A Glimpse of the Future?

Stella is CALM today. She's just so tuckered out from yesterday that she's not really into playing, but she is into cuddles and chewing and napping. If I'm on the couch, she's chewing on something (lately her elk antler) right next to my feet. Right now I'm at the computer (obviously) and she's lying on the floor under the desk SLEEPING. That's right, sleeping. Just sacked out down there with her feet on top of mine. It is so weird.

She loves her new crate. Besides just being bigger it's less noisy somehow- maybe the pan is coated with something that doesn't rattle against the metal so much- and she's sleeping better because of it. She's been in there 3 times today on her own, chewing on whatever gross animal part she's dragged in with her, with the door open, which she never did with her old crate. But I've got this crate in the corner so maybe it feels safer for her. She doesn't need to be right next to the front door anymore (hurray!), and I think being there kept her on high alert protecting me from intruders like ants and moths.

Education

Stella graduated from puppy class today! I'm so proud of my little terror. Okay, she's not a terror at all today, she's exhausted. Puppy class followed by puppy playgroup followed by a trip to the dog bakery? Are you kidding me? She has been laying next to my chair all evening. Not sleeping mind you, but really tired.

If it seems like she finished fast, it was only a four week class. She loves practicing obedience at home and she does well in class, which is full of distractions.

So I came home and immediately signed up for both Basic Family Manners, and Beginning Agility. She's going to have a blast. And I'm going to have some busy weekends coming up in March and April.

Also, Stella's new crate came today (I love Amazon Prime, I got it overnighted and delivered on a Saturday for $4), and it looks HUGE. Okay, it IS huge, but I don't know how big she's going to get so I jumped 2 sizes from what I borrowed from my dad, which was 31 x 21 x 23, and this one is 42 x 28 x 31, so of course it looks massive. It completely freaked her out when I first unpacked it, but once I threw in the blanket from her old crate and some treats she was good to go. It came with a divider but I don't think she'll need it.

A crate this big has required some furniture repositioning and I'm still trying to figure out how to make everything work. But she has a safe place to stay and that's what really matters. I'm not sure if we're going to need the crate forever so I'm not doing any DRASTIC rearranging- yet.

Stella Has a Crush on the UPS Man

Stella loves deliveries. Usually when I get something that comes in a box, she's the lucky lady who gets to play with it. And, as I may or may not have mentioned just a time or two, she LOVES boxes. I don't know why I bother with fancy Busy Buddies and Kongs when she's just as happy with a free icecube or shipping box. Okay, okay, she loves the Kongs and Busy Buddies too.

Here's Stella taking apart yet another box. I figured since last night was so traumatic she deserved lots of fun tonight.

The initial chewing phase.

The hmmmm, I could drag this around the house phase.

Then the ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK phase.

Domination!

From here on out she just ripped the box to pieces. RIP box.

If I kick the box into the dining room Stella does a flying leap and a growl, lands in it, and then she and the box go flying. It's hilarious and also a little scary because she could smash into a wall or something. I'm guessing that's part of the thrill. Too bad I haven't managed to catch that on camera.

Big Night

Last night was a night of several firsts for Miss Stella.

I decided to give her a bath because the vet said it might help her scratching. What an adventure! I had to stand in the bathtub with her and wet her down, soap her up, and then rinse her off. Oh my goodness, you'd think I was torturing that poor puppy. She was completely silent, didn't bark or growl, and she wasn't shaking. She just did everything in her power to get out of that tub. So I did everything in my power to keep her in it and wash her at the same time. Good times. But I think the bath did help. She's losing her puppy fur and the tub was just a layer of hair when I let the water out. She sure does look pretty. Also, her paws are really REALLY white!

Then a little later a round of bad weather hit. We were outside when the tornado sirens went off, even though the storm was on the other side of the county. She noticed the sirens literally an HOUR later (she's so bright) and decided to bark at the noise. When the rain and wind hit she was pacing and whining and really freaked out. I don't think she's ever heard rain hit the windows that hard.

Thunder didn't seam to bother her at all. She did notice it, but it wasn't the end of her world or anything. Crazy dog.

Oh, and she's completely back to normal after her little bout of feeling yucky after her shots. Full of energy, eating like it's going out of style, and playing fetch like a champ. Go Stella!

Vet Appointment!

