the floor 2' from his feet chewing on a tripe chew and he only commented on the horrid smell!!

Winne had her first bath since coming home. We started off well (she was relaxed and eating treats) but quickly progressed to a soaking wet (slippery) puppy trying to leap off of the counter.

We survived and I rushed out outside to pee which she did then zoomed around the yard. Dolce has the same reaction. I toweled her off and Tim helped me to blow dry her. She looked 2x as big after I brushed her out/dried her off.

I am pretty sure I saw her get bigger!

We hung out for a while with poodles sleeping on their dog beds then we headed off to bed. Winnie settled within 15 seconds and was fast asleep.

First day of daycare

Little Winnie slept until 7 am!!!!!!! She got up so I took her out to go to the bathroom. She peed and pooped. I was really tired so I got a chewie for her and put her back into her crate. She fussed for a few minutes but then settled down and we slept until 8:15. I "hid" her breakfast and lunch in the laundry room today (recommendation from Francis) and let her search it out. She wad a bit confused but then seemed to search out her food without problem. I gave her some salmon oil on lunch today!!

The dogs stayed home while I dropped Tim off at work and went to Rainbow. They were both quiet when I got home.

We hung out at home and played and visited the yard several times. Deirdre picked us up a little after noon and we took Winnie out to Shura's to play. We started her off with Winston a young blenhiem cavalier. She was a bit overwhelmed by him at first but within a few minutes she was comfortable. Shura then added in a few dogs one-by-on until we had Whimsy, Vida, Lilly, Chu-mon, Sydney, Roux, and Francesca down on the lower yard.

Whinnie played and ran around a lot - until she was hot and panting. I was very pleased with her - running around bouncing off of things/dogs and jumping over dogs etc.

Shura opened up both yards and eventually let all of the dogs out. Winnie was a bit "worried" when the rough and tumble dogs first came outside so we put her up on a chair. Within a few minutes though she was exploring and moving about. She was super tired after her 2 hours at daycare!


We stopped by at Peets to socialize the pup a bit ;-) and saw the LRV, buses, kids, runners, people of various ages and races plus 2 men in wheelchairs.

Kathy and Sue came over to see Winnie today so we all went outside to hangout and play.

Biker chic

We had a pleasant morning that didn't officially start until 6am. (That is beginning to sound civilized). We played and hung out (after our potty break). She ate her breakfast and then I made her hang in her pen for a while. She let it be known that she objected but she settled.

When she is "empty" I let her run around the house a bit. For a while she laid in the dining room rug and chewed on a green tripe chew.

She had peed in the house 2x so far..... one as she was running to the back door and I was running behind trying to help her get outside and one while hanging in her pen. She has peed outside at least 4x today.

I cut Dolce's nails today and then cut Winnie's nails. She was perfect. I laid her on her back on the big dog pillow and cut each nail just a tiny bit. After each nail clip I gave her a little piece of venison jerky. No fussing - no problems!! I was thrilled.

Dolce tried very hard to play with her in the yard this morning. When he bounds towards her and barks he terrifies her. When he turned and ran trying to start a game of chase she would run after him. Unfortunately he kept turning, play bowing and barking which sent her running back to me.

We took Winnie on a bike ride today. She was dreamy - we rode up to get a seitan sandwich and she hung out in the back pack. Then we shopped at Valencia Cyclery for a while and she napped quietly in her bag. we rode on to Jane's house and Winnie peed on a puppy pad I put in Jane's bathroom.

Winnie got to see Bela the cat - he is a domestic long hair that is bigger than Winnie. She was a bit scared of him but curious. He hissed at her. I let her check things out but tried to prevent her from getting scared.

Good girl Winnie!

Winnie had her first "bone" tonight - I gave them both a chicken neck

How many places can one puppy pee?!

Let's see.....

• all over Mom and the deck as she rushes to get you outside at 6am
• on the rug
• one the tile floor at work
• on TOP of her Sherpa
• on the open door of her Sherpa
• and of course on the pee pad that is always available

Winnie didn't wake up until 6am. I got her out and could tell he needed to pee NOW! As I rushed towards the yard and was about 1/2 way down the stairs she peed all over me and he stairs. I took her out anyway and she peed 2x and pooped 2x. PUPPIES!

Winnie was so good at work today I got worried. With the exception of many missed pees she was very quiet, napped in her Sherpa played with her toys and bones and almost didn't fuss at all.

Her appetite and stool are "good". She does play and hasn't vomited so I guess perhaps she was tired. (Or subdued from the new location).

She got to hang with Helen, Stacey, Lisa P., Lisa D. and Francis today. Francis played with her for about 15 minutes and told me several times how cute she is. = )

A few times he teased her wit the toy and then tossed it. When Winnie returned he placed her into a sit. I wonder why .... was too shy to ask.

When we got home she pooped 3x. She ate breakfast and lunch and didn't poop until about 6:30pm.

If I can stay awake we are going to go down to Frank's house-warming party to meet some people.

