So you aren't concerned with mammary cancer, then?

Posted By GSPCRNA on 11/30/2012 8:53 AM


 

Now THAT'S what i mean by weerubbertummy  Congrats, she's adorable!
 

I would be if we were waiting years; but a matter of months, no. Do what feels right for you. Like I said, I really could have gone either way on this based upon the research and mixed opinions of others.

She's not really posing.  I just take a bunch of them and, luckily, some come out pretty good.

Sooooo tired! 

How old is Lucy now? Bella learned pretty quickly the concept of going outside...but it took her a bit longer to find the best way to let us know she needed to. I was worried she had decided the way to was the squat for us to see, let a little dribble, cut off when I said "no" and swooped her up to go immediately outside. BUT, just as I inquired on here for some advice as we didn't want to do the bell on the door thing....it was like a lightbulb went off for her overnight and she just figured it out. I'd say you're doing right by teaching her to wait at the stairs since she can't go to the door. Bella learned to whine...go to the door we could see from the living room (though not the door we go out), make eye contact, when we asked if she needs to go out, she then runs to the appropriate door. This is still her method.

Lucy is still young yet, I'd give her a little more time and patience. I know accidents are no fun, but she will gain more control as she ages and fully figures out the concept. She'll put it all together. In the meantime...watch her like a hawk so that when she does begin to dribble you can cut her off and get her outside. We put up gates so Bella was only in the room we were and never able to be out of sight. Also, I doubt you are, but make sure not to punish the accidents. She can't help it. Just make sure to throw her a praise party after going outside.

 cute pup, here's mine:

she was 9wks old new years day, & so I have some 1st hand experience with your crate question.  i'm also a 1st time dog owner (27 yrs old).  it sure is hard to hear my girl whine (her name's Suzy).  the thing i have to continually remind myself of, is that if i reinforce her whining by getting her out of the crate when she does whine, then all i'm doing is making her life more difficult.  being in the crate is a necessity at her age, because she could hurt herself if left unattended while i sleep.  when she whines, it's vital that I don't even acknowledge that I can hear her.  i will walk through the room, sit down & read, etc but never look at her in the crate while she's whining. even on day 1 she started to realize that crying was fruitless.  you have to be consistent on this or you will teach her that crying get's attention, & that's not good for either of you.  

i've had her about a week, & she still protests a bit if i crate her while i shower or something, but she knows when it's bed time & has gone willingly & quietly the last 4 nights in a row.  the 1st 2 nights i had her, she was on the ground in my room in the crate, since it was her 1st night, i put her crate on my bed next to me.  she continue to whimper, but i held strong & she quieted down, & went to sleep after she realized i was doing the same & wasn't going to let her out.   the 2nd night i also put her on my bed in the crate & she didn't even make a peep.  so the 3rd night i put her on the floor, she protested for 5 or 10 minutes, then slept soundly all night.  she likes to wake me up about 6 or 6:30am, & my alarm is set for 7am, each morning i ignore her until exactly 7am when the alarm goes off, the last 2 mornings, she's slept in quietly until i open her crate.   she's definitely making progress

 Wow, such cute dogs here, I love 'em.

Here's our new puppy, Hunter ST (Hunter for short, lol):

He arrived at 11:30PM into Albany, NY at 8 weeks of age, and the images are of him at about 9 and a half weeks. He's growing quick though, is already far along regarding house breaking (he lets out a little whimper to let us know he needs to go outside), and is coming along fine with bite management (snapping fingers now do the trick). He loves the snow, jumping in and out of the drifts (we live a bit up a mountain, in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks), but does tend to chill relatively quick even when he's running. I'm (I should say he's, eh?) also fortunate that I work from home so he's with me the whole day and gets to go out at my leisure, and will probably be around 75-80 lbs once he's full grown (his dam stems from Italy; his sire, from Serbia). 

Anyway, I figured I'd say hi and introduce Hunter to the group. Not sure where everyone is from, but we're about 14 miles outside of lake Placid, NY.

Cheers,

Jan, Hunter's daddy.

 When puppies do this, I do wonder about UTIs. It doesn't hurt to check. My vet lets me do a catch and bring it in, which saves us both some time (and me some $$.) I realize you posted this a few days ago, so maybe you looked into that. I figured I'd post in case someone else has the problem.

Have you considered training her to ring a doorbell to let you know she needs to go out?