Speed Bumps and Learning Curves

Well, not only did the shelter initially get Luke’s sex wrong, but their prediction that he was approximately 3 years-old turned out to be way off, too.  According to Dr. Ellis at Animal Care Clinic, Luke is actually only around 11 months-old!  Yes, ladies and gentleman, it appears that Justin and I have ourselves another puppy (not that we’re complaining).  The vet said that he’s very healthy, and he’s scheduled to receive more vaccinations, as well as be neutered, in about three weeks. 

While Luke’s lack of appetite worried me for the first few days, we’re learning that he just doesn’t like to inhale his entire bowl of food in one sitting like his sisters.  He prefers to eat his food a little bit at a time, although we do have to make sure that Margot doesn’t sneak and finish off his bowl of food in between sittings.   I’m just happy that he is finally eating better, and I’m sure he’s going to fatten up a little in no time. 

Overall, Luke is a very good boy, although there are a couple of issues that we’re trying to address with him.  The first issue is the fact that he jumps up to greet people.  Chad, who is a vet tech at the Animal Care Clinic and also teaches obedience training there, told us during Luke’s check-up that the best thing to do for that is raise our knee and hold up our hands whenever Luke jumps, and of course reward him if he sits instead of jumping.  We’ve been doing that, but our little Luke just doesn’t seem to be getting it.  He is definitely a smart dog, but he does seem to be a little bit slower to pick up on things than we’re used to.  So, Justin and I are just going to have to be a little more patient when trying to train him, that’s all.

In fact, his inability to “get it” is the other issue we’re having with Luke.  No many how many times I give him a quick touch to try to correct him, he immediately comes right back and repeats his bad behavior again.  The worst is when he tries to run out onto the porch as soon as we open the front door.  Despite his short stature, Luke is a pretty powerful little dog and will just keep trying to barrel through our attempts to keep him back and away from the door.  He will even lower himself all the way to the floor and stick a paw or his nose in the doorway so that we can’t shut it.  I know that sounds kind of funny, and I do at least have enough of a sense of humor to appreciate Luke’s sneaky tactics, but it’s also very dangerous for Luke and quite annoying for us when we’re trying to leave. 

This morning, I decided to practice more of Cesar Millan’s methods by trying to wait until Luke achieved a fully calm-submissive state before I even opened the front door.  Unfortunately, I can tell that it will take quite a long time for Luke to achieve that state of mind, and I only had a few minutes before I had to be at work.  Regardless, instead of just opening the door and fighting Luke off so that I could shut it behind me, I first walked to the front door and just put my hand on the doorknob.  As soon as Luke came into my space, I turned around, gave him a quick touch, and told him, “No.”  When he immediately moved forward again, I repeated the correction.  After I did this several times, he did finally stop moving forward.  So, I took a step toward him to further claim my space around the front door.  He looked me right in the eyes and backed up a step, which was good.  Then, I stood there and waited, and Luke finally sat.  However, his attention was still clearly focused on the door.  If I had had more time this morning, I would have continued standing there and claiming my space (not allowing him to move closer to the front door) until he finally laid down and relaxed.  Then, it would have been okay for me to walk out the front door. 

However, due to lack of time, after Luke sat and I stood there for a moment, I decided to go ahead and reach back for the door knob.  As soon as I did, Luke lunged forward towards the door again.  I was able to correct him enough so that I was able to get out the front door, but in order to shut the door I had to physically push Luke away with my foot, which made me feel awful.   So, I’m definitely going to work on this problem with Luke more when I have plenty of time to practice patience with him, as well.

While I’m on the subject of behaviors that need correcting, Miss Margot has developed a new behavior that is very disappointing.  She’s begun pulling on her leash during walks, which she never used to do before, and this has only developed over this past winter.  (Luke is a dream to walk on his leash, by the way.  He stays right by your side, and if he starts to pull even a little bit, he corrects himself.)  I’ve tried correcting Margot by giving her leash a quick jerk and making the “anh!” sound, but all she does is spin around for a brief second, and then continue to pull.  I’ve also tried stopping dead in my tracks as soon as she pulls and making her stand there with me for a few seconds before walking again.  The problem is that, even though we’ve stopped walking, she is still in a very high-alert state of mind.  Justin and I have both attempted to snap her out of it by trying to get Margot to look us in the eye and even sit during these pauses on our walks, but she absolutely will not pay attention to us.  In fact, she acts like we’re just in her way if we try to look her in the eye, and she’ll keep moving her head around to see what’s behind us.  I’ve also tried doing that thing that Cesar does, where he kind of taps the dog on their hindquarters with his foot while they’re walking to surprise the dog and snap her out of their anxious state of mind, but when I do this with Margot, it just ends up looking like I’m kicking my dog, and it doesn’t even work anyway.   So, now I’m considering buying one of those leashes that Cesar recommends that fits right up under the dog’s chin.   Something has got to work because it’s getting to the point where I don’t even want to walk Margot, even though I know I have to.  So, it’s starting to feel more like a chore to take her for a walk rather than an enjoyable experience for both of us, and I don’t want that.