Panic first, ask questions later

I wonder where Dolce gets that style of "dealing"?

Well let's see. I took both dogs to work with me all day yesterday. Winnie spend the majority of her day playing with her Auntie Norma up in Norma's office. They seem to have lots of fun - playing, napping and of course the occasional "accident". Work is so germ-ie these days and we just had 4 dogs in regular population break with what we hope is kennel cough. UGH!

I moved Winnie's 2nd shot up a few days.....not a huge difference but something.

Winnie also spent some time down with Kim's dogs and Penny (Stacy's dog). She seemed to do really well down there. When I came in to check she got a bit nervous though. Gotta address that. Sigh. Poodles! Perhaps next time I should get a Chow.... (oh, wait...nevermind)

We left work and headed straight for Shura's as tonight was her yappy hour. We got there and I put Winnie into the kitchen which is babygated off from teh rest of the dogs. I just unzipped her Sherpa and set her in. She didn't come out. Percy (pushy beagle) was barking and fussing at the gate. Winnie stayed waaaay in the back of her bag and made those little defensive puppy barks that are supposed to tell other dogs to bug off. All of the cavaliers gathered there at the gate too. That approach was not working.

Shura took the dogs outside and carried Winnie. She put the Beagle away for a bit and let Winnie mingle and explore while she worked with the dogs. The Cavaliers ignored her. As her confidence built up Shura let the Beagle out and worked with him to he didn't perter Winnie too much. Winnie never played but she trotted around and explored the upper patio/yard. We let her walk on the mesh table and the plastic table - neither seemed to phase her.

We let Trouble out (the Catahoula) and Winnie was a tad nervous but he ignored her and she ignored him.

I was very pleased with how she did - the slower approach seems a much better match for her.

All the dogs started barking which Winnie still finds very scary - she tucks her tail and starts darting around frantically. Gotta get her over that!!!!

She approached all of the people there and solicited attention. When Winnie first started to explore the patio she noticed somethingf that spooked her her and she started to back up. I think it was the big flower pots. I walked over there and she followed me.....she checked out the area and seem to relax.

After Shura's we went down to the embarcadero to visit Tim (and see Spangler and Kroaker). I brought the dogs. We saw lots of people, skateboarders, bikers, scooter riders. Winnie got to meet 4 stagehands and get treats from them. She seemed relaxed with them. We also met to children on scooters a nearly 5 y/o girl and her 7 y/o brother. Both dogs were a littler nervous of them but we chattted for 10 minutes or so and they did tricks with Dolce and gave treats and they gave treats to Winnie. By the end both dogs seemed relaxed with them.

When we got home and into the yard there was a table and 2 chairs plus about 6 tiki torches that hadn't been there before. Dolce didn't seem to notice or care. Winnie noticed. She walked around me and whined a little. I walked over and sat in one of the chairs and she came over to explore/sniff. After she had checked them out she seeemed relaxed.

I fed them LATE and then we went to bed about midnight

What a good girl Winnie

Well the little girl slept well last night (no surprise). I put her to bed about 10:30 and she got up for her first pee at about 5:30am. Pretty good!!

Her reaction to the playgroup yesterday has me very concerned. While I do not need or want her to be a "dog's dog". I do really need her to be able and willing to function and work around dogs.

I am struggling with what the best course of action is.....

• more puppy classes?
• Just go to the playgroup and not worry about it
• send her to puppy daycare?
• small dog daycare?
• PANIC?
• pretend it isn't a problem?

Sigh.

Oh what a day.

So I left this morning at 8am and left Winnie in her pen. She was complaining. I got a call from Tim several hours later saying that she had been crying since I left and that she woke him up. = (
I picked the dogs up at noon and brought them into work. I set Winnie up in Norma's office. Winnie did very well - she played and napped and harassed Widget.

Norma left at 4:30 so Winnie spent about 30 minutes in her Sherpa on my desk before I was ready to go.

Tonight was our first puppy play session and it was not fun for either of us. Winnie was was nervous and first and progressed to terrified. There was a SCWT puppy who was waaaaay too rambunctious and he scared Winnie right off the bat. She spent most of the evening on my lap or hiding underneath me. She was very defensive (growling and snapping) if a dog was too interested in her. She did some sniffing of one of the other shy dogs.

It was very stressful for both of us and I am very concerned about how to help her improve and build confidence.

From average morning to risky business

Puppy did very well last night and only woke me up one at about 3am. We went on 20 minute socialization walk and experienced the random sights and sounds of the mission.

• pile of discarded carpet padding at the bustop
• lone woman sitting on a cement cube smoking
• joggers
• bikers
• man working on the frame of the first story of a house- walking around and aappearing/disappearing and speaking Spanish
• an ooooooold man slowly making his way down the street with a walker
• 2 school aged girls
• a man riding up on a lift gate
• pigeons
• people loitering

I left for work at about 8:15 and left both dogs at home with Tim. I got a call at about 10 telling me that Winnie had peed on the carpet and asking what he needed to do. Got another call about an hour later telling me that she had pooped on the carpet and asking what he should do.
Poor Tim.

