Preventive measures

I went to Petco today to buy presents for Tucker and Dionne. (I know that's gross, what with world hunger and all. But we try to be restrained. No doggy jewelry, such as I saw in the store today. Just a few pig ears for Tucker to chew on and baby toys for D.)

While there, I called Steve to make sure he wanted me to buy more de-smellifying solution -- the stuff you squirt on the rugs and floor to extinguish any trace of excretory smells that might inspire further transgression. We still have part of a quart bottle of the "Nature's Miracle" we bought when we were training Darby. Dionne has been doing spectacularly. Yesterday Steve noticed her heading to his office from the kitchen, where we all were hanging out. She went to the door and he rushed to open it for her, then tailed her as she trotted briskly to the lower yard. She peed under the fig tree, then again under one of the pittosporums. Then she went to the pear tree and pooped.

Clearly, she knows what she's supposed to do. I predict she won't have many more accidents.

But Steve thinks it would anger the Housebreaking Gods, were we to assume our puppy was mostly trained after only 16 days. He's not one to spend money frivolously, but he ordered me to buy a gallon (though he agreed that the Petco Stain and Odor Remover for $17 was probably close enough to the Nature's Miracle ($28)).

I think all we need is for her kidneys to grow bigger so that she has a bit of reserve capacity.  But if I'm wrong, we're all set.

The charm offensive

Steve and I think Dionne is one of the more charming dogs we've raised. Tucker is learning that too.

He's a tolerant and courteous fellow, but he's learned over the years that these pipsqueaks (whom we, bafflingly, continue to import into the household) range from merely annoying (ambushing him; grabbing all the attention) to downright dangerous (sinking their needle teeth into various parts of his anatomy in their demented idea of "play"). He's learned to issue warning growls, but he would never come close to hurting a puppy. Mostly, he just tries to stay out of their way.

Dionne seems to worship him, though, and she's been making further inroads into his turf than most. I think it's partly because she's a bit more restrained than most. She'll approach him gently at times (rather than tackling him any time he's in range). She even manages to insinuate herself into his bed. As recorded here:

Oh, please, he thinks. 

Puppy heaven.  (Tucker Purgatory.) 

The two-week mark

She still fits under the couch -- but barely now. 

The staples that were put in to keep Dionne's lower eyelids from curling in (and thus stop the lashes from irritating her) are still in place, although when we picked Dionne up from CCI two weeks ago, the puppy training coordinator told us they should fall out after about two weeks. But it feels like so many other things about her have changed.

Already she understands a lot about our daily rhythms. Almost always, she sleeps until 6 or so, and then she trots briskly back to the lower yard to pee and poop.  Often we see her escorting herself out to deposit a little pile far, far from the house.

Days ago the in-house accident counts dropped. Now it's once a day that she screws up  -- or not at all -- or twice if we get very lazy and ignore the signs we've come to recognize. Soon we'll be counting the days that have passed without any accidents.

Likewise, we've already begun to relax our guard at times -- to allow her moments when she's not in the kennel or the pen or on the leash or directly under our gaze. Tonight Steve and I were dipping the Swedish Heirloom cookie dough balls into colored sugars in preparation for baking, and Dionne was right underfoot. A heartbeat later, she had disappeared. I eventually located her out on the patio scampering around in the herb bed (she seems particularly fond of sorrel.) But now I can glimpse how those uncaged moments will stretch out... and suddenly, miraculously, she'll be a full-fledged house dog, more content to hang out around us (in anticipation of dropped crumbs of dough... or anything else) than interested in striking out into the dark on her own.

Already, she's taking much of the place for granted. She no longer hurls herself into the pile of dried leaves under the fig tree every single time she's in that part of the yard.  Been there, done that. Yet she's not exactly blasé. She'll be laying down looking calm and angelic, just taking the world in. And then she'll be up to snatch a shoe and gnaw on it. Or drag a doormat around. Or conk out in someone's arms, emitting loud snores.

