|
Hello
everyone, my name is Caroline (aka ‘Chapstaff’
on the D for Dog Forum).
I have been an Administrator on the D for Dog Forum for
over 2 years now. I am married to Ken and we have two grown
up sons and two baby grandchildren.
We owned a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Cleo, who we
rescued from Wood Green Animal Shelter when she was one
year old. Cleo recently passed away peacefully at the grand
old age of 16. The house was so empty that we felt the need
for someone else to love, so we decided to get a Stafford
puppy. |
This instalment of our puppy diary covers Tala's first week in her
new home.
| We
brought Tala home at the age of seven weeks in a box in the
footwell along with a smelly old towel we had put in the whelping
box on our last visit. The idea is that it smells of mum and
littermates, so is familiar to her. She travelled well on
the 90 minute journey with no problems. When we arrived home
we took Tala straight into the garden for a wee and I remembered
to say the chosen word and praise her. |
|
Tala
didn't want anything much to eat, everything being strange and new,
so we just gave her a drink of water and showed her round the house
and garden. We introduced her to her crate in the kitchen, which
is a busy room with lots of comings and goings. She loved it immediately
and went straight in, so much for all my strategies for enticing
her in and getting her used to it. I left it open and she went in
of her own accord for a nap.
We
covered her crate on 3 sides with a blanket to make it like a dark
cosy den and made it nice and comfy for her with a thick piece of
fleece bedding, and put a couple of chew toys in there for her.
One was an edible nylabone and she absolutely loved it, spending
quite some time gnawing at it.
That
night she settled fairly well. I slept downstairs in a sleeping
bag so I could reassure her when she whined and also take her outside
for toileting. I only did that for that first night as she seems
to be quite confident. Since then I have been sleeping in my own
bed and setting my alarm for 4.30am and taking her outside for a
wee. I am not suggesting that everyone does this, just telling you
what works for me. She always goes to the toilet and then scuttles
back into her bed and straight back to sleep. I have since been
able to gradually make it later and later and now I get up at 6.30am
and she is always clean in her bed.
| Incidentally,
I did try the recommended way after lots of people told me
how silly I was getting up at that hour. I left the crate
open and put paper on the floor at the far end of the kitchen.
Next morning she had done wees and poos on the paper.... good.....
but later that morning she went to the same spot to wee, although
the back door was open, so I went back to my original idea. |
|
As Tala had already been vet checked by the breeder's vet (we had
the report as well as the paperwork showing that the hereditary
health tests had been done and were clear) we left it a few days
before taking her to our own vet for her first vaccination. She
was weighed and checked all over and wormed. The worming has to
be done every 2 weeks until 12 weeks old, then at 6 months and 3
monthly thereafter. She was also booked in for a course of puppy
classes at the vets, which are available for all puppies after their
first vaccination.
When we collected Tala the breeder gave us a weight chart showing
her weekly weight gain, a sample of her food, her health certificates,
six weeks free insurance and a folder containing loads of useful
information. We also got a receipt for the purchase of our puppy,
and signed a document saying that if ever we could no longer keep
our puppy she had to go back to the breeder. We also signed to say
that we couldn't register any offspring with the Kennel Club if
we bred from her, unless she had a clear health certificate from
the vet saying she was clear of hereditary eye disease, which can
only be tested for when she is older. We happily signed this. Hereditary
diseases could be wiped out altogether if only all dogs had these
tests before being bred from.
We should have also brought the registration papers away with us,
but the Kennel Club had a bit of a backlog. We weren't concerned
about this as the breeders came well recommended by the secretary
of the Stafford society, and we had got to know them very well.
Normally it is recommended that you never buy a pedigree puppy without
bringing the KC registration papers away with you.
Tala's Kennel Club registration arrived this week. Her registered
name is "Hubbulls With Every Wish". The Hubbulls bit is
the breeder's affix (Lisa and Lee Hubble) and we chose the other
part of her name.
| I
have been feeding Tala on all the foods the breeder had been
giving her, to get her used to a variety of foods: rice pudding,
scrambled egg with cheese, tuna, chicken, Beta puppy mashed,
but she was only tasting each food, and was eating next to
nothing. They say a puppy won't starve itself and to just
put down food and take it away if not eaten after 10 minutes,
only offering again at the next meal time, which is 4 times
a day while they are very young. But Tala hadn't read the
books. She was the exception to the rule. She began to look
very thin and wasn't going to the toilet because she had nothing
in her stomach; so I started to hand feed her raw mince, which
she loved and she gradually progressed to eating it on her
own. Then I began to slowly introduce other foods and she
is now eating a lot better. |
|
This week I started carrying Tala out and about to socialise her
to lots of different sights and sounds. I can't put her down on
the ground until one week after her twelve week vaccination. There
is a very slight risk of airborne disease, but it is worth that
tiny risk to get her properly socialised as early as possible before
she reaches that fearful stage at about 14 weeks or so.
I have taken her to lots of different places, by car, and on foot,
and she has seen and heard cars, trains, planes, motorbikes, prams,
skateboards, shopping trollies, other dogs, children and babies,
also men with beards and wearing uniforms, including the postman.
The window cleaner called too and gave her some fuss. She has encountered
women of different nationalities, wearing hats, and glasses. She
has been in shops too. I have taken her to the vets three times
now just for a vet nurse to weigh her and touch her all over. She
is also given a titbit.
So far she has not reacted fearfully to anything apart from the
dustman's lorry. Ken carried her up the drive to see it and it was
too much for her and she struggled to escape. Ken put her down in
the drive and let her watch from behind the drive gates.. He knew
not to make a fuss of her in case she thought she was being given
attention for being afraid.
You need a degree in psychology for this puppy training lark!
This week I have taught her to "come" by crouching down
to her level and calling "Tala....come" in a high excited
voice. She learned that really quickly as she was rewarded first
with a titbit, then with fuss. I then progressed to teaching "Sit",
again with a tasty titbit. I used cold hot dog sausage which is
really smelly as well as yummy. I held the titbit just above her
nose and slowly moved it back and as she looked up at it she naturally
dropped her bum to the ground and I said the word "Sit"
every time. She learned that one within days, and she will sit every
time now on command. I am teaching the "Down" by sitting
her and putting the titbit between her legs. I had to help her get
the hang of that one with a gentle hand on her shoulders encouraging
her to lie flat. She has almost mastered it now.
On the subject of training: Tala has been a nuisance with biting,
not just nibbling but really biting and drawing blood. I asked for
help on the D for Dog forum in the Training
and Dog Behaviour section and the members were very helpful
with their suggestions and telling me what worked for them. I shall
tell you more about that in the next instalment.
Caroline and Tala
Instalment 3 |
