Growing Puppy

Maya and I have run into people in the last few weeks that we haven't seen for a while, and they all say how big she's gotten.  To be honest, I thought they were crazy.  I see her every day, and she looks exactly the same.  And I guess that's the problem.  When you see someone (or something) every day, you don't notice the small changes.  It's only when you stop seeing them for a while and those small changes add up that you notice.

Why am I mentioning this?  Because yesterday, I realized Maya could no longer fit under the bed.  We were playing fetch (yes, inside) and one of her balls went under the bed.  This has happened before, but it usually goes all the way through to the other side and she can go around the bed to get it.  Well, yesterday it didn't make it to the other side.  She ran around the bed like always, but there was no ball.  So she came back to the front side, but still no ball.  She went around a couple more times before she realized where it was, but she still couldn't get to it.  Then she got mad and I had to grab it for her.

I remember when I brought her home and she used to love going under there.  It wasn't really hiding, just hanging out.  Somewhere along the way, she stopped doing it as often, and now she can't do it at all.  I guess those people who told me she was getting big were not all that crazy to begin with and my baby is just growing up.   

Christmas Tree

This is my first year with a puppy, and I've had to make a few adjustments along the way.  For example, I don't have any Christmas decorations up.  I blame it on Maya, because she would eat them.  Of course, I'm ignoring the fact that I just didn't have any spare time this year to get any decorations up.

I've never completely decked out the house at Christmas time (or any other time of the year), but I always at least have a tree.  However, there's no tree this year.  This is for a few non-puppy reasons and a few puppy reasons.  The non-puppy reasons are boring, so I'm going to ignore them for the time being.  The puppy reasons are really just two -- Maya loves leaves/branches and shiny things.  And when I say she loves these things, what I really mean is she loves pulling on them until she can run away with them and hide while chewing them to pieces.  I can see her now with a branch or ornament from the bottom of the tree in her mouth, tugging until it comes crashing down.  That's why I don't have a tree.

But as we all know, Christmas is just not Christmas without a tree.  So here is my compromise tree this year:

 

Next year, when she's not so into branches and shiny things, we'll go back to the real thing.

Thieving Puppy

Like most dogs, Maya is a thief.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for me), she's not a very good thief.  She's still a puppy, so I expect her to get into things she's not supposed to, but I swear she'd get away with so much more if she were just a little sneaky about it.

For example, she loves socks.  I don't know if it's because they're soft or fit perfectly in her mouth or just smell really good, but she absolutely loves them.  Whenever she can get her teeth on one, which is more often than I'd like, she takes off running with it in her mouth.  I can't actually catch her, so I either have to trade the sock for a Cheerio or wait for her to get tired of it and set it down.  And since she actually chews on it, and I don't want hole-y socks, she gets a Cheerio.

The reason I say she could get away with more if she were a little sneaky is that she takes off running every time!  If she would just go about her business like normal, even walk away and go sit in a corner, it would take me a lot longer to realize she had something, and she'd keep whatever she had that much longer.  As it is now, if she takes off running, I immediately go see what she's gotten into.

A while back, an out-of-town friend came to stay for a few days so we could attend a mutual friend's wedding.  One night, she left her things in the corner by her suitcase, but didn't put anything inside of it.  After a few minutes, we both see Maya head in that direction and start sniffing around.  Since she wasn't actually in my friend's things, we left her alone.  Not a minute later, she takes off running.  Knowing this is "the sign," I went after her to see what she got, and what do I see but my friend's wedding ring in Maya's mouth!!  I trade her for a few Cheerios and get her ring back, and my friend packed up her stuff and put everything inside the suitcase.

So while Maya is a thief, I guess I should be happy that she's still a bad thief.  If she were any sneakier, I might have been mailing the wedding ring back a few days later.

New Friends

This is actually a story from a couple of weeks ago, but it's cute so I thought I would share it. 

Maya's best friend is Lizzy, a little yorkie who lives a few doors down.  Lizzy has a couple of roommates, George and Gypsy, two cats.  George is actually bigger than Maya, and I've seen the two of them play together before.  Gypsy is pretty small and very shy.  Her mom told me that she found Gypsy when she was about 6 - 8 months old.  Her previous owners had declawed her, and then threw her out. 

Gypsy is literally scared of everything. While Maya, Lizzy, and George play, Gypsy hides somewhere out of reach.  Her mom tells me that she's ok with her, her boyfriend, and Lizzy and George, but doesn't like new people or animals.  She also shared that it took over a year of her boyfriend living with her before Gypsy would come near him.

The day I picked Maya up from the vet after getting spayed, I had a class that I absolutely couldn't miss.  I didn't want to leave her alone (just in case), so their mom offered to keep Maya at their place.  I knew Maya wouldn't be as active as usual and assumed that she would mostly want to hang out or sleep, but I didn't expect what I saw when I picked her up later that day.  Maya was fast asleep in the cats' bed, curled up with Gypsy!!  It was the cutest thing ever.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera, and they woke up right about that time.  But I'm happy to report that since that day, Maya and Gypsy are buddies too.  :)

Trick Doors

I'm in the middle of finals, so it's been up to Maya to entertain herself lately.  She usually does ok, but eventually she'll come jump in my lap or on my books.  That's her way of telling me to play with her.  It's also my hint to step away from the books for a few minutes and get some fresh air or just relax.

