Better Than Television

I know I haven’t posted many updates lately, but I have two reasons for that:

1.       Between the craziness at my full-time job and how busy I’ve been with my photography business lately, I simply haven’t had time.

2.       Unfortunately (and, perhaps, fortunately), there hasn’t been a whole lot for me to report.

I’m rather frustrated with the dog trainer at Petco, who was supposed call me weeks ago to tell me when Margot’s obedience classes start.  Claire called me twice at the beginning of the month to gather information about Margot (size, breed, age, etc.) so that she could place her in the appropriate class.  Then, I never heard from her again.  I called a couple days ago to check, and I was told by one of the Petco employees that “Claire has been sick.”  Okay, that explains why I haven’t heard from her.  That’s totally fine and I understand.  However, I left my name and number and asked them to have Claire call me to let me know when the obedience classes will begin, and I still have yet to hear back from her.  Grrrrr!!!

I’m very anxious to begin Margot’s obedience training because, now that the weather has finally gotten nicer, we’ve been going to the dog park a lot and trying to go for walks.  However, Margot is still pulling like crazy whenever I walk her, and I’ve been noticing a little bit more aggressive behavior from her at the dog park, as well.   On a few occasions, Justin and I have seen Margot growl and show her teeth to another dog who was showing interest in her stick or ball.  It’s been rare, but I don’t like it.  I’ve heard that a dog’s personality can sometimes change right around the time they turn 1 year-old, which will be in June for Margot.  She’s just always been such a pleasant, friendly, little social butterfly at the dog park, and I would HATE for that to turn sour in any way, shape, or form.   

I’ve also been noticing some herding behavior from Luke at the dog park, which I also do not particularly like.  Whenever another dog takes off running, Luke tends to give chase while nipping at the other dog’s hindquarters and giving a low growl.  For anyone who doesn’t know Luke’s sweet personality or recognize this as herding behavior, it looks as though he’s just being aggressive towards the other dog and trying to bite it.  As soon as he gets the other dog to stop, though, all Luke usually does is sniff the other dog’s butt, then go on about his business.  Still, I just hate the thought of anyone thinking that Luke is trying to chase down and possibly attack their dog.   I plan to research herding behavior and how to correct it, and hopefully I can break him of it.  (Anyone have any experience with this?  Feel free to share some advice!)

Sam is still doing well, although my heart breaks for her a little bit every time I look at her.  I try not to think like that, I really do, but I simply can’t ignore those big lumps on her side.  She’s still getting around well, though, and the lumps don’t seem to be affecting her or causing her any pain.  She still eats, drinks, and goes to the bathroom normally, and she routinely climbs the stairs to go jump in our bed every morning. 

One thing Sam hasn’t been too happy about lately, though, is all the puppy-sitting we’ve been doing for Zach and Kristy’s dog, Frank (the puppy I found abandoned in the building where I work).  Every time they bring Frank over, Sam starts barking at him.  It’s exactly the same way she behaved towards Margot for about the first month after we brought Margot home.  I guess Sam is just annoyed by the presence of little puppies.  Perhaps it’s because they’re so rambunctious and she’s “too old for that sh*t.”  In Luke’s case, he was kind of an older pup when we brought him home from the pound, and he was much more interested in playing with Margot than playing with Sam, which would explain why Sam didn’t seem as annoyed by him.  She barked at him a little bit for the first couple of days, mostly whenever he and Margot would play rough, but she’s been totally fine with Luke ever since. 

As for little Frank, he’s getting so big!  He has definitely started to resemble a Pit Bull more lately, too.  His body is kind of stout and muscular, and the bone structure of his face looks more like a Pit Bull than any other breed, I think.  He’s also been developing more of a Pit Bull-like personality.  He discovered his bark last week and doesn’t hesitate to use it.  He’s also gotten braver at playing with Margot and Luke.  He used to cower a little bit whenever they’d start wrestling near him, but now he tries to jump right in there with them!  He also likes to growl and bark at them to prove what a big, tough dog he is.  Haha!  It’s pretty cute, I’m not gonna lie.  I also love how gentle Margot is with Frank.  She always lies down so that they’re more eye-level, and she lets Frank bite all over her face and ears.   If he starts to get too rough, she’ll either stand up to remind him that she’s the bigger dog, or she’ll use her paw or chin to pin him down for a few seconds.  Luke has also dished out a little discipline to Frank on one or two occasions.  If he thinks Frank needs to settle down, Luke will give him a gentle “bite” on his hind end or his neck.  I find it all very fascinating, and I swear I could watch Frank, Margot, and Luke play for hours.  Who needs Bravo TV when I’ve got the drama of “The Real Canines of Cabell County” happening right in my own living room? 

