Love Doggie Daycare!

As my fingers type this blog entry, I have over 100lbs of labs snoring away on my livingroom floor. Can I just tell you how much I love doggie daycare??? Today was Cheyenne's first day and we have her set up to go on Monday-Wednesday-Friday with her big sister, Dakota. When I came to get them tonight, Dakota greeted me as her normally cheerful self but there was no Cheyenne. My baby! What happened to my baby??? The daycare worker smiled and said that someone was trying to crawl into the crate now to fetch the wee 12-week old lab pup. It seems that she was so exhausted that she found the most secluded spot in the way back of a large crate to fall asleep. It took about 5 minutes to finally get her out of there and one-by-one, the daycare workers handed her off to each other in what seemed to be a fire-line. All you could hear were "awws" and cooing as she made it to the door where I was standing with her big sister. Once she was safely in the back seat of the car, she laid down and took over the entire seat to sleep while I drove home. My poor 85 lbs Dakota was forced to try and squeeze onto the floor of my 2000 Saturn sedan. It was quite amusing to say the least.

But now, my girls are fast asleep and all is quite. Needless to say, my husband and I are enjoying the peace in our house while it lasts!

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Small Scare

This is the last Thursday that both girls will be home with me alone for the entire day while I am working from home. Starting on Monday, Cheyenne will be going to doggie daycare with her sister three days a week and on those days that they don't go, they will be crated for half a day (I will come home at noon and work the rest of the day at home). So, I took a longer lunch break than usual and took the girls out in the backyard for over an hour while I cleaned up the frozen poop. Everything went well and the girls were exhausted when we came back inside. Naps for all good labs and then outside again. This time, things were different.

With Cheyenne on a leash and Dakota on a lead connected to the house, I thought everything was going well. All of a sudden, Dakota looked like she was going to pee when she stopped, ran to the other side of the yard and started to squat again. She then stopped again, ran to another side of the yard and so on. This went on for many seconds and I laughed; thinking she just couldn't find "the right spot". My gaze went back on Cheyenne to tell her "good girl" as she went potty and then all of a sudden I heard something strange. When I looked at Dakota, her mouth was dripping in foam and she was looking at me a little shaken. I tied Cheyenne's leash to the house and ran over to Dakota. She threw up what looked like saliva - nothing more. I dashed into the house, got some paper towel and went outside to clean up her face and take a closer look. Nothing - just a good cup of clean liquid.

Needless to say, this was a bit of a scare. I decided that it was best to kennel Dakota up in her crate so that she can rest on her big comfy pillow bed because she may have eaten something that didn't agree with her or she was nervous about something. She has been asleep now for over 1.5 hours (as well as Cheyenne in her own crate) and no other incident has occurred. Of course, I have been checking on her to make sure she is okay but it could have just been her nerves. I have to admit that this lab mommy will be keeping a close eye on her big 80 lbs baby for the rest of the night.

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Possible UTI

Housebreaking had been going so well for our 11-week old chocolate lab pup but in the last few days, this has changed. Cheyenne was starting to let us know when she had to go outside for a bathroom break but a couple of days ago, she went in her crate and has gone in the house more often. Luckily, it is only urine and can easily be cleaned up with some paper towels, Nature's Miracle, and a steam cleaner if needed but it is disturbing nonetheless. Also, she has begun squatting a few times to let out a few drops of urine or no urine at all right after she has successfully gone potty outside. This signifies that there may be something is wrong with our little Labrador.

Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) do happen in some pups around her age and these signs are consistent with UTI. Unfortunately, we won't know until our already scheduled appointment this weekend as to whether or not this is the case. It is really disappointing because she was getting so much better and then it all came to a standstill. What makes it even worse is that we bought her from a breeder for $700 and she came to us with worm, coccidia, and now this. Yes, the breeder was responsible enough to give her medication before she came to us but this did not rectify the problem. I love the lab breed and I love this little girl so I am not willing to give up on her - no matter what. Things will get better with time - this just was not the welcoming to our family we had hoped it would be.