Yesterday, I noticed that she was being really quiet.  I looked around and even called her name, but nothing.  There's absolutely no way she can get outside, so I wasn't worried about that, but I figured she must have gotten into something and didn't want to fess up.  Or she found a partial treat she hid somewhere along the way. 

I gave up and headed to the bathroom.  When I opened the door, there she was, looking up at me oh so innocently.  Apparently the bathroom door was a little open and she walked in.  Then she closed the door behind her and was stuck.  The surprising part was that she didn't make a sound.  I figure she must have been in there a good 10 minutes, but there was no barking, crying, whimpering, or even scratching at the door.  And since the light was turned off and there are no windows in that bathroom, I guess she just sat in the dark that whole time.

Today, she disappeared again.  This time, I heard the bathroom door close.  About 20 seconds later, she was barking.  I guess she figured out I would be glad to let her out, just as soon as she let me know she was stuck.  I wonder how many more times this will play out before she decides there's really nothing interesting in there...

Yummy, Yummy

So lately Maya has been bringing chunks of mulch into the house.  Since they're mostly sticks, and since she just chewed on them and didn't eat them, I figured it was no big deal.  Then she started throwing up....and she's been eating them.

Not wanting a sick puppy (and not wanting to keep cleaning up puppy puke), I decided to get her some more appropriate chew stuff.  She has toys, but apparently that isn't what she's been in the mood for, so off to PetSmart we went. 

I got her a variety of rawhides.  Yesterday, I gave her one that was wrapped in sweet potato.  I wasn't sure if she was going to like it or not.  When I held it out, she came over and smelled it, then licked it, then snatched it out of my hand and ran to her favorite spot.  She stayed there chewing on it for the next hour, literally.  Then she went and got a drink of water, and went back to the rawhide.


She finally got tired of it after about 3 hours, but there was still a good amount left.  I'm guessing she thought someone might take it away from her, so she proceeded to look for a place to hide it.  First she tried to dig a hole in her bed.  That didn't work.  Then she tried to dig a hole in my tennis bag.  That didn't work either.  Next she tried to dig a hole in the carpet.  Still no luck. 

After trying a few more hiding spots, she finally decided her kennel was the way to go.  First, she took everything out of it.  Then, she dropped the remaining rawhide in the corner.  Finally, just to be sure nobody accidentally found it, she dragged her shirt/blankie back into the kennel and put it on top of the rawhide.  I guess she couldn't take the chance that another dog was going to find it. 

Update

Well, I talked to the vet earlier this evening and Maya is doing great (insert sigh of relief here).  She'll be home tomorrow.  I can pick her up anytime after 7:30 am, but I'll probably sleep in.....I'll probably pick her up around 8:00 am.  :)

Getting Ready....

So tomorrow is the big day -- Maya is getting fixed.  I know it's for the best, but I can't help but worry.  Part of me thinks it's evil to keep her from ever becoming a mommy, but another part of me thinks it's even more evil to let her become a mommy and then take her babies away. 

I know she doesn't know what's going on, and that worries me too.  I know that she's going to cry when I leave her at the vet's because she'll think I'm leaving her.  The vet will be keeping her overnight, so leaving her bed and favorite toys with her will only add to this belief.  I also know that she will cry at night.  She hasn't spent a night away from me since I got her, so I'm not positive as to how she will react, but something just tells me she's going to cry. 

And then there's the night before, tonight.  She can't eat or drink after 8:00 pm.  She never eats all her food at once; she's more of a grazer.  I was worried that she's eat some of her food early, and then be starving at 8:30 or something like that and that I wouldn't be able to give her anything.  But for some reason, she gobbled up most of her dinner tonight in one sitting. 

Maybe this is a good sign; a sign that I'm just worrying too much.  I hope so.  Anyways, I'll write an update on her tomorrow.

Help Me Mommy!

This is probably evil, but I find it funny that Maya is scared of some of the things she's scared of.  I completely understand being scared of the hair drier, blender, and mixer.  But how is it that she's not scared of the vacuum?  She's also not scared of cats, dogs (as long as they're not too big), birds, and squirrels.  But stick a stuffed animal in front of her and she freaks out.  For some reason, she's also scared of hats.  That one really confuses me.  I have to keep my hats out of sights or she's terrified.  Weird.

New Clothes

Maya really needed a haircut, so she went to the groomer yesterday.  One of my pet peeves is dogs with bows and clothes, especially on my dog.  The clothes can't be comfortable, and I'm pretty sure she would eat the bows.  So yesterday, I asked them not to put any bows on Maya, and they didn't.  However, they did put a little bandana on her, and she looked so cute!!  Here's a pic:

 

I decided to keep the bandana on her until her next bath next week.  Well, Maya had other ideas.  This was the last picture of her I got with the bandana on.  By 11:00 am the following morning (today), this is what she looked like:

Apparently, the bandana is now one of Maya's new chew toys.  I tried to get it back on her, but she wanted no part of that.  Oh well.

