Cleared for Carpet

Emme is still struggling with house breaking. Or rather I should say I am struggling with Emme's house breaking. Emme never messes in her crate even when she is in it many hours overnight. I thinks she has figured out the going outside to do her business routine, but she isn't always consistent. She sometimes will go a week without having an accident. Other times she will make a puddle on the rug more than once in a day. When we have taken her outside and told her to "hurry up" and she is successful, we say she is "Cleared for carpet." We know that we have an hour or two where we don't have to be worried that she will have an accident.

Often when she is outside for business, she is distractible. A squirrel runs through the yard; a jogger comes down the street; a car drives by and she is so fascinated with it that she forgets what she is outside to do. As the old saying goes: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it doodle." Or something like that.

She seems to have the most trouble in bad weather. She will sometimes go outside, sniff around, get distracted by the rain and will not do anything. Ten minutes after we come back into the house, she will make a puddle on the nice dry carpet.

I am a patient woman, and I am sure we are going to master this, but I want it to be right now.

Emme Meets Santa

Emme had her first visit with Santa who stopped at our house last night. Chris took the family out for the annual post-Christmas dinner at the Barn Restaurant and then we returned to our house for dessert. Shortly after we got home, Santa appeared in the family room. He apologized for missing dinner, but brought gifts with him. Emme took one look at the red suit, long white beard, and black boots and quickly decided that she had never seen anything like that before and it probably was something she wouldn't like. She shied away from Santa and barked periodically. Rudy had no such reservations. He brought a toy to share with Santa and followed him around to sniff all the gifts. Emme spent most of the visit safely on someone's lap and she barked whenever Santa got too close. She seemed relieved when he left. It was a shame that Mason missed Santa's visit, but I am sure that Cathy will tell him all about it.

It's All About Me

Emme and Rudy had a great Christmas. They both got presents: stuffed toys, quilts, and even a gift card from Petco. For Emme, the best present was PEOPLE. She had people to hold her, play with her, give her treats, take her outside, talk to her, take her picture, and entertain her. It doesn't get much better than that for a puppy. She loved the attention and I am sure that she thought that everyone was coming to the house only to see her. She loves to be the center of attention and Christmas allowed her that to the max. She was relatively well behaved and only ate the occasional tissue or piece of wax paper.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Emme, Rudy, Ken and Mary Lou.

Rudy's Birthday

Today is Rudy's fifth birthday. We bought him a ball and a tiny fleece squeaky bone for Emme. I figured that Rudy would love the bone too, so I bought another one just like it for him. When I brought the bag with the toys into the house on Wednesday, Rudy immediately knew that it came from the pet store. The items there must have some kind of distinctive smell that he recognizes. I put the bag on the counter in the laundry room and Rudy returned to that spot a hundred times before this morning to smell the bag.

This morning after breakfast, we gave Rudy the presents. He was lukewarm about the ball, but loved the fleecy bone. We gave the other bone to Emme, but invariably, she wanted the one that Rudy had in his mouth. At one time, Rudy was able to fit both fleece bones in his mouth at the same time and Emme was out of luck. I tried to find a tiny toy that Emme could squeak, but she hasn't figured out how to squeak the bone. It fits in her mouth, but she hasn't figured out how to make it squeak yet.

Chewies in Heaven

Emme spends a lot of time with me in my sewing room while I am sewing or using the computer. She has a number of bones and chewies that are too soft for Rudy so she is only given them in the sewing room. We know from experience that Rudy will bite these items into large pieces and bolt them down. We have given him sweet potato chews, Greenies, cornstarch dental bones and other similar items and they last only minutes and go down in big pieces. That cannot be good for his digestive system, so we refrain from giving him those kinds of chewies. Emme, however, will chew on something for hours and so we have decided to only give these to her when Rudy is in another room. So the sewing room has become puppy heaven where there are wonderful things to chew. When I say, "Let's go upstairs" she dashes ahead of me to the sewing room and stands expectantly at the table where I always put away the bones or chewies that are specifically for upstairs. I shut the door to both keep her in with me and to keep Rudy out. We aren't fooling Rudy, however, because when she comes downstairs, Rudy sniffs Emme's mouth to see what she has been chewing on. I don't know how to tell a Labrador retriever not to bolt his food so this has become the best solution. Rudy still gets marrow bones to chew but very few other chewies. Femur bones, balls, and lovies are his entertainment. Emme goes to the sewing room and chews on everything, including some items that are not on the approved list. She is getting better at "leave it" so it all working out.

Let's Play Ball

Ken is teaching Emme to play with a ball. After he and Rudy are done playing fetch out in the yard, Ken takes Emme out. He rolls a ball and Emme chases it. She has no idea that she is supposed to pick it up, much less return it. It is a game of "half fetch." Part of the problem is that all the balls we have are the size of tennis balls or larger: thank Rudy for that. So I purchased two little balls that look like tennis balls but are about the size of ping pong balls. She can get them in her mouth and carry then, so maybe a real game of fetch is in her future.

There's Always Room for Jello

Talk about routine. When I feed Emme, I tell Rudy to "down/stay" while she is eating. That is hard for him because food is one of his favorite things. Emme still is a slow eater and continues to often carry one kibble at a time to the rug to eat it. She usually chooses to carry it right next to Rudy to eat it and Rudy just stays where he is and lets her eat. When Emme is done, I give Rudy a "Good Boy" treat for staying out of the way. Emme, no matter how much she has eaten, also gets a "Good Girl" treat. Even if she is full of kibble and cannot eat another single kibble, she has room for the puppy biscuit. We say that is because "There is always room for jello." Yesterday when Emme ate lunch, Rudy was downstairs with Ken, but at the end of the meal she began to whine and went straight for the counter where we store the treats. I guess even when Rudy is not getting a treat for down/stay, Emme needs "jello" to finish her meal. I often wonder what runs through her little puppy mind. She definitely has a notion of how things are supposed to be.

Emme Visits the Groomer

Yesterday Emme went to the groomer for the second time. I was more specific about how I wanted her cut and I am much more pleased with the results. I told the groomer that I wanted about 1/2 inch of hair left on her body. The groomer said that she wouldn't cut much off the coat, but would trim her face, feet and bottom. When I picked her up, Emme still looked like Emme, but neater. She looks much better and will be ready for company at Christmas.

Emme discovered her reflection in the living room window this morning. She was sitting quietly in the dining room on Ken's lap before breakfast and she suddenly looked over to the living room window and started doing what we call the "rolling growl": rrr-rrr-rrr. This is one of her guard dog sounds. She spotted her reflection in the dark window and was sure that there was a little white dog ready to get into her house. She jumped down from Ken's lap and up on the sofa. She put her feet up on the back of the sofa and continued to growl and protect us from the little white dog she saw. She kept this up until she discovered the crack where the back of the sofa meets the seat cushions. Then she had to investigate that and forgot, temporarily, about the white dog. Later she returned to growling at her reflection until it became light and the reflection was no longer there. Then she discovered that she could climb up on the top of the back of the couch, balance there, and look easily out the window. No little white dogs so she got bored and left.