After talking to Holly I decided to bring the pup and Dolce to work for th afternoon so that Winnie could socialize and we could leave right at 5:30 to get to conformation class.

Winnie was a hit at work and did really well. She was quite easy-going and friendly though a bit subdued so I suspect she was stressed. Marth (HDP) was very complimentary. Everyone told me how beautiful she is. Winnie met Willie, Mocha and Penny. Poor little poodle was a bit intimidated by them but after about 30 minutes was hanging out with them and trying to get Willie to play with her.

We had an easy drive to San Leandro for conformation class. We were the only ones there so I worked both Dolce and Winnie.

We worked on shaping a free stack, leash handling and gaiting (Dolce only), name recognition, and table work (Winnie only)

Winnie was a great traveller. She peed on a pad at the class and pooped/peed when we got home. I fed her 2 Primal nuggets but she seems to still be starving so I gave her what Dolce refused to eat which was another 1.5 nuggets.

Raw seems to be the way to go with her.

When we got home she got the zooms and sprinted around the kitchen for close to 5 minutes straight. She was literally bouncing off of the walls!!!

Puppy's Tuesday

I left for work at 8:16am. This is my pager day and I can't take lunch until 2:30. I clearly need to make special arrangements for the next couple of weeks before she goes to work with me.

I took them on a walk before work. I left her here and took Dolce. I had intended to come home at lunch for Tim got off work early so he came home. She was a bit wound up when he got home and she couldn't settle apparently. He eventually putt her into her Serpa which helped her a bit.

I took her out for a carry when I got home. We saw a boy playing with his toy car and 3 girls in helmets learning to roller skate/blade. We also saw pigeons = )

Lots of play and time out of the kitchen this evening. She ate Primal for dinner and has good stool all day. She has also had several successful bathroom trips. She did pee on the kitchen rug at some point before I got home (while Tim was on duty).

She is getting better at being on her dog bed (still tethering).

Dolce was being aguardy jerk tonight.

Even without Salmon oil~

This just in .........

You must give your puppy salmon oil or she will be dumb!!!!

Please make a note of this and respond as needed for your dog immediately.

Well miss Fancy pants slept from 10pm-2:30am. I am sure you don't need me to spell that out for you but that is f-o-u-r HOURS and 3-0 MINUTES! (4h 30m). For those of you unacquainted with the sleep deprivation torture employed by many young domestic dogs this is a big deal. Like winning the lottery (well not quite that big) maybe more like getting to sleep in . = )

I took her out at 2:30am as requested. She peed immediately.
I waited a few seconds to see if she needed to poop, nope she just needed to eat/play with sticks and leaves. Back inside and back into her crate. She was quiet in less than a minute.

About 5am there was a bit of fussing from her corner. At first it sounded like her dreaming puppy noises...then it blossomed into some quiet protests. I let her go. She quit within 2 minutes. The next thing that I remember was my alarm clock at 6am.

I pretended not to want torush over there.....

When I got to her crate she was very sleepy and still lying down. I opened the door and it took her probably 10 seconds to get up stretch and make her way out of the crate. I am not paranoid.... but checked her crate for any wet spots. Nothing found. I did put her into her crate with the warming disk....wonder if taht helps. I need to fade that.

I took her out at 6am and she pooped (nice poop! YAY PRIMAL) and peed.

We played tug in the kitchen for a few minutes. I worked on blocking her gently, petting, tapping, and placing my hand next to each side of her face as she tugged. I also remembered NOT to tak eth tug from her but rather to scoop her up and wait for her to lose her grip on the tug.

For breakfast we worked on:

• tuck sit
• fold back down
• stand from down
• lure into heel and feed with my hand over her head and offering food to the left side of her mouth (trying to teach her straight body).
• stand perpendicular to Mollie and just let her feed you. I have started to intro some petting and body touching. Dolce and I start conformation class this week so I will have a better idea what to do with this pup.

I am working in the kitchen and she is laying on the floor working on a bully stick.

Gotta get ready and take the dogs out for their morning walk/carry.

Uneventful walk. We did get lots of people suddenly appearing (or being partially obscured) and random items on the sidewalk (blankets, bags, boxes) which seems to be a possible "thing" for the princess. We saw loads of pigeons ~ captivating!

She weighs 5lbs 4oz as of yesterday. She weighed just under 5lbs when we brought her home

Our afternoon

We got back from our lesson and Winnie potted outside and then did her Poodle puppy wind sprints.

Later on I bathed and groomed Dolce. I put Winnie up on the chair that I use to groom and let her eat her lunch off of the chair as I gently "blowed her dry". She seemed unconcerned by the cool air hitting her. Yippee!!

Tim, Masae and I went out to lunch and left the dogs at home. We returned to a quiet house. Winnie had peed on her pad sometime between 2-5pm even though I had taken them out just prior to leaving.