Scary Box

I finally tired of having Maya's toys all over the living room and constantly tripping on them, so I made her a toy box.  Nothing exciting, just a cardboard box that I put her toys into like this:

 

Now here's the funny part -- Maya is scared of the box!  I first had the box lying flat, but realized that she couldn't get her toys out.  So I decided to lean it against the wall.  The only problem with this is that it moves when she tries to grab a toy, and that's what scares her.  I'm not sure, but I think she thinks it's trying to attack her.  

So what does she do if she wants one of the toys?  She slowly sneaks up on the box, the quickly tries to snatch it out of the box before it attacks her.  She usually doesn't get it, but manages to move it closer to the edge.  She repeats this until the toy is free from the clutches of the evil box.  If she can't get the toy, like if it's at the bottom or the box keeps moving, she'll finally give up and bark at it until I come help her. 

It's cute, but this whole toy box thing isn't working like I imagined.  At least she no longer feels like she has to rescue all her toys from the box as soon as I put them in there.  I think once she's not scared of it anymore I'll try to teach her to put her toys in there on her own.....

Attack of the Killer Leash

One of Maya's favorite toys is actually her leash.  She loves to roll around on the ground with it, chew on it, drag it around.  No matter what she's doing, she will eventually get all tangled up in it and it ends up looking like they were wrestling.  Sometimes she wins, sometimes the leash wins.  Here's sample of a wrestling match from a few weeks ago:

Security Blanket

Just thought this was really cute.  Yes, she's asleep.  And yes, that is a towel.

Picky Eater

For some reason, Maya has decided that she will no longer eat out of her bowl.  I have no idea why, but about 2 weeks ago, she decided that food tastes better when eaten off the floor. 

If I put her food in her bowl, she won't eat it until she's absolutely starving.  And even then, it's only after tipping it over.  If she can't knock if over, she'll bark or whine until I come to the rescue.  If I put some of it on the grounds, she'll gobble it up immediately.  I've tried washing the bowl, using a different bowl, etc, but she just decided that she's rather eat off the floor. 

Strangely enough, she'll eat out of other dog's bowls.  I find this especially strange because she won't drink after other dogs.  I have a weird dog.

Not My Shoes!

One of Maya's favorite places to hang out is my closet.  For some reason, she loves laying on my shoes.  I always let her because she never chewed on them; she just liked laying on them.  And for the same reason, I never worried about leaving shoes lying around the living room.  Unless there were three or four of them together, she ignored them.

That has changed.  Two days ago, she discovered that shoes were fun to chew on.  She started with the shoe laces.  When I moved shoes with laces out of the way, she decided that chewing on a shoe was fun too, even if it didn't have laces.  So now all my shoes have moved into the closet, and the closet door stays closed. 

Right now Maya is teething, so I'm hoping that she'll outgrow the chewing stage.  In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my closet door closed.  Until she figures out how to turn the knob, my shoes should be safe. 

Bees, Butterflies, and Baby Teeth

I haven't written in a while, but that does not mean that we haven't been having adventures.  :)

Maya has recently discovered bees and butterflies, and by discovered, I mean she chases them now.  She can't catch the butterflies, so it's cute to watch her chase them.  The bees, on the other hand.... Well, I'm just scared she's going to get stung.  Part of me wants to protect her from that, but the other part of me know that she won't learn not to chase them until she gets stung.  I'm not looking forward to that day.

I've also recently learned another puppy lesson -- they have baby teeth!  I don't know why this was such a shock to me, but I never thought about puppies having baby teeth.  I've been finding teeth in the carpet for about a week now.  The latest was this morning when I stepped on one.  It's kind of gross, but kind of cute at the same time. 

Dog Park

Yesterday, Maya had her first trip to a dog park.  One of the groups from school sponsored a Dog's Day Out, and since one of my friends was running, I decided to stop by.  Since this was her first time, and since she's so shy, I decided not to traumatize her by taking her to the big dog side (which is where most of the group was).  Instead, we said hi to everyone and headed to the little dog side. 

I have to say that she's gotten a lot better with other people.  Other dogs, on the other hand.......  Well, let's just say she's still really shy. 

Eventually, the group headed over to the little dog side.  All of the dogs beside one are borderline size, but are still allowed on the little dog side.  The one big one is really old and has arthritis, so she just likes to lay in the sun chewing on her toys, so none of the owner complained about a big dog in the little dog area. 

There are benches and tables set up under a canopy for dog parents, and that's where we were hanging out.  Initially, I left Maya on the ground to hopefully entice her to play with the other dogs.  She spent her time trying to get away from them and hiding under my legs, so I eventually picked her up.  There was another small dog on the table that was scared of the other dogs too, so it wasn't long before him and Maya were buddies. 

She eventually got brave enough to explore, but not until most of the other dogs were gone.  I think she just got overwhelmed.  And even though we were on the little dog side, she was still almost the smallest dog there.  I'm not sure if we'll be going back anytime soon, because she really didn't seem to have a good time.  We'll see.

We left Dog's Day Out with a goodie bag full of treats and a toy.  She absolutely loved her new toy.  I gave it to her when we got home and she refused to put it down the rest of the day. 

On a side note, she was almost puppy-napped a few times.  My friends thought she was adorable and kept wanting to take her home with them. 

New Trick

I've been teaching Maya a few commands over the past month or so.  She had mastered "sit," "down," "off," and "come."  I was going to teach her "shake," but that's pretty boring, so I taught her "pound it" instead.  After that, "high five" was a piece of cake. 