Stella went to the vet today. She walked in on her leash (instead of me carrying her) and she was really good waiting. When the vet came in she did everything short of climb onto the ceiling trying to get away from her. At 3 1/2 months Stella weighs 21.2 lbs. She's starting to get her grownup fur down her back and her back grownup teeth are coming in.

Stella has been pretty itchy lately so we talked about food and what treats she's getting and the possibility of allergies. Something to keep an eye on. She also got her last round of puppy shots.

The vet recommended that I start giving her cow hooves instead of rawhide to chew on. It seems fairly gross to me, but I got one tonight and Stella has been chewing on it for something like 30 minutes now with no sign of stopping. She LOVES it. It makes her so happy she's been rolling onto her back with her feet in the air chewing on it. And she's also been rolling on it- I guess to get her smell on it? And although it's a little stinky when you get up close to it, she hasn't even gotten the edges soft yet. I also got a couple of bully sticks (the ingredients list says "Beef Pizzle" which cracks me up and if you want to know what that is check this out) because those are supposed to be better for dogs to chew on as well. Something about the way rawhide tears into big chunks isn't good for dogs.

That's fine by me, things like bully sticks and cow hooves and pig ears are way more natural than the Busy Bones I keep seeing in the store (and that Stella can eat in about 10 minutes).

Anyway, it was a really good visit to the vet. My little puppy is growing up so fast!

Update! So Stella started throwing up this evening. I'm not sure if it was the shots, the stress, the cow hoof (EW!) or what, but everything that has been in her system has to be out now. She was really lethargic and pitiful looking. I gave her some icecubes and she perked up, now she's chewing on peanut butter flavored rawhide (because at least they've never made her puke) and keeps doing her thing of running back and forth between the living room and the dining room, tail up and very proud of herself. Her energy isn't quite what it should be yet, so I guess I'll keep an eye on her tonight and see if she continues to improve. Otherwise we're taking a trip to the emergency vet. I feel like a new mother taking her baby to the emergency room for hiccups.

Guard Dog

Stella's main mission in life sometimes is to protect me from all the scary stuff out there. It's not something I've trained her to do, but she's taken it upon herself to make sure that I am not going to attacked by a vicious creature I didn't see coming.

Some of these dangers lurking beyond my comprehension include:
birds
leaves
airplanes
water coming down the gutter
raindrops
pine needles
the neighbors
their dogs
squirrels
boxes
electric meters
fences
fire hydrants
yard sculptures

Today the unlucky enemy was my metal yardstick, which I have been using at least twice a day to fish balls out from under the couch. Suddenly this seemingly benign yellow chunk of metal was a threat!



Sorry it's so short- I can only email myself videos on my phone that are 10 seconds or so. But now I know the secret of videos!

Doggy Weekend!

Stella is wiped out. She's so tired that when we got home she came inside, trudged behind the chair in the living room, flopped down, and went to sleep. This is the dog who has never slept outside of her crate (and when she does sleep in her crate it's because I put her in there), the whole month I've had her.

Yesterday we went to puppy class where we worked on "go to your place" and "stay", which will soon be incorporated into this magical bit that involves going to a door mat or rug or some other definable spot, laying down, and staying there until I tell her to get up. If I ever actually pull that off I will be amazed. Puppy class gets hard because the puppies are so little, and so easily distracted. It takes a while for Stella to focus, and then invariably something happens that makes her lose focus and I have to get it back again. Things that really distract her are the mop (it's a puppy class, so there's a lot of piddling on the floor-duh), a couple of the other dogs, and the instructor. I think the instructor has treats made of doggy crack.

Once we get home and practice she catches on really fast. Then we have to work on the same thing with more distractions. This time of year she's totally absorbed by birds, so every time we go outside something that took 2 minutes a month ago takes 5 or 10 minutes because she forgets why we're out there. It's like the dog in "Up"- SQUIRREL!

After class we had a short puppy evaluation at daycare, which was me filling out paperwork and her getting in a room full of puppies to make sure she wasn't going to attack any of them. No big deal.

Then we drove to Alabama to meet Jake. Jake lives with my mom and her partner Karen. Jake is 1 month older than Stella and about 3 times bigger than she is, so we were all slightly worried about how it would go. But it went fine. They played and played and played (which includes snapping, gnawing, biting, body slamming, and RUNNING) until they were both totally exhausted and we had to make them take a time out. Then they wanted to play some more. Then Stella got weirdly territorial about the patio and decided it was hers and she wouldn't let Jake on it. Stella's scrappy. So here are the two of them looking like they're ready to kill each other (how is this fun guys?):

My goodness what big teeth you have!

