Week three with the gremlin

So life has finally started to normalize.  Having a puppy is a challenge, but thanks to our breeder it has been a fairly easy road.  Molly is 99% house broke and only has the occasional accident when we aren't paying attention to the signs she is giving us.  In the mornings sometimes she has to go potty so bad she is whining and howling while I am holding her to put on her leash to go outside.  I can totally relate with that feeling, you know the one where you nearly cut your pants off with a knife because your zipper won't go down and you have to pee?  What?  Just me.

When going potty isn't so much of a dire emergency Molly likes to take her sweet time, sniffing around, chewing on sticks before she decides she has to go potty or will go up the stairs to go back inside.  Molly sleeps in bed with Joe and I. Well, me because as I have discussed in previous blogs she has bonded with me.  Which on the outside I feel really bad because my daughter Anna really wanted to have an animal bond with her but in the inside I am jumping up and down and squealing with joy.

Here are my words of advise to make getting a new puppy easier.

1. Get a kennel.  Crate training is incredibly important, though to us human is seems like a cage and inhumane, but to your puppy it is a safe place they can go when they are scared, need some quiet time or you need to leave.  The trick is to not throw your new puppy into the kennel and lock the door, that makes the kennel a scary confined place.  Also, I put a bottle filled with hot water, wrapped in a towel into the kennel and I had an noise machine that my mom bought for me when Joe was snoring so bad that I couldn't sleep (this was before the CPAP changed our life) and one of the noises is a heartbeat.  I covered the kennel with a blanket, after I had eased her into the idea of the kennel, and left her in the for small amounts of time giving her a treat each time I came to get her out.  Now she goes to the kennel and has kennel time each day from about 10:00 to 1:00.
2. Use a harness, your puppy is so small that a harness helps you control her without choking her
3. Start leash training right away with above mentioned harness.  Trust me you want to avoid running through the snow the first time your puppy runs off chasing a leaf.
4. Starting training right away.  In my research I have determined cocker spaniels are eager learners and respond to food motivated training.  Already Molly knows "come" "sit" and "down"   not bad for only being in our house for just over two weeks.
5. Research establishing dominance and making sure you are the pack leader.  I know this sounds like crazy gibberish but you can read a very helpful article by clicking here

Now I have given you guys a ton of information let's sit back and watch an adorable video Anna took while I was trying to teach Molly to go down the stairs. Since this was filmed she can now go down the two step into the back yard.  Score! 

Are you thinking about getting a new animal?  What are you nervous about?  Please share with me