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Couple of Days

It's been a couple of days since the last post as life has become a whirlwind once again. Unfortunately, this lab mommy has been sick with an awful head cold and hasn't been on the computer much since the beginning of last week. Of course, the lab brats were at first very sympathetic to my feelings but then learned that I couldn't be everywhere at once. So, Dakota decided that she was going to start jumping all over the furniture while playing with her little sister, Cheyenne. Don't think Cheyenne was any bit of an angel during this time either. Her misbehaving was somewhat worse - she decided that she no longer needed to be as good with going potty outside! Not even a few seconds after we brought her inside from doing a large amount of "potty", she would come in and squat like a lady while looking us dead in the eye. Needless to say, my husband and I have had to go back to square one with her. No, she hasn't gotten as bad as she was in the beginning but she went a couple of days without an accident to 4 times in one day! Someone would think she would have an infection or something but, no, she is healthy!

Just one of the many joys of puppy motherhood. Owning a dog is a lifetime responsibility and we are fully aware of what we signed up to do - I just wish they didn't know when we were at our weakest moments and take advantage of it. I pray this cold goes away soon because if it doesn't, I am going to have to buy two steam cleaners because the one I have is getting worn out between Dakota tracking in the dirty snow and Cheyenne's "inconsistent" behavior. Hmm - maybe it is a good excuse to get hardwood floors throughout the house.

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Sick

Do you know what it is like to be sick and have to care for 2 puppies? I do. For the last few days I have been sick with a head cold and having to watch after one temperamental 11 month old lab and a non-housebroken 11 week old lab pup. Neither would let me sleep so that I could get better so they were, unfortunately, crated more often than usually. No, I am not an irresponsible owner. I am actually a very responsible owner and the girls are usually not crated that often to begin with so crating them more often means a couple of hours at a time. You see, this makes the 11 month old take a nap (which was very needed since she had daycare the day before) and makes sure that the 11 week old doesn't have any accidents and doesn't do something like chew on live wires (even though our house has been pup-proofed).

What I have noticed is that the puppies were both more well behaved when out of their crates when they have been crated for a longer period of time. They prefer the structure rather than having free rein to the house. It is strange because you think that the puppies are your children and treat them as such and yet they may misbehave if they are given this much freedom but yet are happy and behave well when having a schedule or structure. On one end you want to follow your human heart and on the other you want to follow the rules of raising dogs. It is a tough call that each person must make based on their own pups, of course.

A Day Late

Of course, the blog site was down last night so I couldn't announce Cheyenne's first day without going to the bathroom in the house. We were so excited! Two weeks that she has been with us and at 10 weeks old, she finally had a successful day.

Unfortunately, it was only one day as of about 15 minutes ago when she got so excited about playing with her sister, Dakota, that she stopped in the middle of playing and just peed on the livingroom carpet. Of course, I stopped her by a sharp clap of my hands with an even sharper "NO!". This gets her attention so that she stops immediately and gives me a few seconds to get her to the back door. She finished outside and was praised immediately for her going outside rather than inside.

Even though it was short-lived, it means that we are on the path to success. As with anything, housebreaking a puppy takes time. She has learned, for the most part, that going to the back door means she has to go potty and she was even great last night in her crate as she did not wake us once to go potty but, instead, we woke her up at 12am and 3am to take a quick potty break and then back to bed. This meant that my husband and I were able to get some much needed sleep, which we are not complaining about at all!

Oh how we look forward to the day when both our labs are fully housebroken and we can get back to a normal life. It is that hope for the future that gets us through the rough times of having two young pups at once. Well, that, and the fact that we love them both more with each passing day!

