Well, on Saturday, I had a big life milestone! For the first time since the 3rd grade, I have a dog! A beautiful, fuzzy, sweet, rambunctious ball of fur. Yes, he is absolutely, undeniably my "furbaby." He is a beautiful ten week old, cocker spaniel and I have named him Westley (like from the Princess Bride). Immediately I have become one of those owners who is constantly posting pictures of him on facebook and instagram.
I was worried about how he would transition, but he seems to be transitioning quite well. He does seem to have some separation anxiety which is going to be a challenge, but I'm hoping that he will realize that I always when I come back when I leave. If he doesn't seem to figure that out, I'll look solutions.
We are working on the housebreaking thing. We've developed a sort of rhythm and he has already caught on that he is expected to go potty outside. Of course, his body is small so if I don't get him out in time, he has an accident on the floor. I don't get mad, because it's my fault more than his. I try to stop him and rush him outside so he can finish outdoors.
He is a little mouthy. I've been trying to address this by replacing whatever he is chewing on (me, my shoes, something of mine, etc.) with something that is acceptable to chew on. And it does seem to be helping. I will have to take a stronger approach for when he is mouthy toward me though, because I do not want him to become a biter.
He is already walking on the leash quite well! Though he does bite at it sometimes. And if he decides he doesn't like where I'm headed, he'll sit down and pull back on his leash. I just stand and ignore him til he decides to come walk with me and then I give him lots of praise.
I also discovered that he has a natural instinct to fetch! We will have to work hard to maintain this, though. Sometimes he decides he doesn't want to go get the toy I've thrown or he decides to go get it and stop and chew it half way back to me.
He's also getting very socialized with humans. He is very happy to meet everyone. He gets excited and barks and shakes his little, docked tail (I wish it wasn't docked, but it is the breed standard so it is difficult to find a cocker with in intact tail). He is absolutely sweet and loves people. He believes everyone is his friend. And a lot of people get excited and want to meet him and talk to him when they see him. And who could blame them? He's adorable! I look forward to when all of his puppy shots are complete so I can take him to the dog park and to meet the four legged friends of my family and friends.
Unfortunately, since he is not housetrained and I have to go to class and work tomorrow, I had to get him a crate. I bought one this evening from PetsMart and put his bed and a soft toy in there, then when he was asleep, I carefully placed him in there. I left the door opened and stayed in the room so that he would feel secure when he woke up. He stayed in there for awhile, but eventually he woke up, exited the crate, and has now fallen asleep on the floor. I hope I am able to get him used to it without too much upset. I really do hate crates.
As I mentioned above, once he has had all of his puppy shots, I am looking forward to taking him to the dog park. There is one dog park in town and in addition to being popular with dog owners, I've heard it has some agility training equipment and I'd love to train him.
But for the time being, my heart is full and completely happy in the stage of puppyhood he is in. He is perfect and I love him. Because of him, I know that love at first sight is a thing (but maybe not really with people).
Woof, woof!
Sharon (& Westley)