However, her latest trick she learned all on her own -- she can take off her leash.  What I learned while teaching her those commands was that she is really smart.  What I learned after she got off her leash is that she's a little too smart for her own good. 

The first time she did it, I figured it was an accident.  She likes to grab the leash in her mouth while we're out walking.  This time she grabbed it by the latch.  She was biting it as we walked, and it opened.  She realized she was free before I did and took off running after something (a cat, a leaf, her shadow?).  Luckily we were in the parking garage and no cars were driving around.  The next day, she did it two more times.  I was pretty sure these were not on accident.  As soon as we started walking, she grabbed the latch in her mouth and went to work to get it off.  I figured that the first time was a fluke and she wouldn't be able to get it off again.  I figured wrong.  She got it off twice. 

I went to the pet store that night and got a new leash with a different type of latch.  As long as she doesn't have opposable thumbs, we should be good. 

Eat This, Not That!

I haven't written in a while, but that doesn't mean we haven't had any adventures.  Lately, I've just been struggling to keep Maya from eating everything as we take our daily walks.  Here's a list of the things I pulled out of her mouth yesterday:

• Ball of foil
• Plastic bag
• Paper towel
• Styrofoam (twice)
• Cigarette butts (three times)
• Paint chips (too many to count)

I posted this on my Facebook, and here's the very creative response I got from a friend:

"That would tell me that you went to home depot today. Huh??? Allow me to explain. You went there to buy new burner drip covers for your stove and you had to pass by the new fall colors in paints. So you grabbed them both. When you got hom...e you emptied the bag and your ceiling fan blew the empty plastic bag onto the floor. You started with the paint and realized you could use some help when opening the sample resulted in a drip on your floor. You grabbed a paper towel to clean the drip and went to toss the towel into the plastic bag but didn't see it had fallen onto the floor. Puzzled, you placed the paper towel onto the same countertop. it suffered the same fate via the same fan. Since your neighbor just finished painting her bathroom, you called her over for an opinion. While waiting for her to stop by, you took the foil off the stovetop to put the new drip covers on the stove. That's when your neighbor showed up and, on your way to the door, you missed the counter and dropped the used foil onto the floor. Maya sniffed the paint and ended up dipping her nose into it. Instinctively, she retreated and backed into the plastic bag, paper towel and foil. In self defense, she attacked these foreign objects by gnawing on them. The styrofoam cup that was holding your guests' cigarette butts by the trash can was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time and received Maya's defensive attack as well."

I had to laugh.  So my question is, why will she eat all this crap, but not her food?

Dog Tired

Maya after a tough afternoon of playing with the neighbors' dogs, playing keep-away from me, and chasing birds and her own tail.

Poor puppy.....

Soft and Fluffy

Maya follows me into the bathroom and hangs out with me whenever I'm getting ready for school or work.  I used to think that it was because she wanted to keep me company.  I'm pretty sure it's really because she likes the soft and fluffy bath mats.

Trustworthy Puppy?

When I first got Maya, I put her in her kennel whenever I couldn't keep my eyes on her, even if it was just going to be for 5 minutes.  Little by little, as she earned some trust, I've started leaving her out.

I no longer put her in her kennel when taking a shower, but I leave her outside the bathroom.  At first, she would cry at the door until I finished and came out.  She doesn't cry anymore, but she's always at the door when I close it, and waiting at the door when I get out.  I've never been quite sure what she does for those 20 minutes, but I guess a part of me figured she waited outside the door.  Well, today this is what I had waiting for me when I stepped out of the bathroom:

   

So apparently she does not sit at the door and wait for me.  At least she's entertaining herself.

Sweet Sleep

This morning was first for us -- Maya let me sleep in.  :) 

She normally wakes me up sometime between 6:00 and 6:30.  When I woke up this morning, I didn't hear Maya, so I figured it was still night.  I put on my glasses and check the clock -- 7:23 am.  Weird. 

I laid in bed for a minute, and that's when I heard her.  Maya sleeps in her kennel, and I always put a toy in there with her to give her something to play with in case she doesn't want to go to sleep right away.  This morning, she was playing quietly with her toy, waiting for me to get up.  Good doggy!

Lost Tags

Maya new favorite chew toys seem to be her tags.  They seem to hang at just the right spot for her to grab a hold of them.  She struggles a bit to get them into her mouth, but once they're there, she won't let them go.  And little by little, she's been stretching the ring they're hanging on.

Last night, she finally pulled a little too much.  We were out for a walk when she took of running, and the leash came right off her collar.  Luckily we were still inside the complex, so I didn't have to worry about her running out into traffic.  Unfortunately, it also meant the ring where I attach the leash (and her tags) was broken.  And her tags were missing.

We (and by "we," I mean "me") spent about 10 minutes looking for her tags.  Retracing our steps wasn't hard, but those suckers don't glow in the dark!  I eventually found them and immediately decided that I needed a smaller ring to attach them with so she couldn't get them in her mouth.  We'll see how long this one lasts.

Weekend Adventure

Apparently Maya does not like my mom, and I have no idea why.  We went to my parents' house over Labor Day weekend, and she was fine with her.  But my parents came to my place this weekend, and Maya wouldn't go near her. 

