My husband and I adopted a puppy 2 months ago. Mercedes was already 6 months old but completely uninhibited. She had been at the Atlanta Humane Society for 3 months before she came to live with us. She was actually returned to the shelter once before. Our suspicion was that her previous adopted family hadn't spent the time needed to train her. Which is A LOT!!!
Mercedes is my husband's very first dog- ever. It was an interesting progression, really. He had always been a "no dog" policy man. That was, until we bought a house- that had a yard. Over the next few months he started whispering into my ear at night. "You want a dog.... The back yard is empty... what do you want to name your puppy?.... can't you hear her whimpering?..." Eventually, the subliminal messages caused their desired effect. I caved. He knows me- he knew that once I was sold on the idea I would proceed to research every last detail... I haunted http://www.petfinder.com/ and online dated more than one puppy before we ever visited a shelter. I researched every breed known to man to figure out which one would be right for us. We decided on a laborador retriever. And so, of course, we ended up with a hound/pointer mix, because people don't adopt dogs- dogs adopt people. She gazed at us with those big brown eyes and floppy orange ears and we couldn't walk away.
She has a wonderful temperment- very sweet and friendly but a little timid around new and excitable dogs or loud noises. But whew! Training is no easy task!! When we first got her she jumped like a maniac, mouthed and nipped and knocked things over. She had no house manners, was not potty trained -at all- and would chew up and destroy anything she could get her mouth on. We had to be vigilant. We were obsessive new puppy parents- trying to calm her down and make a decent family member out of the wild beast!
Two months later: She sits, lays down, STAYS for up to 4 minutes!, crawls, shakes, high-fives, waves, heels and is walking better on a leash. She rarely pees in the house. She jumps less, doesn't nip and only thinks about mouthing sometimes. We are still working on "off" and "leave it." She'll fetch the ball and sometimes bring it back but she loves to play soccer. She has given up being destructive- she now chews nicely on her squeaky toys without ripping out their guts. She still wants to play with the cats who do not want to play with her, but we are working on that too. We haven't tackled the digging just yet- we just don't let her stay in the yard too long by herself.
We went to the Dog Park today and she had her fill of doggy-play and is now sleeping soundly in her crate.
I am so fascinated by her- how she learns and behaves and changes... Is this what it's like to have children?
I feel blessed to have her in my life- to experience both the pleasure of her nuzzle as well as the frustration of training her to keep all four feet on the ground.
Much Peace,
Melissa
No comments:
Post a Comment