Cookie Day

Cookie Day has come and gone. Eric and Katherine were unable to come for the event so Grandma, Grandpa, Ken, Rudy, Emme and I went to the lake to make Christmas cookies. We made sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, amaretto oatmeal cookies, and peanut butter blossoms. We worked hard and made many cookies for Christmas, to give away, and for the after Christmas dinner at the Barn. The cookies are fine, but the best part of the day was watching Emme interact with the Grandparents. Chet who often has difficulty remembering the most basic information never forgets Emme's name and he laughs out loud when Emme jumps on his lap and licks his nose. Grandma who has trouble with strength and balance, picks up all eight pounds of Emme and puts her on her lap and bends over to rub her head. Grandpa and Grandma just come alive around that puppy and Emme loves them back.

Emme has an appointment with the groomer this afternoon. She really needs it and we hope she will look better for Christmas. We can barely see her eyes right now. Time for a spiff-up.

Guard Dog

Emme has decided that one of her roles in the household is guard dog. This week when the mail man came to pick up some Christmas presents, Emme caught sight of him driving into the driveway and she went ballistic. She jumped to the couch and put her feet up on the back of the couch and barked continually. We have been working on "Quiet" when we go out in the car. Often Ken will drive, Rudy will be in the back, and I will hold Emme. If Ken runs out of the car to go to Lowe's or to get us coffee, I will wait in the car with the dogs. Emme loves to bark at anything moving in the parking lot. We have been practicing "quiet" when someone is near. She is getting pretty good at it in the car, but she didn't think that the same command meant anything in her home. When the mailman came to the door, I could have been talking Mandarin for all the good it did for Emme. There is always something more to learn.

Half Bichon, Half Mountain Goat

Emme is beginning to jump up on things. Yesterday she was upstairs with me in my sewing room and I went into the green bedroom to organize some Christmas presents. Suddenly she jumped up on the bed, something she has never done before. I told her that beds were not for puppies and I put her back on the floor. She must not have believed me because she jumped up twice again before we left the room. At lunch, I was telling Ken about Emme's visit to the bed and quick as a wink, she jumped on top of her crate. She was as surprised as we were and fussed to get down. We decided to teach her a lesson and not help her down. After whining a little, she settled down and laid down on the top of her crate while we finished eating. This was good because the top of the crate is very close to the top of the counter in the kitchen. Emme on the counter could be a disaster. At the end of lunch, she decided that the crate was not that high and she jumped down. A few minutes later she jumped up and down again. I have read that Bichons are the cats of the dog world when it comes to high places. The highest she has been up to this time has been the sofa. Now she is raising the bar. This may be interesting.

Let's Chat

In the evening, we go upstairs to change clothes and to play "closet ball." Rudy brings a ball or other toy and we play fetch as we are changing. I go into the closet and Ken is in the bedroom and we throw the ball back and forth. Rudy and Emme compete to see who can get the toy first. After we have changed into our pajamas, I go into the bathroom to wash my face and Ken starts downstairs with the dogs. He has started sitting at the top of the steps with Emme to wait for me. While he is waiting, he chats with Emme and rubs her. Now she has decided that is the way one always goes downstairs. She drops down on the top of the steps to "chat" before going down the stairs. She loves to have you put your face right near hers and she sticks out her little tounge and licks at the air that comes out of your mouth as you talk to her. Wierd, but all part of the usual routine. I also discovered that if I chat and then realize that I have forgotten something and go back to the bedroom to get that item, I have to chat again before we go down the stairs. I hope we never have to go down the stairs fast in an emergency. We would be in big trouble.

Dog Toys-R-Us

It is hard to predict which toys will catch and hold the interest of the dogs. Rudy's all time favorites are always balls and his red football that he plays with outside is the best. He also likes "lovies" that he cuddles and has particularly taken to the octopus that he got for his anniversary. He favorite toys are small, fluffy, and noisy: he love the squeakers. One of his current favorites is a tiny pink dog that, of course, I picked out for Emme. She usually wants nothing to do with it and Rudy loves it.

Emme still likes the gorilla and usually plays with a tiny brown bear or the hedgehog. She has chewed both the eyes out of the hedgehog and it lost its squeaker long ago but she loves to race around the house to pounce on it, shake it and throw it up in the air. She likes the Air Kongs but only to chew the fuzz off of them. She gets her little puppy teeth hooked in the fuzz and pulls until there are stringy things handing off the toy. Then we need to take them away for a hair cut.

The only toy that has been absolute bust is a black rubber tire toy I bought for Rudy. It is about the size of a dinner plate and is fun to roll on the floor. I enjoy it, but Rudy has never played with it. I keep it in the garage with the less loved toys and recently I brought it out of the garage to let Emme play with it and her reaction was the same as Rudy's. The tire is a no go.

Both dogs love bones. In the Daniel Pinkwater book, he recommends no bones except cow femur bones. I go to the meat department at Buehlers and have them cut off the ends of the bones and cut the middles into 4 to 6 inch sections. Then according to Pinkwater's instructions, I boil them for 20 minutes. Then I wrap and freeze them and give them out every month or so. Rudy loves them when they are fresh and have marrow in the middle but both dogs continue to chew the bones after they are months or years old. Rudy has some bones from when he first came to live with us. I only throw them out if they are getting too small or if they crack in half, which seldom happens. Emme has never had a new bone so that treat is still yet to come. She likes the old dried out ones so I am sure that she will like a marrow-filled one. Maybe for Christmas.

Where's the Tooth Fairy?

Yesterday Emme lost another tooth. She was worrying her mouth all day, chewing air, and not eating well. I took her up to my sewing room in the afternoon and gave her a sweet potato chew to try to dislodge the loose tooth or help a new tooth break through the gum. I quilted and she chewed for 55 minutes with no change in her teeth. Later in the afternoon, as she was eating dinner, she lost a tooth and was playing with it on the floor. I picked it up from the kitchen floor and put it up on my desk. If the puppy tooth fairy doesn't make a visit, I am going to have this little lost tooth collection on my desk.

Emme has gotten "sit" quite well. She will sit nicely almost everytime she is asked. I have also begun having her sit before I give her the bowl of food. We have done this with Rudy and recently Ken has started telling Rudy to "Leave it" after Ken puts his food bowl on the floor. Rudy is a real champ. He just waits there until Ken tells him "Okay." Rudy does drool all over the floor all the time he is waiting, though.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Our morning routine has changed over the last few weeks. Ken and Rudy still get up first, usually about 6 AM, and Emme and I follow about a half hour later. After I have taken Emme outside, I go upstairs to use the bathroom. While I am gone, Emme still sits on the kitchen floor and gets her massage from "Hans" but she often cuts it short to run up the stairs to visit me as I am brushing my teeth. After she has had a chance to wake up and play for a short while, I give her breakfast. After she goes outside again, we are letting her stay up as we have breakfast. Until just a few weeks ago, we put her back in her crate until we were finished with breakfast. She is learning quickly the morning expectations: Ken and I drink a whole pot of coffee, read two newspapers, and do Suduko and Crossword puzzles. Retirement is wonderful. The entire time, Emme and Rudy lay quietly on the floor and usually sleep. After we have eaten breakfast, Emme has started asking to come up on Ken's lap for a cuddle. She sits by his chair and whines and then he picks her up and wraps her in his bathrobe or sweatshirt jacket. She falls back to sleep for 20 minutes or a half hour as we chat and plan the day.