She did a lot of playing today and so far has done an excellent job on her house-training. I took Dolce out for a neighborhood walk and carried Winnie along. As soon as we got home she pooped/peed in the yard.

She had a lamb primal nugget for dinner.

We are in the awkward evening period after she has had her big energy burst and wants to nap but Tim and I can't have her sleeping herself back to rejuvenation so early. Argh

Cute girlie

10 weeks old

Winnie's first lesson

Well today we went down to Fremont to see Denise for Winnie's first competition obedience lesson.

I carried her around the park for about 10 minutes so that she could check things out. There was a woman there doing Tai-Chi which was very cool.

I put the pup back into her Sherpa in the car and was going to get Dolce out to "play" at retrieving before Winnie's lesson. Dolce was nearly hysterical when I got back to the car and had started shrieking when I was about 15' away.

I zipped up the pup and pulled out the pissed off old dog. We walked over between the basketball court and the baseball diamond. I set him up, told him to stay and threw the dumbell. He took off just as the dumbell left my hand. I tried to call him off but he ignored me. When he grabbed the dumbell and turned around I could see that he was CHOMPING on his dumbell. He got back to me and would not out the dumbell. He was chewing/chomping on it so hard I thought that he was going to bite through it. He dropped it after about 30 seconds. I tried again and he blew his stay and away wouldn't out. I picked him up which stopped his aggressive chomping on his poor tiny wooden dumbell. Our "training" session went on like that for a bit. Eventually I gave up and we just played fetch with his dumbell. I need to replace the poor dainty thing now.

The dumbell before his lesson today:


The dumbell after a frustrated poodle got his jaws on it....




After Dolce had relieved some tension I put him back into the car and walked around without any poodles for a bit.

Then it was Winnie's turn.

We worked on the basketball court for 15 minutes. Denise played tug with her first with the Robit and then with a plain leather tug. The pup did better with the plain leather. Winnie started off a tad bit subdued but settled in and played nicely. In addition to tug work we also worked on position changes.

• tuck sit from stand
• tuck into a sit from a down
• fold back down from a stand
• find heel

Denise is full of great ideas/suggestions/experience. I was told that I shoudl try giving the pup ground egg shell, chicken necks and salmon oil (or else she will grow up dumb! - NO PRESSURE there!)

Raw fed dogs (TMI) and being thankful for what you have

Tim came home late (or early depending on your p.o.v.). Winnie, Dolce and I had gone to bed at about 9:45pm.

Back to the point - he got home around 1:30am. My puppy friend got me up at 1:40 for her first pee of the night. I took her out and set her in her Poodle potty and she peed within 15 seconds.
Back into the crate and back to bed. She fussed for a minute or so but I ignored her.

She fussed at some point again later but I ignored her then too.

She got up (started in with BIG fussing) at 5:45am.

I think she is starting to fuss in cycles while in her crate......

(fuuuuuuuuss, pause....is Mollie coming?......fuuuuuuuuuuSSSSSSS, pause....is she coming?!, F_U_S_SS!!!!, pause.....that must be her.......fffffuuss, fuss??, pause.....

you get the idea.

My point you are wondering I am sure....

SHE SLEPT FOR FOUR HOURS!!

I got her up since my alarm was going to go off at 6am anyway. Took her out and she actually peed. right away!. Brought her in and we played for a few minutes. I gave her some breakfast. Really *should* have done some training but didn't. She ate some breakfast but she no longer LOVES her kibble. She does already react to the noise of crumpling plastic baggies (her bag of dog food is in a big ziplock as an anti-ant measure).

For some reason I resent the whole "dog food" label. I find it odd but it really irritates me when people differentiate between "dog food" and "people food". I think that the recent recalls demonstrate that there really isn't much difference after all!!!

For the few that have been following WInnie's G.I. tract details - see below. The rest of you sign off now.


Last night at 7:40 I have her 3/4 of a Primal chicken nugget. defrosted.
She LOVED it and ate is as quickly as she could lick it out of the stainless bowl.

no gurgling sounds last night and no passing of gas that I noticed. She wasn't noticeably fussy either. Since Primal has a high water content I pulled her water at 8pm.

This morning after we played for about 10 min she got distracted from play so I scooped her up and took her out thinking she might need to poop. She did and it was a better stool.....so no gnarly affects from the raw. = )

A loooooooooooooooooooong day....

Just for consistency's sake we got up at 3AM for a pee (her idea NOT mine) and then again at 5AM for an attempted play session. Since I am bigger, stronger and hopefully smarter than this Poodle I put a quick (read impatient) stop to her 5AM adventure and stuck her back into her crate. She settled for a while and then fussed again. This time I didn't let her out she eventually quieted and we didn't get up until 6:30-6:45AM.

The struggle at night is:

• Does she have to pee?
• Does she have the runs?
• How long with she fuss before she settles?
• How disruptive is that to Tim?
• What about the neighbors? How much are they hearing?
• Does she just want to play?!