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Lazy Sunday

Well, it finally happened! With both my husband and I exhausted beyond measure, the girls finally took a long Sunday afternoon nap - at the same time! Cheyenne went out for a couple of hours which allowed us to finally have some downtime. For the first time, we didn't have to keep an eye on her and get up every hour to rush her outside to go potty! Does this mean that our lives have finally gotten easier with having both a 10-month old and a 10-week old chocolate Labrador Retriever? No way! We still have a few months until we could comfortably take a nap without keeping our ears open for the clanging of her tags to alert us that the little one is on the move.

It may be because we had guests last night but I think it is because we actually spent quality one-on-one time with the girls this weekend. Two walks yesterday, two backyard stick and ball playing sessions, and running around the house. The girls were just plain tuckered out and we were as well. Finally though, we felt like a family rather than two human beings trying to keep up with a 13 lbs poop factory that loves chewing on my dining room set and a 81 lbs jealous older sister that tries to climb on our lap for attention and drools all over our floors just despite us. For those couple of hours though - it was heavenly!

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

80 lbs Verses 13 lbs

It is so amusing to watch the girls play wrestle. The first contender weighs in at 81 lbs while the opponent weighs in at a mere 13 lbs. Your would think that Dakota would have a large advantage over Cheyenne but as I sit here typing this blog, Dakota is sprawled out on her back with Cheyenne's sharp and hound-of-hell-like shark teeth exposed. That is not saying that Dakota just sits back and takes it but Dakota's weaknesses are Cheyenne's strengths and vise-versa.

And there off - Cheyenne flying over Dakota with shark like precision as Dakota lunges her heavy paw down on her little sister - squashing her in one swipe. And what is this? Cheyenne takes off under the table - just out of Dakota's reach. (Yeah, eat it up while you can, Cheyenne! You will be as big as Dakota one day!) And here it comes, Cheyenne lunges from under the table and their off around the kitchen, dining room, and living room - Dakota tailing Cheyenne and over-taking her just around the bend.

Why don't we stop them? Because we aren't stupid! The more they entertain each other, the more they wear each other out, the more they leave us alone and the easier they fall asleep tonight. Heck, they are Labrador Retrievers - let them wear each other out!

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Learning Curve

Today was the second day of my learning curve. Yes, even the owners of labs must learn a think or two. (smile) For me, it was how to take two dogs for a walk when one pulls all the time and one stops all the time. (laugh) It was quite funny but when I reached two doors down, I realized that Dakota didn't have her prong collar on and that was why there was so much pulling. We turned around, walked home, and got that "necklace" on her. Needless to say, she doesn't like having it put on but she doesn't have much of a choice. Contrary to public belief, if properly fitted and worn correctly for training purposes only, the prong collar works extremely well and doesn't hurt the dog at all.

We only go around the block since young pups aren't supposed to do a lot of walking on hard surfaces when they are still growing. Long walks on hard surfaces for large breed dogs can lead to hips problems and those are not only expensive to fix but quite painful for the pups as they get older. For the first 6-months, short walks are okay but never a long walk. Since we adore our girls, we listen to the vets and pay attention to what they need. In this case, with the nice warm weather we had today, they, and I, needed this walk!

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Day of Reckoning

I know I have said it before and I will say it again - know the pack order! So often we get caught up with the fact that these are our babies and hence we treat them like such. If they were human children, we would still have to lay down boundaries and scold them when they are bad - if not for their own safety. Well, having both labs with me yesterday made me realize that order was needed. So, last night I spoke with my husband and explained what I thought we were doing right and wrong.

This morning, I woke up early, took a shower, and got dressed all before the pups and husband were awake. I have to admit that I was compelled to let at least Dakota out of her crate when I first woke up but that would have put her before me. So, after I got ready, I let Dakota out of her crate, we woke up my husband and Cheyenne, and then I took the girls out (each on their own) to go to the bathroom. Usually, when they come back in, they get breakfast right away. Well, my friends, not today! I was driven to put my husband and I first so I started to prepare my own breakfast while both girls cried a bit (especially the baby, Cheyenne) and then sat at the table and ate. Within a couple of minutes, the girls figured out that I come first and so they decided to play amongst themselves (of course, knocking the table I was eating at into other rooms) and I paid no attention to them as I ate and read from my book. After I was done, they got their vitamins (beef flavored) and got fed.

