Well - what a time
we have all had getting to know each other. It's so hard to believe that
Scooter has been here a month already and that she is four days shy of being
four months old. We've completed most all of her puppy shots - only one
more visit to go, for her last Lyme and also her rabies vaccinations - then
she is all done. As of October 2 she is weighing in at a whopping 5 1/2
pounds - we walked into the vet's office yesterday and it was all eyes on
her with "Hellllloooo Scooter....."
Albeit she is still a little young
- she is indeed teething, so we've migrated from everything being mouthed
to something always needing to be in her mouth and being chewed - but she
generally is being very good about it being something that is "legal".
It would seem that all that mouthing and exploring these last weeks did
indeed provide some benefit as she does know more or less, what is hers
and what is not. And to be sure we have all been settling in on working
out some routines and things....
We borrowed Zoe's crate from next
door since Zoe doesn't use it anymore - which has been great since that means
we have a crate in the bedroom with her bed in it for sleeping, and one
in the living room with a sheepy in it for timeouts during the day. She
has learned that this is not a bad place to be - and will even trot in on
her own and snuggle in. We be sure that her blankie comes out here during
the day - and of course goes back to bed with her at night. Have blankie
will travel - she knows it is hers and settles into it no matter where it
is. That of course does not stop her from taking over anything else she feels
like plopping on as life allows - but when the chips are down, she'll take
her blanket thank you.
We've also taken to using a couple
of light nylon tie outs for when she is not on crate time - one on the
porch, when things were still warm enough that we were all spending time
there and one in the living room - the latter being hitched to her crate
so all is able to be gotten to. The tieouts work great to keep her restricted
to certain areas but still give her room to romp and play - but most importantly
they also give Puffin "safe zones" -and Puffin is indeed learning that thanks
to them there are areas in each room where Puffin is safe from ScooterAmbushes....
and also on the porch it keeps Scooter safe as she is still learning
to not just charge out the door when it is opened.
Actually Scooter is doing quite
well learning especially for her still young age. She knows what "settle
down" means when she is in a crate or the playpen (which is in the kitchen,
and she has now graduated to a blanket in it rather than newspapers. We had
this little problem of whenever I scooped her up to put her in there, usually
when I am trying to get meals, etc., she would almost immediately pee or
poop or both. Well - it dawned on me that she was paper trained so she was
just doing what she had been taught to do! Changing to a blanket stopped
that problem and makes it much more comfy so that she does not object to
being there - just snuggles in. Course - when she arrived, and stood up on
her hind legs in there you couldn't see anything of her at the top - now
her head is clearing the top of the sides and she can see all that's going
on thank you....). She has trained to know that certain things get done
outside, and as long as I keep on schedule to get her out on time (every
few hours) she is dry in the house - whether she is crated or tethered,
or on (oh joy) free run. We might have a booboo every few days but it is
usually when other things are going on and the two of us get off synch.
Our friend Liz, who is a groomer
(she grooms Puffin for me now too) - came over and Scooter got her first
"spiff up" - her face and feet (including toenails). Not too keen on the
idea but she looks like a real dog from the front now.... things
had gotten to the point where she looked like she had stuck her tail in
a light socket. Her coat is still so soft and downy that things were very
much in the "flyaway" mode.... and Liz also has lots of connections
in the "dog world" here so - she will help us go to school! Scooter and
I will start level 1 obedience on October 28.... Liz talked to the trainer
and they know that my back may not hold up so it's set that Liz will take
over handling Scooter during the classes if I can't be up the whole time
- and she will be taking us. Then, when Scooter and I practice Puffin will
be practicing with us at home. Considering that Scooter has perfected Curly's
lesson os selective hearing - this will be good. She knows her name but
usually chooses to ignore it, so "come" doesn't make a big dent. We are
working on "sit" though - no treats until we do that - and she is also beginning
to do well on "stay".
Play time - now THAT'S a different
story - her full time job. Her favorite toy is whatever is in Puffin's
mouth - but if that fails, she will latch on to anything that is available,
and in this house that is considerable. She seems to have developed a penchant
for the stuffed carrot - so much that it's usually in the crate or pen
with her - and tonight she so wanted it that she was out of her crate,
carrot in - and she is trying to drag it through the wire from the outside
to get it. We haven't really learned about doors yet - going around them.