We goofed off at home for a while and the pup chilled in her pen pretty well. D came to get us at 12:30 and we headed off to Amy's.

Winnie was great in the car - she rode in her Sherpa in the back seat.

At Amy's the pup was a little hesitant but over the hour + that we were there she got quite comfortable and was bounding around and exploring. We introduced her to her first non-poodle. Echo is an adult Lurcher bitch who does well by puppies. Echo came on strong and really wanted to investigate the pup. Winnie hid between my legs but really wanted to greet Echo. They did very well together and Winnie took frequent breaks under a low lying lawn chair. She made many attempts but never seemed to get completely confident. At one point Echo tried to play with the pup and bounced towards her. Poor Winnie got scared, and ended up on her back under a coil-ie hose shrieking and flailing.(she voided her bladder too) I grabbed Echo (just in case) and Amy was going to help the pup but it became obvious that it would compound the pup's stress. After about 15 seconds the pup stopped shrieking and got up. She shook off the experience but was more subdued after that.
Winnie also tackled the big stairs to the yard a few times on her own. Big girl!!

We loaded the dogs into the car and headed off to Amy's project. The pup was quite good in the car with all that Sherpa time.

After the project we went to Solono for lunch - tried to get her to pee on her pad but no luck. Back to Amy's to drop her off and we had a synchronized Poodle pee = )

From there down to Milbrae for Rally practice. The pup got to meet Wendy, Clancy and Sasha.
She was a little intimidated of C and scared S. = )

I tried to carry her around the park and expose her to the sights/sounds of suburbia but it was so cold, drizzly and windy. She got cold so I put her back into her Sherpa in the warm car.

The pup has 3/4 of a Primal nugget for dinner. I hope that isn't too "interesting"

Rhetorical question

What have I done? (Please no answering that question)

This puppy thing ends at some point right?! (This question you may answer but you must tell me what I want to hear)

• Sleep - nope
• Peace - nope
• Opportunity to sit for a second (literally)
  
• yes if I am willing to listen to her complain (either in her pen or on her tether)
• yes - is she is chewing on her tendon
• yes - if she is asleep. BTW - I thought puppies napped up until close to 4m, she must be precocious
• Willingness to leave an old dog alone - nope
• Incredible determination - yes. That should come in handy later
• Bold/curious - yep (see above)
• Gorgeous - yep (see above)
  
• Sweet - yep (THANK GOD)
• Tug - YES
• Fetch - YES
• House-training - - Hahahahahahahaha (some day). Is Anti-Icky Poo publicaly traded?
  
• Friendly/social - yep so far anyway

Aaahhhhhhh the good old days..............

Getting bigger by the minute

Ok - so she is noticeable bigger. Crazy. She is much more coordinated than just a few days ago. She falls over less, she climbs the stairs better, her jumps are more accurate.

Today was day 2 back at work. D came to entertain and potty the dogs for me. THANKS D!
She also lent me a voice activated recorder which is telling me things that I don't want to know. For example - my darling little puppy made wild monkey hoots and rooster impressions for at least 15 minutes after D left this afternoon. I haven't made myself check to see how long it goes on.

When I got home the pup had already peed on the pad in her pen. I pretended to not be in a hurry to see her. She was pretty quiet for a few minutes which is cool. I took them to the yard anyway. Then we came inside and played tug and trained. I haven't done any shaping type work, just l/r training of sit, down, stand (any order)spin left/right, eye contact and tonight we added sit pretty. SHE IS CUTE. She enjoys training. I have been using her kibble b/c teh venison jerky treats make her a little crazy.

I took Dolce out for a walk and carried the pup along. She is less and less willing to "ride" along.
We saw more pigeons today - she is VERY interested in them. Gonna need to address that or take up hunting.

Tim and I went out to dinner and left the dogs here. Winne wouldn't pee before we left but she peed on her pad while we were gone.

When we came home we took them for a late night walk/carry. She seems to be getting very comfortable with the city sights and sounds.

Poor Dolce has been very patient with her puppy shenanigans but this evening she crossed the line and he snarked at her. But as I am writing this Dolce is on the floor near me chewing on a tendon and Winnie is about 2' away tethered on her dog beg also chewing on a tendon. I moved to get the camera and they stopped of course.

She did one of her famous abrupt pees on my kitchen rug but made it outside for a poop. 1 out of 2 isn't bad = )

Sleep glorious sleep!

She slept from 10pm-3am! Even Tim commented on her generosity. So at 9.5 weeks all it takes is about an hour of hard play and a 40 minute socialization visit.

No problem!

Please refrain from saying that I got what I wanted or when you get your performance puppy I will remind you ad nauseam.....

I have been living with a 9 y/o dog with physical "problems" that have put him on a very reduced exercise/working schedule. There is a lot of adjustment going on around here. = )

So we went out to pee at 3am then back to bed until 5:30. I took her out at 5:30am but she didn't "go" I made her sit on my lap for about 30 minutes then tried again. Success! ( She is amazingly strong - you must provide a chew toy or you will regret it!)

