It's not what you think, though I'm honestly surprised I don't get asked more often about that one. A couple weekends ago we went to go pick out* the newest member to our family... a puppy! Here is Ellie, anxious to see the little guys.
You know, considering there were something like 13 puppies, she did EXTREMELY well. You have to admit that as cute as puppies are, if you have a swarm of them all around you, and even practically the same size as you, it can get overwhelming. 
However, Ellie likes dogs and thought that this pack of little ones was pretty darn cool.
Sometimes it seemed that she liked the dog toys better than the puppies.
And she certainly thought the huge horses were exciting. I tried to steer her attention back to the puppies because I'm allergic to horses. Thus no pictures of that.
You know, taking pictures of puppies isn't as easy as it may seem, but here is the little guy we picked.
We're thinking of naming him Merlin (on the right). He comes home tomorrow.* Disclaimer: Usually Michael is a animal shelter type of guy. Really, in most cases, there is no reason to need to go to a breeder. There are so many good dogs out there. However, he wants to get a poodle mix (these are goldendoodles) because it will be easier on my allergies, and since doodles are so popular - that means we need to get a puppy. I appreciate his thought, and I really appreciate the fact that he's decided to donate the same amount of money he is paying for the puppy to the local animal shelter. I am married to an amazing guy.
2 comments:
Oh a new puppy!! I love dogs! Congratulations on the new member of your household!!
When we were raising Tycho, the trainer gave us all these exercises to do to make him not protective about food (so if we ever had a kid, and the kid stuck his hands in the food dish while the dog was eating, wouldn't get bitten).
They had us feed the dog and while the dog was eating, add yummy treats to his bowl. And also take stuff out of his mouth and reward him at the same time (like remove a dog bone while giving him tasty chicken skin).
He learned "hey, everytime they eff with my food, it gets better!" lol
Same thing with toys or whatever else dogs can get possessive about.
If he's teething and biting, say "OW!" in a high-pitched voice and stop playing. When puppies play with eachother and one of them bites too hard, the other will cry out and it tells the offender "hey, that was too hard!" He'll learn very quickly that in order to play, he has to be *extremely* gentle with his mouth.
If he jumps up on you and you want to discourage that, quickly turn your back and count to 5 or 10. He'll learn that to get your attention, jumping is not good.
Another thing we'd do is use a coke can with a few pennies in it, duct-taped on top. It's a great distraction device. When Tycho would do something bad, we would shake the can and yell "ah ah!" and then immediately give him a toy or something else he *could* have. I had a can in every room just so I could grab something quickly. He would look so puzzled but it worked like a charm once he figured it out. Eventually all I'd have to do is pick up the can and look at him and he'd stop what he was doing.
congrats!!
I like the coke can idea. I'll have to share that one with my husband.
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