Mollie and her Octopus

The Dog Park: Boosting your Pups confidence

Hey all,

One of the greatest discoveries made in early puppy parenthood is the existence of Dog Parks. For those of you unfamiliar with the dog park, it is a magically land...plot of park, where dogs are allowed off their leashes to frolic in merriment, to sniff, to splash in tubs of water...truly where a dog can be a dog!

Mollie and I made the great pilgrimage to the dog park a few days ago. Mollie was a bit nervous and didnt want to go too far off. But soon she was ready to chase the other dogs around, if only for a little while before she made her way back to me to check if I was handling our separation okay. (such a thoughtful pup).

You meet many interesting people at the dog park. Most if not all of them are extremely invested in their furry friends. It can be a bit overwhelming for the first time parent to meet all these people and their impressive pooches.

According to the literature, "Puppies for Dummies by Sarah Hodgson" If your pup is timid it is not wise to soothe them, for your puppy will understand this as a sign of your fear, which means you are both afraid......and that is a big problem.

Here are some helpful tools to getting her going,

*Act confident, your the leader and she will look to you!
*stand up straight
*relax your shoulders
*breathe deep
*smile
*face the fear calmly and ignore your puppy until she starts to copy you.

**! If your pup shows aggression when she's fearful, call a professional and avoid knowingly putting her in threatening situations.

PuppyParenthood: Separation Anxiety

Hey all you puppy parents, and all youz guyz thinking about adopting a puppy of your own!

Mollie and I are doing well, for the past few days Mollie has been boarded at her daycare, which makes me feel like such a bad puppy parent. But for both our sakes I needed to have Mollie out of the house for a little while.

Mollie AND I are both experiencing separation anxiety....of course my anxiety of not being with my little lady doesnt lead to excessive barking, peeing, and pooping...and eating doors.

Leaving Mollie to be boarded these past three days have been so stressful and so wonderful at the same time. I worry that Mollie will be traumatized by these three nights away that by the time I pick her up she wont know who I am or worse she will know who i am and will walk right past me.

I have been doing some research to see what we can do to help out Mollie and her anxiety.

According to the book "Puppies for Dummies!" dummy thats me! Mollie is a passive puppy, "this puppy is sweet, but undirected and needy. no matter the amount of affection you offer her, it never seems to be enough. When you give her a direction or scold her she acts as though she's been shot..." sounds like me.

Here are some of their suggestions to help calm your pup.

*Never correct your puppy after the fact. Never. Corrections aren't connected to the destruction; they're connected to your arrival, which makes your puppy more anxious the next time you leave. (if you havent gathered what they are talking about, they are talking about if your puppy...say eats through two crates and a door while your out.)

*Avoid theatrical hellos and goodbyes. Lavishing your puppy with kisses, biscuits, and drawn-out declarations of devotion don't reassure her. Instead, they only stress her out.

*Leave a radio playing classical music (or in the case of Mollie, a harry potter audio book) to cover unfamiliar sounds.

*Place your puppy in a dimly lit area to encourage sleep.

*Leave a favorite chew toy. Rub it between your palms so that it smells like you...(or put a piece of your clothing that smells like you in her crate...this seems to be helpful for Mollie).

** they also suggest you get a kitten FOR YOUR PUP. Because they are great companions. hmmmm interesting.

-Hannah

Being a stinker can be exhausting!

PuppyParenthood:entry "I don't give a ..." Mollie aka The Gremlin!

I am having another night where I wonder to myself what in the hell I was thinking for getting a puppy. She ate through a $119 crate. My puppy has no concept of money...she doesnt seem to understand that I have none at the moment...and if she does...well aint that a bitch.

Mollie howls. She howls when she is left alone...she howls when she is in her (now destroyed) crate....and its times like these where I want to give her back!