Justin and I decided to take all three dogs out for a couple of walks this past weekend, which went fairly well.  The first walk was better than the second walk, though, and I cut the second walk short out of frustration.  During their first walk together, I started out walking both Sam and Margot and let Justin walk Luke because Sam and Margot are the two “pullers,” and I feel like they respect me as an authority figure more than they do Justin (no offense to Justin, but he’s just too tender-hearted and gentle to really demand their respect the way that I do).  However, Sam was actually being very well behaved and not pulling on her leash at all, and because Margot was turning into quite the handful, Justin offered to walk Sam with Luke.  That turned out to be a much better arrangement, because Luke and Sam were excellent walkers together.

So, yesterday, when we decided to walk all three of them again, Justin took Sam and Luke and I took Margot.  I want to preface this by adding that I had just come back from a four-hour photo shoot, which was fun, but a bit nerve-racking for various reasons.  So, my nerves were already a bit frazzled when we decided to go for a walk, which probably didn’t help make Sam and Margot feel any more relaxed.   However, the main problem was that there were a lot more people and dogs out at the park yesterday, so Margot and Sam were both at higher states of excitement and energy than the day before.  (Notice I’m not mentioning Luke because he remained a calm, happy dog during both pack walks.)   I tried to pause several times during the walk, taking deep breaths each time to try to release my own anxious energy, but as soon as we’d start walking again, it would come right back.   

Sam’s energy was more of a nervous/scared/anxious energy, which is very typical for her, whereas Margot seemed to have more of a high level of alertness and excitement in general, as in, “What’s that?  Who’s that over there?  Where is he going?  Why is she running?  What are those people doing?”  Whenever Sam and Margot would come close to another dog, however, they would both lunge and pull to get to the dog, but for different very reasons.  I believe that Margot is truly just very excited and simply wants to meet the other dog to see if he/she is friendly and wants to play, but Sam barks out of fear and actually wants to make the dog go away.   So, the owners of the dog in question don’t really know what to think or how to react to our dogs, and the whole time Justin and I are trying to yell over all the barking to explain to the other owners that Margot really is just trying to be friendly, and Sam really isn’t being aggressive towards their dog; she’s just nervous and barking because she’s scared.   In other words, every time Sam and Margot encounter an unfamiliar dog, it always ends up being just this huge, loud, chaotic, embarrassing mess, and it always ends with Justin and me having to pull Sam and Margot away from the other dog in order to restore the peace.  It really bothers me because not only is it physically exhausting and embarrassing, but I feel like it makes Sam and Margot look like they’re both aggressive towards other dogs, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

The thing is, Justin and I both feel that if Sam and Margot were to encounter an unfamiliar dog by themselves, without her sister there, those two encounters would be much different.  Margot would still get excited and want to meet the other dog, but without Sam constantly barking behind her and making the other dog nervous and unsure about what’s going on, that other dog would probably just let Margot sniff him/her and reciprocate.  In turn, if Sam were to encounter another dog without Margot there being all excited and anxious to meet the other dog, Sam would probably just keep her mouth shut and go out of her way to avoid the dog all together.   

So, unfortunately, it seems like the solution is pretty clear:  Margot and Sam shouldn’t go on walks together; at least, not in heavily dog-populated areas, like the park.   However, if we decide to walk Sam and Margot at separate times, I do think that it might be a good idea to still include Luke on both of those walks because I think he sets a good example for both girls.  Luke’s main focus during walks is following me and/or Justin.  He truly sees us as his leaders, and he behaves accordingly.  As I said before, he walks right by our sides, and we’re able to keep his leash loose and relaxed the whole time.  Occasionally, Luke will walk ahead a little bit, especially if he’s trying to keep up with his sisters, but as soon as he feels tension on his leash, he automatically slows his pace and/or returns to our side.  Justin and I both suspect that Luke would probably be able to walk with us without a leash, but it’s definitely too soon to test that theory.  I wouldn’t want to try walking him without a leash until he’s undergone some formal training and I feel confident that he’ll come when he’s called.

Anyway, despite everything that I just mentioned above, which are all correctable behaviors, Justin and I are really happy that we decided to adopt Luke.  Not only do he and Margot get along very well, but Sam has finally relaxed around him and doesn’t get as upset anymore whenever Luke and Margot start rough-housing.  Also, just as I had hoped, Margot now prefers to pick on Luke instead of Sam because she knows that Luke will be happy to play with her.  Besides wrestling, Luke and Margot’s favorite games are Keep-Away and Tug-O-War. 

My favorite is when they start chasing each other around the living room, kitchen, and dining room, which are all open and connected rooms, so it’s kind of like they’re running around a track.  They’ll run in that circle a few times, and then one of them will stop and wait for the other one to catch up.  However, if Luke hears Margot stop, for example, then he’ll stop, too, and then they will both slowly sneak around and peek into the next room, hoping to catch the other by surprise.  When one of them finally does surprise the other, then they get all excited and start chasing each other again.  It’s really fun and heartwarming to watch, because that’s the type of high-energy playing that I know Sam just can’t (and doesn’t want to) do anymore. 

So, overall, I believe that everyone is much happier now that Luke has joined the family.  Sure, we’ve got a few wrinkles to iron out, but that was to be expected, and honestly, it could have been a lot worse!

20-Week (5 Months?) Progress Report

"Helping" me edit.

So, I have a question.  Margot is 20 weeks-old today, so technically that means she’s 5 months-old, right (assuming four weeks per month)?  However, she was born on June 13, so shouldn’t I say that her 5-month birthday is on November 13?!?!? 

