We are still working on making it work. I have to tell you that the love affair with our puppy is not perfect. Oh, he's adorable, eager to learn, and affectionate. He is not our problem, exactly.
How do you know when it's the right time to get the perfect dog? I can tell you now, that everyone in the house needs to be enthusiastic and as well-educated about what will be expected as possible. Everyone.
Dogs take a lot of work. Puppies make more.
Teddy is not quite house-trained. That will take more time and he is getting better at it. He's only thirteen weeks old. We've gone from having multiple accidents each day to usually having only one. Last night, I took him out twice within a half an hour and he turned around not ten minutes later and peed on the carpet. He just looked up at us and peed. No whining, no agitation, no going toward the door with intent. Oh man.
To be honest, that's his only problem. He sits on command for just about everyone. He doesn't nip nearly as much as he used to do. We have to train him not to jump on little kids, but that will come. He whines sometimes, but it's for understandable things, like yesterday, when we let him meet his friend, Beau, but didn't let him play for longer than ten minutes. He didn't understand that it was a chance meeting in the library parking lot and we didn't have time for the long walk we'd had with him the weekend before. Okay, it was annoying to be stuck in the car for fifteen minutes while he whined and we'd left the squirt bottle in the house. I even tried to give him treats while he was silent for a ten or fifteen seconds at a time, but that did little to end our suffering.
So, how do you definitively train a dog not to whine and not to pee in your big house? I've read lots of books, but I'm not sure I'm following the methods consistently. It's time for us to get Teddy signed up for puppy manners class. I called the recommended trainer the other day, but she didn't call back. Bummer. It's just like training a puppy. I'll have to try again. I'll have to be persistent and consistent.
The other thing that I'm working on with Teddy is preventing him from pulling on his leash. My hands hurt the other day when we walked with another of his dog friends, Rex. I'll have to explain to my friend Suzanne that I need to do quick reversals and lots of starts and stops to keep Teddy's attention on me instead of on Rex. My hands hurt after that walk. Teddy is getting stronger and more willful. I swear, I will not be battling this dog on the leash his whole life.
But really, those are not the problems, not the primary problems. The main problem we have is that Mike is still too sick with whatever is causing his insomnia that he doesn't have enough energy for Teddy. Oh, he's not cruel. He never is, but he just doesn't have it in him to be persistent and consistent, even to pay attention near the end of the day when he wears thin. I'll admit that I'd been leaning on Mike to be responsible so I could catch up with my sleep, even to cook that big meal for Thanksgiving. I could have penned Teddy into the kitchen with me, but I didn't. I thought things were okay.
Poor Mike has mentioned a few times now, that getting Teddy was a mistake. I know it. We should have waited if we were going to make it work for Mike. At the beginning, I was completely overwhelmed with Teddy's needs to go out, with his nipping, and with his whining. More than once, I regretted that we brought him home when we did, but lately, I've been feeling as though we can handle it. I thought we were coming out of the woods, getting into the swing of things, catching up on our sleep.
Well, I'm catching up on my sleep. Mike is still sleeping as little as he has been. He's not through wondering if there ever would be a good time to bring home a puppy. He's not sure we should have made this decision. I hope he's not seriously thinking that we need to find another home for Teddy. I want Teddy. I will work harder to make it work. I'll take the weight of caring for Teddy. I'll help Mike catch up on other things that need to get done around here. I'll make sure I don't sign up for anything extra with school and Cub Scouts. I can make this work. I just have to remember that when Mike gets tired, that I wanted this more than he did right now. I wanted this for Nick too.
I need to pull Nick into a quiet room and remind him of his solemn promise to help out if we got him a dog. It wasn't a casual promise we asked of him, so I'm going to hold him to it. I'll try to keep Mike's illness out of it. Poor Nick is worried about that enough as it is. Yet I have to help him shift his thinking, remind him that if he whines enough, it makes the situation harder for all of us when we could use a little less whining around this house.
As I write, Mike is on the couch with Teddy, pulling on one of his toys. I should remember that the situation isn't completely bleak. We can make it through and Teddy is going to be one amazing dog.