Maya is always tentative around new people, but she'll warm up to them eventually.  Sometimes it takes a little longer with some people, but having them give her a treat always helps.  She was kind of timid around my dad, but I had him give her a treat and she was fine after that.  She didn't go run into his lap or anything, but she didn't run and hide from him either.

Now my mom is a different story.  It didn't matter what my mom did, Maya would not go near her.  If my mom had one of her toys, she didn't want that toy anymore.  If my mom walked towards her, she ran and hid behind me.  She wouldn't even take a treat from my mom!  She had to drop it or toss it towards her to get her to eat it.  I had never seen her refuse a treat before.  But the two funniest things happened Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

Saturday night, we made up a bed for my parents in the living room.  My mom was really tired, so she decided to lay down while we were chatting.  Sure enough, she was asleep 10 minutes later (if that long).  My mom snores, and since I don't, Maya doesn't really know what a snore is.  She (my mom) started snoring very softly, and Maya started growling very softly.  The louder my mom got, the louder Maya got.  When she actually started snoring, Maya started barking.  This woke my mom up just enough for her to start snoring softly again, and Maya started growling softly again.  This cycle went on for quite a while as my dad and I laughed at both of them.

Sunday morning, my mom and I were laying down in the living room and Maya was in her bed about 7 - 8 feet away.  My mom wondered aloud of Maya would come near her now.  I called Maya over, and she started heading our way (I should say my way).  She was almost to us when my mom put her arm around me.  Maya suddenly stopped, stared at us, and backed up into her bed again!  We laughed, of course, but what is up with this dog?!?

Cats!!

Maya has discovered cats.  She's seen plenty of cats before, but she's pretty much ignored them up until now.  For some reason, she decided that today would be the perfect day to start chasing them....while on a leash.....with me on the other end....  What this basically means is that she was pulling on her leash like crazy and kind of choking herself on it.  I never let her off the leash (or let go of the other end), so she never actually caught any of the cats, but she tried.  I have a feeling this morning was just the beginning....

Lying Puppy

As it turns out, Maya is not very trustworthy.  I've mentioned before that she loves eating leaves, especially off of one particular house plant.  Today I found this in the middle of the living room:

 

 In case you can't tell, it's a piece of a leaf.  I asked her if she had taken leaves off the plant, and she swore she hadn't.  She even put up her right paw as she said this.  Not 10 minutes later, I caught her red-handed (red-pawed?):

I'm not sure what I can do to get her to stop.  She knows she not supposed to do it, but obviously she doesn't even care that I'm standing right next to her.  Now this particular plant happens to have thorns.  I wonder if getting stuck with one of those will finally put an end to this, but I somehow doubt it. 

Poor Puppy!!

Yesterday, Maya was going crazy around the house, so I decided to take her out to run off some energy.  We went to a little park/dog run by my brother's place.  I called him up while we were there to see if maybe they wanted to bring Amos out.  Unfortunately, it started raining before he got there, but he invited me up for dinner.

Now those of you read this blog know that Maya and Amos don't exactly get along.  It's not that they don't like each other; it's just that Amos plays too rough and Maya doesn't like it.  She ends up barking and snapping at him, and he still doesn't leave her alone.  Last night was no different.  I'll let her defend herself unless it looks like he's getting too rough, or she gets tired and comes to me for help. 

Last night she got tired and ran up to me for help, and I picked her up and set her on my lap.  Amos walked away after a minute or two and went to his water bowl.  Thinking she was safe for the time being, she decided to jump off my lap.  My brother's place has hardwood floors, and I'm not sure if her feet slipped out from under her when she landed, or if she just landed on her side, but she ended up hitting the floor on her side, hard.  She got up, but was kind of stumbling, not quite sure of herself and started crying.  This was the first time I ever heard her cry, not a quick yelp, but actual crying.  I felt SO bad, but there wasn't much I could do.  I just picked her up and checked her over and tried to comfort her.  Even Amos, who had been chasing her around like a madman, was all of a sudden very gentle and looking concerned.  It was almost like he was saying, "I didn't do it!  Please be ok or they're going to blame me." 

After a few minutes, she was ok, but seemed a little tentative.  On the upside, Amos left her alone.  I think he was scared of hurting her.  And by the end of the night, she was back to her normal self and even initiating the playing with Amos.  But still, poor baby!!  :(

Escape Artist

When I got home today, I was greeted at the door by a very excited little puppy.  I loved that she was excited to see me and all, but she was in her kennel when I left this morning.  So how in the world did she get out?  And more importantly, what surprises did she leave me?

As it turns out, the answer to the second question was easier to figure out.  Maya had free reign throughout the house for who knows how.  I checked everywhere and didn't find any presents waiting for me.  Shockingly, my plant still has leaves on it.  There are no teeth marks on any furniture or other possessions.  Good puppy!!

Now how did she get out?  I still have no idea.  I'm guessing I didn't close the door completely and she eventually pushed it open.  I don't think she can reach her little paw through the openings and open the latch.  I guess I'm just going to have to watch the little escape artist closely and see if I can figure it out.

ADD Puppy

If anyone thinks it's not possible for a dog to have ADD, they need to meet Maya.  Since the day I got her (or at least since the day she started eating), she'll forget all about her food if anything else is going on.  This has actually happened mid-chew.  Taking her out took forever for a while because she'd forget to pee whenever someone walked by or a car started.