Well, in any event, I’m happy to report that there has been more progress in the housebreaking department!  Margot seems to FINALLY be grasping the concept of telling us when she needs to go outside!   I’ve heard her whine on a couple of occasions, which prompted me to ask her if she needed to go out, and she’s also started giving us “The Look.”    I wish I could say that there have been minimal to no accidents in the house since Margot has started indicating her need to go out, but unfortunately I cannot, thanks to this horrible Hurricane Sandy-induced weather we’ve been having.  However, with that said, over the last two days Margot has actually made some progress in that department, as well, as she seems to be getting used to going out in the rain to use the bathroom. 

Speaking of the horrible weather we’ve been having, Margot got to experience her first snow yesterday morning.  As much as she hates the cold and rain, though, I wasn’t expecting her to like snow very much, and my assumption proved to be right.  As soon as I opened the back door and she saw the small amount of snow that was covering our deck, she put on the breaks and even tried to run back into the kitchen.  I stopped her, though, and basically shoved her little butt out the back door.  She sniffed at the snow for a few seconds, just trying to figure out what it was, while I encouraged her to go pee.  Finally, she reluctantly went out into the slushy yard and found a spot, but she turned her head and GLARED at me the whole time she peed.  When she was finished, instead of running back into the house and jumping on the couch like she usually does, she made a beeline up the stairs to our bedroom, jumped into the bed with Justin, and burrowed herself under the covers with him!  I couldn’t stop laughing.  What a little wimp!

In other news, Margot has been a wild child in the evenings since we haven’t been able to take her to the dog park.  However, this isn’t necessarily a totally bad thing because it means she’s spending more quality time with me and Justin again.  My only complaint about taking her to the dog park so often was that I felt like she was becoming a little bit disconnected from us, if that makes sense?  For example, Justin and I both felt like Margot wasn’t minding us as well as she had been before we started taking her to the dog park.  I actually wondered if it was possible that being around so many dogs all the time was kind of putting her in a “wild pack animal” mindset rather than keeping her in the “obedient family pet” mindset.   (To be clear, it’s not that she was being “bad” whenever we’d take her to the dog park, but she definitely didn’t listen to us very well whenever we’d call for her.)   For that reason, I’m actually kind of glad that the dog park has been put on hiatus for the winter, especially with her only being 5 months-old.  She’s going to do a lot of growing up, both physically and mentally, from now until spring, including some formal obedience training, and she is going to be spending the majority of that time at home with me and Justin.  Therefore, by the time Margot starts going back to the dog park on a regular basis, she’ll probably be much more strongly bonded to us, more mature, and hopefully more obedient when we give her a command. 

I am Sam and Margot's human mattress.

In fact, I can already tell that she’s started bonding more closely to me and Justin, especially since the weather has been so cold, because she LOVES to snuggle.   Last Sunday, I was in snuggle Heaven because that’s pretty much all that Margot and I did ALL day.  At one point, Ashley and I were watching “Moonrise Kingdom” on Blu-Ray and I was sitting in the floor in front of the fireplace while Margot played with her toys.  Little by little, I noticed that Margot was actually migrating over to where I sat, until finally she was actually playing sort of half-on my lap.  Then, when she finally wore herself out from wrestling with her new stuffed monkey and chasing after her tennis ball, she didn’t climb onto the big, soft couch and snuggle up with Sam.  Oh no!  Instead, my “little” 40-pound Doberman puppy chose to make herself fit into my lap by curling up as tightly as possible  and resting her chin on my arm as I cradled her.   It meant so much to me that she insisted on napping in my lap that I almost cried.  It was just so sweet.

After dinner that same night, I became a human mattress when both Margot and Sam decided to nap on top of me while Justin watched football, and later, when I went upstairs to watch one of my trashy Bravo network TV shows, Margot followed me upstairs and cuddled with me in my bed.  I know I’ve mentioned this before, but my favorite thing about Margot cuddling with me is watching her fight off sleep.  She does this thing where her chin slowly sinks down farther and farther, but she keeps looking forward with her eyes (“puppy dog eyes”).  Then, her eyelids get heavier and heavier, until finally she can’t fight it anymore and she rests her head on my leg, arm, chest, etc. and falls asleep.  It just kills me. 

I swear, if this dog gets any more lovable I think my heart may actually explode.  :)

Margot wearing Lexie's old Yoda costume!

Feeling Pretty Low

We made it back home to WV from our vacation in Emerald Isle, NC this past Friday evening.  I wish I could tell you that I had a fantastic time, but unfortunately I had to go to the beach with a VERY heavy heart this year.  Don’t get me wrong, the beach was beautiful, the house was amazing, my friends were awesome (all 15 of them), and my little brother even proposed to his girlfriend, Kristy!   Like I said, though, it was just very unfortunate that my heart wasn’t 100% into the vacation this year due to the sudden loss of my Jocie the day before we left and, of course, the tragic loss of my Lou just a month prior to that.  Still, I tried to put on a happy face and not think about the sadness for the majority of our vacation, but it all sunk in pretty hard during the drive home.

