Puppy stories? He was nine weeks on Nov 18th.

Heck. I should start a blog, but I don't have time! This little guy keeps me BUSY. First of all, I keep calling him her/she. Thirteen years of Ginger is hard to break. I guess you can't teach this old dog new tricks.

Today was a much better day. This dog came home a peeing machine. I was actually worried he might have a bladder infection because he peed so frequently! He is very good at peeing every time we take him out, but he also pees five or ten minutes later INSIDE. He was used to being kept in a puppy room that was lined with papers, and they all ran around and peed at will. So NO training yet. The good news is he sleeps through the night... last night midnight to seven, and has only peed in his crate once during the day, and that was my fault because I didn't believe him when he whined that he needed to "go".

Anyway, today was A LOT better over all. I think he just realized we were people and not his litter mates...lol. We have had him out a little less for play...maybe 30 minutes out of every two hours...and while he is out he gets our focused attention. I mean...our eyes never come off him. We have learned to discourage the indoor sniffing because it leads to him peeing. It is much easier to catch the poops, and the vast majority of these have been outside. Tonight he stayed in the kitchen with us for over an hour and is much calmer and not so focused on just peeing. He's learning there is more to do in life than pee (I hope!).

We also just partitioned off a small part of the yard for "toileting". We never bothered to do that with our last dog, but we now realize this also makes for easier training for them. They get to figure out exactly where they are supposed to go, so it isn't "anywhere" outside and "anywhere" inside... but "over here in this small area". I have hope. Only three spills inside today, and a near miss on the poop...but we got it all outside. He poops about 4-5 times a day.

He is very mouthy because he is cutting teeth, but this isn't so much a problem other than constant watching and encouraging the use of his toys. That is actually going pretty well.

We are also trying to transition his food, and this isn't going so well
.
. He doesn't like the new food, and isn't eating much. The first two days, when we were to expect decreased appetite..he ate like there was no tomorrow. Not sure what I will do because he only has a little bit left of the food that he came home for the transition (we were mixing half and half, then 3/4), and I can't find it locally. "Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul". It has barley, so is not gluten free, and since these dogs are predisposed to gluten sensitivity, I figure we want gluten free food not just wheat free food (well, for our handling sake as well). I bought Natural Balance sweet potato and salmon, but she either doesn't like it or it is too hard to chew. I cut all the pieces smaller, and he doesn't like it. I tried moistening it, and he didn't like it.

He is so cute, though. He really wants to please us. It is cute to see that.

Oh... he is sleeping through the night. Last night he went from midnight to seven without waking up or messing in his crate. He loves his crate, and settles into it immediately. He really didn't cry his first night home. There has been one night he woke up at 3:30. I let him out, and then he cried when I put him in his crate. So, I laid about 4 feet from the crate with my back to him, and he fell right asleep. On the first day, he also cried/whined/barked a little bit, but only needed a tiny bit of reassurance. Now, we put him in, and he just settles into rest. It is just feet from my computer, and he is happy to be nearby even when awake in the crate. Good Boy! (Well, I'll let you know how the rest goes. My daughter read in a book at the pet store that Wheatens are on the harder than normal to housetrain list... and they may be 9 months old before being completely trained...YIKES!) I think he has shown great progess though just between yesterday and today, but the first year is tough for all pups... potty training, among other things (chewing, digging, etc).

That's about it. I haven't had much time to post on the forum since mr. pup arrived! Of course, I also have my daughter home from college, and my son and his fiance were visiting over the weekend. We'll have a full house again over Thanksgiving. I have some seasoned bread that just came out of the oven, to make my stuffing. It smells so good!

Cara