A couple of days ago, we were at PetSmart picking up some puppy chow.  While I was checking out, the cashier gave her a doggy treat.  She was munching on this when a fly (or mosquito) caught her attention.  Apparently bugs are more interesting than treats.

Bye Bye Toy

Looks like I'm going to have to throw away Maya's favorite toy.  I barely gave it back to her and she's already chewed through it again!  I don't think I can fix it this time, so it might be time for the trash.  Oh well.  She has others to keep her happy and busy.  

Puppy's First Hair Cut

I had noticed that it was getting harder and harder to bathe Maya, and that she needed a bath more and more often.  And with her hair as long as it was, I'm sure she was burning up in this Texas weather.  So today Maya had her first trip to the groomer. 

I barely recognized her when I picked her up!  She looks good, but it almost looks like they threw her in a dryer and shrunk her -- she's tiny!!  Anyways, here are some before and after pics.  Let me know what you think.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

I wanted to get better pictures, but she wouldn't sit still long enough.  I should get her now since she's sleeping on my feet.

Finding a Groomer

Maya needs a haircut, bad.  The problem with having a puppy for the first time is that you don't know about things like groomers. 

Earlier this week, I made an appointment at PetSmart for this weekend.  It's really the only place that I know of that has grooming services, and they seem to always be busy, so they must be ok.  And then I talked to my neighbors.  Let's just say that Maya now has an appointment with a different groomer.  I'm not saying that PetSmart is bad or that I've had a bad experience, it's just that enough people have that I would rather not take her there for her first haircut. 

Maya is still shy around other people, so I'm hoping tomorrow goes smoothly.  Wish us luck and I'll post before and after pictures tomorrow.

Vegetarian Puppy

For some reason, Maya loves eating grass and plants.  I've heard that dogs like to eat grass when they have an upset stomach, but I don't think that's it.  If she did it every now and then, I would say it's a possibility, but she does it daily.  In fact, she does it every time we go outside. 

My problem right now is that she does it whenever we're inside too.  I have one plant that she loves to munch on.  I've tried keeping her away from the plant entirely, I've tried catching her in the act and telling her to stop, I've tried almost everything I can think of, but nothing works. 

She knows she's not supposed to be near it, which is what makes it frustrating.  She'll wait until my back is turned, and then sneak over to it, grab a leaf, and run away with it in her mouth.  My poor plant used to have a lot more green leaves towards the bottom than it does now.  Any tips on getting her to stop?

She Barked at Me!

For the first time ever, Maya barked at me!!  It wasn't like when I put her in her kennel and she wants out; she actually barked at me!!

This past weekend, Maya ripped through her favorite stuffed toy.  Since I've had adventures with dogs eating stuffing and getting sick, I decided not to take any chances and took it away from her until I had a chance to fix it.  Well, today I had time.  I grabbed the toy of the ledge (where she couldn't see it), and grabbed a needle and thread.

As soon as she saw the toy, she started jumping on me and trying to get at it.  I tried telling her "down," but she seemed to have "forgotten" what that means.  I kept nudging her down, but she just kept jumping back on me.  I just kept having to turn away from her.  She wasn't cooperating, so it took me forever to get it done.

When I finally finished, I gave it to her and she took off running with it in her mouth.  For the next hour, she wouldn't drop it, scared that someone (me) was going to take it away again.  At one point, she walked up to her water bowl, looked down at, and walked away.  It was like she was trying to figure out how to drink without dropping the toy.  Apparently keeping a hold of the toy was more important than drinking water.

Carpet Cleaners

I am so mad at the carpet cleaning people!!

Maya doesn't mind if I put her in her kennel as long as I'm in the room with her.  If I put her in her kennel and go into another room, she cries and cries until I come back.

The carpet cleaners were supposed to come this morning, so I had to put Maya in the bathroom when I left for work.  Normally, I put her in her kennel and head straight out the door.  If she hears me leave, she knows I'm not ignoring her and doesn't cry.  But if she's in the bathroom, she doesn't know if I leave the house or not; she only knows that I put her up and I'm somewhere in the house ignoring her.  She cried and cried and cried.  I felt so bad, but there wasn't anything I could do.  I just kept telling myself she would be ok and that it was a one-time thing.

When I got home around 1:00 pm, the carpet cleaners had not been there.  I was so mad because I made Maya cry for no reason!! If they had arrived right then, I probably would have screamed at them.  I know they don't know I have a puppy and that she would be crying, but when you make an appointment, keep it!!

House Breaking Again?

I'm not sure what's up with Maya, but she's decided that she rather not go outside to potty.  Yesterday, we were hanging out in the living room when she got up, walked to the middle of the room, looked straight at me, and then peed.  She'd never done that before, even when I just brought her home.  A couple of weeks ago, I just about had her ringing the bell whenever she wanted to go out, and now we're back to this?!?!  And she did it again today.  Help!!

Ringing Bells

One of the things I decided almost immediately was that I needed to teach Maya a way to tell me she needed to go out other than just walking to the door.  If I'm in another room or studying, I might not notice that she needs to go out.  When my brother's dog was a puppy, he taught her to ring a bell when she needed to go out.  I figured this would work perfectly.