It was amazing how quickly they picked up on the fact that I was eating first and did not dare bother me while I was eating. That is because I instilled the pack order - I am alpha in this house (yes, even above my husband) and you don't want to mess with the momma of the pack when she is busy. Yesterday was the day of enlightenment for things will change in this house in order to get both of my chocolate Labs to behave and get the little one potty trained.

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Two for the price of one

No, I am not selling our chocolate labs - the thought didn't even cross my mind as my ear rings from the constant bellow of our 10-month old lab, Dakota. She just wont stop barking at noises that don't exist. Even our 9-week old puppy is trying to ignore the siren of barks as she takes a nap at my feet but cannot ignore her older sister as she grabs Cheyenne's puppy bone and walks away with it.

So, what does the title of this post mean? Well I have both of the girls today and between them and telecommuting to work today, I am exhausted! Cheyenne is far from housebroken and will even stare at you as she stops dead center in the livingroom and squats. Dakota wants everything Cheyenne has and then they instigate a play fight which pushes our diningroom into our livingroom or kitchen - yes, they actually move the table with Dakota's 80 lbs of weight being used in these play times while Cheyenne hides under the table (cause she is still small enough) so that she can nip at Dakota but Dakota can't get her.

It is a never-ending process that has its rewards when the dogs are finally trained. As they say, the journey is worth it when you know what is at the end of the journey - it is that end result that keeps me going and smiling at the girls - even when Cheyenne is trying to eat a couch pillow and Dakota climbs up on the couch so that she can spy on the neighbors. At least I get the bed tonight while the husband gets the lumpy couch. (smile)

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

Hectic Weekend

This weekend was the first full weekend with both chocolate labs. The girls seemed to be getting along even better since Dakota wasn't tired from daycare but with Saturday came the news we were not looking forward to - Cheyenne has coccidia! Eww! So, the vet gave her the normal vaccines (distemper, parvo, etc.) and a bottle for a week's worth of Albon. Of course, since Dakota is around the new pup, she had to be given medication as well and so both pups started Saturday night.

Everything was fine until last night (Sunday) when Dakota started to freak out. Her energy level went from 40 to 1000 in no time. Sure, the girls weren't eating a lot because that is one of the side effects of the medication but where did the energy come from? Not only was it energy but she was barking at noises that didn't exist, trying to climb on my lap while I was on the couch (not her normal behavior) and jumping off the walls. It was at that moment that I did some research and found a number of articles linking hyperexcitability to Albon. Needless to say, the medication has been stopped for both labs until I can speak with the vet this morning. Sure, we want to kill these little parasites but we don't want to hurt our dogs in the meantime.

~Shan
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden

So it begins

Last night it became apparent that things weren't going to go as well as we thought. First, Dakota loved Cheyenne and became her mother. After a few days of doggie daycare and being tired, she has decided that Cheyenne is not another dog but a pesky fly that bugs her. She has now hit the "when does she go home" stage. This is normal in dogs and usually occurs within a couple of days of the new pup coming home. For Dakota, it took a week but, nonetheless, she has hit the stage. Hopefully this stage will not last very long and we can get back to the buddy-buddy stage. In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on the both of them when they are together because it can easily turn bad. So my husband and I have now hit the cross-eyed stage where we try to pay attention to both of our chocolate lab girls and at the same time make sure they don't get on each other's nerves. Funny, who is going to keep an eye out to make sure they don't get on our last nerve?

