The Chewy boxes keep arriving. The final one came this morning. It contained the crate that Ember will "grow into". But the training videos say that the crate should ONLY be big enough for the dog to stand up, sit, and lie down in, no bigger. This one she won't be ready for until six months down the road.
Here's the humongous crate that arrived today:
I expected to do a bit of shopping at Zoom Room for training treats and appropriate toys to start with, before she gets to her initial Puppy Pre-School session. The trainer there said I didn't have to buy treats yet, I could start training with her regular food.
I ended up bringing home a "house line". This is simply a lightweight leash that stays attached to her collar, even inside the house. It can go off when she's in her crate resting, but otherwise, she's got this line that I can step on, for example, if she would try to follow The Prisoner out the door. This was on my list of things for starters, based on the training videos I had watched, and the Zoom Room trainer said yes, that is a good tool. I also picked up a safe to chew bone that crackles, and can go into her crate with her.
Next I drove over to TSC and consulted about a more appropriately sized crate to use for the first two to six months, before transitioning her into that huge one. Turns out, the clerk's husband was there and they, too, are adopting a lab puppy in a few weeks and he helped me select the right size. See? Much better... the house line and bone are sitting on top of the smaller crate.
I heard from my friend who will be transporting Ember on Sunday. We swapped phone numbers, I gave her my address, and I'll swap her a check made out to her daughter when she drops Ember off. It will be probably 5 or 6 p.m., which works fine with my Easter plans to go to church with my sister and her gentleman friend, and out to brunch after.
I think I'm all set, about as ready as I can be until she actually arrives and rocks the household!
On the next generation's planning front
I was wrong about the kids' home visit being the final one. Last night they got their fingerprints taken for a background check, and were assigned another set of homework. They have to give emergency contacts, and names for character references. DIL asked her folks and me if we'd be willing to be among the character references (a certain number have to be relatives). You can imagine that all of these potential grandparents jumped at that opportunity!
As her dad said, "If you two don't meet their requirements, I don't know who would!"
Life is Good. Spark on!
And have a Blessed Easter Weekend, all!
I share a house with my children, and their two dogs are their babies. The Bark and Chewy boxes arrive regularly. Thor and Roxey are therefore quite interested in any box that is delivered, believing it to be for them. :D
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. May Thor and Roxey be seldom disappointed in those boxes... the ones from Chewy probably have interesting smells to them!
DeleteLook at those boxes!! Did poor kitty get to hide in one of those?
ReplyDeleteThe kids will come through with flying colors. I can't imagine that they won't be able to get excellent recommendations.
Happy Easter Weekend!! 🐰✝️🤗💖🐶😸
"Poor" kitty wants nothing to do with these particular boxes. He comes inside, rubs up against me and purrs for a while, sniffs at the new objects in his purview, then goes and sits by the door. Yes, this will be quite the adventure. It's different when it's "Carl for a week", this time Ember will be here for good, so the importance of the two of them learning this is high.
DeleteHappy Easter weekend to you, too!
Happy Easter!
ReplyDelete-RunKeeper Dee
Happy Easter to you and all of yours, too. Mine will be exciting, but hopefully with a few hours of calm between the churchy stuff and the puppy stuff. LOL.
DeleteWow, as one who has never had a puppy I am nearly overwhelmed, it seems nearly as much stuff as for a baby. Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed more preparation needed than for a kitten! I've done that, too, and most little kittens have at least been partially trained by their cat moms. Prisoner came already litter box trained!
DeleteFor a little dog, a lot of the training centers around the alertness of the human, and human skills as a trainer. And yes, it is a step closer to dealing with a human baby.
Puppies are different from rescue dogs, in that they are kind of a blank slate to begin learning... and it falls to the human to teach them well.
That's true of human babies, too. They spring forth ready to learn, and they learn what they are exposed to.
I smiled at the thought of your charcoal Easter Lab.
ReplyDeleteI am so thrilled for your kids and their families that they are in the final stages and I hope all goes well.
Happy Easter to you, my friend!
The "welcome to your new home" plans for Ember are escalating, and that kind of worries me a bit, but we shall muddle through! Son wants to come over Sunday evening, and his wife wants in on it, too. We're debating about whether bringing Carl along will be a plus or a minus.
DeleteBut since the most important thing is establishing the bond between me and Ember? The initial arrival and meeting people will be a blip, the day to day consistency and presence will prevail. That, and remembering to breathe!
Happy Easter to you and yours, as well!
EXCELLENT idea having a light weight leash for Ember in the house. That’s something that we learned the hard way. We had Miss Lilly for 3 days. The door bell rang, and Jason opened the door . . . out she went. Fortunately it didn’t take long to round her up, but . . . in the meantime, had to re-start the heart!
ReplyDeleteOh, Ember will roch the household for sure. But in a good way.
Ohhhhh . . . well DS and DIL are approaching the end of the process. I remember getting fingerprints done. Felt a little intimidating but the person doing it put us both @ ease. Good luck!!!
HUGS and have a blessed . . . and exciting. . . Easter!
Hugs
Barb
1crazydog
I've learned a lot from these training videos on YouTube, but you know there are competing theories, thus the local Zoom Room... pick one and follow their process! Kind of like... diet and exercise for our own health, huh?
DeleteOh, dear, that "dash out the door escape" can truly be a heart-stopper. I think it was particularly hard for me when Carl was able to open my sliding glass door in the night and escape my fence in the dark, besides. That was a heart-stopper, too... but he was a good boy and came to investigate when grandma sat down on the neighbor's yard and just let him do so. Used to work for my Diamond, too. When I would stop, she would come right to me to make sure all was well.
It's the puppies one has to worry about, in the phase before they have figured out that you're their life-long person! So, yeah, as soon as I saw the advice about the house line, I also said, "makes so much sense". When she is full grown, there is NO WAY that little light weight leash would hold her, but as a 2-4 month old, it should work fine.
Hugs and a blessed... and maybe more peaceful than mine... Easter!