Puppy's First 48 Hours!

Lucky arrived 48 hours ago. It's been very very busy! I was going to write about the first 24 hours but now 48 hours have gone by!

Oh so cute! Soft and warm and cuddly! Sharp teeth, puppy breath and hilarious antics! Lucky is an outgoing girl and is learning about the world around her!

Her temperament appears nicely balanced. Lucky has taken the new surroundings of our home in stride. She has met many new things including a few dogs, two cats, toddlers, preschoolers, children, men and women, bicycles, wagons, and has started skateboard training....

Lucky has gone for two short car rides, explored forested trails near the river, stumbled over rocks and splashed her paws in water. Opal and Trixie taught her how to dig already too! She can now not only race up but also down the stairs. Neither noisy household appliances, trucks outside or bouncing children on the trampoline seem to fizz her. Tonight the neigbours two boys ran down the driveway at us with their hockey gear on. Wiggly happy puppy wanted to play with them. Now let me see what else is on that checklist of things to expose a puppy to before it is 12 weeks of age and the "critcal socialization period" comes to an end...?!

Lucky is jumping up on us less already. She can often be found sitting and looking at us as if saying "please".... that's what gets attention from us xo!

Nipping and Biting will of course continue over the next few weeks. We do want to help her learn bite inhibition. Our human skin is delicate ... "Yelp! Then try again and be a bit more gentle or bite this toy instead." Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Chew this and not that. Supervision and management. Furniture and carpets discouraged and Kong Toys and chew sticks encouraged. Repeat repeat repeat.

Housetraining has been great so far ... only one pee in the house. Everything else has made it outside on the grass or gravel. Realistic expectations. Praise and reinforcement! Good habits starting! Sure, she's a "good" puppy but I take the credit for this one :0)

Crate training has had some successes and some challenges.
The first night was unsettling even with her in a crate right beside my bed. My arm hanging over the edge of my bed and hand inside the crate. She still fussed every hour or so. Yes, I admit ... by the time 5am came around I was not ready to wake up so she came into bed with me. (I can always erase this post right?) Two hours of sleep! The second night Lucky was only up once for a pee break and then right back to sleep. Maybe it was that long play session in the yard that evening... Or the warm beanbag. Yay!
Daytime is the next crate challenge. Lucky is only content in the crate if she is very tired.... when she falls asleep on a cushion or in my arms I move her to the crate. If she rouses then usually a gentle stroking will settle her again. When she starts to wake I let her out before she gets restless. We are already working on impulse control and not pushing past the crate door ... more on that later! When I had to leave her alone for a couple of hours I left her in an "error-less environment" -- a gated off puppy proofed area with an open crate inside, chew toys, water and a different surface (newspaper, pads) in the corner. I will admit that she made unhappy vocalizations but by the time I came back she was sleeping in the open crate. In the meantime I am trying to feed her in the crate, play games in and out of the crate, and making crate times good times.

Wish me luck for another good Lucky night :0)
Sweet puppy dreams!
Auntie Maren

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