She also comes upstairs with me while I shower and dress. I shut the bedroom door so I can keep an eye on her. When I get into the shower, she sits by the side of the tub and whines. I am not sure what that is about: Does she not like the sound of the shower water? Does she wonder where I am? Does she want to get in with me? Who knows. After I step out of the shower, she has decided that is her job to help me dry off. I use a towel for the top part of me and she licks me like mad from my toes to my knees. When I am done, I am clean on top and covered with puppy spit from the knees down. Before I had a puppy, I used to be such a fastidious person.

School's Out

Yesterday was an eventful day for Emme. Last night was her last night in puppy school. We worked on “Come.” Emme is a champion at coming to anyone with a piece of chicken hot dog in her hand. In real life she is not so reliable. At the last class, each puppy was given a soft latex squeaky toy as a graduation present. Emme was underwhelmed. She looked at it and left it alone. I thought that she might be more interested in it when we got home and there were no distractions. No, thanks; not interested in that toy. This morning we let Rudy play with the toy and he and the toy are inseparable. He is lying on the floor next to my computer squeaking that toy as I write this. He loves it. Emme has been more interested in it as Rudy plays with it, but Rudy is not letting it out of his mouth.

Yesterday Emme lost a puppy tooth. All day long she has been playing with her mouth, holding her head up high and chewing nothing as far as we could tell. I wondered if it was sore gums from getting a new tooth. In the afternoon, I was rubbing her gums to try to give her some relief and felt a wiggly tooth in the back of her mouth. She didn’t eat much at any of the meals, so she knew that something was not right in her mouth. At puppy class, she was chewing a piece of chicken hot dog and her tooth fell out on the floor. I picked it up and took it home with me. It is still on the desk in the kitchen. I guess there is no such thing as a puppy tooth fairy. Emme is much more comfortable today and did a much better job eating her breakfast this morning.

Yesterday I got out the glue and repaired the goose girl ornament that Emme “modified.” It is back hanging on the tree.

Over the River and Through the Woods

One evening every week, we go to Barberton to take Grandma and Grandpa out to dinner and to bring them groceries. We put Rudy in his crate in Wooster when we leave, about 4:45, and he is fine until we get home about 8:30. When we first got Emme, we knew that she wouldn't be able to stay in her crate that long without a break so we began taking her with us. So we started a new routine. We put Rudy in his crate, load Emme's crate and the groceries into Ken's car and Ken, Emme and I drive to Barberton. She looks out the window as we are driving around town, but as we hit Route 585, she snuggles up in my lap and sleeps the rest of the trip. Grandma and Grandpa really look forward to Emme's visit. When we come into their house, usually Grandpa meets us at the door. Then Emme has to lick his face to say hello. He calls her "Tidbit" and talks to her for a while as we unload groceries. By then, Grandma comes into the living room with her walker. Emme dashes up to her to get scratched and talked to. After the groceries are put away, we put Emme in her crate and the four of us go out to eat. Emme puts up no fuss being put in her crate in a strange house. She is quiet when we leave and is quiet when we get home. We always go to the same Italian restaurant, Angie's, and we always order the same things: three spaghettis with mushrooms for Ken, Grandma and me and one small pizza for Grandpa. We always have the same waitresses, either Gena or Bonnie. I guess Bichons are not the only ones that thrive on routine. Chet and Leota both love to see Emme each Wednesday night and Emme is delighted to see them. Riding to Barberton and back home again with a warm puppy sleeping in my lap is one of the highlights of my week.

Singing Christmas Carols

Last night during dinner, we were listening to a Canton radio station, WHBC, which was playing only Christmas music all month. When a station plays Christmas music exclusively, they play everything they have, which leads to some strange play lists. As we were eating, they played "Jingle Bells" by the Barking Dogs. You know the one: "Woof, woof, woof; woof, woof, woof; etc." Emme couldn't resist barking along and we didn't even know that she knew that song. It was too funny.

Emme has also devised a new technique to chew Christmas tree branches. She carries a toy right next to Christmas tree and lays down. She then leans over and chews on the end of a branch. She thinks she is fooling us, but we are pretty sharp. Or maybe by New Year's we may have a Christmas with bare bottom branches.

Emme, the "Leg Dog"

I read that Bichon Frise means “curly haired lap dog.” Emme has not read that. She doesn’t know that she is supposed to be a lap dog. She thinks she is a "leg dog." Her favorite position in the evenings is on our legs when we are in the Lazy Boy chairs. If we put our feet up and cover up with a quilt, it won’t be long before we have a fluffy white "leg dog" as a visitor. Emme will fall asleep there and stay until our legs fall asleep. Cute, but not lap. If she is really sleepy, I can pick her up and relocate her on my lap and she will stay there, but her first location of choice is legs. Go figure.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Yesterday we decorated the Christmas tree in the family room. Although I had all the other decorations up since right after Thanksgiving, I didn't decorate the tree until yesterday. Emme "helped." I probably said "Leave it" 50 times while I put up the first 20 ornaments. Then I realized that Emme wasn't playing with the ornaments, but the ends of the branches of the tree. She settled down and I continued to decorate. Then I noticed that she had left the room and was VERY quiet. A quiet puppy means trouble and I never like her out of my line of sight so I went in search of her. She was laying on her quilt in the living room chewing on a little plastic goose. Where did she get that? I took it away and checked the tree. There near the bottom was a little plastic ornament that used to look like the Hummel Goose Girl. Now it just looks like the girl. I need to buy some plastic glue and make a repair.

This morning Emme came down the stairs by herself after we woke up this morning. Up to this point, I have carried her down the stairs and out so she doesn't make a stop on the way to "hurry up" somewhere she shouldn't. She gets so excited to see Ken in the morning that as I start down the stairs, she begins to wiggle and whine. She is such a handful that I decided that it was time for her to do the stairs by herself before she propelled herself out of my arms halfway down the stairs. So this morning, after I got her out of her crate, she dashed down the stairs by herself, found Ken and then went quickly outside with me. Another milestone toward maturity.

