Happy Friday, everyone! Yesterday I had puppies everywhere!
Okay, so I had two senior Aussies and two puppies. And a baby.
And it felt like puppies everywhere! I was puppy sitting for a friend. Miss Clara is a timid, submissive dog. She’s a gorgeous Heeler/Lab mix who rolls over on her back when anyone or any dog gets near her. We had a grand time together after transitioning.
My own big dogs weren’t happy about a dog coming into the home. It took half the day to get to a calm environment. And then the baby arrived. There was a lot of indoor/outdoor activity happening. What did I do to make it work?
The big dogs, the territorial Aussies who are pretty darn tired of all these new creatures intruding on their space, were put in the bathroom for awhile. Then let out. This happened two or three times before the Aussies accepted the new puppy. Resigned themselves to Clara, rather. Outside was tricky, too, since Clara doesn’t know any commands. I had to pick her up a couple of times to get her in, but she mostly followed the pack into the house.
And this little stinker suddenly forgot the command Come, or In the House. He just looked at me, then went back to gnawing on his bone in the grass.
The baby arrived and threw everything off, mostly because long-legged Clara was all puppy and kept knocking over the new walker. Made for plenty of tears. So this time Clara was shut into the bathroom for awhile.
But y’all, my favorite part of the day was Clara’s obsession with bones. I have a big box of Jones Natural Chews bones sitting on the floor. For about half an hour I ignored the puppies because they were quiet. When I looked up from working on the laptop, there were bones ALL OVER THE LIVING ROOM. Clara was quietly taking one bone at a time out of the box and gnawing on each one for a few minutes before snagging another. OMD.
Yes, I sent her mama home with a bag full of Jones bones. I’ll tell ya, there’s not a much better baby sitter for a puppy than a sturdy bone. Chewy will keep quiet for at least half an hour at a time when he has his bone. It’s good for new teeth and gums, tastes yummy (we like the knuckles and center bones with meaty bits and marrow), and doesn’t disappear quickly like a treat.
So, to sum up, I didn’t hesitate to separate the dogs when they weren’t getting along. Sometimes isolating my own grouchy old dogs, sometimes the puppy. And teaching a puppy to sit is probably the first, most important command. Once they sit, you can grab the collar or scoop them up. Come is great, but they’re usually at a distance and will avoid eye contact to make you think they don’t hear you, much like a five year old child.
Y’all have a great weekend! I’m going to pet my seniors and snuggle with Chewy.
Until I write again …
Flea