Did I mention that when we went to a locally owned pet supply store Stella got so freaked out that I had to hold her, and when I put her down she hid under the racks of toys? And then she does this stuff with Jake. Ooooookay.

And here's one of them when then were starting to get worn out.

Awwwwwww!

I was proud of Stella, we stayed overnight and she was very very good. She seems to have everyone convinced that she's an angel puppy, giving lots of kisses and doing her sits and downs just right. When Jake wasn't around she would grab his bone and sit on his blanket on the floor like she belonged there. Poor Jake probably doesn't know what the heck happened to him this weekend!

Balls Balls Balls. Balls.

Stella has many toys that she loves, and the top two would be rope toys and balls. I'm trying to steer her away from the rope toys because tug of war tends to make her really mouthy. But I'm in search of some good balls, and good balls, my friends, are hard to come by.*

Stella really likes the Kong tennis balls with squeakers in them. But there's a problem Here's the progression:
They start out smooth and pretty and new, and then she starts skinning the poor balls, and then I have to trim the fuzz off of them so she doesn't eat it. And I say things like "Uh oh Stella, looks like your balls need a haircut!" That's just awkward for everybody. So these haven't lasted very long.

Tonight we went to the pet store and found a few balls that will probably be better for a dog who wants to chew and chew and chew. The first one was a "virtually indestructible" (right) purple foam ball, which her needle-sharp teeth sink right into. I see that lasting for maybe a week. It was cheap, no big deal.

Then we got a rubber purple squeaky ball that is just a little too big for her (and therefore easier for me to wrestle out of her mouth and keep throwing). She really likes this one because the squeak is super loud and really easy to do. Here's a blissed out puppy:
I know you can't see her eyes, but she's staring dreamily into space just gnawing on her ball. Nice.

Maybe the best ball I found is the Petstages Orka Tennis Ball, which is made of translucent blue soft rubber. First of all, it is all one piece so it can't come apart too easily. Next, it has a texture on it that must feel really good to Stella because she loves chewing on it. When I throw it, it really bounces around, but because of the texture the bounce is unpredictable. And it's a little heavier than a regular tennis ball so it gets some momentum and moves around faster. If Stella so much as nudges it, she has to do a lot of running around to catch it again. According to the packaging, it also floats.
Excellent dog toy! It would be great if this is turns out to be a solid plastic toy she'll actually chew on. She's not wild about Nylabones and she either doesn't like Kongs or hasn't figured out that she can chew on them as well as eat peanut butter out of them.
And the girl does love her peanut butter.

*How many "that's what she said" moments can you find in this post?

Budding Geologist?

Stella is an avid rock collector. She loves to chew on them. I guess they probably feel nice and cool on her gums but seriously? I can always tell when she has one because of the loud CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. She's going to break her teeth!

Here's what she's brought inside in the past 24 hours. I don't know how she finds them- it's all grass and mulch outside my door.

RIP Sephora Box

And maybe my living room... she really did a number on it!

Let's get a closer look at that innocent pose.
Awwwww! The funny thing is that even after she got the rawhide chew out of the box, she still just played with the box.

Last night I trimmed her toenails, and what I thought might be a horrible ordeal was actually no big deal at all. She simply didn't care.

BRAT!

Stella has been out of sorts tonight- needy and whiny and seeming bored. Sorta bratty. Like a fussy 2 year old. We sat outside for a while this evening (the weather has been soooo pretty) and she sniffed the air and watched birds. We came inside and practiced some training, and then I thought maybe she was tired so I put her in her crate but it was just high-pitching yipping for 10 minutes. I swear my neighbors think I abuse this poor dog. When she finally stopped I got her out of the crate.

Flash of brilliance: I got an old small shipping box, let her watch me put a chew toy in there and taped it up. Lots and lots of energy was put into chasing the box around and carrying it from room to room and biting it. She still hasn't gotten into it, but she finally settled down. Empty boxes are definitely her favorite toy.

Unlike her buddy Jake, Stella hasn't figured out that soft toys can get UN-stuffed yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time. I regularly have to give her tennis balls "haircuts" so she doesn't end up chewing off the fuzz and swallowing it. Future balls might have to be rubber instead of fuzzy.