I remember he had a little Christmas-type bell that he tied on a string around the doorknob.  He would hit the bell every time he took her out, and she made the connection.  So I got a bell, tied it to the doorknob, and every time I took her out, I would hit the bell.  She was just starting to hit the bell when she needed to go out.  And then we went out of town. 

I made the mistake of not taking the bell to my parents' house last weekend, and by the time we got back, she had forgotten everything that she had learned.  Right now I'm having to keep an eye on her because she's not ringing, but at least she's going to the door.  Guess we're starting over on this one.

No Habla Ingles

For the last week or so, I've been working with Maya trying to get her to voluntarily go into her kennel.  I started by giving her a treat when she walked towards it, then when she put a paw in, then when her head got in, etc.  And I'm saying "kennel" each time hoping to form a link between the two in her head.

Last night, I thought she finally got it.  I got her attention, said "kennel," and she walked right in, all the way!  Yahoo!!  But alas, it was not meant to be.  This morning, I did the same thing, and this was her reaction.

Apparently, "kennel" in English translates to "come sit in my lap" in puppy-speak.  Oh well.  Good thing she's cute.

Rain

I've discovered that Maya hates the rain.  If it's raining and we go out, she'll go just to the edge of the grass where she's still covered and do her business there.

However, she loves, loves, LOVES rain puddles.  She loves to splash through them and then jump on me.  I don't particularly mind her running through the puddles, it's the doggy bath and extra laundry it creates that I mind.  Oh well.  I'm sure when (if) she outgrows this stage, I'm really going to miss it. 

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa

Maya and I are heading to my parents' house for the weekend.  I'm not sure how this is going to go because she hasn't been with me all that long and I'm already changing things up on her.  I'm sure she'll love having big open spaces to run in, but I'm still a little nervous.  I just hope she doesn't keep everyone up or wake everyone up too early.  Wish me luck!

Who's Walking Who?

I haven't really taught Maya how to walk on a leash yet.  I know it's something that I'm going to have to do some time, but she's so little, it just hasn't been a priority.

One thing that everyone thinks is really cute is that I don't even have to clip the leash onto her collar.  In fact, if she's in a hurry, she won't even let me clip it on.  Instead she'll grab the clip end in her mouth and start pulling me.  And she'll do this all the way to wherever she's going to do her business.  I guess I haven't stopped her because I think it's really cute too.

Bad Coffee Table

I take Maya for a walk almost every evening.  We walk somewhere between 1 and 1 1/2 miles every night.  I know it sounds like a lot, but she has a lot of energy.  But if it's raining or I get home late from school, Maya doesn't get her walk.  And that's when she goes crazy.

I guess she just feels like she has to get that pent-up energy out because she'll start running like crazy through the house -- around the dining room table, around the living room, through the bedroom, and she does it at a full-out sprint. 

Tonight was one of those nights when I wasn't able to get Maya out for a walk.  She was doing the typical running around when she cut a corner a little too close and ran into a leg on the coffee table.  She stopped dead in her tracks, turned around, and started barking and growling at the table leg like it was its fault!  I could almost see her little brain thinking, "Where did you come from??  Bad coffee table, bad coffee table!"

Park Time

I've started taking Maya to the park in the evenings to let her run off a little energy.  I can't take her to the dog park yet, but there's a little park by my brother's place that we go to.  It's grassy and open, and there's little to no traffic, so she can get off her leash and run.

Since I play tennis, I have plenty of old tennis balls around the house that I can give her to play with.  I grabbed one today as we walked out, thinking maybe we can play a little fetch.  I don't know why, but I just always figured dogs naturally knew how to play fetch.  Think about it -- they like to chase things, they like to carry things in their mouths, and they come when called.  Seemed pretty natural to me.

Maya does not know how to play fetch.  She likes to chase things and she comes when called, but it's the whole carrying things in her mouth that seems to be alluding her.  I'll throw the ball, she'll chase it, stop it, then leave it there and run back to me.  And since I have to keep going to get the ball, that was a very short game of fetch.

Attacked by a Bed

Last week, my brother brought over a bed that used to belong to Amos.  Apparently Amos likes to eat beds, so he doesn't get one anymore and Maya inherited this one.  She wouldn't go near it until I washed the cover.  I guess I just needed to get the smell of Amos away.

Anyways, she doesn't ever sleep in it.  I'm pretty sure she just considers it an extra large toy.  Here's her favorite activity:

 

At one point, it actually flipped over on top of her.  She was trapped underneath and couldn't figure out how to get out.  I couldn't help but laugh.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of that, or better yet, a video.

Oversleeping

One of the things I've noticed since having a puppy is that I don't have to rush as much to get to my morning class.  I have an 8:30 class two mornings a week, and I used to have a really hard time getting there on time.  Since I've gotten Maya, she wakes me up with time to spare.  Today, she overslept.

We normally get up between 6:00 and 6:30.  I take her out, feed her, play with her for a bit, and go for a short walk before getting ready for school.  Well, today she woke up at 7:00.  I still needed to take her out, feed her, and take her for a walk, but she didn't get much play time today, and I didn't get to put on any makeup.  Oh well, we both have to sacrifice sometimes.  ;)

Sleep? What's That?

