The cone of shame!

[greatbear]

Yesterday was not a good day for lil' Snickles. For his six month birthday he got taken to the local vet to be fixed and chipped. I felt bad for the poor guy. He seemed very proud of his dangly bits, and, truth be told, he's pretty well hung for a little dog. The energetic, alert pup I dropped off had become a sleepy wet rag when it was time to pick him up. I felt awful. Snickles was disoriented, confused and lethargic for the rest of the day. We had him close and kept an eye or two out for him, and he seemed to be okay, picking up a bit right before bedtime. Today he is just about back to his old self, complete with a couple attempts to hump my arm. He adjusted to having the big plastic lampshade over his head quite well, with only one moment of panic when he tried to hook his lower jaw under the collar and succeeded. I freed him, and he's been pretty clingy all day. Jeff has to work both today and tomorrow, so it is just me and the pooches, with Pinky the cat giggling at Snickles' Cone of Shame. I cut the grass at Mayhem Acres and did some yard cleaning between the rainfalls, otherwise being domestic and mucking around with the servers and automating more backups. With Jeff gone all day, I was also spinning lots of old records, taking advantage of a new phono cartridge I installed the other day. The pups don't mind as long as I don't terribly crank the decibels, and the air guitar only draws quizzical, cocked-head stares. Maybe it should be me with that cone.

Snickles needs to rock his Elizabethan collar for a few days while his tackle box heals up, in two weeks the two stitches come out. Now comes some much more intense interaction in order to train him. He hasn't quite gotten the knack of being housebroken, a point of frustration for me at times. He still makes mistakes and doesn't know how or why to make a signal that he needs to go out, despite being very observant of Kodi. He's only a pup still, and he is plainly a very smart dog, as we've both seen on many occasions. Kodi had "official" obedience training at PetSmart, a task that we actually enjoyed very much. Kodi didn't always seem to "get it" during the training either. In both his beginning and intermediate level trainings, there was a "final exam" that needed to be passed in order to actually pass the courses. Both me and Jeff had our doubts, but as out turns came up to demonstrate Kodi's newly acquired prowess, he totally floored us both and did everything perfectly. I hope Snickles does as good.

Comments

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Snickles will catch on and be as house trained as Kodi is soon!

[labeartorycub.livejournal.com]

Best wishes on Snickles' recovery and training!

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

It's probably a good thing that I've never taken on a pup. I don't think I would have your patience dealing with the stages of growing up, especially the housebreaking stage.

[goldibehr.livejournal.com]

That's a perfect subject line for the post.

[redmoonriver.livejournal.com]

What? no pics? Bad bear! ;) *HUGS*

[dan4behr.livejournal.com]

I've managed to be very lucky for the most part with housebreaking pets.

Jess, TheWonderLab, seemed to pick up on it very fast - within a day or two. Buttttt... when she got be, oh, about six months old, she starting messing with me. Seriously - it was a game for her to see if she could hide a nice poo in an seldom used room to see if I'd find it. As I recall I learned she had a certain expression when she'd done that and immediately went to look.

She got quite old and sick, so we did have some issued with her peeing in the study. At least it was nearly always the same place.

Scooby came pre-housebroken. Dusty was amazballs - neither Brian or I EVER recall her making a mess in the house. She was crate-trained and did a fabulous job of 'holding it' until it was time to go.

That said, she's the most frustrating dog in the world when you want to get to work or go somewhere - she'll take fifteen f*ckin' minutes to 'find the right spot'. Hell, she's even gotten to the point where she won't poop anywhere in the early morning other than in the woods behind the house. Take her out front - no dice. Sonny on the other hand is an instant pee & pooper. He want's that mini-milkbone he knows he's got coming when he gets back in. Again, Dusty couldn't care less...

I probably shouldn't admit this... but.... I've often taken the dogs out when they're in the housebreaking stage - and had a nice wee in the yard myself. That usually seems to get them 'going' and perhaps get the idea this in 'the place'...