The Good, the Bad & the Snugly - A week with Stanley
Well, it's official - 1 week down with lil Stanley. The week has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. I was prepared for puppy motherhood to be tiring. Now I know that may have been a bit of an understatement. Between the nighttime potty breaks, the scrubbing of my carpet to get stains out, the massive amounts of laundry I've done - it's been downright exhausting. On the plus side, I'm bound to lose a few pounds after all the walking up & down my stairs I've done. Note to self - find a 1st floor apartment next time. And Stanley has been quite a handful through it all. Hours go by where he does nothing but sleep. Of course those hours are mostly during my waking hours - he's been a bit of a night owl. And then there are those moments when he's totally bouncing off the walls. He's quite independant and sometimes overly dominant. He's quite the "alpha" and I wasn't prepared for that aspect. He was extremely nippy in the beginning and took a liking to our toes right away. His "nippiness" has gone down a bit but every morning when he wakes up, it's like I have to remind him all over again that biting is bad. The housetraining is coming along. He was a dream the first couple of days because he never soiled his crate. But alas, I made a naive mommy mistake and switched his food too fast resulting in lots of loose stool. Lovely. I felt horrible that he had to put up with that and I was the reason! My punishment I guess was cleaning up his blanket at 4am after he pooped on it, again and again. But things are looking up in that department so hopefully housetraining will get back on track. Also, he's not always motivated by food or treats. Sometimes he'll eat a treat I offer him, sometimes he just turns his nose away. I'm worried it will be difficult to train him if he isn't super into treats. Am I wrong? For a few days, I wasn't sure if Stanley even "liked" me. Now this could be my insecure paranoia coming up but I detected a bit of aggression from him towards me, growling and such. It's a work in progress but I've noticed him taking more of an interest in being near me now. Things are looking up. I'm looking into finding a training class to enroll him in at 10 weeks. Fingers crossed that that will help.
And as tired as I am, as disheartened as I feel at times - looking at his little stubby legs and his big brown eyes just melts my heart. His personality is starting to shine through more and more everyday. I've got so much love to give to the lil guy. And I'm proud of how smart he can be. He's already mastered walking up the stairs to our apartment - in less than 1 week! Go Stanley! And I gave him his first bath today and he was such a darling. Never cried or freaked out. Just stood there like a perfect puppy. I'm willing to put 100% into raising him. Any advice for first timers is much appreciated.
And as tired as I am, as disheartened as I feel at times - looking at his little stubby legs and his big brown eyes just melts my heart. His personality is starting to shine through more and more everyday. I've got so much love to give to the lil guy. And I'm proud of how smart he can be. He's already mastered walking up the stairs to our apartment - in less than 1 week! Go Stanley! And I gave him his first bath today and he was such a darling. Never cried or freaked out. Just stood there like a perfect puppy. I'm willing to put 100% into raising him. Any advice for first timers is much appreciated.
Comment
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Comment by Boots and Superstar! on November 15, 2008 at 11:10pm
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aww Jenny! so he is a handful a little bit? mine has been very different from Stanley, she doesnt soil the crate, she sleeps all night, that she sleeps from ~12 am-9am. she eats her training treats, i got them at petco, (just ask for training treats) they are different in texture and taste better but do not overfeed. had you tried the wee pads? this is what i do, when i wake up in the morning, i place a wee pad in the bathroom and i surround the pup with my hands. when the pup is ready to pee, he will pee in the pad and he will get used to it. reward him for doing pee on the wee pad. i do this and it works, so now whenever she gets a reward, its gonna be where she pee on the wee pad.when there is an accident, grab the pup towards the wee pad. my friend told me to spray vinegar but i dont know what would be the reaction to the puppy. when he nips, do a sudden puppy sound of whining, meaning "ouch! dont bite me, you are hurting me!" and ignore him. he will be biting but its his teething, so it is normal. i thought that celeste was giving us the puppies at 7 weeks and i asked her about getting her this weekend cause it was the 8th week and she said that the puppies were already 8 weeks on nov.9. superstar is turning into an alpha cause she doesnt listen sometimes and she barks and takes everything, but you have to have a firm body language when she seeks attention and she will be getting the message that "oh, mommy is the boss!" superstar eats my cat's food, and i am freaking out! but when you have sudden diet change, try to mix the old type of food with the new one.but if you need anything, let me know!
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Comment by Lou Ann Lemaster on November 15, 2008 at 5:43am
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I got Duncan at 8 weeks, and I agree with the idea of waiting until they are 10-12 weeks old to go to a home. My first corgi was 12 weeks when I got her (about 37 years ago), and the behavior was much different. She was more calmer, not as bitey or nipping. It was because the people that breed the mother then, couldn't find homes for the puppies any eariler than that. No one had heard let alone seen a corgi back then. And I got lucky and got mine FREE!!!!! I grew up with their daughter and was always over there playing and help cleaning up with the puppies. So, they gave me my first corgi as a birthday present.
Duncan was a little nippy when I got him, but the water bottle did wonders and he got out of that real quick. He was easy to train, and I had piddle pads for him to use, and still do have them for him for when the weather is bad or my husband is asleep. He works nights and sleeps days, and they have save him from being woke up all the time to let Duncan out.
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