Thank you for listening, jb
How do you know when it's the right time to get the perfect dog? I can tell you now, that everyone in the house needs to be enthusiastic and as well-educated about what will be expected as possible. Everyone.
Dogs take a lot of work. Puppies make more.
Teddy is not quite house-trained. That will take more time and he is getting better at it. He's only thirteen weeks old. We've gone from having multiple accidents each day to usually having only one. Last night, I took him out twice within a half an hour and he turned around not ten minutes later and peed on the carpet. He just looked up at us and peed. No whining, no agitation, no going toward the door with intent. Oh man.
To be honest, that's his only problem. He sits on command for just about everyone. He doesn't nip nearly as much as he used to do. We have to train him not to jump on little kids, but that will come. He whines sometimes, but it's for understandable things, like yesterday, when we let him meet his friend, Beau, but didn't let him play for longer than ten minutes. He didn't understand that it was a chance meeting in the library parking lot and we didn't have time for the long walk we'd had with him the weekend before. Okay, it was annoying to be stuck in the car for fifteen minutes while he whined and we'd left the squirt bottle in the house. I even tried to give him treats while he was silent for a ten or fifteen seconds at a time, but that did little to end our suffering.
So, how do you definitively train a dog not to whine and not to pee in your big house? I've read lots of books, but I'm not sure I'm following the methods consistently. It's time for us to get Teddy signed up for puppy manners class. I called the recommended trainer the other day, but she didn't call back. Bummer. It's just like training a puppy. I'll have to try again. I'll have to be persistent and consistent.
The other thing that I'm working on with Teddy is preventing him from pulling on his leash. My hands hurt the other day when we walked with another of his dog friends, Rex. I'll have to explain to my friend Suzanne that I need to do quick reversals and lots of starts and stops to keep Teddy's attention on me instead of on Rex. My hands hurt after that walk. Teddy is getting stronger and more willful. I swear, I will not be battling this dog on the leash his whole life.
But really, those are not the problems, not the primary problems. The main problem we have is that Mike is still too sick with whatever is causing his insomnia that he doesn't have enough energy for Teddy. Oh, he's not cruel. He never is, but he just doesn't have it in him to be persistent and consistent, even to pay attention near the end of the day when he wears thin. I'll admit that I'd been leaning on Mike to be responsible so I could catch up with my sleep, even to cook that big meal for Thanksgiving. I could have penned Teddy into the kitchen with me, but I didn't. I thought things were okay.
Poor Mike has mentioned a few times now, that getting Teddy was a mistake. I know it. We should have waited if we were going to make it work for Mike. At the beginning, I was completely overwhelmed with Teddy's needs to go out, with his nipping, and with his whining. More than once, I regretted that we brought him home when we did, but lately, I've been feeling as though we can handle it. I thought we were coming out of the woods, getting into the swing of things, catching up on our sleep.
Well, I'm catching up on my sleep. Mike is still sleeping as little as he has been. He's not through wondering if there ever would be a good time to bring home a puppy. He's not sure we should have made this decision. I hope he's not seriously thinking that we need to find another home for Teddy. I want Teddy. I will work harder to make it work. I'll take the weight of caring for Teddy. I'll help Mike catch up on other things that need to get done around here. I'll make sure I don't sign up for anything extra with school and Cub Scouts. I can make this work. I just have to remember that when Mike gets tired, that I wanted this more than he did right now. I wanted this for Nick too.
I need to pull Nick into a quiet room and remind him of his solemn promise to help out if we got him a dog. It wasn't a casual promise we asked of him, so I'm going to hold him to it. I'll try to keep Mike's illness out of it. Poor Nick is worried about that enough as it is. Yet I have to help him shift his thinking, remind him that if he whines enough, it makes the situation harder for all of us when we could use a little less whining around this house.
As I write, Mike is on the couch with Teddy, pulling on one of his toys. I should remember that the situation isn't completely bleak. We can make it through and Teddy is going to be one amazing dog.
Thank you for listening, jb
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