Sleeping in the "Big Bed"

When we packed to go to the lake this weekend we forgot to put Emme’s crate in the car. She has slept in that crate every night since we got her so she is very used to the routine. She is absolutely housebroken in her crate, but I don’t know if the same would be true if she was just loose on the rug in our bedroom. So Ken brought in Rudy’s crate which was stored in the garage. Rudy has been sleeping loose in our room since the beginning of September and hasn’t used his crate at night at all. We put Emme’s “go blanket” in the crate and Emme thought that it was fun to run in and out of the crate all afternoon. We were not sure what she would do when we shut the door and she had to stay inside. We also didn’t know what Rudy would think of someone else spending the night in his crate. Not to worry. When it was time for bed, I put Emme in the crate; Rudy settled down on the rug and everyone went right to sleep. It was like a kid moving from the crib to the “big bed” but it was only for one night. Last night we were back in Wooster and she was back in her regular sleeping crate. It is nice to know that if we forget her crate again, we can just use Rudy’s.

Happy Anniversary

Today is Rudy’s second anniversary living with us. We are so blessed to have him and we planned a party to celebrate the occasion. Ken went to the pet store to buy toys and I got a bag of sweet potato chews. Rudy knew the pet shop bag as soon as it came into the house and wanted it right away. He had to wait until this morning at the lake house. He kept an eye on the bag all day yesterday on the cabinet in the garage and couldn’t wait to get to the toys this morning. Ken bought two toys so we would have peace in the house: a soft fuzzy octopus and an Air Kong shaped like a barbell. Rudy love both of them. Emme seems partial to the Air Kong. We had a party with tea and pumpkin bread for us and sweet potato chews for the dogs. Emme loved her chewie and chewed for a LONG time without making a lot of progress. Rudy loved his and is such a strong chewer that he shattered the chew into many little pieces and gulped them all down. I took Emme’s away from her after about a half hour and put it into the refrigerator. When we got back to Wooster this afternoon, I gave it to her in my sewing room. She chewed another half hour and finally ate the whole thing. I think they are better chews for Emme than for Rudy so I may put the bag in the closet in my sewing room. Emme is starting to come upstairs with me and staying in my sewing room with the door closed while I sew or work on the computer. This will keep the chewies away from Rudy and let her have one once in a while.

The "Go Blanket"

Emme has a “go blanket” that we use when she travels in the car. It is red fleece and even has an embroidery design on the corner. Donnie and Tonya’s baby was born about the time we were to pick up Emme and I wanted to send an embroidered blanket to him when he was born. I sewed out the baby design on the red fleece blanket as a test and then to use for Emme. The design is a little brown bear holding a ribbon that says “Just Arrived.” I don’t know why she needs a blanket to cuddle up in and stay warm for the car. When we go outside to hurry up, I put her down on the cold, wet ground and she gets along just fine. But she has the red blanket and we take it with her when we go for a ride. She loves the red blanket. We store it folded over her crate and periodically she pulls it down and wrestles with it. It must smell like us, coffee to go, Angies, Grandma (who wraps up in it when we return from Angies if it is cold). Anyway it is a favorite object.

Emme went back to puppy school last night. We worked on the beginning of walking on a loose leash. We were to walk two steps with the puppy on our left side and then stand still. When the puppy looked up at our face, we were to give a treat. Emme was great at it; however, she never looked away from my face because I had smelly chicken hot dogs in my hand. We also practiced never letting the puppy pull on the leash. If she pulled, we were to remain stationary and not move until the puppy let the leash go slack. Then she got a treat.

Emme was doing quite well in class: practicing the activity, sitting or laying on the floor then the trainer brought in a big brown dog to demonstrate not allowing the dog to pull on the leash. Emme went ballistic. She barked and was so excited. I think she thought it was a “Rudy dog” who would play with her. All the other dogs just sat there, but not Emme. She certainly got the bark award for the night. We had to keep saying Emme, “no, leave it” to quiet her down. Oh well, she can’t be the star all the time.

Don't Buy a Puppy in a Rainy Season

I have decided that not only should you not buy a new (un-housebroken puppy) when the weather is cold and snowy, you shouldn't get a new puppy in a rainy season. I have gone inside and outside of the house more often since we got Emme than in the 16 years we have lived in this house. We go in and out from the porch to go "hurry up" and I have discovered that with any amount of rain, we have a puddle at the bottom of the stairs. After frequent mopping of the porch floor and carrying Emme over the puddle at the bottom of the steps hundreds of time as we go in and out, I asked Ken if he had a solution. He went to Lowe's and bought some materials to solve the problem. He got coarse rocks for a bottom layer, fine sand for the middle layer and three 12 inch concrete blocks for the top. During this mild weather, we went outside and dug out the compacted and muddy soil at the bottom of the steps. Then we put in the new materials and so far we have a secure landing with no mud. Success. Less mud, cleaner dog, happier owner.

This Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You

I think one of the most difficult parts of training a puppy is resisting the over exuberant greetings when you return to the house. I have read that if you don’t want a dog jumping all over you and visitors, they must learn to greet people in a quiet manner. They recommend that when you return to the house and the puppy is jumping and barking, you absolutely ignore her. Don’t respond in any way: don’t say “quiet,” don’t push her down, don’t even make eye contact. After the puppy is done and is quiet, sometimes as many as five to ten minutes, you call the puppy to you to say hello. This is SO difficult. No one else is ever as glad to see me when I return to the house. Ken never jumps up and drools when I return home. So it is hard to resist responding to such a welcoming puppy. However, we are trying and Emme is getting better. Yesterday I was gone all day to a UFO (Unfinished Objects) day with my quilt guild. Emme was enthusiastic when I returned and jumped up a little but did no barking. After she was quiet, I called her to me and picked her up and said hello. This is harder on me than on the puppy.

Sweet Potatoes

Emme got a bath yesterday morning and she really needed on. She looks better, feels better, and smells better. We had to wait 10 to 14 days after her surgery to bathe her and yesterday was it. We are using an oatmeal shampoo instead of the puppy shampoo. The oatmeal shampoo is supposed to be especially soothing and she scratches a lot. Hopefully the oatmeal shampoo will make a difference.

This morning, for the first time, Emme came upstairs with me when I took my shower. Usually I just put her in her crate but today I tried leaving her loose. I brought her sweet potato chew upstairs with her and she had a ball. Last week at the puppy class, the trainer gave each of us a piece of sliced dried sweet potato which he recommends instead of rawhide. He said that dogs often swallow a large piece of rawhide and it does not digest quickly enough and they need surgery to remove the rawhide. He has found a chew treat made entirely of dehydrated sliced sweet potatoes. He passed one out to each puppy in class and they met with a mixed reaction. Jim said that about 20 percent of dogs will have nothing to do with the sweet potato chews and the others like them. That is what happened in class. One puppy sniffed it and immediately turned away. Others were mildly interested and others like Emme thought they were heaven. She chewed her potato slice a little in class and then I put it into the refrigerator. I didn’t want to give it back to Emme because I had nothing special to give to Rudy while she chewed her potato.

This morning Ken went to Canton to the dentist and took Rudy along for the ride. Since Emme and I were alone in the house, I got out the sweet potato chew. She was delighted. She chewed, pounced, pushed, growled, and generally had a grand time. When it was time to leave for People to People this morning, I took the chew away from Emme, it still is a large piece of potato, and it is back in the refrigerator. I think I am going to buy a bag of the chews Thursday night at puppy class. We’ll see what Rudy thinks of them.