School's in session

Steve and I took Dionne to her first puppy class last night. Attending class every two weeks or so is something you're supposed to do throughout your time with a CCI pup, and we go to the ones held in central San Diego in a facility that the SD Police Department makes available for community meetings. Our instructor, Bob, is a SDPD canine cop, as was his predecessor Mike. The two have had different styles, but we've liked them both -- both know a lot about dogs.

It's kind of a hassle to get to class, particularly the first level (known as Puppy Kingergarten, or KPT), held as it is at 5:30 p.m. Mondays. That means we have to fight the traffic  at a time when we're getting hungry. But last night I was reminded of its value. Even though we're now on our fifth pup, we forget a lot from one to another -- or never learned various skills well enough in the first place. Last night Bob reminded us of subtleties in the best way to lead a young puppy into a "down" command and other fine points. Other experienced puppy raisers in each group jump in to make suggestions about one thing or another. When the little one last night next to us started barking aggressively at one point, one of those veterans commented, "Time to get a squirt bottle" (a useful tool for squelching bad behavior.)

As for Dionne, she was enthralled for most of the evening. When we entered the room, she almost exploded with ecstatic excitement: there were other DOGS in the room! Small dogs like her! They smelled so fascinating!!! If we would just let her go, she could go up and play with them!!!!

Obtusely, we continued to hold her. She quivered, squeaked, moaned. From time to time, she lunged for one attraction or another.

But she also walked fairly nicely on the leash, when it was our turn to perform. She has already learned to sit, and she demonstrated that nicely.  She practiced going Down.

As hard as it is to imagine, she'll be a largish dog waiting at doors, doing Down-Stays, and performing other tasks in just a few months.  Puppy class is the path to that.

Dispatches from the front

-- Dionne got through all of yesterday without pooping or peeing anywhere in the house.
-- This morning, virtually the first thing she did after eating her breakfast was to run into the front room and start to poop.  (But I yelled at her, interrupting the action, which she completed outdoors to my enthusiastic applause.) She's had no in-house accidents since.
-- We took her on our regular hour-long Sunday morning walk this morning and let her accompany us on the ground, on her leash, for at least half of it.
-- She was so sleepy for much of the rest of the day that I worried about her.  Briefly.
 -- In answer to my question the other day, she is capable of eating the linoleum that we bought to put under her x-pen.

-- For the record, here's what she looks like at 10 weeks, compared to what Tucker looked like back in early 2005: 

Fast walker, slow eater

I walked around the block with Dionne for the first time yesterday and was impressed by how well she did. She trotted right with me, more or less in the proper position. She didn't stop to sniff things or veer off on her own. Today when we went out, I ran for part of the way, and she particularly seemed to enjoy that.

Steve and I haven't begun making her wear her Gentle Leader (halter) for these little outings, and though I'm dreading it, it's probably time to start. I haven't yet met a puppy who doesn't dislike them and try to rub them off. It takes a lot of training, but they all eventually learn to tolerate them.

We've at least started the process by putting Dionne's Gentle Leader on her for most of her meals. The idea is to create a positive association between something wonderful (eating!) and wearing the halter.

The only thing: Dionne so far seems the most blasé, leisurely eater we've ever had. Steve swears she picks up and chews each piece of kibble individually. Contemplatively.
She couldn't be more different from Obrien, the pup we recently hosted for 8 days. He was so voracious we were instructed to put his food under an actual large ROCK in his bowl, in a (largely vain) attempt to slow him down.

Often at lunchtime, Dionne will eat about 3/4 of her cup and then turn away  to try and scrape the halter off, against the sides of the kennel.  We exhort her to finish, but often we have to take uneaten food away.

She's none the worse for that; still one hefty girl. But we hope her attitude changes. It's easier to train a dog who worships food. 

Dionne descending

My back is killing me. My shoulder is killing me. I had to teach Dionne how to go downstairs. Carrying her was/is too hard.

She learned fast. A little peanut butter, a lot of encouragement. Here she was, going down one of the biggest sets in the house this morning:

She's still a tad hesitant at times.  But that won't last for long.