Week 1 (14 weeks old)

Hello everyone! My name is Adam Brock and this will be a blog of sorts regarding me taking care of and bring up my new dog, Nova.  I’ve had a dog previous to this, upon getting the new dog my friend said “hey you should write about it” and I was l like “sure why the hell not?”  So he we are.

I got Nova from the Furburbia adoption center.  She was listed as a stray which either means she was abandoned when she was little and roamed the streets for a week or so then was turned in or the owner brought her in but had no registration for her (due to laziness or being part of a litter).  As a result Nova is a very calm collected puppy as she has had to mature much faster as a stray, she does have her puppy moments but in the short time I’ve had her she’s excelled at being tied up, obedience etc.  She is listed as a German Shepherd mix and we believe her other half is some kind of heeler.  She is approximately 14weeks old at the present.

Week 1 (14 Weeks) (04/11/12)

Wt: 17 pounds

Thursday

After a restless night (nothing to do with the dog), I brought Nova outside she pee’d and I congratulated her.  After bringing her inside she promptly took a dump on the carpet.  That’s currently the problem with house training her.  Even if I take her outside and give her treats after doing her business she still prefers inside even when I do scold her if I catch her in the act.  I have a feeling it has to do with her seeing carpet which reminds her she needs to pee or poo.  I need to get her to feel that way about grass.  Perhaps change the treat to some ham?

When I was taking a shower this evening she decided to jump in with me, kind of a shock considering my last dog was deathly afraid of all things related to baths.

Friday

The ham seems to be working, she’s gone outside more.  The only time she’s gone inside was my fault.  I also make sure to let her play outside for 10min or so when she goes and to take her back in right away if she doesn’t.  Hopefully she gets the idea soon, I can handle when she pee’s indoor due to a micro bladder not when she pees on my carpet because she prefers it.  One thing I need to make sure not to do to always do this, else she may “hold it” to stay outdoors longer.

(After doing her business I let her play with a stick for a while)

I’ll be heading over to my friend’s birthday party (a surprise one at that).  He has a nice 2 year old black lab who loves playing.  I’m thinking setting them both loose in the garage and have them go at it.  I’d like to socialize Nova as much as possible with other dogs as I don’t get much of that where I live, especially since the parks here all have leash laws.

(after party):  She was very well behaved, the problem is she doesn’t really want to go to the bathroom while she knows there’s fun to be had.  Eventually we just threw her in a quiet room with plenty of stuff to absorb her pee.  As soon as I left she did her business, kind of annoying but I guess it worked.

Saturday

No potty mistakes so far and I intend to keep it that way.  Had a close call though, after eating she had to go really badly, so I threw her out of the door, she went right then in there.  Surprising how shameless dogs are...

(I get surprised by how much her bladder can hold sometimes)

After her walk and about 5min of darting around the garden she went right to sleep, I’m going to miss this in 3-6 months from now when she’ll have more energy than I do.  For now I’ll just watch as she snores with her favorite toy as her pillow.

Sunday

Pretty uneventful today, I think Nova’s getting the hang of peeing outside.  Nothing to clean up inside today :D (as of 5:40).  My tactic was to start strong, right as we wake up in the morning I send her outside to pee which happens 100% of the time as she barely can hold it all night, after she goes outside I let her chill in the house for 30min.  When this is up I leash her near me so I can constantly watch her.  One hour later (1hr 30min after she went outside) I take her out again, she will more than likely go. How did I come up with this you may be asking?  Well Bill, if I may call you that, I know that at about 1 hour my dog starts to feel the pressure to go, and since she has no self-control she will more than likely watch me and go as soon as I look away.  If I take her out now however she will not go due to her being the stubborn dog that she is.  If I extended it another 30min she will go.  It’s a gamble though, dogs are like Ninja’s they will pee all over your stuff in the time it takes you to blink.

(accurate representation.)