Me & My Shadow

Emme and Rudy continue to get along better and better. Rudy is not jumpy when Emme is near and she is often near him. She will go up to him and sniff all over his body. I mean ALL over his body. He tolerates this well. When he is retrieving a toy, Emme grabs onto a part of it and trots back with Rudy and the toy as he is fetching. She likes to lay down near him but has never curled up right next to him. This morning for the first time, she laid down right next to him to rest while we were having breakfast. Rudy was laying on his side and Emme laid down right next to his back on her side. He was facing one way and she another. She came down just past his shoulder blade. It really was cute. As we were cleaning up from breakfast, they both were resting in the dining room as we worked. She is copying Rudy’s “waiting behavior” more and more.

Nitey-Nite

This picture was taken on July 1 when Emme was born.

When we are ready to put Emme in her crate, we say “Time to go nighty-nite.” About 80 percent of the time she dashes for her crate (and the puppy biscuit that she gets when she goes inside). The other twenty per cent of the time, she thinks it is an invitation to play keep away. She dashes all over the house and is much faster than either of us. Ken has discovered that when she starts running, if he says “Sit” she sits right down. Then we swoop her up and carry her to the crate. It seems to work every time. Soon she may realize what we are doing and won’t respond, but for now it works.

She also is beginning to sit high up on her back legs with her back straight up in the air. She did it the first time when I was opening a package of Pepperidge Farms cookies. She has never tasted people food, but she heard or smelled something she liked with that bag. We decided we needed a command for the posture other than “Sit” so we wouldn’t mix up the commands. So now we say “Beg” to get her to sit straight up. She gets that well. She still doesn’t get any Pepperidge Farms cookies.

Emme and Rudy are starting to eat their evening meal at the same time. Rudy has learned that he needs to do a “Down stay” when Emme is eating her lunch so we tried yesterday to feed them their evening meal at the same time. It worked well. Of course Rudy was done way before Emme but he just did a Down stay and watched her finish her meal. She didn’t bother with his food so I think we will continue to do this. Prior to this time, one of us would take the puppy in another room while Rudy ate and then we would switch: Rudy in the living room and Emme in the kitchen while she ate her dinner. This makes things less complicated.

Second Floor Discovery

Emme is in love with the second floor. Every chance she gets she dashes up the stairs to sniff around. I decided earlier this afternoon to let her come to my sewing room with me while I read my email. Mistake. She sniffed around on the floor and than dashed out into the hall carrying something in her mouth. I followed her to the first floor and retrieved a little felt disk that goes on my sewing machine under a spool of thread. It must have fallen on the rug when I removed some thread and she found that in a nanosecond. So Emme is resting in her crate in the kitchen while I read my email. She doesn’t miss anything and my sewing room is just too full of temptations.

House breaking is going more slowly than I would like. Emme is 100 per cent perfect in her crate but she continues to have occasional accidents in the house. Sometimes she will go a week between mistakes and other times, we will find a little pile of doodles or a wet spot on the rug on a daily basis. I am not sure what the deal is. I have read that Bichons are notoriously difficult to housebreak but I was sure that I would have no problem. I have housebroken puppies successfully in the past and I am pretty good about getting Emme outside on a regular basis. When she has accidents in the house, sometimes I think she chooses to go on the rug. I am sure that she knows that she should not be doing it because she runs and hides and does it somewhere where we can’t see her. Last night she was out of her crate while we ate dinner. She must have found a minute or two when I was not watching her because when we cleaned up after dinner, I walked out into the laundry room with a bag of garbage and on the floor in front of the dryer were doodles. She had been outside right before we ate but she must have things saved up. She is so good most of the time, I am sure she is getting the idea. But she still is not reliable. I read that a dog is not housebroken until there have been no accidents for 12 weeks. I may be a really old lady before that happens.

Back Steps!

Emme has learned how to go down the back steps off the porch to go out to the yard. Why it took her this long to figure them out is a mystery. She has been going down the steps from the second floor to the first floor for a week or so but has been reluctant to go down the two steps from the porch to the back lawn. Well, she can do it now, another step toward maturity.

We continue to play “leave it” but we have an addition to the game. When I sit on the floor with Emme, Rudy comes right along and lays down next to me. Whenever I give Emme a treat and say “Take it,” Rudy gets a treat too. We have been working with leftover puppy kibble at home so I know that the game is not interfering with Emme’s meals. She seems to get it, but let’s see when we go back to smelly chicken hot dogs if she still will leave it alone. It may be easier to resist kibble than hot dogs.

Her incision continues to heal and we are no longer using the pain medication. The end of the incision near the middle of her belly, it think it is where they removed the umbilical hernia, is the reddest; the rest looks pretty quiet and is beginning to look more like a scar than in incision.

Her coat is looking better too with a few weeks of growth. She looked so naked and skinny when she came back from the groomer and now the hair is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and she looks fluffier. Much better.

"Leave It"

Last night at puppy class, the lesson was “leave it.” That is a lesson that has worked well for Rudy. He is pretty good about leaving anything dropped on the floor if he is told “Leave it.” Not perfect, but pretty good. Last night we cooked up another chicken hot dog and went off to class. The number of dogs was down by one. There was a shepherd in class last week that was very aggressive and pretty out of control. The trainer decided to do some private lessons with that dog so we were down to five dogs in the class.

Emme did pretty well with “leave it” but we have lots more practice time until she gets it completely. We started with a piece of treat in our closed fingers. We presented it to the puppy and said “Leave it.” We continued to repeat “Leave it” as long as the puppy continued to nibble for the treat. As soon as she looked away, we said “Yes” and gave her a treat from the other hand. As soon as the puppy learned that from one hand, we switched hands. When she got that figured out, we went to the floor. We put a treat on the floor, said “Leave it” and blocked the treat from the puppy with our fingers. As soon as she gave up trying to get the treat, we said “Yes, take it” and gave her another treat. Emme is persistent and didn’t lose interest in the “leave it” treat quickly but eventually she did look away and got rewarded.

It takes many repetitions to have it really sink in, but eventually she should be able to leave a treat put on the floor in front of her without a second thought. This could be a life saver if medicine or something dangerous dropped on the floor. It is an important lesson and she doesn’t know she is learning anything. She thinks she is playing the “leave it” game and she gets lots of pieces of chicken hot dog for doing it right.

Back to Normal

This is a picture of Emme's father, Brutus, when he won a championship.

Everyday Emme seems perkier and more herself. She is eating well and sleeping through the night with no problem. The vet sent her home with pain medicine. We gave it to her the first night, but she hasn’t seemed to need it since. Watching her activity level is a challenge. She gets more active each day. She is jumping up on the couch and down again. The first time she did it, we tried to grab for her, but she was too fast and suffered no ill effects. She jumps up and down several times a day. She also is running around playing with toys. When she gets a little too active, we try to distract her, but I think that she is feeling well and isn’t being hurt by the activity.

