Crouton!
As you can see, even Bigboy loves her and isn't nearly as uncomfortable with her as he has been with other dogs. She is 6 pounds of rat terrier with some chihuahua mixed in. (In Australia, rat terriers are called mini-fox terriers which I think sounds so much nicer than rat terrier.)We also decided to keep her shelter name. "James", the very nice man who has raised her from birth and brought her over tonight really liked the name and thought it suited her. We just didn't have the heart to change it.
Cute pup! And an even cuter name!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new addition!
:)
I didn't read the previous post until I had read this one - my first thought when the post came up was "That is the cutest name for that dog! It seems just right from the picture! Hope all goes well this time around and kudos to you all for giving it another shot,
ReplyDeleteLisa
Awww!! So cute!! Congratulations!!
ReplyDeletesuper cute.
ReplyDeleteShe's so cute Charlotte!
ReplyDeleteAdorable!!
ReplyDeleteCute! My in-laws have toy fox terriers and they are great dogs. I hope this adoption works out for your family.
ReplyDeleteAdorable name! JMJ
ReplyDeleteoh this little fellow looks like he'll fit right in with your sweet children!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the sweet words. We are very excited! We know that life with a puppy is not easy, but we are excited to help mold and shape her into a good dog for our family. Any and all obedience advice is gladly welcomed! House training especially!!!
ReplyDeleteCrouton is a very good name for a dog!
ReplyDeleteShe is very cute! And yes, fox is better than rat!
Now...since you ask...
lots of chewy rawhide bones, and get a can and put a marble in it for "no". Works for us...especially for "biting" her "sibling" (aka our daughter!) in play...those bites are naughty, but puppies think they are playing. That can comes in handy. Also, turn her on her back to let her know you are the alpha.
For housebreaking, crate crate crate. And that enzyme spray for mistakes.
At first you can't make yourself do it, but stick to it. Play, outdoors, crate. Eat, outdoors, crate. Sit with family, crate. Come out of the crate, go outdoors. Either she's directly under your gaze, outdoors, or in the crate.
When she does her business, she gets to play, but don't lose your concentration! Back in the crate when you want to think about other things.
The crate is your friend. Roaming around the house is your enemy.
In a week she will have gotten it. If our puppy can, yours certainly will! (Ours is kinda dumb :)
Oh, my goodness, what a cutie! The name is perfect -- I would have kept it, too.
ReplyDeleteAuntie Leila,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are reading this. What do we do when she has an accident in the crate? Well, our crate is really more like a puppy play pen that "James" let us have. It has walls, but no floor or top. She can't jump over it though and seems happy to be there for the most part. We keep it on the tile floor so that accidents are easy to clean up. We have been taking her out every hour, but she still had a little accident on the floor and her blanket. We took the blanket away to wash it and didn't fuss at her, but it was too late to take her outside and make that connection.
You think this should take about a week?
Cute puppy, Charlotte. And I think that Crouton is a perfect name and fits the puppy well!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte--You may need to get a crate with a floor...puppies are naturally reluctant to mess where they sleep and rest and so are less likely to mess a crate. Since she was used to doing her business on the floor inside the enclosure wherever she was, she's not likely to see this new enclosure as a space not be messed. A crate that allows her just enough space to stand and lay down and turn around is best as there's nowhere to get away from the mess and it will deter the urge quickly.
ReplyDeleteYes, number/letter commenter is right.
ReplyDeleteYou have to get a SMALL crate. One that just fits. Also, no blanket until she's reliable -- puppies prefer something soft ("grass") to something hard to pee on, and the blanket might be absorbent enough to hide what she's done from herself.
She won't be cold or sad without a blanket, she'll be fine.
I don't know how old she is, but a 12 week old puppy can hold it for many hours, up to 8 at night, and it is a good idea to let her do that. (Not to add another anxiety, but I will say that our puppy had a UTI that I think was there from the beginning. I realized something was wrong when she had bloody pee...yuck. After the antibiotics, she was trained. This is pretty rare, though. Of course. *Rolls eyes*.)
Think about how some people get a puppy and keep it in the crate except for the hour at lunch they play with it and then at supper.
Not that I think that is wonderful...but you get the idea that you can leave her in there more than you think. Puppies are just like kids, getting a little beyond themselves with excitement and forgetting where to pee :)
We got a couple of good books from the library that are along the "think like a dog" lines, and they really helped. I wish I could remember a title :)
IF you have the right kind of crate, and IF you take her from the crate to do her business and don't let her roam around, get over-excited by the kids, etc, yes, it will be about a week! There will be mistakes, but it will be over, basically. Get that spray, you'll feel better...
And then you can worry about the chewing :)
Sorry about this long comment!
Just to filibuster some more, consider the expense for the crate a mental health necessity. For you!
ReplyDeleteYou can find them on craigslist...or just buy one. Google puppy training... the crate is worth every penny.
Definately get a crate that is small enough. Just big enough to stand and turn around. She will end up loving it. Dogs are 'den' animals, they feel secure and safe in a 'den'. What Leila said is exactly what we did with our lab and he loves his crate, he goes in there on his own for quiet time away from all the kids and to sleep at night, even before we put him in there. And it is a place where I can put him where I know he'll be safe... when he's driving me crazy and I need a break!
ReplyDeletecoming back to second and third the crate.. a small one. If there is any room in it, the puppy will divide the crate for his bed end and waste end. With our huge crate for our Lab, I put plastic crates at one end to create a smaller living space in the crate until he was bigger and needed the space of the dog crate.
ReplyDeletegood luck
I'd be afraid the kids would squish her! I think of PeeWee's "Speck" when I see that picture. What a doll!
ReplyDelete