The Good, the challenging and the Ugly

[Ronda Businda]

Good evening all!

Hope everyone is staying warm! Well, we brought our new Labradoodle, "Willow" home with us this past Christmas eve - she is now 10 1/2 weeks old!

This is our 1st INDOOR dog and my......what a different way of life! (We were previous owners of 2 golden retrievers who stayed outdoors and were excellent pets! They lived for 12 and 13 years, RIP). 

So - did ALOT of research into the breed of dog, bought 2 great books (and yes, I read them and am STILL devouring them), prepared and 2 weeks into being a new 'mommy' of her royal cuteness, I'm seeing the good....the challenging...and the ugly. Any and ALL input is appreciated!!!!

The Good - well, she's just SO stinking cute! Even when I picked her out of the litter, she was very laid back - almost too laid back but seeing how energetic she is outside, I'm fairly confident she just has a great disposition! She handles really well, even the vet was impressed! (she still has that puppy tendency to nip and bite). She IS very smart! Already 'sitting' and staying 'off' for the most part, she gets LOTS of praise, cuddles and treats for being smart! She's good & WE'RE good w/ distractors when she has something in her mouth that she shouldn't (except poo!) and she'll let me take it out with 'out' and replace it. She took to a bath great, LOVES to be loved and is hilarious when she gets into that frenetic puppy mode! Her being outside so far gives me insight that she'll be AWESOME to hang with when the weather gets warmer! I've never seen a ball of fur run so fast at such a young age!!!

The Challenging - Housebreaking was ok, better once hubby got on the same page w/ a schedule, etc. BUT the recent arctic 'blast' has been no blast for us in Tennessee; though we don't have tons of snow, the weather has held back our exercising her outside (even though she gets activity inside, its not the same!) I've had to cut back on her water as she keeps eating the ice so her bladder has stayed WAY full & then at times I think she just wants to play in the snow, she comes back and pees on the floor! Oh, and now I've noticed she is developing an affinity for other dog's poo! But weather should be back to more tolerable conditions by tomorrow and I'm hoping to get back to a more consistent schedule. Oh, the other challenging thing is - when she plays and barks....MY what a bark! I can't tell if she's playing! Her tail looks to be up and is sometimes wagging but I'm trying not to take her 'energy' wrong. And what IS it when my 7 year old daughter and I are just talking between ourselves, standing and the dog is barking at us like we're about to kill her??? Is she playing or wanting to play? 

The Ugly - the crate. So here's where we are after 2 weeks. Willow does GREAT at night now! Still barks & cries a little but once she senses that everyone else is in bed, she's quiet as well! Pretty much sleeps all through the night as a matter of fact! She does well when we LEAVE the house in her crate, same thing and by the time we get home, she's been quiet but gets all crazy excited once she smells us or hears us. But........BUT.....if she's in her crate while we ARE home...she goes crazy, nuts, separation anxiety psycho!!! I thought it was just the crate but today - felt the need to spend some 1 on 1 time with my 7 year old and left Willow in the kitchen w/ her toys, kong, and water bowl. For 30 minutes you would have thought that someone was pouring scalding water on her, no lie! (Oh, I need to mention, at 3 previous attempts to take her out for her business, she played, ran and did everything BUT empty out). So 30 minutes of hearing this little ball of fur yelp and howl like she's being tortured, I reluctantly go downstairs to bring her up and guess what???? There's a pee pad (I laid for emergencies) that's SOAKED with urine and 5.....FIVE piles of poo in a perfect circle. All from this 10 1/2 week pup! I've read and heard that the dogs just want to be with their pack and I'm cool with that but hey - sometimes my human daughter needs mommy all to herself too! 

In sum, I feel like we're on the right course, that our attitude is right in that we want to raise a great family dog and we are determined. Today I felt was total defeat and was angry (as I felt my daughter was cheated out of 'our' time together, wondering if she's still glad we got the puppy!) , especially after 'doing everything right' as much as I could within inclement weather. Our Willow is beautiful, funny and SOOOO intelligent and I'm pretty sure her day was 'off' too event though she couldn't articulate it. We are looking forward to the summer when we can take her with us in the boat and go swimming with her! 

Thanks for the input, for letting me vent - I'm soaking in all the discussions that are relevant! And right now - all is quiet in my house so THAT makes me happy!!!! Stay safe and warm!!!

Ronda

[Ronda Businda]

Thank you - I'm sure if my daughter placed it on her head while she was awake - it would be beyond recognition!!! LOL!!!! We had a great day and I feel like I'm now getting my 'rhythm' so to speak for our sweet girly girl pup!!!