Mom and I looking through books for any mention of Bichon dogs... or just dogs at all- we were on a puppy high!
Dad in his most natural habitat- a bookstore.
We finally made it home for afternoon napping/researching Bichon puppies online. Mom and Dad left (after helping me shop for puppy paraphernalia) anxiously awaiting news of our furry firstborn.
So, we proceeded with the rest of our day, but all the while thinking about the little white fur balls we had seen. Kasey and Kristin stopped by, and we ended up spending the entire night together! We had dinner at the Cleland's wonderful house and came back to our house... just to sit in the car because I didn't have a house key. Loser, I know. However, we entertained ourselves in the car with cameras and phones and chatting away. Once we finally got inside, we were in game mode. I taught them all Settlers of Catan, and we had a blast. It was SO fun to hang out with these girls. It's always so refreshing when they come in town! Have I mentioned that I am SO blessed?!
Sunday
(Ok, I'm running out of steam and creativity, so I'm resorting to bullet points)
- David made breakfast, as usual. He's awesome, by the way... in case you forgot :). He is SO hospitable and such a servant.
- Church at Calvary. Possibly the longest service everrrr. It was awesome (message about living in adventure with God- so great), but since we had post-church plans I found myself being very time sensitive.
- Back to Chickamauga Kennels to get our Harley! Yep, we slept on it and decided it was a go. We spent a lot of time talking to Curtis, the sweet old man who runs the place and then we headed home with our new family member.
- Harley threw up in the car.
- We bathed Harley.
- Harley threw up in the car again.
- David bought better smelling shampoo.
- We bathed Harley again.
- Becca, Kate and Anna came over to meet him!
Monday
Yep, Monday. I had a three-day weekend! You didn't realize you were reading the longest Monday blog of all time, did you? So. My parents decided they had to have a puppy too. But not just any puppy- the puppy my mom fell in love with when they were with us Saturday. So, it worked out perfectly that I was off work Monday. I picked Bella up and drove to meet my parents! Bella and Harley are going to get married, but they don't know it yet. Yep- our plan is to breed them (they are from different litters, don't worry). 
Mom and her Bella
Next eventful task in the day... the hand doctor. I didn't expect much of anything, but it turned into an ordeal. I've been having pain in my hand for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd get it checked out. He found a ganglion cyst on my wrist and decided it needed to go. Unfortunatley, I hadn't eaten much and my body decided I also needed to go- face first on the exam table. After I came to, I was all green and sweaty. tmi? Anyways, I made it home, loved on our puppy and was very relieved when David got home because I was sick for the rest of the day!
Soo... now that I've relived the past 4 days for you (which I'm sure was way more than you cared to know), I have some questions for you:
- How do we get our dog to sleep through the night? Sunday wasn't bad- he got up around 4 and then again at 5, but last night was brutal. We hardly got ANY sleep. Do we just leave him in the crate when he cries and hope he gets tired of it at some point (ps- he did it for almost 2 hours this morning and never seemed to tire)?
- How do we get our dog to not bite? Clamp his snout shut and say "no"? Smack his nose? I'm up for whatever works.
- How do we perfect our doggy potty training regiment? He hasn't had any poop accidents in the house, but he's peed a couple of times. We're taking him outside immidately when we get him out of the crate and trying to watch him carefully the rest of the time.
Ok, that's all for now. (I can hear the sighs of relief.)
3 comments:
Hey Em!
So I just called my mom and asked her for all of her doggy training tips. I swear she is a pro! All of our dogs, don't bark, bite, or go to the bathroom in the house plus sleep in bed the whole night without getting up! So here are my tips...
The crate is KEY! You have to leave him in there all night and not give in no matter how much he cries. A thing that will help is to get a can of some sort like a coffee can and put some change in there. Everytime he cries rattle that and it will scare him into learning to not whine. Over time it will really work. My Mom said for awhile the sleep will be rough but he will def. get better. If you guys are wanting him to eventually sleep in bed with you then you should keep him in the room with you at night. Also then you will be able to keep shaking the can. Lastly, putting something of yours in there so he can have that smell of comfort is good and will help comfort him. Along with a ticking clock, or sound machine that makes a heartbeat can be comforting to put in his cage with him or right outside so he can hear it.
The crate training will really help on not peeing/pooing in the house. Also my mom said that if you are home, take him out every 30 mins. It will teach him where he should go. Anytime he eats or drinks, take him outside after. Also,if he does pee or poop. Say NO very sternly and loud. Don't hit it really doesn't do anything beneficial. You can make him smell the pee or poop by putting his nose close and saying NO along with that. Then take him straight outside!
Lastly, about biting. The "NO" tactic works here as well. The thing with this is if he is biting you then say NO and then don't hold or love on him for a little bit. It will be good for him to learn that when he does that he won't get lovin. lol
By Crate training most of this stuff he will slowly learn. Make sure you take him out as soon as you take him out of the crate. Mom said Bichon's were easy dogs to train and that they are great dogs. So good luck! I can't wait to see him!
Love you!
P.S. I had a ganglion sist that had to get removed. It was the most painful experience I have ever had...of course I am a baby..but I def. blacked out. Sorry to hear you had to experience that.
Sorry SO long!
emily-
i loved this post! your dog is precious and i am so glad you guys get to play with him. and your parents with their puppy too!
the face that you passed out makes me feel remotely normal.... i pass out QUITE often in doctors offices because i have anxiety attacks almost every time they draw my blood. last time they did i took a BIG bottle of welches grape juice and the girl laid me in a recliner and put a cold pack behind my head.... ok, now i sound like a dork. :) that's what happens when needles scare the begoodness out of you.
hope your hand feels better!
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Oh my goodness! He is soooo cute! No wonder Mollie came back for her own. :)
I agree with all the tips Becca said. The crate is absolutely essential. And be ready to stick with the crate for nighttime and while you're away from home during the day for quite some time (a couple of years, probably). Really, dogs love their crates and feel safe there. It's a place of their own to go and sleep or chill.
Another tip we used to help with the crying is to fill a 2-liter bottle with hot water before you go to bed and put it in the bed with him. The warmth is soothing. You can't use a heating pad and most other warming devices since chewing is an issue/danger.
Also, for house training, if you take him outside and he doesn't go at least pee, put him back in the crate and try it again in 15 minutes or so. This will help him understand that using the bathroom outside is a condition of being able to be out in the house. And definitely take him out every 30 minutes when you're home and after he eats. I'm not sure how often you have to feed puppies but older dogs only need to be fed 2X a day but keep water available all the time.
Another thing that Jefferson's vet recommended to help with chewing, and we did with Lucy, is to keep lemon juice handy and squirt a tiny bit in his mouth when you catch him chewing on something inappropriate. The kind in the plastic squeezy lemon that they sell in the produce section at the grocery works best. We found that the sprays you put on things that aren't supposed to taste good didn't work at all...don't bother.
Good luck! Having a dog is such fun. And assuming you manage to survive, it's about as close as you can come to parenting children without actually doing it. You know, except that the puppy loves you unconditionally and never yells at you or pitches a fit over things like video games. And the love you're feeling for the puppy is (unbelievably, I know) only about 10% as much as you'll feel the instant you hold a baby in your arms. Yeah. Puppies are a good start. :)
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