We all went for a ride in the car today to North Canton to my dentist. I had the last appointment for my replacement bridge this morning. Both the dogs were fine in the car: both slept most of the time we were traveling. They are both good car travelers and a pleasure to take with us. When we went into Borders for a celebratory cup of coffee, Emme stayed in her crate in the back of Ken’s car and Rudy stayed on the back seat. They both seem comfortable being left in the car. Of course we only do it when the temperature is appropriate: we don’t want to cook them in the sun. This works well for us in the fall and winter.

She is sitting on my lap as I write this. She licks the keyboard and pushes the space bar. I think this is enough of an entry for today.

Recovery

We picked up Emme at 10 this morning. She was so excited to see us. The vet assistant walked her out into the lobby and when Emme saw me she started wiggling and peeing. She has never done that before, but I don't think she has ever been so glad to see us. She had a "normal spay" and during the surgery, they discovered an umbilical hernia which they went ahead and repaired. She has dissolvable stitches so she does not have to return to the vet's. She has some pain medication she will take for the next five days and she is not to be bathed for 10-14 days. We are also to watch her activity level for the next 10-14 days.

As soon as she came home she went outside and peed twice. Then she wanted to be held and cuddled. She has been on the couch with me and a quilt or on Ken's chair with Ken and a quilt. I tried to give her some lunch, but she was not interested. I think she ate breakfast late so we are just going to wait until dinner to give her more food.

She has sad eyes. She jumps up occasionally and tires to lick the incision so I know that she is not feeling all that well. When I am not feeling well, I want to be in my own home wrapped up in a quilt. I think that Emme needs the same thing. I had a dentist's appointment for this afternoon that I cancelled so I can just be home with Emme. I think we both need that.

Rudy went to the vet's yesterday to have his bandage changed. The vet said that the foot is healing well, but the surgery spot was moist from seepage and licking. Now he has a new, dry bandage and he seems to be much more comfortable. Rudy returns to the vet's on Monday to have his sutures removed.

Spaying

I took Emme to the vet's this morning to be spayed. Doesn't she seem to be little for this? Our vet said that this was the time and I am following his recommendation. It was so hard taking her in this morning and leaving her at the vet's. She started trembling as we entered the office and while I was filling out forms, she was shaking so hard the hair on her head was bouncing. The surgery is scheduled for this morning and I can call in after 2 o'clock to see how she is doing. I pick her up tomorrow morning after 10 AM and that can't come soon enough. She has wormed her way into my heart and I will miss her tremendously.

Rudy goes back to the vet today to have his bandage changed. He licks the bandage a lot and I have started putting a sock over the bandage to try to get him to stop. It is moderately successful. He is on antibiotics and pain medication and seems to be doing well.

Puppy School

Last night was Emme’s first day of puppy school and she did better than we predicted. We were sure that she would bark and carry on through out the class. She was surprisingly quiet and did things well. We bought some chicken hot dogs, sliced them up, microwaved them for two minutes, and patted them with paper towels. They smelled remarkably like dirty feet and Emme loved them. I cut them up into quarters and took them to class in a plastic bag. We worked on name recognition. We would say “Emme” once and she was supposed to look at us. If she didn’t respond, we were not to repeat her name but pester her: tapping her head, neck, back or blowing in her ear. When she got tired of being pestered and looked at us, we were to say “Yes” and give her a dog treat. Well, every time we said “Emme” she looked directly at our face and got her chicken hot dog. We never got to pester her.

There were six other dogs in the class, all much bigger than Emme. I don’t know their ages, but each one of them was many times larger than Emme. She was interested and attentive in everything they did. She kept her eyes on the trainer because he had treats that he gave to the dogs. She discovered that she liked pepperoni. I wonder if dogs get heartburn.

The class was only one hour long, but Emme was exhausted when we left. She fell asleep in the car in my arms and slept the whole way home. All in all, a good evening.

Climbing Down the Stairs

Rudy is home and doing well. He has a bandage on his foot and pain pills and antibiotics but he seems comfortable. He is actually here in my sewing room with me as I write this. As soon as he got home he had to go back to the vet's because the bandage had come apart and his sore toe spot was showing. Ken took him back to get him re-bandaged and it seems to be holding.

Emme had some firsts yesterday. This was the first time she had been in the crate for an extended period of time except for night time. We usually limit her crate time to two hours or less but last night we had to go to Canton for a dinner and she had to stay home. I was presenting Mary Regula, the founder of the National First Ladies Library, who had been selected for an award of achievement from the Canton Chamber of Commerce. We left for the dinner at 5:00 and did not get back until 9:30: four and a half hours in the crate, the longest time ever. Emme did OK. She was more than eager to get out and go outside to do her business and to hop all over us. We stayed up about an hour so she would have some time to play before we went to bed. We did go to bed about 10:30 and she slept until 6:50 this morning with no problem.

Emme was able to climb down the stairs last night. For a few weeks, she has been able to climb up to the second floor, which she does every chance she gets. Ken has been encouraging her to try to climb back down after we go up the change into our pajamas each night. Sometime after dinner, Rudy, Emme, Ken and I go upstairs to play "closet ball." This means that we throw a ball or other toy for Rudy to retrieve while we are getting changed. Emme spends her time smelling everything in the bedroom, trying to eat the fringe on the oriental rugs or chewing our clothes when we take them off to put on our pajamas. When we return to downstairs, we used to have to carry Emme who was terrified of going down the steps. Ken has been trying to lure Emme down the steps one at a time by sitting on the steps, patting the lower step and calling Emme down. She has done a few steps, but usually gets frightened and needs a lift downstairs. Last night was the first time that she walked down the steps completely by herself. Ken was always one step lower than she, ready to catch her if necessary, but she did all the steps herself.

Tonight is puppy class and this is the first night that the puppies attend. I am sure that I will have stories tomorrow.

Furniture is Fun!

Emme has learned to jump up on furniture. When I lay down on the couch to read, she jumps up to burrow in back or underneath the pillows to find a little "hidey hole." She will stay there for a while, then with a great amount of movement and effort, change positions and settle down again. She will sometimes stay there with me for an hour or more. She delights in jumping up on our laps when we watch TV in the evenings. She settles down next to us or snuggles into whatever quilt is on our laps. Ken says that you can tell she is a quilter's dog, because everytime she is around a quilt, she settles in for a nap.

We are playing a game: "Find me for food." I put her on the leash and go out into the yard. I walk a few feet and call "Emme, come." When she comes, I tell her "Emme, sit" and I give her a treat. She is doing quite well but I am concerned about the treats. When we played this game with Rudy he was 85 pounds and I gave him little pieces of broken dog biscuits. Emme, on the other hand, is six pounds and I am concerned about filling her up with treats. Instead, I am using her usual puppy food as treats. She doesn't seem to mind and I figure that if she gets filled up and doesn't eat her dinner, she has actually eaten her dinner during the game.