Annoyed & Proud

Dakota returned from doggie daycare last night, exhausted as usual. Unfortunately, Cheyenne doesn't understand this and wanted nothing more than to play around with Dakota. With Cheyenne at her feet, Dakota kept growling and barking (no snarling) which was a sign for Cheyenne to leave her alone. We weren't upset about this for two reasons: 1) this is something Cheyenne needs to learn and part of their communications and 2) Dakota's tail was still wagging. When a dog's tail is not wagging, then problems can occur. The lack of a tail wagging signifies aggression and Dakota was not being aggressive at all - just telling the pest to leave her alone because she was tired.

My husband and I decided to kennel the girls up (in different crates) as they both needed naps and we needed to head to the gym. One hour later, we come home, let them out, and Dakota is fine with Cheyenne - playing around with her as though nothing happened earlier that night. This is why it is important to not interfere unless there is trouble. If we had, it would have seemed to Dakota that were coddling Cheyenne and bad feelings would have happened.

On the upside - Cheyenne is doing much better with her housebreaking. There were only a couple of accidents yesterday but otherwise she is great. At one point, having both done potty and poopy (as we call it in my house), I was leading Cheyenne back to the house and she stopped on the edge of the grass, looked up at me, tugged a little to get back on the grass fully and then pooped again! Wow! She knew that this was the place to go and that if she had to go, she couldn't go back inside and make a mess there. Needless to say, we are both very proud. Oh! She also held going potty for 4 hours last night. See, with only a little patience and a schedule, housebreaking is that bad.

Much better!

Dakota is at daycare and Cheyenne is asleep in her crate. Oh, how I love the peaceful moments when the pups are at bay. (smile) That is not to say that I don't love my chocolate labs - I love them more than I can express. But, even the greatest of loves needs a break every once in a while. Puppies are a lot of work. Labrador Retrievers with high energy and strong tough bodies are sometimes hard to keep up with. Put them both together and you have a couple of very tired owners.

But, I cannot complain. Cheyenne, our almost 9-week old puppy is doing very well with her housebreaking now. Both she and I (my husband included) are starting to understand how each other work. The first couple of days are hard to both dog and owner as you learn about each other and start to settle in. Now, we know that once she wakes from a nap, out to potty she must go. She is already getting the hang of going to the bathroom on queue when we say "go potty" and we know that if she starts to cry for no reason when she is out of her crate, that means she has to poop real bad. It may not seem like much to other people but if you have ever owned a puppy then you know what a big deal this is. She is now starting to communicate with us and she is starting to understand us as well. What does that bring? One happy family!

My Birthday

Today was supposed to be an easy day for me - Dakota was to go to doggie daycare and I was supposed to have the day to do start Cheyenne's one-on-one training. Since it is my birthday, I have the day off so why not have an easy day? (laugh) Well, it didn't turn out that way. No room at doggie daycare today (since it is not her normal day) turned my easy day into a hectic day. Cheyenne looks to Dakota to learn the ropes and Dakota wants my attention when I give Cheyenne any attention. (laugh) Try having a 80+ lbs. Lab decide that she want to be a lap dog all over again. When you are only 5'5" tall and 130 lbs, an 80 lbs pup sitting on you is not that comfortable! I like to breathe thank-you-very-much! (smile)

So, it seems that some changes need to be made in order to accommodate two energetic labs. That is where the crate training comes in. Cheyenne is still learning crate training and cries a little after going on. Of course, we have her go in the crate on her own. To do this, we simply take a small training treat, lead her to the crate by her nose (smelling the treat), and then say "kennel up" over and over again as she gets into the crate. When she is fully in, we give her the treat, she sits while eating it, and we close the door. This worked wonderfully with Dakota when she was younger and now all we have to do is take off her collar and tell her kennel up - she heads straight to her crate in the back bedroom and lays down in it. Since Cheyenne is still potty training, the collar only stays on while we are home so we can get her outside quicker. Never leave a collar on any pup in a crate when leaving the pup - the collar or tags can get hung up on the crate and literally hang the pup.

By switching them in and out of the crates, I can spend one-on-one time with each. They will also have time to play together but only on my terms. It is easy to think of them as babies but they are dogs - even seasoned pet owners need to remind themselves of this frequently. By keeping things on my terms - even if they don't like it - I will be able to accomplish what I need to do today - without the stress - and without losing my alpha role in the pack.

