Monday, March 2, 2009

A Day in the Life...........Puppy Time and Clipping



Does this darling little puppy look like a banshee from hell? Well, if she doesn't, she sure should! Her howling and crying kept the whole house up the entire night. Don't ask me why she didn't loose her voice with all the racket she made, but she didn't. Heck, she's not even hoarse.

I have a plan to get some sleep tonight. I sure hope it works. I kept this darn puppy busy all day. She should be so dog gone tired she could sleep for a week but I'd be happy for about 4 hours in a row. That shows you how desperate I am for some sleep.

The puppy started off her day with me going out to the barn to feed the horses. Instead of chaining her and then doing my job, I hauled her around with me to each stall. Sometimes she rode in the wheel barrow and other times she scampered alongside as we made our way through each barn.

The younger horses weren't sure what to think of this new addition to our farm. Scarlet has been disturbed by the puppy's barking but still managed to stick her head out to take a sniff. The puppy wasn't sure what to think of this approach by anything as big as Scarlet. By the time we finished our rounds, the puppy was thinking she might just go into Legs's stall for a visit.

Hope was probably the turning point in the puppy's relationship with the horses. As the puppy sat on the hay in the wheel barrow, the mare put her face out and softly stroked the puppy across her back. The puppy looked up then snuggled back against Hope's face.

By the time we got done feeding all the horses, I think the puppy would have preferred to take a long nap. But I've not allowed much napping throughout this day. The puppy accompanied Lindsay out to do her chores and spent most of the day out at the barn. She even managed to make friends with one of our cats.

The question of a name has not been totally settled. Colleen's family had given her a name but I think that we'll probably pick our own name for her. I guess it's part of the fun of getting a new pet......deciding on a name.

In the meantime I have begun body clipping horses for our visitors arriving sometime towards the end of this week or beginning of next. Yesterday Richard and I bathed Vee and Percy. Today I began clipping their legs. My back gave out before I got any farther on the project so finishing will happen during the week along with schooling. of course. There's never a dull moment here, that's for sure.

For the story on what has happened with this puppy, who turned out to be named Delilah, follow the links at the bottom of each piece beginning with this one. 

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8 comments:

  1. Hope your plan worked and you got some sleep.

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  2. MiKael where is she sleeping? I'm assuming she is 12 weeks or less? At that age, any puppy left by itself would normally howl for it's mother/sibs. What I've done with each of my baby puppies, is put the crate in the bedroom, close to the bed so when they wake up, I can dangle my fingers in the crate or even pull the puppy out and cuddle for a minute.

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  3. She's cute!
    Oh, those puppy days!
    I wish you a good night's rest tonight.

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  4. We've just finished night 3 with our new puppy. His kennel is in my son's room. He came dragging in our room at about 11:00 PM asking if SOMEONE couldn't take the puppy so HE could sleep! We volunteered & was quite surprised he slept the whole night! Its been a long time since we had an 8 wk old puppy. My youngest son doesn't remember the other dogs when they were that young, so this is a fun adventure! Fun to read about someone else going thru it, too.

    Its been too blasted cold here to even spend much time with the horses. Thank goodness for round bales & auto waterers. So the pup hasn't been formally introduced yet, either.

    Video clip of my new guy on my blog. Good luck & I'll look forward to watching your puppy progress!

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  5. How cute. Hope you get that sleep though.

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  6. That's what I do with mine - drag them around everywhere...but she'll still get you up. I also do what Holly does - it really works! Also - I tried this trick, but it only works if it's warm enough out. I like to get my dogs kennel trained, but thay always raise a racket.
    If the weather is above freezing, put your kennel in your vehicle with a window cracked for the night. That way they can cry but you can't hear it. Letting them cry themselves out is important, otherwise they'll learn that attention is given, even if it is negative.

    It usually only takes a few nights and tehn you can move her back into the house!

    GOod Luck!

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  7. My first dog Bamse was no problem. She was half Bernese Mountain dog (independent ones!) and had no trouble sleeping on the veranda by herself. With Sheba, it's been different. Rhodesian ridgebacks feel very attached to the family, and so she slept by my side for a week until we went to Africa. The first two nights were very busy, but she quickly started to sleep through the night. Once we arrived in Africa, I slept with her on the veranda for a night or two, and then moved indoors while she stayed outdoors. When she woke up and I wasn't there, I could just pop out my hand through the door from where I was sleeping. She didn't love it, but after a few nights, she was fine about it, and I went back to sleeping in my own bedroom :-D. Today, she bangs on the shutter door when she's ready to go out in the morning, and let's us know through some serious barking when there is "danger in the air".

    To me, it was really important to keep the bond of trust between me and Sheba, rather than forcing her into whatever adulthood would have to give. Then, little by little, I adjusted her into her new lifestyle (going from a Swedish indoor dog to an African outdoor dog). She certainly didn't embrace it wholeheartedly, but I gave her the time she needed, and I am so grateful I did.

    If you really don't want to keep her indoors for a while, I would suggest you go out and sit with her, very passively but yet present, until she falls asleep. She may wake up again after a few hours or so to renew her howling, and you will have to come back, passively, and just "sit". Eventually, she will accept the situation and know that you are close by even though she lives in the kennel - and you start to gain more and more hours of precious sleep.

    I wish you all the best!!!

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