I've never been a morning person, but Maya is slowing changing that.  No wait, she's managed to change that in less than a week.  In the few short days that I've had her, I've already realized that I can't go to bed late like I'm used to doing.  Regardless of what time I go to bed, she's going to wake me up around 6:30.

On the up side, I finally figured out how to get her to stop crying -- don't leave her alone.  Apparently she doesn't care if she's in her kennel so long as I'm in the room with her.  So now I put her to bed but leave her in the living room until I go to bed too, then we move to the bedroom.  Mystery solved.

Vet Visit

The puppy now has a name, Maya.  :)

Maya had her first vet visit today, and the vet says she's a healthy little girl.  I talked to him about her not eating, and he gave me a few tips to entice her.  His first suggestion is mixing the dry food with some wet food.  That worked like a charm.  She smelled the wet stuff and started chowing down.  That girl can eat!!

She Won't Eat

So I'm really worried about the puppy.  She seems to be getting better as far as getting used to me and the house, she's playing and running around, but she's not eating.  She didn't eat Friday, she didn't eat Saturday, and she only took a couple of bites this morning.  She hasn't eaten anything since then.  She is drinking water, so that's something, but I'm still worried.  I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow for a puppy check, so I'll talk to him about it tomorrow.

First Bath

I didn't expect the puppy to be housebroken when I got her, but I didn't realize that she would use the bathroom in her kennel.  The puppy and her family were kept in a big pen, and they used the corner as a bathroom.  Everything would fall through to a tray below, which would be removed and cleaned.  Very sanitary because they never step in it, but makes the dogs think they can go wherever they sleep, play, etc, and not have to worry about it.

I woke up this morning to a crying puppy.  She peed in her kennel and started crying because she couldn't get away from it.  So I took her out of the kennel and took her outside.  I ran into one of my neighbors who asked me how it was going with the new puppy.  I told her what happened and that I was about to go give the puppy a bath.  Since she has a dog, I asked her if it was ok to use shampoo on the puppy (since I hadn't had a chance to pick up any puppy shampoo).  She said it would probably be ok, but that it would be better if I used puppy shampoo, and that she had some I could borrow.

So I got the puppy back inside and gave her a bath.  I thought she would be scared or cry, but she really did well.  She initially tried to jump out, but calmed down quickly.  I knew she was small, but once she was wet, she looked about half her size.  She is tiny. 

So she doesn't particularly mind getting a bath, but she hates the hairdryer.  I was going to try to use the hairdryer on her, but the noise scared her, so I didn't.  Since it's pretty warm outside (translation: ridiculously hot for 8:00 am), I decided to take her for a walk instead and let her dry in the sun.  She was completely dry in about 5 minutes.

And the Adventure Begins!

Yesterday was puppy pick-up day.  I went and picked up my new yorkie/poodle mix puppy and headed home. 

I knew that I would eventually fall in love with her, but I didn't expect her to pull at my heart strings so soon.  Obviously she doesn't know me, so she was scared and shaking when first put in my arms.  I sat down with her in my arms and talked softly to her, hoping she'd calm down.  She eventually did, but I knew right there that this was going to be harder than I imagined.

When we got home, she wouldn't come near me.  She started exploring the house, but would run away if I came near her.  I knew that it was because she still didn't know if I was safe or not, but it was still tough.  I was given a bag of puppy food when I picked her up, so I figured I'd entice her with food.  That didn't work.  I was also given a chew toy, but that didn't work either.  She didn't want food, she didn't want water, she didn't want me.  I think she just wanted her mom and sisters, the only thing I couldn't give her.

We got home kind of late, so it wasn't long before we went to bed.  I decided that she would sleep in her kennel until she was housebroken.  She didn't like the kennel and didn't like being alone, and she cried and cried.  I'd been told not to let her out the first night or she would never learn to sleep on own.  I didn't know she'd cry that long. 

Today, my brother and sister-in-law came to meet her, and they brought along their bulldog, Amos.  He's about 4 months old and really playful.  Unfortunately, the puppy was not having anything to do with him.  She basically hid behind me the whole time he (Amos) was in the house.  When my brother took him outside, she walked over to my sister-in-law and started running around and playing.  Looks like she's starting to get used to things, but we might have to work on getting along with other dogs. 

Finally Made the Decision

Those that know me know I've been saying for years that I want a dog.  My brother was the first person to convince me not to get one.....by asking me to doggy-sit his dog, Wrigley.  Don't get me wrong, Wrigley is a great dog.  She's a lab mix that he got from the SPCA years ago, and she's one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met.

Years ago (I'm guessing about 8 or 9) she was just a puppy.  He was heading out of town for a few days and needed someone to take care of her.  Since I was considering getting a dog, he thought this would be a good test run.  Everything went great until day two when she ate my sleeping bag.  I didn't particularly care about the sleeping bag, but she ended up getting sick.  Over the next three nights, I was getting up every 2 hours to let her out.  That was not fun. 

Anyways, Wrigley eventually recovered and is a healthy, happy dog.  I, however, was no longer wanting a dog.  Over the years, I have alternately said I've wanted one and would never get one.  But in the last couple of years, I've noticed that I've wanted one more and more.  And now I've made the decision to go ahead and get a puppy.  Wish me luck!!