Can't Wait!

No, I am serious! I can't wait! I truly can't wait! (laugh) What am I on about? Well, I can't wait until Cheyenne is big enough to go to doggie daycare with her sister, Dakota! (laugh) Yes, two days in and we are both exhausted. She is wonderful and we are so happy we have her - just the potty training stinks! Cheyenne is goo during the night - 3-4 times on schedule but during the day she can't seem to hold it. We will take her out to go potty, be done with it, come inside, and 20 minutes later she is squatting somewhere. She doesn't drink a lot of water but it seems someone has turned on the well and wont turn it off. (laugh)

A couple of things my husband and I have agreed on: 1) The carpets will be professionally cleaned in the spring and 2) This is the last puppy we are getting. Sure, we will have other dogs in the future but we have this infactuation with being able to sleep more than 2 hours uninterrupted. (laugh) All in all, we are very pleased with our Dakota and Cheyenne. They are both getting along great and tomorrow we head back to doggie daycare for Dakota. This will allow me more one-on-one time with Cheyenne to train her and get this potty training done with. Yes, I do work but I am off tomorrow for my birthday - perfect timing to spend quality training time with Cheyenne. If you don't have one-on-one training (like I did with Dakota), things take quite a bit longer. We know she wont be able to hold it the entire night until around 4 months of age but if we don't start working on signals, she is going to be a grandma before she learns how to go outside only. :)

Also, we have finally gotten a chance to get pictures of the two chocolate lab girls on our website so please feel free to visit http://www.angelcove.us and click on the "Pictures" link to see our beautiful labbies for yourself!

Alpha

The important thing with bringing a new puppy home to an already existing pup, is that you keep the pack order intact. So, today we made sure that Dakota stayed on her Sunday routine of a morning walk with my husband and her morning treat of doggie ice cream. (Yes, we do spoil her) By doing this, we ensure that Dakota knows that Cheyenne is not going to take away from her and she is not a threat. It is difficult to keep you eyes on two at a time and we did have to decrease the size of their play area so that they couldn't sneak off behind a cabinet or anything but we know that with time things will get easier.

(laugh) I remember when we first brought Dakota home - she was 8 weeks also. Within 2 days, I was in tears and exhausted. Had the breeder not been 4 hours south of us, I may have tried to take her back. I was working full time, doing everything around the house, going to graduate school for my MBA and then taking care of a puppy. It was so hard at first but as soon as the puppy learns the routine, everything starts to work itself out. Yes, it is crucial that you make and keep a routine with your new pup. This includes eating, sleeping, potty breaks, walks, play, and so on. Dogs love schedules and once you deviate from the schedule, that is when things turn bad.

You also have to maintain the pecking order. Dakota plays very well with Cheyenne but she was getting a little too rough at one point. So, I refocused her immediately instead of yelling at her. First, I had her sit, then make eye contact with me (forgetting about the little chocolate ball running around the room), and then when Cheyenne was far enough away across the room and not even knowing we were in the room, I had Dakota roll over and give me her belly. You see, I am alpha in this family, my husband is beta, and then Chi (Dakota), and Delta (Cheyenne). I reinstituted my role in the family and had Dakota submit to me to remember that I am, indeed, the alpha, and that she may be over the pup but she has to play by my rules. This worked well but if you decide to do this, make sure those that are below the pup, in pecking order, are away first. If not, you will confuse the pup you are working with and also allow the other pups to see this one being submissive and therefore allowing the new pup to think that the old pup is submitting to them. Big no-no! Maintain that pecking order - remember that if you treat your dog like a human, it will start to treat you like a dog. Dogs like and are more comfortable with being a dog and therefore should be treated as such. At least, this is what you should do if you want a happy home, to be able to sleep normally again some day, and a good and healthy relationship with your dogs.