First Day of School

Last night was the first night of Emme's puppy class. It was at Brigadoon Kennels here in town, the same place that Rudy took his obedience class. We went without dogs the first night and just listened to the trainer. He will teach only four things: respond to their name, come when called, "leave it" and walking on a leash. Next week we bring the dogs. We did pick up a good book on housebreaking and have already started using one of the suggestions.

Emme is 100 percent house broken in her crate. She has never had an accident there. She occasionally will have an accident in the house so she is still working on that. One of the most annoying things, however, is that she sometimes takes FOREVER to decide where to pee. The book suggested that you always go to the same spot; plant yourself and don't move; and say over and over the words you use to tell her to go. The book says that letting the dog wander, looking for the perfect place to go, only complicates things. They get distracted by smells and sounds around the yard and don't do their business. I certainly have been doing that wrong. I let her wander all over the yard until she finds the magic spot and goes. I may be making the process longer and more difficult than it needs to be. Especially with cold weather coming, it will be good if we can get her to go more quickly. There is always something new to learn about puppies, isn't there?

Smell-Me-Good

I sent a note to Darlene, the breeder, to tell her that Emme had taken her first walk and she replied: "You know, someone told me that when a dog goes for a walk and has to smell EVERYTHING along the way, it's compared to us reading the newspaper. They can find out, who's been where, who's in season, who's stressed out and on and on....! Can you imagine? Not me. I guess that's why they love walks. They can find out what's going on in their neighborhood, just by sniffing the ground." I thought that was a vivid description of why dogs love walking.

Emme's First Hair Cut

Well, we went to the groomer and Emme looks SO different. Her hair is short, short, short! She really did need to have her hair cut, but this is too short. I guess it is a problem with my communication with the groomer. I told her that I wanted her cut short, but not so short that her skin showed through. I was envisioning more hair than this. I looked on the internet for pictures of Bichons with a "puppy cut" but was unable to find anything that looked like I wanted her. Then I looked in my Bichon book and found only pictures of Bichons in "show coat" and little puppies that hadn't yet been groomed. Lacking a picture, I just described what I wanted and I guess I was not clear enough. The groomer says that the hair will grow about an inch in between visits. I think that when I take her back in 8 weeks, I may tell the groomer, "Just a little off the top." I think that I want her hair about 3/4 of an inch long. Short enough to take care of easily but long enough that it is fluffy. Right now she has so little hair that she feels very different. I miss petting the Old Emme. Ken says not to fret, because the hair will grow back. I am waiting.

First Walk

Yesterday Emme went for her first walk. I was reluctant to let her go out of her yard until the puppy shots were completed. So Friday she got the last shot and Saturday it rained like mad all day. Yesterday was the first nice day. It was very windy, but not all that cold. I read that you can walk puppies one block for every 10 pounds of their weight so I figured the first few walks would be really short. Six pounds would be a little over a half block. So we walked to the house three yards away. We went out the front door: something Emme has never done. She was in heaven: excited and terrified. The wind was blowing and dry leaves were blowing every where. Emme had to try to bite each one. She also had to sniff three yards of smells. We walked on the sidewalk which was another first for Emme. She has walked on rugs, linoleum, and grass but never concrete. She definitely tried to be the alpha dog and pull me down the sidewalk. That must have been a sight, six pounds of her trying to pull me down the street. I am bigger, so I insisted that she walk beside me and not out in from, but she wasn't crazy about that technique. We have a lot of work to do in the walking on a leash department. After we went our three front yards, we turned around and walked home. Everything was new all over again. She really enjoyed the walk and we will do it again today. What a funny little puppy! Everything is an adventure to her.

Today is her first visit to the groomer. She goes at 12:30 and I am excited and curious to see what she looks like when I pick her up.

A Visit to the Vet

Yesterday Emme had her vet appointment to get the last of her puppy shots. She did quite well. She put up an awful fuss when the vet clipped some of her toe nails, but didn’t seem bothered by two shots and some medicine in her nose. She weighs 6.4 pounds and is very healthy according to the vet. The vet gave me some eye drops to reduce the red gunk that gets in the corner of her eyes. He checked her skin over very closely and couldn’t find any reason for the frequent scratching. He suggested the oatmeal shampoo which we are using, so we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks. Emme has an appointment to be spayed on November 10. She goes in at 8 o’clock on Friday morning. Has the surgery on Friday. Stays overnight and we pick her up on Saturday.

Emme continues to love to climb the stairs. Every chance she gets, (when I forget to put the gate up between the front hall and the kitchen) she races up the stairs to our bedroom and dashes around the rug. She still hasn’t mastered going down the stairs, so I need to pick her up to go to the first floor. She is not always happy about leaving the second floor so she races around the rug playing keep-away. I try calling “come” and that never works. I try saying “sit” and that never works. I usually pick up a toy that squeaks and when she comes over to investigate, I grab her up and whisk her to the first floor. We really need a better system.

Groomer Research

Yesterday I visited the groomer that I have picked out for Emme. She has been in business for 13 years and seems very nice, She was grooming a golden retriever while I was there and I could see her interacting with a dog. I asked her a lot of questions and was comfortable with the answers. I asked her about drying cages and she took me back to where the dogs waited to be trimmed. They blow dry them mostly dry and then put them into large wire crates in a room off the grooming room. In the room are three fans that circulate the air. She said that there is not heat and no danger to the dogs. The dogs are not in this area very long because the whole visit takes only two hours. Many of the groomers I called said that it took 4 hours. With getting a bath and then being trimmed it doesn't sound like the dogs are in the crates an excessive amount of time.

I made an appointment for Emme for Monday afternoon. She gets her last puppy shots this Friday and I wanted her trimmed up as soon after that as possible. The hair on her body is about three inches long and she is just like a little Swiffer picking up everything she comes near. Trimmed down, she should be a little easier to care for. The groomer suggested that for the first visit she only bath Emme and trim around her face and bottom. I told her that I couldn't wait another 8 weeks for the second appointment to get rid of some of the hair. Emme is so cute, but so fluffy. The groomer said that she would try trimming and see how Emme handled it. I am hoping that she will be as good for the groomer as she is for me when I am brushing her and we get her trimmed next week. It would make everything easier.

Up the Stairs

Emme learned how to go up the stairs on Friday. I was at Buehler’s buying food for the family picnic on Sunday and Ken was watching the two dogs. The man who put up the gutter guards came by the house to repair a spot that was dripping and Ken greeted him at the front door and then went around the house and went outside through the porch. After talking with the man for about five minutes, he came back into the house to find only Rudy. The gates hadn’t been put up, so he went around the house calling and looking for Emme. He went into his office, looked under the desk and in Rudy’s crate. He went into the laundry room and the family room, living room and kitchen. When he couldn’t find Emme, he went back through each room, even opening closets. No puppy. By then Ken was sure that she had somehow gotten out of the house without him noticing it and was long gone. He started checking the first floor a third time and happened to look up toward the second floor and saw Emme’s little face looking through the spindle rail outside our bedroom. She had gotten up the stairs and couldn’t figure out how to get down. Why she didn’t whimper or bark when he was calling for her is anyone’s guess. After Ken brought her downstairs and he settled down, it began to be funny but it was not during the time she was missing. That was just plain scary. So now she is a stairs champion. When she got outside the gates later that day, she climbed the stairs twice more and did the blitz on the second floor. She was so excited to find that the house had more rooms than she ever realized. Up to this time, she has been carried upstairs for bed and has never walked around on the second floor. Now she goes upstairs by herself at night. We say, “Time for nighty-nite” and she dashes up the stairs, into our bedroom and into her crate and waits for a treat. We have to be very careful that the gates are up or she runs for the second floor in a flash. I guess the attraction is that she should not be there.

