She's already grown since her arrival here -- I can't believe it's been less than a week. She immediately fit right in to the family and we're all enjoying her.
She's one smart puppy -- she's figured out where her water is, to go back to her kennel for mealtimes, and she's really grasping the potty-training/house-breaking concept. She's very good about whining when she needs to go out, especially at night -- of course, sometimes she whines not because she has to go out, but because she wants out of "puppy jail" (her ex-pen play pen). So we've had a couple of small incidents, but fortunately most of the floor in the house is tile.
Our biggest challenge right now is she's in a "nippy" phase, where she really wants to attack shoes/pants legs when she gets excited. She gets the puppy zoomies first thing in the morning, right around dusk, and more minor bouts of it after mealtimes. I've got a pair of solid, work boot-style cowboy boots that are seeing a lot of use right now, as they're pretty much imperious to her gnawing and allow me to correct her without the overly-charged pain response of trying to extract needle-sharp puppy teeth from my foot.
Training a young terrier is an interesting proposition...she gets very fixated on something, so you have to provide a good enough distraction to keep her attention, as well as out-last her stubbornness. Best example is when she gets fixated on going after feet. I keep putting her off with one of her toys, using it as both a shield and distraction item, and eventually, she decides going after my feet just isn't worth it. Most of the time. And sometimes she gets in "puppy red zone" and the best thing to do is give her quiet time in her pen until she settles and can get a hold of herself emotionally.
I can't wait until she gets her second series of puppy shots and it will be safe to take her out of the house/yard and start taking her on short walks, and trips down to the barn. We will definitely be signing up for puppy obedience classes, and I got the name of a place locally that is a canine agility school that offers basic puppy obedience classes, as well as a puppy-safe level of introduction to some of the (flat) agility obstacles. (Never mind she's already climbing rocks in the backyard and trying to jump into flowerpots. No one told her the "low-impact exercise" concept.)
Okay, enough jawing...let's get to the good stuff...puppy pictures!
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| interrupting her beauty sleep for a photo op |
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| getting a preview of what she'll look like when her ears stand up |
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| she's the funniest sleeper that adopts some of the strangest sleeping positions |
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| "Mom, why are you working? Play with me!" |
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| most action shots of her look like this -- out of the frame before the camera can register |
You have me contemplating the feasibility of getting on of these little dogs now....
ReplyDeleteThe breeder I got her from still has 6 pups left...just sayin'. ;)
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