Margot's First Play Date

I have so much to talk about this past weekend!  It started when Margot had a vet appointment on Saturday.  The office was packed that morning, so we ended up having to wait for about an hour.  While we were waiting, I think Margot made her first boyfriend, a little Jack Russell mix named Max.  Max’s owner and I were sitting directly across from each other in the waiting room, and Margot and Max kept meeting in the middle to sniff each other .  Margot really didn’t know what to think if Max at first because she was so much bigger than him, and he kept trying to play with her the same way she usually plays with Sam.  Once she got over the size difference, though, and started playing with him, it was neat to watch how gentle she was with this smaller dog.  Since Sam is so much bigger than her, Margot is used to full-on romping on top of Sam and playing with all her might.  With Max, however, Margot made sure not to swat him too hard whenever she’d paw at him, and she never even tried to romp on him.  Unfortunately, Max started to “fall in love” with Margot a little bit, if you catch my drift, and his owner and I decided that Margot and Max should take a little break from playtime. 



12 wks Vs. 15 wks.



As for Margot’s appointment, she weighed a whopping 28 lbs this week, and she received her last set of booster shots (the ones that make her immune to the Parvovirus).  The real news, though, is that Dr. Ellis said we could go ahead and have Margot spayed in three weeks, so we set up her appointment for October 23.  My poor puppy is going under the knife!  No, I’m actually totally okay with it.  I told Dr. Ellis during Margot’s very first check-up that I wanted to have her spayed as soon as she was old enough to do so because I didn’t want to make the same mistake with Margot as I did with Lexie. 

Lexie was around 8 years-old before she was finally spayed, but it wasn’t an elective surgery.  Lexie had developed pyometra as a result of having never been spayed (my late husband and I had considered breeding her just one time before we had her spayed, but after we finally decided we weren’t going to breed her, we just kept forgetting to have her spayed).  Lexie required life-saving, emergency surgery to remove her uterus, which ended up weighing 4 lbs. because it was full of blood and pus from the infection!  I felt like the WORST mother ever, and that day I vowed to NEVER put off spaying another dog.  Not only that, but I was later told that Lexie’s mammary cancer probably had a lot to do with the fact that she wasn’t spayed at a much earlier age.  So, YOU HEAR ME OUT THERE?!?!?  SPAY YOUR FEMALE DOGS ASAP!!!!!

Anyway, as I was saying, Margot is going to be spayed in three weeks, then, when she goes back ten days later to have her stitches removed, she’ll receive her rabies vaccination, and then that will be the end of her vaccination visits.  I guess my little girl officially isn’t a baby anymore.  :’-(



Yesterday, Justin and I decided to take Margot to Petco to buy her a new Nylabone.  She always loves going to Petco because she usually receives a lot of attention from the staff and other customers, and yesterday was no different.  The girl who checked us out gave Margot a free dog biscuit, and then after she talked to us for a little while about Dobermans and other dog-related things, she ended up giving Margot another biscuit before we left.  

As soon as we walked out of the store, Justin said, “I think you should call Brett and Courtney and see if Elsea wants to play.”  Brett and Courtney are friends of ours who own a 2-1/2 year-old, red Doberman named Elsea.  We’ve all been so anxious for Elsea and Margot to meet each other that we’ve literally been counting down the weeks until Margot was fully vaccinated and cleared to play with other dogs.  Even though Margot won’t be 16 weeks-old until Wednesday, Justin and I both decided that it was probably okay for her to go ahead and meet Elsea, as long as we didn’t take them to the park or anything.  So, I texted Brett and Courtney and set up their play date.