(I think she knows that I am writing about her b/c she is resting her head on my butt, trying the whole I'm too cute for you to be angry with me)

Mollie is a GOOD GIRL during the day....or maybe I am just more able to cope with her puppyhood when I have more energy. At night I am just so tired and she wants me to take her out, and to play and she wants to pee and poop and howl and talk and tell me about the boy puppies and how the little wiener dog across the way said this and this about this etc. etc. etc.

I love Mollie.

She is like a gremlin...at night she turns into this little monster shit.

She is a baby...hell no she is not! she is a teenager according to the book "Idiots guide to puppies" and she is in her teenage angst phase of puppyhood. All I can hear in her moaning, groaning, heavy sighs and roll of the eyes is "MOM! I HATE YOU! AND I WILL PUNISH YOU! BECAUSE I'M FILLED WITH TEENAGE ANGST."...little whore. oops sorry Moms arent SUPPOSE to call their children little whores.

I smacked her on the nose tonight...nothing too hard...nothing to make her go to a therapist later on in life to say, "yeah my mom use to beat me"...just a smack with one finger. I don't want to let my dog get me to the point where I smack with one two or three fingers. I feel horrible about hitting her little puppy nose...I lost my temper.

This is puppy parenthood. Breathing and counting to ten...to a hundred is essential...no crucial to both you and your puppy's survivals.

I love Mollie...I love Mollie...I LOVE MOLLIE. I also recognize that I need to work on my patience with her angsty teenage self.

-Hannah

Puppy Parenthood: Entry 2, Day 7 (?): She does it on purpose

As it is in most cases of parenthood, be it kid parenthood or puppy parenthood we parents ask ourselves..."WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING!"

Honestly why would any sane person want to be with a
-crying
-yelping
-howling
-peeing on the rug (after bragging how well potty training was going)
-pooping
-moaning
-tearing
-eating (through $68 crate)
...puppy.

Well I suppose it helps that I'm not sane. BUT it also helps that I'm the kind of person who wants to be with a
-sweet
-big brown eyes
-fluffy
-cute
-smart
-hard worker
-snuggly
-warm
-cant help but be a charmer
...puppy.

I knew getting into this that it would be hard. Someone said to me that I was just asking for unneeded difficulties...she was missing the most important bit...although Mollie is difficult sometimes, she is also the dog who has kept me from thinking about the REAL difficulties I experienced and am experiencing. She is needed...I need her to keep me aware that there are more important things then hosting my own pity party.

Sure I will continue to call my friends in tears about something Mollie has done and that maybe I wasnt ready for her...but truth be told...I'd rather be calling people crying snot and tears about my dog then keeping to myself.

Puppyhood sucks...but it still is wonderful...I cant wait for Mollie to get a bit older. JUST SAYIN'

-Hannah

Entry #1 day 6 of puppy parenthood. 9/21/11

It has almost been a full week since Mollie my sixth month old pup came home from the Humane Society shelter. This almost week has been exhausting. See I was never suppose to get a puppy, I knew I was meant to get a grown dog...but after calling and visiting shelter after shelter and rescue mission after rescue mission I still had not found THAT dog. I finally went by the Humane Society and said..."erm could I uh see your uh dogs?" I was instructed through two heavy metal doors, the kind that make you think to yourself..."damn I wish I told someone where I had gone," and "I wonder which is the quickest escape route." And there she was, yelping next to her brother. Identical twins down to the last white freckle on the left back toe. Mollie was the bigger of the two. We hit it off well. She was so frightened of...well 'bout everything but is building up her courage each day!

This is what Mollie has learned/learning so far:

When I touch my nose and say "Mollie." she will look me in the eyes (this is recent, so dont ask for a show n' tail...haha okay sorry)

She is learning that potty outside makes her crazy mom crazy happy! ready to do the pot'TA dance.

She will sit down...well tries anyway.

She knows where she lives....dont ask her though...she doesnt like being put on the spot.

She is doing MUCH better in her crate...so long has she has her kong.

....she is sixth months old...what did you expect!

In short Puppy Parenthood is exhausting.

-Hannah

Mollie