All of us in Emerald Isle, NC, 2012

I also wish I could tell you that my mood improved greatly once I was reunited with Margot and Sam, but again, unfortunately I cannot.  Although I was VERY happy to see Sam and Margot again, my heart still remains heavy, as I have had to make a very difficult decision this past weekend.   Margot has basically become obsessed with Sam and will NOT leave her alone.  It’s very sad because she is only being a normal puppy and wanting Sam to play with her, but it truly is making Sam’s life a living Hell.  Margot is constantly nipping at her, climbing all over her, and running circles around her, which is driving Sam crazy.  I did some reading about this type of situation online, and everything advises against yelling at Margot because it might really confuse her, as she is merely behaving like a normal, playful puppy.  The articles I’ve read said that the best thing to do is separate the older dog from the puppy while the puppy is being playful, but that has proven to be a problem for us because Sam doesn’t like spending time alone.  We’ve tried allowing Sam to go upstairs by herself in order to get away from Margot for a while, but if Justin and I BOTH are not upstairs with her, she doesn’t want to stay up there.  She’ll come back down to the baby gate and cry until we let her back down, despite knowing that the puppy is going to continue picking on her. 



Reunited and it feels so gooood!



Fortunately, Justin’s mother apparently fell in LOVE with our Sam while she babysat the girls for us last week.  She loves how affectionate Sam is, and she even let Sam sleep in the bed with her at night, which is Sam’s idea of HEAVEN.  Not only that, but Sam also loved spending her days lounging on Justin’s parents’ screened-in wrap-around porch and enjoyed their large, fenced-in back yard.  Therefore, I am considering a sort of “joint custody” arrangement between us and Justin’s parents because not only do I feel like it might make Sam much happier, but Justin’s mother has mentioned several times how much she misses Sam ever since we picked her up last Friday. 

Even as I type this, though, the thought of not having Sam at home with me 24/7 makes my heart ache, which is why I’m only considering doing this on a trial basis for now.  The thing is, I really don’t know how much time Sam has left, and I’d much rather her spend her golden years enjoying a big back yard, chillin’ out on a screened-in porch, and soaking up the tons of affection that I know Justin’s mother will give her than spend her final days constantly trying to avoid the annoyance of an incessantly nipping, rambunctious puppy.  Believe me, I would not be giving this “joint custody” idea one ounce of consideration if I didn’t feel like it would make Sam a million times happier, and everyone who has seen Margot pestering Sam over the last couple of days has agreed with me 100% that it is probably a good idea.  So, starting tonight, we’re going to try leaving Sam with Justin’s parents during the week, and then we’ll bring her home on the weekends.  If Sam seems even the least bit upset about being away from home, I will just have to figure out something else.  However, if Sam truly seems happier staying with Justin’s parents, no matter how I’ll miss her or how much my heart will ache, at least I will know she’s happy.  (Ugh.  I’m tearing up just thinking about this.)

I really do wish I could have written a happier post about how much fun we had at the beach and how great things are now that we’re back home, but as you’ve probably gathered by now, this has basically been the worse summer of my life.  For the record, I’m normally a very optimistic person, and finding silver linings has always come very naturally to me, but it’s becoming harder and harder to bounce back from life’s “little” set-backs, especially when so many horrible things have happened in such a short amount of time, and they’ve all been extremely tragic with very complicated circumstances.  Just so you fully understand where I’m coming from, let’s re-cap, shall we?

Three years ago, I had to deal with my husband’s tragic (and highly dramatic) suicide on TOP of also dealing with his alcoholism and mental illness, and I even later discovered he had been lying to me for years about just about everything, including our financial situation.  My photography business basically came to a screeching halt after that as I focused on putting my life back together, mainly for the sake of my three girls (Jocie, Sam, and Lexie), which decreased my now single income even more significantly.  Last summer, I was laid off from my job due to cut-backs and struggled for two whole months to find new employment and practically drained my savings account in the process.  This summer, I spent two months draining my savings account even further (almost down to nothing) while running my beloved Lexie back and forth to Columbus, Ohio in an unsuccessful attempt to save her eyes, only to find out after putting her through three traumatic eye surgeries that she had Stage IV mammary cancer, which the so-called “specialists” at MedVet had somehow missed during previous testing.  During all of this, on the 4^th of July, I learned that one of my best friends from high school, Beth, was found dead by her 16 year-old son after she laid down for a nap the previous afternoon and never woke up (they believe she had a seizure).  Then, a few days later, the day after Lexie’s stitches were finally removed from her pointlessly empty, infected eye sockets, Lexie was in so much pain from her mammary cancer that she collapsed and had to be put down.  Justin and I tried to bring some happiness back into our lives by bringing home Margot, which worked for a few weeks, but then, just one month after losing Lexie (a couple weeks ago), I had to put down my oldest, Jocie, the day before our summer vacation after learning that she had advanced kidney failure and was no longer eating.  And now, here I am, thousands of dollars in debt and about to send my sweet Sam off to live with another family because I foolishly thought an 11 year-old dog and a less than 4 month-old puppy would have no problems living together. 

If I REALLY wanted to pile on the doom and gloom, I guess I could also mention that over the past two years I’ve managed to fall madly in love with a wonderful man who also just happens to have Type I diabetes and was told when he was 8 years-old that he probably won’t live past the age of 40.  That, of course, probably isn’t true, and it was horrible of Justin’s doctors to tell him such a thing back then, but the fact remains that he WILL eventually develop serious complications due to his diabetes.  Hopefully, that won’t happen for many, many years, but every single day I live with the fear that I will someday lose him and ultimately die alone.   So, how’s that for an extremely gloomy ending to an incredibly depressing rant?

