Paisley is home - updates and concerns

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

Hello Doodle World!

Our sweet Paisley has been home with us for about four weeks now. I have been holding out on giving a blog/discussion update. If you were to ask me a week or two ago, I would have had a very different outlook on Miss Paisley. In the first few weeks we were losing our minds. Now things are a bit calmer so I have time to write this.

Everyone says taking care of two dogs is the same amount of stress as one one or at least that's what people kept telling us as they begged us to get another dog. Everyone loves Lacey. "Why not get another one, exactly like her?" (our friends and family said....). What everyone seems to forget is that when you bring home your furry friend you are not bringing home a well-trained, 95% obedient dog like Miss Lacey. You are bringing home her wild, spunky little sister with razor sharp nails and teeth that loves to jump, sprint, play, and pee whenever she feels like. Needless to say, we (and our family) forgot all the things Lacey used to do as a pup as we were focusing on the present. All those sleepless nights were quickly forgotten and our family forgot what it was like to have an 8 week old puppy home with us. I am beyond grateful for Doodle Kisses and the blogs I used to write when Lacey was a pup. Revisiting these old posts with my husband stopped a few tears and made us realize that our Lacey wasn't always as perfect as we think she is today.

We love Paisley to death despite how tired and stressed we are. Even her big sister Lacey is getting used to her. While she annoys her at times, Lacey does love playing with her. Cuddling is another story. All Paisley wants to do is cuddle, but Lacey won't have it. Maybe in time, Lacey will be more welcoming. We'll wait and see.

Paisley is finally on a pretty constant potty training schedule. She hasn't had an accident in a week so we are going to pray to God that I did not just jinx that. (knock on wood). We were very lucky with Lacey and she was not hard at all to potty train. Paisley just seems a bit more head strong and stubborn in comparison to Lacey as a pup. Paisley is pretty good with "come" and "sit." She loves giving "kisses" both on command and just in her own given time. I know its early but Paisley is significantly less "mouthy"than Lacey as a pup. I don't know if it is because her bite inhibition is strong because of Lacey correcting her or her continual interest in her toys but she does not chew on us nearly as much as Lacey did. She does try and chew on Lacey's ankles and tail but as soon as she does Lacey lets our her deep bark (which normally startles Paisley) and she runs away. The interactions between the two of them are so interesting. Lacey is definitely mothering her a bit.

Paisley is listening to "drop" pretty well when it comes to her toys. This is something she has picked up on because of Lacey. She's insanely smart it is just her stubbornness that prohibits her from listening at times. Also the fact that she is very young makes her get distracted easily. Lacey is an enormous distraction when it comes to training Paisley. Whenever Lacey is around Paisley thinks it is play time. We had to separate them to practice commands. Now that she has some basics down, she is practicing them in front of Lacey. A lot of this has been trial and error on our part. Not only does Paisley need training, but so do we. Four years doesn't sound like a long time but it really is when it comes to forgetting what it is like to have a puppy around.

On to the crating issues.....

Paisley is awesome with the crate at night. She goes in on her own and lays down before we can shut the door. She quickly falls asleep and doesn't wake up until it is time to go out at 6:05 a.m. She has never had an accident at night and only cried the first three nights of training. She has now been in it a few weeks and is doing amazing.

The real problem comes during the day. She absolutely hates it her crate during the day. We have two crates set up - one in the bedroom and one in the living room. This was per everyone's suggestions on Doodle Kisses when we were crate training Lacey. Both crates are set up like a "den". We have them covered on three sides with a sheet with one side exposed. She has a comfortable doggy crate liner in there with safe toys with her to play with. Lacey who hated her crate eventually warmed up to it and did fine. However, Paisley cannot stand this crate. For whatever reason, she cries and barks (LOUDLY) on and off all morning long. Up until now, she has had me or my husband home with her for over half the day. We have only had to crate her from 7:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. However this week, she will start to have longer days. My husband will come home for an hour every afternoon to take the dogs out and give water but she will then have to go back in until I get home at 4:00. I understand this is a long time to be in the crate but we are out of options. We made it work with Lacey and it will have to work with Paisley too until we know she is 100% potty trained. Eventually we will block her off in a small room but the teething and accidents need to stop first. Lacey roams the house and hasn't been in a crate since she was 6 months. Eventually this is the game plan for Paisley too we just need to make sure that chaos will not break out while we are gone. We watch her on a puppy webcam all day so we can see how she is doing in the crate. She eventually falls asleep but when she wakes up and realizes she is in there, she freaks out again. If anyone has any suggestions on our issues with crate training, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Other than our crating issues, everything is going well. Paisley just had her vet appointment for more shots and her annual puppy wellness check. She weighed in at 15.8 lbs. Her weight is in line with Lacey's so I am just praying to god she slows down because Lacey was the same at this point and 85 lbs. We may have two horses on our hands come the summer. Her coat is awesome. If anyone has an insight on what might happen to it over time I would love to hear! It is a bright apricot color with splashes of cream on her toes and little patches on her back. Her ears are a dark apricot. She has little waves along her face, ears, and thighs.

Thank you for reading my rant. Sorry if it was all over the place but lately we feel all over the place. lol. Any feedback would be much appreciated!

[Carol and Truffle]

I am very glad to read this. We are on a list to get a labradoodle puppy probably sometime in May. I have been having high anxiety attacks as I realize that we have not had a puppy in the house in 14 YEARS! And our 13-year-old Golden Retriever was so well-behaved in the later years, that I find myself hyperventilating & wondering what we were thinking to bring a puppy back into our lives!

I would take our Golden into work with me almost daily for the past 4 years, and we have no kids at home anymore, so I plan on doing that with the new puppy as well. But I am realizing that the puppy won't be reliably potty trained for a while after we get it home & am panicking.

But I've ordered some training books & am reading the postings here on DK religiously. Presumable all will eventually sort itself out.

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

Glad I could help. Please let me know how it goes! They have been great the past few days so things are looking up :)

[Cathy and Daisy and Harper]

I enjoyed reading your post because it brought back memories of bringing home a second dog last April. I can assure you it does get so much better. I still believe 2 dogs are a fair amount of work but it is also twice the love.  Best wishes with your pups!

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

That's so good to hear! They are getting better no doubt but there is a long road ahead for them! lol Tonight they were playing a few inches from each other so I think that is progress.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

My only suggestion is to buy some of the Buster(Busy cube?) Cubes (Kongs are too easy).  Measure out paisley's entire food supply for the day and feed her only in her crate from the Buster Cubes, when you are home or not, even weekends until she understands crate=food=good. 

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

That's a good idea. I completely forgot that we tried feeding Lacey in her crate to get her to like it. We will definitely try this!

[Carol and Truffle]

Are Paisley & Lacey Goldendoodles or Labradoodles. They are precious in your pics.

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

Thank you! They are goldendoodles. Lacey is an F1. Her mom being a standard poodle and her dad being an English Golden Retriever. This is where she gets her white color from. Paisley is an F1b. Her mom is a white goldendoodle (same dad as Lacey) and her dad is an apricot colored poodle.