Tonight's pictures!

The Power of the Clicker

This afternoon I didn't have anything better to do so after we practiced some training class stuff ("Down" "Sit" "Down" "Sit") I taught her "Kisses!" At first when her nose touched my hand I would click & treat. And then when she just barely licked my hand I'd click and treat. She caught on really REALLY fast, and soon she was a hand-licking treat-getting fool.

I didn't just do this because it's super adorable when a puppy licks your hand. I did it so that hopefully when she goes to nip me I can say Kisses! and she'll lick me instead. We'll see how that works out....

She's Perfect the Way She Is!

So today Stella met some new people. One older lady seemed very concerned that one of Stella's ears sticks straight up and the other flops over. She started talking about how to tape her right ear so it will stand up. And how she'll be so pretty and perfect when both of her ears stand straight.

This struck me as overkill. Stella is a puppy. So one ear is up and one down... so what? The other one will probably come up in time and if it doesn't is there some medical reason that it needs to?

Then she said that her Collie's ears are supposed to be folded over at the top so she's glued the tips to train them to go that way.

That was when I decided that this woman is insane. I didn't get a dog to be perfect looking, I got her because she's smart and a sweetheart and she'll be an excellent companion when she grows up. Can you tell I'm taking this a little personally? Don't criticize my dog's looks! She's perfect just the way she is!

Anyway, as you can see here, when she's really interested in something (like chewing on the doormat... it's a battle) both of her ears are up. So some people can just mind their own business!
And I might be biased, but I believe she's absolutely adorable.

In other news, last night I lured Stella into an empty bathtub with treats- twice. I haven't given her a bath and I know the time is coming. So we're going very very VERY slow. Next time I might run the water at a trickle. And then after that put an inch or so in before I get her in there. Who knows how long it will be before I actually put shampoo on her?

People Aren't So Bad!

Tonight after work I took Stella with me on several errands- dropping off recycling, gassing up the car, and PETCO! I kept her in the car for the first two, and obviously took her in to the last one.

For some reason she got kind of freaked out staying in the car by herself when I was at the recycling center. She could see me the whole time, but when I got in the car she was cowered down in the driver's seat and didn't want to move. I don't know what that was all about.

At Petco one of the girls who works there went nuts over Stella, "What a cute puppy! She's so pretty!" and knelt down to pet her. Stella sunk down close to the floor but her tail was wagging and she went over and let herself get a good belly rub. That is a HUGE improvement! Every time she interacts with a new person she's a little bit braver. I'm so proud.

Cute as can be!

Yesterday Stella was a complete BRAT (lots of time-outs in the crate- what would I do without it???), but today she's back to her usual adorable rambunctious self.

I gave her an empty yogurt box from Costco (it's pretty big). At first she was scared of it, I think the cardboard flap moving around really freaked her out. Then she barked at it for a while. And then she just started biting it and pushing it around the living room with her head stuck in there. HOURS of entertainment. She's currently running back and forth between the dining room and living room tearing it to pieces. She's very proud of herself. (Note to self: buy a dang flip camera already!)

And I got some good pics of her in the kitchen where the light is bright enough that you can see her face instead of barely making out an eye... it's hard to take pictures of all that black fur! (Click on them to make them bigger and easier to see.)

So here she is, almost 3 months and 1 week old. 18 lbs.

The classic Stella- one ear up and one ear down, looking at me like I'm crazy. (Note the beat up yogurt box in the background....)

Awwwwww! Who wouldn't love this adorable face?

Loving the Clicker

So Stella and I have been working with clicker training, and she's really coming along fast. It's great to do a little training to calm her down when she's antsy and bored, and a good thing to do right before a meal or bedtime. She gets really focused for a 3 month old puppy.

I wasn't sure if she was really associating the clicker with good things though. Until last night.

I brought Stella upstairs with me so I could install new light bulbs and fold some laundry. She tore around sniffing and exploring and then fought with the big dog bed I put up there for her. She loooooves to be upstairs, it's like the cool hangout. Maybe she equates it to the bathrooms in high school where all the cool kids smoke and hide out. I don't know.

I do know that she doesn't quite understand that it's part of the house, and therefore peeing isn't allowed. So I after about 30 minutes I knew I needed to take her outside.