Okay, okay…I will now try to prove that I’m normally an optimistic person by ending this Debbie Downer blog post on some positive notes.  For one, as I mentioned earlier, Zach and Kristy are now officially engaged, and I am beyond excited for their wedding next year!  (The date hasn’t been set in stone yet, but they’re thinking about the end of September, 2013.)  I am also extremely honored that Kristy has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.  I’ve photographed literally HUNDREDS of weddings over the past eight years, but I’ve never actually been in a wedding before!  I’m so happy for both of them, as they make each other very happy.

Left - Margot at 7 wks with Mandee; Right - Margot at 11 wks with Ashley

Another positive thing is that our friend and roommate, Ashley, returned home from her three-month-long trip to teach in Africa this summer and finally met Margot for the first time on Sunday night.  I’m pretty sure that she and Margot fell instantly in love, and Ashley seems excited about having a new puppy in the house.   Ashley is also a lot of fun to have around, so I’m looking forward to many laughter-filled nights hanging out with her at home. 

Finally, I wouldn’t dream of ending this blog post without saying at least a few positive things about Miss Margot.  For one, I couldn’t believe how much she grew during the one short week that we were gone!  She’s so long and lanky now, and her paws are absolutely HUGE.  I don’t know how she’s ever supposed to grow into those paws if they just keep getting bigger as the rest of her grows!  I was a little worried that she may have become a little less disciplined while we were away, but thankfully Margot is still a very good puppy.  Don’t get me wrong, she has her moments, but overall she really is surprisingly well-behaved for being only 11 weeks-old.  I also think that she may be officially entering the teething stage, as chewing on the Nylabone is her #1 favorite thing in the world right now.   She continues to show bite inhibition when she plays, though, and she is still happy to redirect her play-biting to a toy when one is given to her, so I’m very happy about all of that. 



Teething time!



I will also say that, despite all of the above-mentioned doom and gloom that is currently hanging over my head, it is impossible not to smile, laugh, or feel at least a small amount of happiness when I’m playing with Margot.  She is so much fun and such a joy to have around.  I wish with all my heart that she and Sam were getting along better, and I hate, hate, HATE that Sam may occasionally have to stay somewhere else for the sake of giving her a “happily ever after,” but I am still so thankful that Justin and I decided to bring Margot into our lives because, otherwise, I feel like we would just be holding our breath and counting down the days until we have to say good-bye to Samul, too.   Margot gives me a reason to look forward to what lies ahead instead of just dreading what might happen next.  She also continuously surprises me with her ability to lift my spirits, no matter how overwhelmed by sadness I am or how hopeless I may feel, even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time. 

A Weekend of Positives and One Big Negative

Well, I can say with certainty that Margot's play-biting has improved, but I really don’t know if credit should be given to the bean bottle or the fact that she’s just learning on her own that no means no.  Since that first night of the “bean bottle experiment,” when I shook the bean-filled bottle while saying, “No bite!” several times, I honestly haven’t had to use it much more.  That experience seemed to have been enough to at least help Margot understand the whole “no bite” concept.  She will still mouth and bite people, but her bites are more inhibited now, and she is much more willing to redirect and chew on one of her toys instead.  In fact, she seems to have discovered that it is much more fun to chew on her Nylabone if someone else holds it for her while she’s chewing it, and she will gladly do this for a really long time without getting bored. 

Housebreaking, on the other hand, is apparently not going as well as I thought.  Margot has always understood that going outside means that she is supposed to use the bathroom.  She also knows that when I ask, “You gotta go pee?” that means we are going to go outside.  However, I don’t believe that Margot understands that A) she’s not supposed to or allowed to use the bathroom indoors, and B) she needs to ask to be let outside if she needs to use the bathroom.   

The perfect example of this happened on Saturday evening.  Two different times, as soon as Margot awoke from a nap, I immediately asked if she had to go pee.  I then got up, opened the back door, and waited to hear Margot come running, which she usually does.  However, on both occasions, she did not immediately come running, and when I walked back into the living room, I found her peeing on her doggy bed.  I told her, “NO!  Margot go pee outside!” then immediately took her outside and sat her in the grass while saying, “Margot, go pee.”  On the second occasion, after I sat her in the grass, I left her in the yard for a couple of minutes while I went back inside to clean up her mess.  After I let her back in, she played for about a minute, but then I just happened to catch her mid-poop in the foyer when I got up to go into the kitchen!  At least this time I was able to get her outside in time for her to actually finish using the bathroom in the yard so I could praise her like crazy for finishing outdoors, but I still just do not understand why she chose to poop in the house instead of while she was outside just minutes earlier. 

It’s very disheartening because, like I said, now I feel like she’s really not getting the whole housebreaking concept at all.  And I know that some of you are going to say that I need to watch for “signs” that Margot needs to use the bathroom, but it is very difficult because she walks around with her nose to the ground most of the time anyway, whether she has to use the bathroom or not.  She also doesn’t spin in circles or seem to be trying to find a spot when she has to go, nor does she have a preferred spot in the house where she usually has her accidents.  One second she’s playing, and literally the next second there’s an accident, which happens so quickly that by the time you catch her, she’s already finished.  I’m not really sure if it’s just a matter of her still not being old enough to figure out how to ask to be let outside, or if I’m missing a step and not training her properly.  My gut has been telling me that she’ll figure it out eventually, as she is still only 9.5 weeks-old and it is rather rare that she has an accident indoors, but after those two incidents on Saturday night, I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s something else I should be doing to help her understand. 

