As you may know, Brent and I bought a puppy about a week and a half ago. Not getting pregnant has been hard on me emotionally, so I finally decided I needed a baby something in the house to distract me. Brent is allergic to dogs, so we looked at "hypo-allergenic" poodle crosses (Brent is still having to take allergy meds, unfortunately). I found a local breeder, and last Monday, we brought home Daisy.
At home in her potty box
We chose Daisy because she is a maltese poodle cross (maltipoo), and a very calm one at that. She shouldn't be over 10 pounds and seems to get plenty of exercise indoors, which is very important, as we have no yard.
I took Daisy to ballet class with me the day after we got her because I felt so bad leaving her. After being fawned over by the other girls in the class, she slept soundly - as I said, a very calm dog.
Calm, that is, when she's not being curious. ;)
Frequently, people ask me what breed she is, and I respond, "She's a maltipoo." Almost as frequently, they think I've said, "Multipoo." Which makes me wonder, which is the more accurate term? Brent is quite emphatic that we are not her "parents", which I agree with, but find funnier than not and have taken to calling us her "not mom" and "not dad". I particularly feel I deserve the title, as I wake up with her in the middle of the night, bathe her, give her antibiotics for her upper respiratory infection, and clean up her poop. Of course Brent helps with all this, but as I am staying home with her and don't have a job at the moment, I think it's important that I do most of the doggy grunt work. The other day I needed to take a shower, but of course you cannot leave a puppy alone - she will chew everything and more. So I put her in her crate and put her in the bathroom with me. As soon as I got out of the shower, I could smell the poop in her crate. "Great," I thought. Since she had gotten it on herself, I pulled her out of her crate and put her in the tub. She didn't like that.
If I can figure out how, I will post a video illustrating.
She's funny-looking when wet. :D
So, this morning I woke up with her around 2:30 and she actually used the potty box on her own - I was so happy! Then, sometime between 6 and 6:30, she started barking and growling at us from inside her crate. Brent took her downstairs to her potty box, but she didn't go. A very short while later, she started again. I tried to ignore her - sometimes that's all it takes for her to calm down, but she persisted. When I looked over at her I could see (and smell:) the poop. I tried to put her in another room and leave her to ponder what she'd done, but I was worried about her waking the neighbors. Upon further investigation, I found poop on everything - the walls of the crate, the door of the crate, on her toys, multiple presents on her towel, and on all her paws. I don't know that I've ever been so upset with an animal - and this after she's been making progress with the potty box!! I gave her a short bath, dried her off, cleaned off the towel, and began working on the crate before I realized what an amusing blog post this would make. That cheered me up. I should have taken more pictures!! Here's the two I got. Bon appetit!
The all towel, all Daisy soiled load. This morning settles it. She's a multipoo.
6 comments:
You're right--Daisy looks hilarious when wet. :D Good luck with the training!
Haha, yeah, it sounds a LOT like a baby! She just needs a diaper :) Good luck--you are a trooper!
Sounds like you're enjoying your new addition! I'm glad you posted your link so we could find you!
Hey Kelsey, I'm a friend of Brent's and he posted the link to your blog on facebook. My husband and I just adopted a baby this summer as we had difficulty conceiving as well. Having pets definitely helps fill that hole! Daisy is adorable and it sounds like you're totally in love with her! Good luck with that pooping thing... we had a chihuahua for awhile but neither of us was home enough to take care of the potty training. We ended up getting rid of her so I hope you have a better end to your story. End of long comment from random stranger.
Lisa: There are such thing as puppy diapers. I really want to get some for Daisy at night - Brent thinks I'm silly.
Akidd: I have followed your adoption story with Brent. Gives me hope. You are welcome on our blog!
Hooray for little spirits to love! (And ones that will love you back. . .)
So, yeah. Potty-training is tough, for babies and puppies. Keep on it and try to laugh about things. Remember that she is just a puppy, and just because she has successfully gone in her potty box before, doesn't mean that she's yet made the connection that that's the ONLY place she has to go. And maybe the poop everywhere episode had more to do with indigestion or some kind of virus than with her just being naughty.
Just keep at it. She WILL learn, if you are persistent. And treats and lots of praise when she DOES go in the box will help her make the connection the pooping there is a good thing.
Another thing you might try--if you find that she's always having accidents in a particular part of the house or corner or whatever, you can try moving the potty box there for a while. As she is more frequently getting it all in the box, you can slowly (over a number of days) move the box back to the spot you want it, continuing with the praise and treats.
And making sure she doesn't eat anything that could throw off her system (e.g., table scraps or people food) so that she stays more regular will also help her to go at more regular times and have fewer accidents.
Sorry, incredibly long comment, I know! But just thought you might be interested! : )
Best of luck!
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