Meanwhile, Justin and I stopped at Walgreens so I could pick up a few things before we headed over to Brett and Courtney’s apartment.  While I was shopping, Justin walked Margot around the parking lot.  When I came out, Justin told me that Margot had just had two bouts of diarrhea.  We knew immediately that it had to have been from the free biscuits from Petco because Margot has experienced diarrhea in the past whenever she ate something other than her regular dog food and Iams puppy biscuits.  She must have a sensitive tummy.  I wasn’t too worried about it, but a few minutes after we got back in the car and started driving, Margot threw up.  Luckily, I had a sheet covering the back seat so I was able to quickly wrap up the mess, but several minutes later, she threw up again.  I felt so sorry for her!  She looked pitiful.  We considered postponing her play date, but we decided to go ahead and take her to Brett and Courtney’s and just play it by ear. 



Margot's first play date with Elsea!



Well, I’m glad we didn’t call off the play date because it ended up being so much fun!  It took Margot a good 20 minutes or so to warm up and probably shake off some of the car sickness, but after that she was perfectly fine.  Elsea kind of freaked her at first, though, because she’s so much bigger than Margot or even Sam, and Elsea kept running full-speed at Margot, causing her to hide behind me or Justin.  Like I said, though, once Margot warmed up to Elsea and realized that she wasn’t trying to hurt her, they got along really well.  They mostly just chased each other and explored the yard together, but they also had a brief wrestling match a little later on while they were lying on the porch.  Brett, Courtney, and I took pictures the WHOLE time, of course.  Haha!  What can I say?  We were some happy, proud parents watching our kids finally playing together and getting along so well. 



Brett with Elsea and Justin with Margot



As I’m sure you can imagine, Margot spent a large majority of the rest of the day napping, as she was pretty worn out from all of the excitement.  Before we left Brett and Courtney’s, though, we talked about going to the dog park together later this week, after Margot officially turns 16 weeks-old.  I would love to take Sam, too, but I may take Margot by herself the first time just to see how it goes.  Sam, believe it or not, is quite a handful to take out on her leash.  She just gets SO EXCITED that she pulls and barks constantly.  I know it’s probably just a matter of working with her in order to correct those bad behaviors, but that’s where I keep falling short because I simply dread taking her out.  (It’s that bad.)  I know that I need to, though, because it isn’t fair to leave Sam at home while Margot gets to go out for walks and play at the dog park.  So, maybe I’ll do that this evening when I get home.  In fact, maybe Justin and I will take Sam by HERSELF up to the dog park as sort of a trial run.  Yeah!  I like that idea a lot, actually.  :)

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.  :)

The Best "Mistake" I Ever Made (and Learned From)

About a month ago, I discovered a website called DobermanTalk.com.  One of the main attractions on this site is the discussion forums, where people can post questions or comments about Dobermans and other members can reply.    After Lexie’s third eye surgery, I started a thread in the Doberman Health forum asking other members for advice about helping her adjust to her blindness.  I received many kind comments, and after Lexie passed away, I also received many sincere condolences.  Based on that experience, I thought DobermanTalk.com was a warm community of Doberman owners/enthusiasts who were there to share stories about their Dobes and to help one another.

As it turns out, there is also a “dark side” to these discussion forums, which I learned firsthand a couple of nights ago.  I decided to post a few photos of Margot to the Doberman Puppies forum, just to kind of brag a little and introduce her to the other members of the site.  I mentioned in my post that we “adopted” Margot shortly after losing Lexie because we wanted so desperately to ease the pain of grieving.  While some of the feedback I received was very kind and welcoming, I was quite surprised when I also received several negative, scolding replies.   I was actually offended at first because I felt like some of the more judgmental, know-it-all members of the website were just ganging up on me for the sake of being be mean. 

First, they scolded me for using the word “adopted” instead of “purchased,” because apparently “rescuers find it offensive when people who purchase their puppies say that they ‘adopted’ them.”  This kind of blew my mind, but okay, whatever.  For the record, though, I used the word “adopted” simply because in my mind this means the same as “became the mother of.”  The word “purchased” just sounds so cold to me, like I merely paid money for some new thing.  Furthermore, doesn't money exchange hands during any sort of adoption process?  We certainly do not consider adopted children to be "purchased children," so why should I have to call Margot my "purchased puppy?"  Regardless, for the sake of not OFFENDING anyone, I will no longer use the word "adopted" in reference to Margot.

