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Gosh, it has been a busy 12 days since Sunny arrived. We are getting to know each other and have gotten a lot accomplished too! Our exploration walks have been fun with some training time in there. Her favorite treat is lamb lung, so I take some of that and reward her for checking in with me on our walks. She is also coming when called - even if she is visiting the other dogs at the fence. Oh, how I love this age :-) When she gets into adolescence those recalls won't be so easy LOL! I started attaching a light line about 6 feet long and she is dragging that around for part of our walks. I am gradually getting her leash trained by picking it up for short periods of time and putting a little pressure on it and getting her to come towards me. Today I took her out into a new area and held onto the leash while she explored. She is getting used to the pressure and did nicely on a little 5 minute leash walk.
Sunny is eating pretty good. She is not a voracious eater, I think because she is so busy. She would eat a few bites and run off to play. I don't leave food down for my dogs. They either eat now or they miss that meal - that way they don't get spoiled about meal time. I did that with Sunny too and she still wasn't diving into her food so I decided to add some canned lamb and rice and that worked perfect. I noticed the last few meals she has eaten better and not left any in the bowl. I had also tried cottage cheese and yogurt in her kibble but she wasn't crazy about those. Finding the right treat was tricky too as she spit the natural balance beef out! My other dogs love that stuff! Sunny likes the lamb lung and I might try the NB lamb and rice in a roll next. I haven't started any "serious" training or clicker work yet. I want to just spend time getting to know her right now. There is plenty of time to train and puppy hood doesn't last long.
Grooming is going great - today she let me do all her nails without a fuss! I told her what a good girl she was and she earned some of her favorite lamb lung for that. She is a very smart girl and I do think she wants to do the right thing. When I tell her "good girl" she looks right at me and comes in for that treat! I gave her a bath for the first time today. It was after the pool play. When her ears got wet that green dye from the tattoo started running and got everywhere. So right after the pool fun we had bath time. There was enough dye in that ear for 10 puppies it seemed! It has been over 2 weeks since the tattoo so I figured it was set. I got rid of the excess green, but there is a little staining on the hair on the inside of the ear. The tattoo is very clear. The ear looks a lot better now - all that green dye was bugging me. Especially when it showed up in my pictures :-) After the bath it was so nice out, with temps in the 60's, Sunny and I laid in the grass together playing with a toy. She was so sweet.
Socialization....I haven't taken Sunny anywhere yet - just to the vet for her wellness exam after she arrived. She does get a lot of socialization though, because everyone wants to come in and visit when they come to agility class. Sunny is glad to see everyone and goes around to visit each person to say hi. Her personality is so bubbly and happy. I want her to get one more vaccination before I take her off the property. She has gotten to play with my 12 year old aussie, Amie, who is really good with puppies and will even play with them. Flint, my BC, has also been very good with her.
Potty training is coming along. Since Sunny was raised inside and used to going on papers I started with some of those pads. She did use them pretty good, with only a couple misses, but now I am fading those and getting her outside. She has her favorite places to go poop and will piddle as soon as I get her outside. Well, most of the time :-) Sunny is a busy girl and she can get distracted and get caught up in the excitement of things - especially in the morning.
Crate training is good! She caught on real fast to being in an xpen, and she has been sleeping through the night. No protest screaming when I put her away either! What a good girl she is!
I am enjoying her so much! I love how she wants to be with me. She follows me everywhere and pretty much thinks she owns the place already. She tries to second guess where I am going and beat me there and has caught on quick to the routine around here.