She was having none of it. I lured her downstairs with some treats. She tried to dash back upstairs. I grabbed her and tried to get the gate in place so I could put my shoes on and not chase her all over the house. She made break for it and was up the stairs before I could even reach for her. I wasn't about to race up there and chase her while she peed all over the floor. The clicker was on the shelf next to me.

I clicked one time.

I have never seen that dog move so fast (and that's saying a lot!). She flew down the stairs in about 4 seconds and sat right in front of me expectantly, ears up. I had a jackpot of treats at the ready and gave them all to her and took her outside.

I know I'm not supposed to use the clicker to get her to come to me, it was a moment of desperation. But I was shocked at how well it works and how she associates that clicker with such good things that she came running the second she heard it.

It's so much fun watching this puppy learn!

The Cure for Boredom

It is a cold, wet, snowy night here and Stella was bored with all of the usual tricks. I was breaking down the recycling and she was whining and jumping on me and wanted to play. So I threw down a soda can box and let her go to town.

She's still playing with it an hour later. It's in countless pieces.

She looks huge in this picture- she's not QUITE that big! (yet)

Stella- 3 Months

Here's some video my dad took of Stella and me playing on Saturday.

Busy Weekend

Stella is BEAT. Yesterday we went to puppy class which is all clicker training and play. I loved it. Stella loved it. Life is good. Then my dad came to visit so Stella got some socializing and while she did take a few minutes to warm up she is slowly getting better. And did I mention that all this activity makes her TIRED? Which means that she sleeps and isn't nearly so crazy during the day. I'm really liking this!

Today we went to an hour of puppy play. It was 8 or 10 dogs in a big room. There was tons of wrestling and frolicking. Stella got to be in a big fenced off area with a dog who is much bigger than her, but she held her own and they ran around and played hard without too much intervention needed. Then she played with lots of the little dogs, and ran and ran and RAN. I was happy to see that while Stella can throw down with the big dogs she also isn't too rough with the little ones.

On the way home I stopped at a drive-thru window to get a sandwich and the cashier went nuts over how cute my puppy is and gave her a chicken nugget and pet her head (and Stella let her). I think Stella is a fan of Burger King.

We came home and she took a good long nap.

Then my next door neighbor came over and we sat on the floor and Stella got lots of treats and gave kisses and warmed up to her really really fast. So I think this socialization stuff is actually working! I need some light bulbs so tomorrow we're going to take a trip to Lowe's because I hear they're good about letting dogs come in.

So needless to say this pup is exhausted. She still won't sleep unless I put her in her crate, but every time I do she lays down and is out cold in about 2 minutes.

The Miracle of the Empty Peanut Butter Jar

Do you hear the sounds of the Hallelujah Chorus? Because I'm fairly sure that Stella does.

Conundrum

Tonight I had to vacuum. It's pretty much an every other day event around here. Stella doesn't shed much that I can tell, but she does like to bring in mulch and sticks and random pieces of grass and chew them to pieces in the living room. So vacuuming is a pretty important hobby these days.

Once again, I put all of Stella's toys in her toy bin. She decided that she really REALLY wanted one. It's a brown plush animal with a squeaker in it.

She saw it in there, but how to get to it?

She tried going into the crate. No luck.

She tried to pull the toy through one of the little holes in the side of the crate. No luck.

So she had to sit and ponder what she was going to do with the help of her favorite tennis ball. It squeaks too. Maybe it would have some insight into the minds of squeaky toys.
Finally! She got it!

Time to prance around and shake it and really make sure it's really dead!

BOY was she proud of this one. She does love a puzzle.

Puppy On the Move!

I swear Stella is bigger today than she was yesterday. Every time I look at her I'm like, "DAMN, how is she getting so big???" But I know she's going to be a big dog. She weighs 14.8 lbs as of this morning, and she's 11 1/2 weeks old.

Today she chased more ice around the living room floor.


And after work we took a field trip to Petco, which is really close to my house. It is better for her right now because it's not as busy as Petsmart and she doesn't get so overwhelmed. (I carried her because she's just a puppy and there were some big dogs in there that scared her. So did the sliding doors. And the person who just reached out and pet her unexpectedly...) We got treats for her first Puppy Class which starts on Saturday morning. I can't wait. I know if she had any clue about it she'd be excited too. She seems to really like other dogs and wants to get to know them.

This same place does hour long puppy play sessions on Sundays which sounds like a stroke of genius. Socialization AND exercise? Perfect.