Here is the promised second update about what I've been up to around the house & the progress I've made over the last week. Molly keeps telling me how proud she is of me & other people keep saying what a lovely puppy I am :)
I now sleep through the night every night from 10-10.30pm til 7-7.30am. Last night I surprised Molly by sleeping until 8am! On the days Molly's dad works he gets up at 6.15am so those mornings he lets me out for a wee at that time & then I go back to bed for a bit (& Molly hopes she'll be able to to sleep a little longer) until it's time to wake up & play.
I was getting very excited & a bit nippy first thing in the mornings when Molly (& then later the rest of the family) came downstairs but over the last few days I've been a bit calmer which apparently is making mornings easier for everyone.
I still chew things that I shouldn't but I'm usually able to be distracted & Molly & her family are trying to teach me the word "no" & the command "leave it". Sometimes I listen when they tell me not to do things but sometimes I don't! I did well with my "leave it" training last night though & didn't take some food from Molly's open hand because I knew I'd get a better treat if I left it alone. I still haven't mastered "sit" yet, despite daily practise - I'll do it if Molly tempts me into position with a treat but I don't associate the word with the action. Molly is also trying to teach me recall using a book she's bought & a whistle but it's still early days.
Molly is hoping to gradually build me up to spending periods of time at home on my own so the whole family can sometimes all go out at the same time. She's not worried about doing this quickly because at the moment someone is always able to be home with me but she did give it a try last week when she had to pop out very briefly & everyone else was out. I spent 6 minutes at home alone (in my crate) & didn't mind at all. I also spend short periods of time on my own during the day when other people are around, but in other rooms. Sometimes I make a fuss at first but I usually settle down quickly because I know they'll come back. They don't like to leave me for long at the moment in case they miss the signs that I need the toilet.
My toilet training has been going well so I've been allowed to spend more time in the rooms with carpet. I have had a few accidents when I've been excited & too far away from the back door to get there in time to signal that I need to go outside for a wee, but Molly knows things will get better as I get older. She was very impressed the other day when I was in a different room of the house so signalled that I needed the toilet by sitting in front of the front door (which I'd only ever been carried out through to be carried round the block or put in the car - I'd never been to the toilet out there) rather than the back door. She missed my signal of sitting at the French windows though because sometimes I just look out of the window there (during the day) or bark at my reflection (at night). The latter happens because the curtains have to be left open & tucked out the way, otherwise I chew them!
I always try to chew my lead (because I'm playful, not because I don't like it) when Molly attaches it to my collar, so she bought a harness to try attaching it to instead. I still tried to chew my lead in the garden yesterday when it was attached to my harness but not quite as much as I did when it was attached to my collar. This afternoon we went out to a private field to see if things improved when I had lots of sights & sounds to distract me. We'll write about that & share some photos in another post soon. I now tolerate my ID tag on my collar but the light Molly got to help me be seen at night is too big & heavy so I just try to chew it. Molly said we can try it again when I'm bigger.
I'm not very co-operative when it comes to being brushed because I just try to chew the brush. Molly has discovered that the best time to do it is when I'm really sleepy & don't have the energy to attack the brush!
I'm very confident & barely anything scares me. But a couple of days ago Molly's dad pushed the vaccuum cleaner towards me (when it was turned on) & I wasn't expecting that so it shocked me. Molly plans to introduce me to it again gradually so hopefully I won't be scared of it in the future.
I keep trying to play with Molly's mum's current knitting project, balls of yarn & knitted items. Apparently I mustn't do this. A few days ago they had to spend ages re-balling some yarn after I tangled it up, oops! I've also started running off down the garden with people's shoes. Then they chase me which is good fun!
I love playing in the garden, there's so much to see & do out there. It's safe too so Molly can let me play out there alone for short periods. I like watching the chickens, digging in & next to the vegetable beds, eating everything I can find (Molly took a worm away from me this morning, she said I shouldn't eat that!), turning out the contents of flower pots, exploring in the bushes...
Recently I was introduced to something called a 'mirror'. I found it quite confusing because I could see another puppy in it but couldn't get close enough to play with him! Molly took a photo which she shared in a previous post on here.
When we went to the local garden centre at the weekend I was allowed to choose myself a new toy. I picked an unstuffed (I wasn't allowed a stuffed toy because Molly knew I'd destroy it & eat the stuffing) skunk with a squeaker in it that I can hear but people can't! So they don't get annoyed by it. I love chasing & chewing it & so far it's all in one piece. This morning I noticed that two of my balls had disappeared. I think that might have been because I started biting off & swallowing pieces of them last night! Why do they make toys for puppies that we can't eat?!
I really enjoy chasing any of my toys when they're attached to a piece of string & dragged round the house. It doesn't matter which toy is on the end because it's the string I like best. Sometimes Molly's dad or younger brother lies down on the floor & lets me climb all over their face. I find that very exciting!
Sorry again for the lack of pictures, I think we shared all the best ones in that photo update yesterday.
No comments:
Post a Comment