In other, more positive news, Margot had another great check-up at the vet with Dr. Ellis this weekend.  She weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs., although Justin and I had predicted she’d weigh over 20 lbs. simply because she seems to have doubled in size over the past two weeks.  I love this comparison photo of her 7-week and 9-week check-ups.  Look how long she’s gotten!  Not just her limbs, but her little snout has also lengthened.  As sad as it is watching her grow out of puppyhood, it’s also really interesting to watch her transformation.  She’s already a pretty girl, but I think Margot is going to be a beautiful adult Doberman someday. 

  

Also in more positive news, Sam tolerated Margot napping with/on her several more times this weekend, and Margot finally performed “lay down” on command for the first time yesterday!  It’s not perfect yet, but she’s getting there.  Sometimes, she will just lower her upper body and forearms to the floor, but leave her butt up on the air, which is so cute I can hardly stand it.  I always press down on her butt to make her lay completely down on the ground before I reward her, of course, but Kristy suggested I train Margot to do this butt-in-the-air pose under the command “downward dog,” which is a yoga pose.

By the way, speaking of my brother’s girlfriend, you guys should really check out Kristy’s blog.  She’s amazing.  She completely transformed her lifestyle about 7 years ago and has managed to lose and keep off about 70 pounds!  At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard about how important it is to live a healthier lifestyle, but for many people that just doesn’t seem possible or even realistic.  What I love about Kristy’s blog is the fact that she doesn’t just preach health and fitness or regurgitate a bunch of exercise and diet tips that she’s learned over the years.  She simply talks about her own everyday life, which also happens to include a lot of nutrition and health (including “financial health”) information because those things are a part of her life now.  In other words, by sharing with the world her day-to-day routines, Kristy is actually leading by example.  Like I said, she’s pretty amazing, and I highly encourage you all to check out “Kristy’s Health Revolution.”

Sad Anniversaries Today

Last night, I had a much-needed impromptu girls' night with a couple of my best girlfriends, so I don't really have a lot to report in regard to the big "bean bottle experiment."  I can tell you that when I did play with Margot yesterday evening, she seemed to respond better to, "No bite!", and I probably only shook the bean bottle twice.  I should be able to make a better judgement about Margot's progress and the bottle's effectiveness after tonight, though, because I don't have any plans for this evening, other than playing with her and hanging out with Justin.

Not to be a downer, but I'm currently feeling kind of sad and nostalgic because three years ago today, I lost my husband, Chris.  Today also happens to be the three-week anniversary of the day I had to say good-bye to my sweet Lou.  I'm trying to stay positive and remember only the good times, but that really only makes me miss them more.  I loved them both so much. 

Lexie, Chris, and me

I'll post a happier update tomorrow, guys.  Promise. 

9 Weeks Progress Report and the Bean Bottle Experiment

Margot is 9 weeks-old today!  She’s growing like a weed, too.  She’s got another vet appointment this Saturday, and Justin and I are predicting that she has at least doubled her weight since her last check-up when she weighed 10.2 lbs.  Everybody says that “they grow up too fast, “and now I know exactly what they mean. 

Speaking of growing up, I tend to hold Margot to some pretty high standards in terms of discipline and training, which is why I get so frustrated and discouraged sometimes if I don’t feel like she’s “getting it” fast enough.  However, last night Justin and I were talking about Margot’s progress and all that she’s accomplished so far, and he mentioned that we’ve only had her for 2.5 weeks, which blew my mind!  It feels like we’ve had her for at least a month!  Not only that, but Justin also pointed out that Margot is JUST NOW at the age where most puppies are allowed to leave their mother and the rest of their litter to go home with their new owners.  That really put things in perspective for me.  Think about it; at the age of only 6 weeks-old, not only was Margot completely crate-trained and understood that “You gotta go pee?” means it’s time to go outside to use the bathroom , but she also mastered the “sit” command almost effortlessly by the age of 8 weeks!   I mean, come on.  That’s not bad for such a little pup, right?  Granted, she’s still not completely housebroken, but it is pretty impressive that she has only had a handful of accidents since we’ve brought her home, and she is still only 9 weeks-old.

I can’t say that this little revelation made me want to lower the bar for Margot, but it did help me appreciate the fact that she IS learning very quickly and actually doing quite well.  It’s easy for me to lose site of that when I’m busy pulling my hair out over the fact that Margot continues to play-bite, despite our consistent corrections since Day One.

The little Landshark when she was only 6 weeks old.

However, I may have some good news to report in that department.  At my wit’s end yesterday, I literally Googled “puppy biting nothing works,” and it pulled up an old post to the DobermanTalk.com Puppy Corner forum.  A frustrated puppy owner had posted a story that sounded extremely similar to our situation with Margot.  This owner had tried EVERY method for correcting play-biting, but yelping /putting on a dramatic show each time the puppy bit only excited the puppy and made it want to bite/play more, turning his/her back on the puppy or leaving the room only made the puppy find something else to bite, such as furniture, giving a stern, “NO!” whenever the puppy bit barely deterred the biting, and redirecting the puppy’s attention to a chew toy would only distract the puppy for a few minutes before it eventually tried to bite the owner’s hand again.   Then, this owner read an article online that suggested shaking a bottle full of beans each time the puppy tries to bite while also giving a stern, “No bite!”  The owner was amazed by how effective this method was after trying it with his/her puppy and highly recommended that other puppy owners give it a try. 

