Lila was adopted from Colorado Puppy Rescue on July 29th 2007. The best guess of the Puppy Rescue people is that she was about 9 weeks old. We are going with that though it is possible she is a week or so older. I didn't decide to keep a record until today so lots of days are missing. Here are the highlights so far, as best I can remember:
July 29th 2007
Stats:
age: 9 weeks
weight: 7.5 pounds
The Story So Far
We are her second attempt at adoption from the puppy rescue. She was returned after one week by the first person who tried to adopt her. Our guess: they just did not know what they were getting into by adopting an Australian Cattle Dog.
She was given her first PARVO and bordatella shots by the rescue group.
She bites. Hard. A lot. She does not respond well to correction of any kind about this. It's going to have to be pure extinction to cure the bitting as she seems to view any negative reenforcement technique as a challange.
She was clearly the dominant pup in her kennel at the rescue center, even with the other cattle dog (supposedly her brother though his tail was docked and hers was not.)
Two Dogs
Our 7 year old ACD/GSD/Huskey mix, Ipo, is generally friendly with all dogs though he usually does not pay much attention to them after the initial greeting. He has arthritis in his front paws and never did like them being touched anyway. Lila is just the right size to step on them, and her way of interacting consists mostly of biting. Ipo is not happy. He mostly growls and runs away. This does him no good as she is just encouraged to chase him. Ipo has made a few attempts to play with the little one but gives up quickly as she is too intent on biting his face and paws. We are controlling the puppy to keep her from charging Ipo and biting him. He gets treats for being near her.
And a Cat
The cat growls and hiss at Lila. She barks at him. Sometimes they will ignore eachother. Occasionally they will sniff eachother. Other times she chases him, Still other times he hisses and bats at her for trying to chase him. We generally step on the leash so she can't chase him to far.
Destruction
She learned not to chew shoes instantly though she chews everything else she can get her teeth on. We managed to catch her in the act the first time and corrected her from another room. She has no idea what happened, no-one was around, it must have been the shoes themselves that sprayed her back with water.
Two Dogs
Ipo is getting calmer around the pup. It has worked best to keep her from being able to get at him except for brief periods (minute or less at a time) out of doors.
Sleeping
She started out sleeping through the night without having to go outside from 10PM til 5:30AM. Wow. We are lucky about that. She now ususally sleeps untill about 6:30
Brains
We started clicker training on day two. She knows sit, down, "through" (as in go through the tunnel), come, go pee, go poop (not the words we use for that but I'm translating), and paw. She will come off leash from quite far away even with the distraction of another puppy. I expect there will be some backsliding on this before we get much older. She heels fairly well though we haven't taught her a verbal command for that yet.
Socializing
She is very social - loves people and other dogs (especially Ipo, who avoids her.) We are now trying to get her to sit before being allowed to greet anyone. It is difficult mostly because of human social pressures.
Puppy biting
I had two days of being impatient with the biting and feeling angry (did I mention that she bits hard - and all the time?). I have to remind myself that she just doesn't know any better. What has worked best so far has been consistantly to let out an Ouch! and immediatly move away and pointedly ignore her. In addition, she learned to bit somewhat more softly when we bit her in play, using only our lips.
Socializing
Playing with other puppies for too long puts her in a state where she pays less attention to us for a day or two. Note: Limit exposure to other dogs.
Eating
Lila eats 3 times a day plus training treats. We try to use food taken out of her meals for treats but also use other treats.
She is growing at a tremendous rate. Half a pund a day for a couple of days then nothing then for a couple of days, then another half pound again.
The Vet
We gave her her second PARVO shot on August 4th (9 weeks of age) but have since learned that this was probably a mistake. Opinions vary but it seems that it is best to wait a while before PARVO vaccines since they have no lasting effect when give too early. Better to just be very careful about what other dogs she has contact with.
Swimming with Ipo
We take Ipo and Lila to the reservouir for a swim. It's good for Ipo's arthritis, an enriching experience for Lila, and fun for all. Ipo is an old hand at swimming and when he and S_ go out into the water Lila stands ankle deep and whines and barks. With a little encouragement from dad she decides to go for it. She put on her most determined expression and leaps forward, swimming all the way out to join mom and her new brother. She has a nice flat swim with no attempt to climb out of the water but when she reaches Ipo she tries to climb onto his back. He doesn't seem to mind but we don't let her. She heads back to shore. This is repeated a couple of times more before we head home.