The other reason why some members of the forum lashed out at me was because I purchased Margot from what they call a “back yard breeder” (BYB), which is apparently highly frowned upon.  I’m not quite as surprised by this scolding, however, as I have been learning quite a lot since I first purchased Margot, and I must say that I have to agree with them on this point.   

While I liked the people from whom I purchased Margot, and I do believe that they care about placing their puppies in the best homes possible, in hindsight I probably would not have answered their ad just based on the fact that the puppies were being sold at 6 weeks of age.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I have since learned that it is actually very important that the puppies stay with their mother and siblings for at least 8 weeks because they are still learning some very important lessons at that time, which are best taught by the puppies’ mother and through playing with their siblings.  A “good breeder” should definitely know that.  I hate to say that I purchased Margot from a “bad breeder” because, again, I do not think that they were bad people, I just don’t think they are educated enough about good breeding practices. 

Regardless, I obviously cannot say at this point that I regret answering their ad because it brought Margot into our lives, and Justin and I couldn’t be more in love with our little girl.  However, I strongly encourage those of you who are thinking about purchasing a new puppy to PLEASE do a lot of research before you even start looking.   I did some research before I began my puppy search, but I mostly only researched what types of questions I should ask a breeder.  My intentions were good, in that I wanted to make sure I didn’t purchase a puppy from a puppy mill or anything like that, but I obviously didn’t do enough research because I didn’t realize that Margot’s litter was being sold two weeks too early.

The bottom line is that it’s important to know good breeding practices from bad breeding practices before you start looking for a new puppy because you never want to support a BYB who views having litters as a source of income.   I don’t know for certain if that was the case with me, and I certainly hope not, but it’s definitely possible given the fact that the puppies were being sold too early.  I have definitely learned from this experience, though, and I will never make that mistake again.  Not that I consider Margot to be a “mistake” (that sounded bad), but I do consider her to be my first very valuable lesson about BYB’s. 

**ADDENDUM**

While the focus of this blog entry centered around breeding practices, I just wanted to add, if you are considering adding a new puppy to your family, PLEASE also heavily consider visiting your local animal shelter or finding a rescue group for the breed of your choice.  As I've mentioned previously, Sam and Jocie were both pound puppies, and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better couple of dogs.  Just as I've declared that I will always have a Doberman in my life, I should also add that I will continue to rescue pups from the animal shelter, as well, for as long as I live.  :)

6-8 Weeks: Crating, Housebreaking, and Play-Biting

Margot is 8 weeks-old today!  I can’t believe how quickly the last two weeks have flown by and how much she’s already grown!  I’ve never adopted a puppy as young as Margot before.  I estimate that each of my other girls were probably close to a year-old when I adopted them, give or take a few months.  I really didn’t think that raising a 6 week-old puppy would be that different from raising Jocie, Sam, or Lexie, but I’m learning that there is definitely a little bit of extra work involved.   Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far:

As far as crate-training and housebreaking go, Margot has done so well that I’ve declared she is a Puppy Genius to several of my friends and family.  For the first two nights, Justin and I slept on our futon mattress in the living room in front of Margot’s crate, and I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to take her outside (puppy bladders can only “hold it” for 2-3 hours).   Margot completely surprised us by how well she did and, I kid you not, by the third night our little 6 week-old puppy was completely crate-trained!   

I also consider Margot to be a Puppy Genius in the housebreaking department, although she is not yet fully housebroken.  She is able to hold it for several hours while she’s in her crate, she has learned that the purpose of going into the back yard is to use the bathroom, and she will use the bathroom almost every single time we take her out, which is quite often.  However, she will still occasionally have an accident in the house if we’re not watching her carefully because she hasn’t yet figured out that she needs to tell us when she has to use the bathroom, although I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how few accidents she’s had.

Last night, I had Margot over at my brother, Zach, and his girlfriend, Kristy’s, apartment, and I noticed she was starting to sniff around a little.  Then, to my surprise, Margot actually walked into the kitchen and towards their back door.  I immediately asked, “Margot, you gotta go pee?” and then praised her BIG TIME when she took another step towards the door.  Hopefully that was an indication that she’s beginning to understand that if she communicates her needs, we will respond appropriately.  