When we go out, I usually am still putting her out into the run since the
step is kind of big - but she always come in
under the door rather
than around it. As I mentioned chewing is the favorite indoor sport and
I'm currently keeping the rawhide companies in business between the two
of them. Marrow bones are also up there on the hit parade -and it took less
than a week for Scooter to chime in with Puffin after supper waiting for
the dollop of peanut butter in a marrow bone.... she may choose to ignore
her name but just say "peanut butter" and.....
It also did not take her long at
all to learn to prefer to be out on the porch - the "room with the view"
- nosey? nah. Sits right in front of the door - or lays - with whatever
toy or chewie, surveying the comings and goings of nature and the neighborhood.
And, it did not take long to learn that barking was something SHE could
control - and do when she wanted to rather than a noise that just happened
by accident when she was excited. Let the doorbell ring and Puffin starts
letting us know, Scooter is now singing harmony. She has also learned that
her back legs can leave the ground as in jump - and that squeaky toys can
be made to squeak by puppies and not just humans (though Ginny could have
waitied a little while longer for that discovery to occur). To that end,
the other night her toy of choice happened to be the "Look Who's Talking"
moocow we have - and yup, you guessed it. I could see her mouth was in the
right place, jaws around the top of the saddle where you have to squeeze
it for it to moo - but it's a little tougher than the regular squeakies to
make go - didn't know if her jaws would have enough oomph yet to make it
happen (foolish thought). All of a sudden this thing started mooing - well,
the look on her face was beyond description. Then we spent fifteen minutes
puppypouncing it - back and forth, batting it around, finally got brave enough
to put the jaws on it again and.... oh it was an entertaining evening that
night.
We've had a few discoveries too
- namely that she does not like the "orange bugs" that come each week to
cut the grass - was putting her out last Saturday when Scott came to do the
lawn, and as the cutters were coming around back -oh my. Tail dove down,
ears flattened, eyeballs bugged out of her head, plastered up against the
door - "get me out of here" - and was quite amenable to being tucked into
her crate inside till all was quiet again thank you.... and honestly, this
is the ONLY thing that has phased her - nothing else even makes her blink.
She still is ambushing Puffin at any opportunity and Puffin immediately exerts
dominance with Scooter going submissive - for two seconds and as soon as
Puffin's eyeballs are off of her, BOING - she's back up and at it with nary
a wrinkle in the attack plan. Now that she gets a little more full run in
the house she has learned how to make all the loops - goes like the
wind, now with Scooter doing about four laps to Puffin's one, ears flying
back in her own wind tunnel, tongue hanging out the side, utter glee erupting
from her eyes, but half the fun is being a bumper car with Puffin (who is
not keen at all on that idea). When we go over to play in Zoe's yard we take
tennis balls now (defuzzing a tennis ball is also one of her self appointed
tasks in life) - four of them to be exact since we haven't learned to share
yet (even with two). The balls get tossed, everyone goes after a different
one - but without fail Scooter has to take aim on the one in Puffin's mouth
and she just comes up and body slams it out of Puffin's jaws.... right now
Scooter is at the perfect height that she can just reach up and snatch it.
The cut through the hedge is temporarily blocked since we have a dumpster
sitting there for a bit - so we have to walk around the end of the driveway
to get there. We were over playing and coming home, with Scooter very proudly
carrying the part of her leash she can reach in her mouth as usual, head
back, oblivious to anything else as we are going along, and me trying to
tell her to watch where she is going as we are coming to the storm grate
- forget it. PLOP - all four legs go right down, there she is down to her
belly with the predictable "HUH?" look on her face.... ah yes, a few
weeks of discovery.
Mixed in with all of this are signs
that there really is a dog in this cross of Energizer Bunny and Tasmanian
Devil - rather than the constant motion till she drops (which does of course
still happen) are mixed in episodes of settling down and working on a bone
or chewie; settling herself down for a nap without having to have a time
out; and just coming over and wanting a snuggle. If she had her druthers
she'd be velcroed to my shoulder - if she was not belly up getting scratched.
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