New Pups and Feelings of Disloyalty

I wonder if other folks who get a new puppy after a beloved dog passes away go through a period where they feel rather disloyal to their deceased dog?  Our Fresca the Wonder Dog passed away in the Spring and Auggie joined our home this pass week.  Call me crazy but I've been on an emotional roller coaster for several days as different little things that Auggie does remind me of Fresca and then I'm hit with waves of sadness as I think of how much I miss my "girl."

Perhaps I should chalk it up to "new puppy mom hormones."  Or maybe it's just all part of the grieving process that pet owners go through who chose to add another animal to their home.  Here's an example.

One of Fresca's favorite toys was this stuffed cow that "moo's."  It is the only thing of hers that I kept after she passed away.

Auggie loves this toy.  He bounces around the living room with it, attacking its ears and horns and happily chomping on its belly.

Auggie has VERY sharp puppy teeth.  I suspect Fresca's cow won't last long if Auggie continues at the pace he has been going with this toy.

So I have a confession to make.  I can't bear the thought of that toy being ripped to shreds.  It's my last physical link to Fresca.  I swiped it from Auggie when he was distracted with another toy and I'm going to put it up where he can't get it.  I still need to be able to give the cow a quick hug on the days when I'm particularly missing my Wonder Dog.

It's been a day of "firsts" for Auggie.  He had his first nail trim and did pretty darn well.  He got his first dog license.  Although, when the clerk asked me if I'd ever registered another dog with the township, I found myself telling her about Fresca and how she had passed away and I almost found myself crying at the counter.  Sheesh.....get a grip!

Auggie also had his first "play date" with his sister, Kinzie and Kinzie's big sister, Sadie.  Wow, Kinzie is no longer acting like a little princess.  She was getting the best of Auggie for the first half of their play date and then the tides turned.  Suddenly Auggie had her number figured out and was a lot more successful in pinning her down and knocking her over.

I'll leave you with this picture of Auggie and I sleeping last night after our show finished up on TV.  The sneaky Commander snapped it while we slept.  We seem to have similar expressions.  Oy!

Not Quite on the Same Page Yet!

Day Three with Auggie our Westie and we're still trying to learn each other's rhythms.  So far we've discovered that the little guy likes to watch TV.  He's quite enthralled with what goes on on the big screen and will settle down on your lap for a good long stretch.

We've learned that keeping him in the big crate on one floor while we sleep on the other floor at night isn't working because he didn't make a fuss to let us know that he needed to go out.  Instead he wet in his crate while letting me sleep through the night until 5.  I'm a light sleeper and was awake off and on all that first night expecting him to bark or whine when he needed to go out but I didn't hear a peep out of him.  We had the crate divider in, too, so he would have a small space.  The prevailing theory is that a dog won't soil their sleeping space/den.  Uh-huh.    We now have him in the small portable kennel and are putting him next to my side of the bed and I'm setting my alarm for the wee hours of the morning to get up and take him out.  It worked last night.  He kept things dry and he stirred and woke me up again at 5 a.m. to let him out again.

I've read so many books on how to potty train/crate train/stop biting and nipping/etc. that I'm going cross-eyed.  Apparently Auggie hasn't read those same books.  I mean, the prevailing wisdom is that a puppy will need to relieve itself 15 minutes or so after eating.  Auggie interrupts his meal to walk into the middle of the kitchen and let loose.  And how the heck do you distinguish the difference between sniffing for a spot to "go" and just exploring the scents of new surroundings?  Our little guy doesn't do the circling thing that my other dogs would do when they were ready to go.  He just lets loose.  Consequently, I'm spending LOTS of time running out with him to the dog yard.

Speaking of our dog yard........Auggie likes to eat rocks.  He also likes to stick his nose down and tunnel through the mulch.  He likes to dig in the mulch too and it doesn't take long before he is down to the landscape mat covering.  Oy!  He has also discovered our heat pump and all the wires and hoses leading out from it and is determined to chew on those.  No matter how I redirect him, he goes right back to it.  So I'm now having to take him out on a leash and stand out there holding the leash so he can't bother the pump and cords.  As for standing out there, one book said to just stand there and not interact with your dog until he goes.  That's hard to do when said dog is tugging on your pant legs or chewing on your shoes or biting your socks (and thus, your legs).  I read in another book that you could try spraying mouthwash spray slightly ahead of his muzzle when he tugs on your pants and this should cure him.  The Commander was out shopping tonight so I asked him to bring some back.  He couldn't find any.  I had to laugh when he asked if I thought the air freshener spray up in the bathroom would work just as well.

