The Lost Notebook

We brought Bella, our new puppy, home a few days ago. I wanted to start blogging about it the minute we got back from the kennel, but I was too overwhelmed on that night to get anything done!
Let me try and remember how things happened. Pia will go over the post and edit it later 🙂

On the first day, we arrived at the kennel at about 4:30PM. Our friend (the owner) was not there, but he instructed one of the guys to give us the dog. We asked him if he could trim her claws, but he “didn’t have any scissors”.

From there we went to the vet. She’s fine, a bit of scratches and flees, nothing too drastic. We asked about spaying her, as we read that should be done before her first period (6 months). She’s already 5 months, but the vet said we can wait a couple of weeks until she’s gotten used to us and the house.

At home, we discovered that Bella had peed in her travel crate. We took her outside, cleaned her. One of us stayed with her while we cleaned and disinfected the crate (she will be living in that for the next few months).

We spent about 2 hours in the yard with her trying to make her eliminate (poop). Nothing! In the end we were too tired, so we put her in the crate (door closed), in the living room. She was frustrated and made plenty of whining noises. No barking so far (up until this day, I only heard 1 bark out of her when a fly landed on her nose while she was asleep!) I slept that night in the living room, woke up 3 or 4 times to speak with her. I even took her outside a couple of times, she peed once!

The second day, I was so exhausted and so was my wife. She couldn’t sleep either with all the whining and clawing inside the crate. I took Bella outside at about 6:30AM and she immediately chose a place to pee (same as the night before!) I was happy.

Things went easier after that. At noon (after she slept in the crate for a few hours) I took her outside again, and she eliminated almost instantly as soon as we reached “the spot”. Pia and I spent many hours since then teaching her stuff. She now knows her name and answers to it immediately (almost 100%). She will also sit and fetch on demand. Next is “handshaking” (requested by my father) and “down” (essential). Hopefully we’ll have that in the next 24 hours.

Did I mention she’s now going to her crate alone and sitting there beside me all day while I’m working? She will still make some noises after we leave her alone in the room, but will stop after we say “NO” with a firm voice just once. Pia is responsible for the discipline (my voice seems to be too low 🙂 )

We were following the “DogTrust” training videos on YouTube so far. All good, but we need other sources as the 25 videos in the series only cover so much. I will write about the training later. Pia is preparing a blog for “Our Cat and Dog“, further info will probably be posted there.

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