Our biggest challenge with Margot, so far, has been with play-biting.  For starters, I’ve learned that, even though Margot and her siblings were able to eat hard puppy food and were mostly weaned from their mother, many experts still consider 6 weeks of age to be too young for a puppy to be adopted.   Many articles say that it’s important for the puppy to stay with her litter and her mother for a full 8 weeks.  If the puppy is adopted before 8 weeks, she hasn’t experienced enough discipline in terms of play-biting or establishing dominance from her mother or her other siblings.  For example, as the mother weans her litter, she teaches the puppies that “no means no” and establishes herself as their leader by growling and/or walking away from them when they try to latch.  (We actually saw Margot’s mother doing this to her litter the day we adopted Margot.) Also, when a puppy wrestles and plays with a sibling, she learns that if her sibling yelps and stops playing with her, she’s bitten him/her too hard. 

However, because we brought Margot home before she had a chance to fully learn those lessons, she basically viewed me, Justin, and others as simply other members of her litter.  As a result, there has been a lot of play-biting and, while I know that this is typical playful puppy behavior, I’ve explained to Justin and all our friends that it is very important we discourage Margot from biting at all times.  It is also very important that we establish ourselves as her leader right from the start if we want her to become a well-behaved, obedient Doberman.

It turns out that this is much easier said than done, especially at such a young age, but I’ve been trying to combine a few techniques I’ve heard about online and from my friends.  First, I try to correct Margot’s behavior when she play-bites by telling her “No! No bite!” and then I redirect her attention to one of her toys.  If that doesn’t work and she bites me again, I immediately give a high-pitched yelp, but without pulling away (immediately pulling your hand away makes your puppy think you want to keep playing).  Then, I give her a VERY sad look right in her eyes and say, “OOOowwww!  Margot hurt me,” and then I slowly turn my back to her and pretend to cry.  It’s all very melodramatic and quite hilarious, but I think it’s actually starting to work.    She will usually just sit there and look confused for a second while I “cry”, but then she will eventually try to cuddle up next to me.   If she does this and remains calm for several seconds, I then gently pet her and say, “Good girl, Margot.  No bite.  Good girl.” 

Of course, a lot of times after I’ve “made up” with Margot, she will immediately try to play-bite me again, which can be frustrating to say the least.  However, I knew going into this that training a puppy requires TONS of patience, perseverance, and consistency, so I just simply repeat the whole routine if she bites me again.  If she does it a third time, however, I don’t just turn my back to her, I actually stand up and walk away for a little while in order to really get the message across that biting = no more playtime. 

As I said, we’ve been trying this method for two weeks now without seeing much improvement, but last night I thought I saw some signs that Margot is finally starting to “get it” because I didn’t have to repeat the corrections as many times before she stopped biting.  I’m not trying to kid myself, though.  Margot may be a Puppy Genius, but she is still only 8 weeks-old, and I’d be a fool to expect her to completely stop biting and chewing anytime soon.  After all, I’m pretty sure she’s not even teething yet.

Overall, though, I’m pretty proud of Justin and myself for our puppy-parenting thus far.   I think we’re doing a pretty good job of establishing our role as the “pack leaders,” as well as laying the ground rules for what is and is not considered to be acceptable behavior.   It can be difficult, though, because right now it feels like all we do is tell Margot “No!” when all we really want to do is just cuddle and love on her, but I know from my experience with raising Lexie that all of this discipline will pay off in spades in the long run.  In the meantime, despite our occasional frustration and exhaustion, Justin and I are definitely enjoying Margot’s crazy puppy antics, because we also know the day will soon come when we will actually say that we miss her rambunctious puppy phase. 

Big Shoes to Fill

It’s hard to believe that it was only two months ago when I first decided to start my previous blog, originally titled “A New Life for Lexie,” with the intention of documenting my beloved 9 year-old Doberman’s full recovery and adjustment to blindness after undergoing a bilateral enucleation (surgical removal of the eyes).   Unfortunately, Lou’s story did not have the happy ending that I had expected (quite the opposite, in fact).  While I welcome you to read my previous blog in order to get the full back-story, I will warn you that it is not a very happy read.  Justin and I, as well as all of Lexie’s other friends and family, had to finally say good-bye to our sweet Lou on July 26, 2012.   