So, last night, I did just that.  I filled an empty 20 oz. soda bottle with a handful of pinto beans (courtesy of Kristy) and kept the bottle beside me on the coffee table as I sat cross-legged on the floor playing with Margot.   As soon as she bit my hand, I said, “No!  No bite!” and put her Nylabone in her mouth.  She gnawed on it, for which I praised her, but seconds later she tried to bite my hand again.  Since she was choosing my hand over her Nylabone at that point, I decided this warranted a shake of the bean bottle and another stern, “No bite!” 

Well, THAT got her attention!  She immediately stopped biting and jumped off my lap.  I handed her the Nylabone again, which she gladly took and climbed back into my lap.  I praised her, but once again, after only about a minute, Margot decided she’d rather bite my hand than her chew toy.  As she started to go for my hand, I said, “Noooo…..”, but when she didn’t heed my warning, I gave her another shake of the bottle with a stern, “No bite!” and she immediately stopped.  This time, however, she decided to test me by immediately biting my arm instead of my hand, and when that also received a shake of the bean bottle, she then tried biting my foot.  When she received a shake of the bottle each time, no matter where she bit me, she finally gave up and starting playing with her Wubba instead, for which she received LOTS of praise.  Hooray for small victories!!!

To be clear, I’m not ready to declare that the bean bottle method truly works yet because I only used it last night and once this morning, but I can say that so far, so good.  The keys are to keep the bottle out of sight so that it surprises her when I shake it, to not shake it EVERY time she bites because I don’t want her to get used to it, and to always give a stern, “No bite!” as I’m shaking the bottle because I want her to associate that phrase with the scary sound.   (The goal is to not have to shake the bottle each time I say, “No bite!”)  Again, it’s too soon to say for certain that this method is working, but after I shook the bottle at Margot several times last night, I did see an improvement in her willingness to redirect after simply telling her, “No bite!”   

So, my plan is to first try to redirect Margot and praise her for chewing on a toy instead of my hand, but if she ignores the redirection or doesn’t chew on her toy for very long before trying to bite me again, she will receive a shake of the bean bottle.  After another night of trying this method, tomorrow I should be able to say with more certainty whether or not I feel that this technique is effective for Margot.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Socializing, Sitting, and Still Play-Biting

Miss Margot had quite a weekend!   It started on Saturday morning when Justin and I decided to take her with us to Petco.  I wanted to buy her some Nylabones because HOLY CRAP does she want to bite everything right now (more on that later).  So, I grabbed the little blue harness that Margot wore just one week ago when she went to her first vet appointment, but when I tried to fasten it around her it was short by at least a couple of inches!  Our little baby is getting so big so fast!  So, we had to lengthen the harness straps as far as they would go, and then immediately added “New Harness” to our Petco shopping list.

Accidental photo taken on the way to Petco

I will admit that I was a little nervous about taking Margot out to such a public place since she hasn’t yet received all of her vaccinations, especially since I often see other dogs inside Petco; however, I’ve also been reading about how important it is to socialize your puppy between the ages of 8-12 weeks, and she is scheduled for her third round of shots this coming Saturday.  So, Justin assured me that Margot would be fine, as long as we kept an eye on her.   I should also note that this was Margot’s first experience with being walked on a leash, and she did great!  We took her for a mini-walk up and down the sidewalk to get her used to it before we finally got in the car and headed to Petco.





Margot was pretty scared when we first arrived at the store, and I had to pick her up half-way across the parking lot and carry her in.  Once we were inside, though, she decided she wanted down, and I was happy to oblige.  A few customers stopped to compliment her, and she was more than happy to allow them to pet her for a moment.  Then, as we were getting ready to check out, Margot spied one of the most adorable little puppies I’ve ever seen standing by her owner on a leash.  (The owner later told us her puppy was some kind of a Bulldog mix, but she had one brown eye and one bright blue eye, so there may have been a little Husky in her, too.)  Margot and the other puppy were a little unsure of each other at first, but after some preliminary butt sniffing, the two started wrestling a bit, and I thought I was going to die from the cuteness!  Then, after Margot’s new playmate left, an older lady asked if she could hold her.  Justin told her that she could, but warned her that Margot is in a bit of a nipping phase.  Thankfully, Margot was a perfect angel and just smothered the nice lady with face kisses as she held her.

Margot left Petco wearing a pretty fancy new ID tag, and we had a bag full of new Nylabones, a couple of chew toys, training treats, and a new harness for her.  From there, we drove to Justin’s parents’ house, as his parents are planning to pet-sit for us in a couple of weeks and we’re trying to get Margot used to them, their older dog, Samantha, and their house.   She had fun exploring the back yard and really seemed to enjoy their screened-in porch, but she was so exhausted from her adventures that morning that it wasn’t long before she was completely passed out.

Later that evening, I took Margot over to visit my friends, Susie and Shane.  I’ve been a little worried lately about Margot play-biting my friends (she actually drew blood from Kristy’s ear the other day), but I was pleasantly surprised by how well she behaved while we sat on Shane and Susie’s porch.  She just played with her toys, but also REALLY enjoyed sitting on the loveseat with Susie and watching the birds and people passing by.  Later, we took Margot inside to meet their cat, Pete, who happens to be one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met.  Pete and Margot got along just fine, although they mostly just curiously followed each other from room to room. 