Attempting to tire her out I let her fly around the back yard (BTW she now tackles the first flight of stairs back up to our house). Then we came inside and played tug, chewed on a bully stick and have a tiny training session.

Dolce worked on his stays and Winnie worked on position changes, fronts, and eye contact.

I need a better system!

Must get ready for work!

Behind the times

So it is god-awful o'clock on Saturday morning (about 6AM). Lucky for this puppy I work today!

Yesterday was a looooooooong day. It was my first day back after almost 2 weeks and my first day back to work since bringing Winnie home. I *could* take her to work with me BUT she has only had 1 DHPP shot and most everyone that I have polled (including a RVT) said no way should I bring her there yet. In some ways it would be easier to bring her and in other ways harder. The concern obviously is all of the unknown dogs that come through there and that I am exposed to. Yesterday I tested dogs so I changed when I came home at lunch to let the puppy out. It is a pain to be that careful - change shoes, change clothes, wash up and all but I don't know what I would do if she got really sick. We have had several distemper dogs at work this year!

I came home briefly at about 10 to grab Tim's wallet and take it to him at ACT. The pup was calm and relaxed when I came in but cried when I left. I took her out for a minute but she wouldn't go to the bathroom.

I came home again at about 1:30pm and she was calm and quiet when I entered but started fussing when I was changing. She and Dolce and I spent most of that 40 minutes in the yard.
I did give her some lunch and we played then I headed back to work.

Tim got home in the early afternoon which was a welcome surprise. he let her out and hung out with her a bit which is WONDERFUL!!

I don't know if coming home at lunch is really sufficient. I am exploring options. (no particular order)

• pay someone to come get her out and play with her
• take a 90m minute lunch - not particularly feasible especially Saturdays
  
• take her to work (and chance it - Kim did and Willie was fine)
• Send her to a daycare (requires 2 DHPPs). Even the puppy specific daycares require 2 shots. That is common practice around here.

After work D came over and we played with the pup. We then packed her up and took her to Sports Basement. It took about 20 minutes and much strategic walking/puppy placement on D's part to get people to interact with the pup. We met 3 different White men (1 bald, 1 with facial hair and 1 with huge head phones) a White lady and an Asian lady. We saw all kinds of people but those were the only ones that wanted to interact with her. She did very well - relaxed body for the whole adventure. She also took treats from 2 of the guys. Winnie got to see D in sunglasses and ski caps and she got to see me in a snowboarding helmet.

We came home and she went to the bathroom in the yard. Then back upstairs for more play. She is getting to be quite the tugger!

She was so tired she took herself to bed in her crate (which was in her kitchen pen)

You can lead a Poodle to her potty......

House-training is a form of "training" therefore it is legal to discuss it in my puppy adventure. So Winnie only got me up 1x last night. I was so eager to sleep that after she got me up at 3:30 I put her in her Sherpa and onto the bed, she rewarded me for doing thus and slept until my alarm at 6:15am.

So yesterday went well from an alone time perspective and alright from a house-training perspective. She had 3 departures yesterday varying in length from 40 minute to 3 hours. She seemed to take it all in stride. Poor Dolce thinks that he has died and gone to hell. Since he is in recovery from separation anxiety we have some special rules that we try to abide by for his departures. One of my goals with this pup is to NOT recreate the tricky things about Dolce. He is a wonderful dog and a fabulous companion/working partner but there are a few quirks about him that can make him challenging.


We did alright on our HT yesterday but she did pee in her pen 2x. Once she hit the pad and once she really missed it - she peed just in front of her bed. Odd.

Oops - tangent!

So I have taken the puppy out 2x since 6:25am. It is now 6:56 am. She hasn't peed (or pooped yet). Obviously I cannot let her run around. I could put her in her Sherpa but if she fusses she might wake Tim (bad). Ugh. So I am typing this sometimes one-handed as she flops around on my lap chewing on a stuffed squirrel and attempting to escape my clutches. Fawn warned me that house-training wasn't going to be smooth and that is no joke. Never mind that I have been a "dog-professional" for 6 years now.....when it comes to my own pup I am just a sleep deprived Jo like everyone else.

Today is my first day back to work and Winnie is going to be in her pen for 4 hours until I come home at lunch for an hour then she will have another 4 hours in her pen. I am a bit worried about her. If this arrangement isn't working I have some back up ideas.

One last thing......

DAMN she is cute!

tiny training session and our morning outing

This morning, while Dolce was still asleep, we trained again.

We worked on :

• stand - down
• down-stand
  
• stand-sit
• sit-stand
• circle left
• circle right
• stand still = )

We also played tug. This morning I was able to "mess" with her a little while we played (touched her on the side, touched her back, touched her foot) without her losing her game.