This is my first time trying crate training/potty training.  Before we always set up a wired enclosure in our kitchen lined with newspapers and then would take the puppy out from that.  This crate stuff is hard to figure out.  It sounds like they are to be out only when you are watching them every second or if they just went potty outside.  Then you can reward them with some play time.  You have to potty them after a nap, after eating, after playing, and if a certain length of time has gone by.  If they go, you can reward them with some play time.  But wait, doesn't that mean then that you have to take them out again?  Oy, maybe I should build a temporary little hut in the dog yard for myself.  I'm out there enough, eh?

I just ordered one of those leashes that snap around your waist so you can tether the dog to you as you go about your daily activities.  This way, he can't bounce off (and he moves fast) and get under furniture.  He thinks he's made up a new game called "Hide and Go Seek and Make Mommy's Knees Creak."

Auggie does seem to have some tendencies that I think we could make work for us.  The other day he grabbed a rubber broom and headed out of the kitchen with it.  Now this is a tiny puppy and it was a big broom but he managed to grab it and drag it through the doorway and down into the living room.  When we grabbed it from him, he streaked back into the kitchen and came bouncing out with the dustpan.

Butter my biscuits, if he didn't go around the room trying to scoop up his toys with the dustpan.  Now if we could take those cleaning tendencies and develop them, maybe we could get him to wield a dust rag, too.

Guess where the broom and dustpan are now being temporarily stored?  His nice, new dog bed is sitting on one of our living room chairs because he tried to rip it to shreds.  Our living room curtains are draped over the Florida shutters since he also tried to eat those.  Maybe he's part shark.    Well, gotta go and finish reading some more of those training books.  Baby's napping!

Meet Auggie MacDuff!

Meet the newest member of our family - our little 9-week old West Highland White Terrier, Auggie MacDuff!   We headed up to midstate PA yesterday on a gorgeous, crisp day with my friend, Judy and two of her grandchildren and Judy's dog, Sadie, to pick up our puppies.  Judy was getting a littermate of Auggie's - a little girl Westie.

The Commander had picked out Auggie from the litter when he was 5 weeks old when I was in Texas so I had never met him.  I was a tad nervous wondering how I'd feel about the little guy.  Well it was love at first sight.  Here is a picture of our first moments together.  I think the feelings were mutual.

Judy and her little Kinzie got along well, too.  Kinzie was so funny to watch compared to Auggie.  Auggie is all boy and Kinzie was such a little princess.

The two puppies shadowed Sadie all over the room, pouncing on her and pestering her.  Of course, she retaliated by "sliming" them - licking them all over.

This is Sadie and her new little sister, Kinzie.  I think they're going to have LOTS of fun together, don't you?

Judy and her granddaughter tried to help me get a shot of the puppies where they aren't a blur of motion.  Kinzie is saying, "Be sure you photograph my best side."  Auggie is saying, "Ma, Ma......what's she doing?  Let me down.  I've got places to go." His little feet were a blur of motion.

Towards the end of our time at the breeder's, little Kinzie conked out.  You'd think that Auggie would have been tuckered out, too, wouldn't you?  You'd be wrong.

He had swiped Judy's camera case and was making off with it before she realized what had happened and was able to retrieve it from his little jaws.

We got some last minute instruction from our breeder along with some paperwork before it was time to make the 4-hour drive back home.  At this point, Auggie settled right down to sleep contentedly in my lap.  I told the gang that Auggie's philosophy must be "party hardy and then collapse and sleep."

We are now beginning the slippery negotiating of crate/potty training.  It's amazing how much I've forgotten and it's also amazing how different each dog is when it comes to the "signs" they give when they have to "go."   I'm confident that Auggie and I will both figure it out.  In the meantime, I foresee a LOT of fresh air in my future.