I was so devastated by Lexie’s passing that for the first few days afterwards, it almost felt like actual physical pain.   I couldn’t believe how much it hurt, and after the third day of grieving this way, I decided that I simply had to do something to try to kick-start the healing process.  Justin had mentioned the idea of looking for a new Doberman puppy.  He feared that our house would feel empty without a big Dobe personality to balance out the lazy, super-chilled personalities of our other two dogs, Jocie (a 12 year-old Border Collie mix) and Sam (an 11 year-old Coonhound/Rottweiler mix).  Justin also thought that having a new puppy to raise would be a good distraction from our grief and would undoubtedly bring some fun and positivity back into our lives. 

I resisted the idea at first because I wasn’t sure if my heart was ready to love another Doberman so soon after losing my Lou, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Justin was probably right.  Besides, for the last two and a half years, Justin has been a wonderful “adoptive dad” to my three girls (Jocie, Sam, and Lexie), but he has also mentioned on a few occasions that he would love to be able to adopt a new puppy together someday.   Well, Sunday, July 29, 2012 turned out to be that day.

We drove 4.5 hours to Celina, Ohio to meet the breeders, Megan and Randy, whom I found through the eBay Classifieds.  The drive there was an emotional roller coaster ride for me.  One minute I felt excited about adopting a new Doberman, but then the next minute I felt a little guilty about bringing a rambunctious little puppy into Sam and Jocie's lives so soon after Lexie had passed.  Justin kept assuring me that Sam and Jocie would eventually adjust to having a puppy around, but I knew we were probably in for a bumpy adjustment period.  The closer we got to Celina, however, those feelings of fear and guilt were replaced with nervousness and excitement knowing that we were about to pick out our new little Dobe babe!

Now, I don’t know if you guys understand how much I LOVE Doberman puppies, but let’s just say that the mere sight of a photograph of a Dobe pup sends me into fits of silent screaming and pulling at my hair.   So, with that in mind, try to imagine my reaction as I stood in front of Megan and Randy's garage when the door lifted open and released a stampede of adorable little 6 week-old, black and tan Doberman puppies!!!!   I think I actually died a little from cuteness overload.  It was ridiculous.

Anyway, after I was revived (kidding), I asked which puppies were female, and the first one they handed me was Margot.  She was BEAUTIFUL!  Honestly, as soon as Margot laid those big, soulful brown eyes on me, I couldn't even look at any of the other puppies.  Then, Megan told me that this puppy was the runt of the litter, which was just the icing on the puppy cake, as far as I was concerned, because Lexie had also been a runt.  I let Margot give me a few kisses before I handed her over to Justin while giving him "The Look."  As soon as he held her, she immediately began giving him kisses, too, and just like that we were both instantly in love. 

Now, a week and a half later, I cannot tell you how much this rotten little scoundrel has helped both Justin and I in terms of grieving Lexie.  I still miss Lexie tremendously and think about her every single day, but I no longer feel like I’m drowning in that sadness.  Hell, I don’t have time to!  Have you ever tried keeping up with a 6-8 week-old puppy?!?!  Not only that, but Justin was absolutely right about a new puppy bringing that fun, positive energy back into our house.  Margot is the most fun!

Shortly after we brought Margot home, someone suggested I start a new blog all about raising her, but I wasn't really sure if this experience warranted a whole new blog.  I mean, it’s not like Justin and I are the first couple in the world to ever raise a Doberman puppy.  However, my mind changed this past weekend when we took Margot for her first check-up with Dr. Ginger Ellis, our incredibly caring vet who also took care of Lexie.  As soon as Dr. Ellis saw Margot, she grinned, lowered her face close to Margot’s, and said quietly, “You’ve got some big shoes to fill, pup,” all while scratching her gently behind her floppy little ears.   It moved me to tears, and it also made me realize that there actually is more to our story than just "raising Margot."

So, my intention for this blog is to not only chronicle the daily the ups and downs of raising a crazy little Doberman puppy, but to also document how, over time, our little Margot will undoubtedly rise to the challenge of “filling Lexie’s shoes."  Although Lou can never be replaced, Margot has already managed to find a very special place in our hearts.