These dogs were restless so I took them out for an adventure (well a walk around the block). Winnie rode in the backpack which I wore on my front. She seemed very intrigued by everything ... especially the blowing leaves. She vibrates a lot while outside....I tried to decide if she was excited or scared but ended up deciding that she was both. We passed by the playground on Bryant and a bunch of the girl (5-7 y/o?) wanted to pet the dogs. I wasn't sure if Winnie wanted to say hi or not. I started walking towards the fence and Winnie leaned towards the girls. We made it all the way up to the fence and Winnie tried to climb out of the bag to lick their fingers. We will have to go back and visit a few more times.

We continued on after a minute or so and headed around the block back towards home. Winnie climbed out of the bag and sat on top of it.....scared? excited?

When we got home I let the dogs out in the yard. They almost played. Dolce did his play bow/bark solicitation which again scared the pup. She actually rolled over a peed this time = (
He tried a slightly smaller version and then she bounced up to him. He quickly changed his mind and went trotting around the yard with the pup bouncing along after him. So close.

Pretty is as pretty does.....

Oh my, what a night!

Winnie "slept" in her big girl crate last night.

The crate is in my room, under the window but protected from draft by a dark blanket on the sides, back and top. I didn't cover the front so that she could see out. We went out to potty just before bed and then I put her into her crate. She had her bumper bed crate pad that she uses in her pen, her giant tendon (she likes the 12" one better than the 6") and the newly washed sunflower stuffy toy.

Sounds good right? Well I neglected to get approval from the puppy. We got up a few times.

• 11:50PM
• 1:00AM
• 3:00Am
• 5:00AM
• 6:30AM

I like to sleep. I hate having my sleep interrupted. I am tired. She is lucky she is so cute!

She has previously been sleeping in her Sherpa. I put her to bed in the Sherpa which was in the same location as her crate but after our early morning potty I had been bringing the Sherpa onto the bed near my head because I really wanted to go back to sleep! I knew that not bringing her up onto the bed was likely going to cause some fussing....as usual I was right ;-)

Oh, I have to add that she wasn't sick on any of those outings. She did pee each time and then wanted to play. I put her back into her big girl crate each time and went back to bed. I probably "should" have let her fuss for a while at one of those early morning times, especially since she had recently been out, but poor Tim was trying to sleep after getting home from work at 2AM.

Oh the pressure!

A night time stroll

Our first night time "walk" went pretty well. Winnie was in the Celltei backpack which I carried on my front and Dolce of course was on leash. I opened the top flap so that she could sit and look at at everything. We were out for about 10 minutes. It was of course dark and was a little chillly and windy. Dolce didn't seem phased by anything but he did woof (once) and a biker across the street who was moving about near his bike. The pup looked around very interested but seemed relaxed until near the end of out walk. We heard lots of voices but couldn't see the bodies. We heard some dogs, saw bikers, a skateboarder, and a few scattered people. We walked south on York and I tried to take them West on 23rd but Dolce didn't want to go that way. So we turned around and headed North (on the West side) on York up to 21st street. We turned left on 21st and walked West to Bryant. Then left on Bryant and South to 22nd street. Left on 22nd street, right on York and back to our house. Winnie kept a close eye on Dolce - I wonder if she was trying to guage the "threat" level.

Juggling

So I sneak off into the kitchen with the puppy while Dolce is having a nap in the sunshine on his summer bed (on the couch in the front room).

I started with luring her a step or two and then giving her the kibble. Yes I was using her dinner. Then we did a full circle for 1 treat. Next we tried position changes - We tried stand-to-down and got it on our first try. I tried a few more times but she wouldn't go all of the way into the down. So I rewarded successive approximations and ended up with her going into a "bow". We also tried a few sits (quite cute). At this point Dolce comes trotting into the kitchen.

Quick shift of gears and we practice distributing treats after I announce the dog's names.

• Mollie: "Dolce"
• Dolce - eats kibble
• Mollie: "Winnie"
• Winnie - eats kibble
• Mollie: "Dolce"
• Dolce - eats kibble
• Mollie: "Winnie"
• Winnie - eats kibble

You get the idea = )

Next we worked eye contact for Winnie while Dolce practiced a sit stay. It was still 1 kibble for Winnie = 1 kibble for Dolce.

Next I tossed a kibble for Dolce to search out (about 5' towards the laundry room) and then tossed 1 for Winnie to search out (about 18" towards the dining room).

Our fun little session ended when Winnie abruptly squatted and peed on the floor.

Damn!!!

Exponential

Ok. Two dogs is a handful! Supervising 2 dogs in the yard is enough to make one crazy. Just for fun today we had our first "formal" training lesson. I put the pup in her pen and got ready to train Dolce. I pulled out his sock and spoon to work on take/hold of these two items. The sock is in lieu of a glove.

