Sunday, October 5th, on the deck, watching the world go by. We had a good "normal" mommy and me morning, with a nice neighborhood leash walk. We got some extra car ride time to take the recycles to the drop off before going through the coffee drive-through and get her special "bone" (just a Milk Bone, no whipped cream, still trying to get my pup down to the weight the vet has specified).
Putting your dog who is a total chowhound on a diet is not an easy task. It takes a lot of discipline on the part of the human.
Since I use treats to reward good behavior on walks as well as in training, I have done some adjusting over the months to lesser caloric treats. One pouch in my bag just has her regular kibble. Another has a mix of her treats, with only a very few of the "best" ones, the freeze-dried chicken liver.
She also gets a little taste (lickings) of my own 1% milkfat cottage cheese and 2% plain Greek yogurt, and to lick the plate when I've had something "safe" for dogs, like eggs.
Sunday evening: rain with thunder rumbles overhead and varying intensity of light to heavy rain. Glad we got some outside yard play in before the skies opened up.
Monday morning: I woke to the sound of rain on the roof around 3:45 and suddenly remembered the automatic sprinklers! I crept down the stairs with my phone flashlight to turn them off for the day as we're supposed to be getting rain almost all day long, and I don't have those "rain detectors" to prevent them clicking on at 4 a.m. Mondays. Trying to go back to bed after that was a bit of a joke, so I gave up and got up, thus writing this little snippet.
Observations on a rainy morning:
- It's not rumbling thunder
- It's not windy
- And the rain is falling softly, with pauses now and again.
Observations of puppy's increasing maturity:
- She did not attack my rain jacket. (She did grab my hat to play "keep away" with it. She did give it back. I had not taken the risk of wearing gloves, one of the worst triggers she had as a young pup.)
- She did not need to be coaxed out to do her business with treats, but came willingly, did her thing and went back in at a sedate pace.
- She was willing to go play fetch off the deck, even though it was raining softly.
- She behaved well on a shortened "around the block" walk. We got wet, but we did not freeze. The puppy did not freak out over puddles or anything.
- She hopped into the car on the "load up" cue. She subsequently got her drive thru treat!
However, this "golden" situation did not last the whole day. We went out for a second leash walk in the afternoon, and a couple of lovely ladies stopped to pet her. We got plenty wet as shortly after that bonus, it started misting, then as we got further along, it turned into a genuine, if gentle rain.
We got a delivery that included a "Giggle ball", that makes noises as it rolls or changes angle. It startled me when I lifted it out of the box, and I think I kind of jumped. Ember was still in her crate from a puppy nap at that point. When she came out, I gave her this interactive noisy toy to play with.The noises it makes almost sound like words or a baby's or animal's cry. It makes a different sound in opposite directions (i.e. if you have a north pole and a south pole on the globe and you turn it upside down, you get one sound. If you turn it back upright, you get a different sound). Clearly it has two axes, making for four distinct sounds, and if you slowly roll it with a spin, it's quite interesting what it sounds like.
Anyway, between and among ALL these stimuli, Ember got overexcited about an hour before supper time and started into her frenzy kind of "go under the couch and gnaw at its underpinnings", "reach for the calendar", "put paws on the counter", and "grab mommy's arm when she goes to refill the water bowl". I tried to calm her down, with mostly success, but found I had to put first myself outside to calm ME down, then come back in and put Ember outside so I could clean up the spilled water dish, wash myself (3 Band-Aids), and put away the over-stimulating toys. When she came back in, she seemed ready to be civilized. I fed her about half an hour early. Once fed, I gave her a chew stick, and she completed her self-regulation cycle and got her couch privileges back to nap there while Mom watched Jeopardy.
She went into her crate before Jeopardy ended for her puppy nap prior to "last call".
Tuesday 10/7: As if to make up for the frenzy of Monday's rainy day, Ember got a nice compliment from her daycare person on Tuesday. Seems they have a five-month-old golden retriever who was a bit rambunctious for the other pups his age, and they started putting him in Ember's play group. When the young man brought Ember out to me Tuesday afternoon, he asked if I'd heard about her new "best friend". I shook my head "no" and as we were packing her into the car, he showed me the video of her playing with Bailey, the golden puppy. Says the day care fella, "She is so sweet with him." Guess Carl and Barnaby taught her well how to be an adult dog around a puppy! I wish I had remembered to ask him to send me the video!
Wednesday 10/8: Brrrr! I'm glad I switched from A/C to Heat mode because with all the extra warm days, I'm really not ready to wake up to 43F. The full harvest Super Moon was putting on a show in the western sky as it was lightening toward dawn.
Despite the significant cooling, I put on my jacket and hat, and even gloves during the walk. Ember did not steal any of them, nor did she grab at my jacket. She did try to put her nose in the pocket (where I had tucked the glove while fishing a treat out of the training bag). But it was a good walk. Some detours to follow her nose, tracking who knows what, but she was pretty obedient about getting mommy back onto the sidewalk.
We went through the drive-thru for mommy's "special coffee" and her dog biscuit as a reward.
New strategy with the giggle ball. I just left it in the basement rec room and I did not try to "help" her play with it. She found it at one point in the mid-day and looked to me for guidance. I told her it was OK to play with it, it's her toy. She picked it up and brought it upstairs and investigated it.
Thursday 10/9: I felt at loose ends. Puppy was off at day care, thank goodness, but I was bushed. Paid bills. Got a few groceries, refilled a prescription.
Changed batteries in the digital scale and in the smoke detector in the garage. Yes, I climbed a ladder... at my age... inside a garage. And lived to tell the tale.When Ember came home and had her supper, she went into her crate in time for me to go to the family gather for my DIL's mom's birthday.
Traffic and road construction nightmare. I was about halfway to the agreed upon venue when I got a message from DIL. The place we intended to go was closed for a private event. They were formulating a change in plans. I pulled into a parking lot and waited for the decision, then drove to the alternate place.
It was a steakhouse that I had not been to in probably 40 years! They are famous for their prime rib. They are also famous for their French onion soup. It was marvelous! But I don't have the capacity for even the six-ounce portion of the prime rib, so there's a leftover box in my 'fridge for Friday. It was Donna's birthday celebration but both of us "grannies" got a gift... our own copies of "Our first year with" FGC... all the photos and little snippets... from adventures with this rapidly growing youngster. Favorite foods, favorite color, photos with pets and with people, photos with his siblings and auntie. So much bonding over the course of that "first year", September through September!
I stayed up too late, flipping through the pages of the book, remembering for myself, and savoring the progress.
Speaking of Friday, I slept in a bit. Didn't wake until about 5:50 a.m. I had to get up, because the garbage bin needed to be trundled to the curb, something I didn't do Thursday night. Ember and I had our normal morning routine. We made it around our neighborhood walk, and through the coffee drive-thru before her first puppy nap.
That wraps the week in Emberville. Life is good. Keep on Sparking!