Then, the highlight of Margot’s day had to have been when we took her out into Shane and Susie’s backyard.  She had a BLAST running all over their little yard and especially through their landscaping.  In particular, Margot discovered that if she ran full-speed into the small, grassy plants that line Shane and Susie’s walking path, then she could BURST through to the other side!  We laughed so hard as we watched her plow through those grassy plants over and over again, as if she had just discovered the greatest thing on earth!  Then, Shane started playing with Margot, which was really sweet, but at the same time it made my “motherly” instincts kick in, as Shane was playing with Margot a little rougher than she’s ever been played with before.  It wasn’t that I was afraid he was going to hurt her, because Shane loves dogs and I know he knows how rough is too rough, but it was just the fact that Justin and I are currently trying SO HARD to break Margot from play-biting, and yet here she was rough-housing with Shane, which obviously included some play-biting, as that’s just the nature of an 8 week-old puppy.  I didn’t want to ask Shane to ease up, though, because, like I said, he really wasn’t playing THAT rough with her, and I didn’t want to sound like an uptight, overly-protective dog owner who won’t let her puppy have any fun.   They actually only played for about 15-20 minutes, but after Shane ended their games, he pointed out where Margot had “gotten him pretty good” with a few play-bites.  I felt bad and apologized, but Shane insisted that he had asked for it and that it was no big deal.  Needless to say, after such a fun and exciting day, Margot slept like a BABY that night.

Yesterday, we decided to take all three girls for a walk together for the first time, which went really well.  I made sure not to let Margot walk ahead of me, which wasn’t that difficult, and Jocie and Sam didn’t seem to mind having Margot along on the walk.  So, the “puppy-free walks” idea may have turned out to be short-lived, which I actually consider to be a good thing, and we’ll probably start taking Margot for walks with us from now on.

Other highlights from this past weekend included catching Margot and Sam cuddling while taking a brief nap together and seeing Margot tilt her head for the first time when she heard a strange new sound on the television.  Of course, I was also very happy that Justin and I were able to capture both of these melt-worthy events with our phones. 

The only downside to this weekend was dealing with Margot’s nipping and play-biting.  Justin and I are trying to be vigilant with discouraging mouthing and correcting her whenever she bites, but I swear none of the “tried and true” methods I’ve read about are working very well (see previous post).  One minute I’ll think that it’s working and that Margot is starting to understand that we don’t want her to bite us, but then the very next minute she’ll go into full-on Landshark mode and won’t stop nipping, no matter what we do!  As I’ve said before, though, I don’t REALLY expect an 8.5 week-old puppy to stop biting, especially since she hasn’t even started teething yet (or perhaps she’s just now starting?), which is why the constant corrections and discipline feel very disheartening sometimes.  I know that eventually she’ll be old enough to understand, but for now it just feels like we’re constantly yelling and trying to discipline a wall. 

Last night, for example, while Margot was playing on the couch between me and Justin, out of nowhere she leapt onto my lap and bit my nipple!  OMG OWWWW!!!!!!  It freaked me out and hurt SO badly that I didn’t even think about performing the usual corrections, such as letting out a loud yelp or telling Margot, “NO!”  Instead, my knee-jerk reaction was to immediately pick her up and toss her back over towards Justin, and then I quickly walked into the other room so that I wouldn’t just go OFF on her.  Justin wasn’t even sure what had just happened, but he knew enough to give Margot a very stern, “NO!  No bite!  Bad girl, Margot!”  After about a minute, after I calmed down and realized that she hadn’t drawn any blood and the pain subsided, I returned to the living room to find Margot curled into a tight, little ball on Justin’s lap.  I sat down beside them, and then I instantly melted when I saw the pitiful little look on Margot’s face.  It actually brought tears to my eyes because she looked SO sad!  I think it was probably the first time Margot had truly realized that she had done something “wrong,” and our reactions must have really scared her.  Obviously, I tried to make up with her immediately by asking if she was sorry, and then I coaxed her over to my lap so that I could pet her and show her that I wasn’t upset anymore. 

At first, I thought this little incident may have finally prompted a breakthrough with Margot, as she certainly seemed remorseful for what she had done, but then, as soon as she realized I wasn’t angry anymore, she started biting my hands again!  I’m telling you guys, I consider myself and Justin to be extremely patient people, but this play-biting phase is seriously challenging both of our sanities! 

On a much more positive note, I think I can officially say that Margot has mastered the “sit” command, although I don’t feel like I should take much credit for teaching her because I swear the Puppy Genius has just figured it out on her own.  Margot learned early on that Justin and I won’t bend down to pet her if she jumps, so now she immediately sits as soon as she runs up to greet us in the morning or when we get home from work.   Also, I usually give the girls their treats in the kitchen, so Margot ALWAYS sits anytime she’s in the kitchen with me and/or Justin.  Because Margot had already figured out that the act of sitting would bring her a reward, all I really had to do was give the action a name and lots of praise, and in no time she figured out what “sit” meant. 

Yesterday, I decided to start teaching Margot the “lie down” command, but that one is obviously going to take a little more work.  After all, she has never automatically received any rewards for lying down before like she did with sitting, so this will probably be the first command that she actually has to learn.  I’m hoping she picks it up quickly, though, because that will also give me hope that Margot does have the ability to understand, “No bite!” 

In the meantime, if anyone out there has any advice regarding correction/discipline methods (other than the ones I’m already using), which you have successfully used to end puppy play-biting, or if you would just like to share your own experience with this frustrating phase of puppyhood, please feel free leave me a comment below.  Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.  :)