We went to the lake for the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and had a family birthday party for Julius and Chris on Sunday. This was Emme’s first overnight at the lake house and she did just fine. We brought her sleeping crate and put it next to our bed. She slept fine and did all her business outside, all in all, a successful weekend. She was everybody’s best friend and spent all Sunday afternoon being the party entertainment. She was exhausted by the time we got back to Wooster on Sunday night. She spent a long time asleep on my lap while I watched TV and napped a little too.

I have noticed over the last week or so Emme is scratching a lot. I know that we have had the furnace running more with the cooler weather and that may be drying out her skin. She seems to be itching all over, not just in one spot. She scratches behind her ears, chews near the base of her tail, and chews on her paws. I am at a loss. I have looked through her fur and don't see any sign of fleas, sore spots, irritated skin or anything. This morning I gave her a bath with Rudy's oatmeal shampoo which is supposed to be soothing. I also rinsed her very well. Actually, I always try to rinse her well so there is nothing to irritate her skin. I don't think I am bathing her too often. The last time was about three weeks ago when she was playing in leaves at the lake house and got very dirty. I brush her every day and wash off her mouth and paws so I know that her coat is not being neglected. I have a vet appointment on Friday for puppy shots and I will ask him at that time. Until then, I'll see if this morning's bath makes a difference.

Learning Curve

I was reading Life magazine this morning with the newspaper and it said that a 4 month old puppy should be house broken and know the commands: sit, down and stay. Well, we have a long way to go. Emme never messes in her cage, but she sometimes chooses to eliminate on the carpet when we are not looking. She does a pretty bad job of sit and we haven't even tried down or stay. She will turn 4 months old on November 1 and will stay four months old until Dec. 1. That doesn't give us much time to get this all in order. We have enrolled her in puppy class beginning November 2 so that may help.

Worms

Yesterday we learned about worms. When we first got Emme and took her to the vet’s, she saw an associate of Dr. Howard, a woman vet whose name we didn’t learn. Because Emme had just been wormed by the breeder before we picked her up, the vet gave us a second dose of worm medicine to give to Emme in two weeks. She said that all puppies are born with worms (who knew) and that they worm them every two weeks until they are 16 weeks old. When we returned for Emme’s puppy shot at the end of the month, we saw Dr. Howard and he didn’t say anything about worming. Later I wondered if it was an oversight and if I needed to pick up worm medicine to give to Emme before her next visit to the vet’s at the end of the month. I called the office yesterday and talked to Dr. Howard. He said to bring in a stool sample to test for worms and if she did not have any, no worm medicine would be necessary. So Ken went outside to the Buehler’s bag that held the latest deposits and retrieved one little doodle. He put it in a plastic and I took it to the vet’s. After a 10 minute “flotation” test (I don’t think I want to know what they were floating) we found out that Emme did not have worms present so no more medicine was necessary. I like this approach. Worm medicine must be poison in some way if it kills the worms, so I like not putting it in Emme’s system if it is not necessary.

Emme and Rudy had a better day yesterday, less contention over toys. Or maybe I was just more patient. There were actually a few times in the afternoon and evening, when each was laying quietly on the carpet while Ken and I were reading. That didn’t last too long, but it is a beginning.

Primping

Yesterday was a much better day all around: no rain, less contention with the dogs, more patience on my part.

Emme has discovered fall. She is very impressed with the dog toys that fall from the trees with every gust of wind. She goes outside to do her business and has to take the time to pounce on leaves, carry leaves in her mouth, and try to eat leaves before I can stop her. She thinks they are wonderful toys.

Yesterday I went to Petco and purchased a comb for Emme’s coat. I started using it in addition to her brush to comb the long hairs around her mouth and face. I think it does a better job than the brush, because I am always afraid that I am going to poke her eyes with the metal bristles of the brush. I have much better control with the comb. She looks so cute and fluffy right after I brush her, but as the day goes on she gets more and more rumpled. After a few hours, she looks like a preschooler after he comes in from playing: a little dirty around the face and the hair going in every direction. I have great admiration for those people who show dogs and keep them neat. That must really be a task.

She continues to work on “sit” and is getting better at that. She knows “come” from playing. Everytime she dashes toward us, we say “Good come” and I think she understands what it means. I can call her from one room to another by calling “Come, Emme.” I have no idea how she would do outside because she is always on the leash. It will be a while before I would trust her off leash in the yard.

Spitty Bear

Yesterday was a low dog day at the Nuzum household. For two cents, I would have traded both the dogs for a pair of guinea pigs. The afternoon was rainy and neither dog wanted to go outside to do their business. Rudy, who loves water, hates rain and wouldn’t go outside for anything. Emme got carried outside and I stood in the cold rain with a jacket and umbrella waiting for her to do something. She didn’t like getting her feet wet and the rain distracted her so I spent a lot of time waiting. Then after dinner the two dogs were driving us nuts. We were in the living room watching the big TV and the dogs were on the floor. Emme wanted everything that Rudy had. If Rudy had a stuffed toy, Emme wanted that stuffed toy, not another one. She would grab on to a part of the toy and tug; then both would growl, Rudy would stand up, shake the toy with Emme attached and growl.

I tried putting Emme on my lap to put a little distance between the two, but she was like a wild woman. She would wiggle and squirm and finally I got tired of it and put her down. If Rudy was chewing on a bone, Emme wanted that bone, not another one. Rudy would chew on one end of the bone and Emme would chew on the other end of that bone. It didn’t matter that there were three other bones on the floor. Only that one bone would do. Rudy would chew and growl; Emme would chew and growl. Finally, I had enough and put Emme in her crate for a while. Then Rudy would pick up a lovie with a squeaker and take it in front of Emme’s crate and squeak the toy like he was saying: “Neeener, neener, neener; I’m up and you’re not.”

Later, I got her up again and the entire series began again. Then Rudy decided that I wanted to play with his wet, slobbery teddy bear and he would pick it up and put the disgusting thing on my lap over and over. Finally I had enough and I yelled (something I seldom do) “I don’t want that spitty bear on my lap. Lay down.” Rudy looked like he had been whipped. Emme stopped what she was doing and Ken looked amazed.

At that time, I was considering the merits of having two birds as pets. After a few minutes, I apologized to Rudy and to Ken and to Emme for my outburst, but I was just on overload. The rest of the evening wasn’t as bad, and I know that today will be better. It can’t be worse. (Please don’t let me eat those words.)