Well so Dolce started off strong and was really into the game. The pup looked on from her pen and whined. I worked Dolce for 30 seconds or so and then put him in the dining room behind a fence so that I could then work the pup. I covered the clicker in a sock to try and muffle the noise since I couldn't find my quieter clicker anywhere. We worked on click = treat. After about 15 clicks she would stand for a brief second and not try to mug me for the treats. Progress! Wow does this girlie like treats. I would love to get her GI "issues" sorted out so that I felt better about expanding her treat options. I put her back into her pen and brought Dolce into the kitchen again. I tried to pick up where we left off but he couldn't. I dunno why...stress? He wanted the treats but actually walked away from me at one point and sniffed around the kitchen for a moment. The pup was pitching a fit so perhaps that is what was bothering him. I decided not to force the issue with Dolce and put him back over the gate into the dining room.
When she quieted a worked her again. This time I left her in her kitchen pen and c/t for eye contact. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

Now everyone is napping again ....well the dogs are napping.

Barking, a NAME (finally), Poodle prejudice, and our first vet trip

Ok so I decided on her name. She will be called .......... Winnie the Poodle



Another first for us this morning .... the puppy barked! I blame Dolce. Winnie wanted him to play and was doing everything that she could think of to get him to play with her (from inside her pen). Nothing was working so she barked at him. Oh boy....here we go....

So we left the house at 8:40am for a 10:10 vet appointment. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get the puppy to go to the bathroom before we left. Just my luck - Muni is NOT coming. We waited 10 minutes for the 27-bus and when we got down to the Powell station we waited for ever and a day for the darn N-Judah. Ugh! Winnie traveled in her Sherpa bag. While we were waiting for the 27 she poked her head out the door to check things out....she seems curious and comfortable until a delivery truck air brakes released which caused her to dash to the back of her bag. A few seconds later she was sticking her head out again. on the bus I partially unzipped the top so that she could look around. She was very willing to eat her venison treats. She seemed relaxed through the entire bus ride. When we got down into the Powell station I unzipped the front a little so that she could observe the comings and going. She mostly kept her head out but at certain loud noises (like the trains approaching) she would duck back into the bag for a second.

As an aside - I cannot, for the life of me understand why people do not gush over her. Of all the people coming and going (and waiting for the trains) only 1 person (a man no less) showed *any* interest in my little bundle of cuteness. What is wrong with these people? Are they poodle prejudiced?

So we waited and waited and waited for the N. One appeared on the monitor and the disappeared - grrrrrrrr. Eventually it arrives. We now have 25 minutes to get to the clinic.
I got on the train and sat down. The noise of the door (similar to the air brakes) startled her so we moved a little further from them. It was getting so late I called the vet clinic to tell them we might be a few minutes late (MUNI!!!!!)

So we were only 2 minutes late. I was very pleased with how comfortable Winnie seemed to be with all of this traveling. I was worried that it would be really scary for her.

So we go in with the good doctor. I tried to get the pup to potty on her pad but she wasn't having it. She was friendly and relaxed with the vet and he was friendly and relaxed with her. In fact he announced: "She is perfect!" As you might imagine I like this Doctor a lot = )

So he seems like a great guy - conservative with vaccines ... in fact his protocol matches with my breeders which is very handy for me. He is open to raw feeding and recommended that I check out my local raw feeders co-op. The only thing that the pup objected to was the ear scope. He said her ears look and smell good so I will just need to do some ds/cc work. Her objection involved open-mouth orientation to the instrument.

Before we left I tried again to get her to pee on her pad but no such luck. We waited for about 10 minutes for the N. When we were nearly back to the Powell street station I notied teh bag was wet - DARN IT...she peed in her bag. Oh well. She was crashed out for the train ride but woke up when we got back up to street level. I opened the bag and let her watch the world as it went buy. The loud trucks cause her to duck back into the bag but nothing else that I noticed seemed to bother her. We saw some pigeons which she found absolutely mesmerizing!

We arrived back home and of course she didn't want to go to the bathroom in the yard. I brought her up stairs and put her into her pen while I cleaned the Sherpa. Brenda brought Dolce back and came in to meet Winnie. Brenda got a very warm welcome from our new addition! (Yippee) Both dogs are now crashed out on their respective beds napping.

This is your brain on Poodles

Things going on in my head (likely not a surprise to those close to me):

• OMG we have to go to the Vet this morning. OMG OMG OMG
• What if he tries to vaccinate her?
• What if she is forever traumatized?
• What if he isn't nice to her? to me?
• What is the bus/train ride scares her too much?
• What if she has too pee?
  
• OMG
• Why hasn't she peed yet! She last peed at 4AM....it is now 7:30AM. Did she pee somewhere and I missed it?
  
• What is her name?
• Winnie (as in Winnie the Poodle)
  
• Emily? (I like Emmaleigh) but that is soooooo close to Cindy's Emmeline and Helene's Emma. Probably not a good idea.
• Minnie (Mini)
• Josephine?
• Hailey?
• Will she make a good performance dog?
• What should I be teaching her right now?
• How much "socialization" do we do each day?
• Is it a big red flag that she was nervous at the store yesterday?
• OMG
• Why are these dogs on opposite bathroom schedules?
• Did I choose the right vet?
  
• Why....?
• How come....?
• What if.....?

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh