Tuesday 25 April 2017

Marta update.



Firstly, I read {this} and now feel vindicated with my no shoes in the house rule!  Now on to todays blog post!

Marta came to live with us in early December, she is now six months old.  I thought it best to give you an update.

Compared to how other people say their puppy is, Marta is super chilled out.  She was toilet trained before 3 months.  I think she was 10 weeks.  Friends and family, are still using puppy pads for their pups who are a year old.  We didnt use puppy pads, it was pure luck and also, every hour on the hour, I took her out side.  We use the trigger word 'pooping'.  And when she goes, wee or poop, then you say 'good girl pooping' and give her a treat when you say that and then say the word 'pooping' again.  She just seemed to get it.  We had a few accidents but that is when we have missed her que of her giving her bark and banging on the door.  Kind of like this...



Sleeping at night is good, only a few times has she wanted to go out in the middle of the night.  Mostly after we had given her the Bravecto tablet.  You can read about that {here}.  I actually thought she was going to die.  I still feel really bad about it.  She sleeps in her crate with the door open on the landing.  We go to bed at 10pm and they get up with me at 4.30am (whether they like it or not). Sometimes if she is lucky Eric will let her get in his bed.  Eric is very particular about his bed.  I will talk about him another time...

She has grown rapidly.  And is now tipping the scales at just under 8 kilos.  When we were in Cornwall other people who had border terriers commented on her size.  The vet said that this could be due to us feeding her a rich diet and genetics.  She isnt obese, she is tall.

Her food?  Well she eats better than most people I would say.  The dried food we have been using since we transitioned her away from the cr@p the breeder was giving her.  (The vet said it was utter rubbish and mostly rusk...)  We decided on James Wellbeloved as my previous dogs had been fed on that.  For breakfast she has a small ladies handful of dried food and 1 whole egg scrambled.  Lunch is plain dried food and for dinner she has dried food and poached chicken thigh.  Yarp you read that right.  I cook them both chicken.  Lunch has just been cut out as she is 6 months.

I cook 2kg of chicken thighs in water that covers them in the oven in a huge casserole pot. This gives me the equiviant of canned dog food but with out all of the floor sweepings and gunk they add to it all.  The water cooks out and makes a stock that is like the dog food that comes in jelly.  The dogs both go nuts for this.  Anything dipped in this is immediately eaten.  I use half a thigh for Marta and a whole thigh for Eric as he is bigger.  This amount means it lasts for a whole week,  Sounds extravegant to some, I am sure.

Her training has not been too bad.  I think this is mostly due to having an older dog that she adores.  I mean she has full on moo moo eyes for him.  As soon as she wakes up, she seeks him out.  Licks his face all over.

When she is alone with you on the lead she trots along nicely.  When Eric is around she feels she needs to touch him, with what ever side of her body she can get in contact with him.  She does this whilst shrieking a lot.  This is something we are working on.

Off the lead she comes back no matter where she is.  Two pips on the dog whistle, shout 'Come!' and she comes running as she knows there is a treat involved.    No problem there.  She is a little rough and tumble wanting to play with any dog that goes by.  We therefore make her go back on the lead if we see another dog that we dont know.

She is social with all people that come in the house.  Completely the opposite of Eric.  She also likes to be touching you as much as possible.  As I type this she is asleep with her head on my foot.

Her teeth started falling out at 4 months.  Sometimes she would trot over and you would think what they heck has she been eating as there would be something sticking out of her mouth.  Open her mouth and the tooth would be sticking out horizontal towards you.  Nice right!?

Fast forward to now.  On Friday just gone, we had Berta spayed.  She giddily skipped into the vets and was lead away through the door.  The operation went well and they called and we picked her up at 3pm.  Apparently a text book op.

Let the stress begin!  When we got home it all began.  No jumping, no dog ninja moves (of which she has many), no stairs, no getting on the furniture, no getting off the furniture.  And lets not forget, that our other dog likes to bark at loud noises, quiet noises, the fridge making ice, the neighbours builders digging - cutting blocks- their pool mans poles that you see flashes of over the top of the fence.  He barks at everything.  But the worst is when there is an animal on the TV.  Of yeah.  He barks, she jumps out of her skin and then tries to join in on the crazy that follows the glimpse of a tail.

It could be any animal.  And the one he goes completely nuts over?  The Gtech cordless vacuum.  The noise starts of the vacuum on the tv and no matter where he is in the house, he hurtles in and throws himself at the tv.  Good thing it is on the wall right?  Well not so good for the sideboard that is below it... (credenza for anyone in the US).  And every time he barks, she gets up, jumps up on him, licks his face and then follows him all around the house, whilst he looks for this animal.  Up on to the window seat, up the steps in to the hall.  Around the kitchen.  Oh yes I have been having kittens.  It wouldnt be so bad if he just barked at real animals.  He barks at cartoon cats and dogs.  And now, there is an advert with a rabbit and the man has a bad back.  We will have to speak to someone about this habit.

She went to see the vet today so they could look at the stitches.  All ok at present.  They will see her again next week.

I am stressed at the moment with it all, but I know in the end it will be worth it.  Especially after a dog tried to grab her the other week, whilst on a walk.  Its only a month of this and then it will get better.



She was cute wasnt she.  I will take a new picture and post it another day.

13 comments:

Jules said...

Thank you for the update. Didn't that six months go quickly?! She sounds like a smart little dog and so cute! A lethal combination. X

Sol said...

Hi Jules, she actually has a really sweet nature. But yes she is clever and steals things and hides them in her bed! lol wheres my shoe? Oh there it is in the dog bed. Wiping the floor, turn around, where is the cloth? Oh there it is in the dog bed. At least she is consistent.

Dani said...

Ah, bless her - she sounds just like Stellar, who is so bloody full of puppy enthusiasm it's driving us nuts lol

Know all about barking at each and every noise - especially when RMan is on a business call (sigh)

Stellar has to be spayed next month - not looking forward to that either.

But, with all said and done, would we be better off without them in our lives. Nope. Not at all ;)

Sol said...

Hi Dani, I know it is for the best, but it has been a hard few days trying to keep a rather energetic puppy from running and jumping about. What we did do, and I am so glad we did was we got rid of the cone that was making her absolutely crazy. We bought a surgical recovery suit from the internet and it has poppers that go up around her legs and around her tail. It stops her from licking and getting dirt on her stitches. It seems to have made a big difference and like Erics thundershirt it seems to have a calming effect on her. Obviously she cant wear it all the time but at night and when I am cooking and I cant watch her constantly I am safe in the knowledge that she cant pull the stitches. I think we paid £12 for it on amazon. Please have a look as I really think they are useful. I also for the first night when she seemed to want to lick what ever she could, we put a sock on her leg and used electrical tape to hold it on. They shaved a small bit on her leg where the drip went in.

Sue said...

I'm so glad she came through her spaying okay. It's well worth having them done while they are tiny. Ours have all bounced back from this .... literally as well as physically. HOW on earth do they expect you to keep a young pup quiet, it seems to me after a day of recovery and loads of sleep they are even bouncier than usual.

We always gave up on the 'cone of shame', Rosy was terrified of it, Suky just ran in circles whilst wearing it, so by the time we had Charley spayed she went straight into a doggie t shirt at the vets and there were no problems with wound licking or stitch nibbling.

It's been brilliant to read this update on your girl :-)

Sol said...

Hey Sue, other than I cant take my eye off her for a minute (I found her on top of her crate earlier when I was putting socks in the drawer), I feel a bit better about it all since they said the stitches look so good. I was really worried about keeping it all clean.

This surgical recovery onsie we bought has been a god send. We got it before she went in. As we knew from previous dogs the cone is a problem. She just sat there with it on, bouncing it off the floor whimpering. and then would run around crashing into things. we did think about trying to leave it on the first night but she was so distressed by it that we went straight to the recovery suit.

Raybeard said...

She's such a cutie, and can now find comfort in caring, sensitive hands. Hope you can both bear up well to this transition period.
But I'm also concerned about the one (presumably Eric?) forever dancing at the door wanting to come in, trapped in an eternal loop.

Mac n' Janet said...

Sounds like you've done a wonderful job training her and you're lucky she was blessed with an easy-going disposition.

Trudie said...

Hi
We're like you - we buy the 2 kgms of chicken and cook it much the same but add a carrot and courgette and some brown rice - I did this because our Jack Russell/Cocker cross kept suffering from an allergy -we finally realised that it was an allergy to starch - she's been much better since. But also our old Jack Russell's heart problem (who costs us £90 per month for heart tablets) hasn't got any worse since we put her on this diet - our vet has said don't change what we're doing as it obviously suits all 3 dogs and none of them have had a weight gain neither. I've always had our girls speyed at 6 months - a vet once told us that batches can be prone to breast cancer if they're speyed so have always done it. Maria is a lovely name - she's a lovely looking dog too xx

Sol said...

Hey Ray, I think she is doing well? I hope so. heck Ive been sleeping on the camping mat on the floor next to her crate to make sure she isnt jumping about. Ha ha that gif with the dog jumping I dont know whose dog it is I got it off of pixabay

Hi Janet, she is quite intelligent. Now I know most people say that about their dog, but she does pick things up quick. We are very lucky she has really taken to Eric and she loves being with him, or you. Its a good thing she is a greedy guts as she just wants treats all the time, if dogs are like that, you can generally teach them anything

Sol said...

Hi Trudie, your comment must have come in as I was replying to Ray and Janet. We were advised that as we were keeping her as a pet and had no want to breed from her, like you, to spay her at 6 months as it stops mammary cancer and Pyometra. Which I am glad of as Jonh at Going Gently, his bulldog had it and it would frighten me to death. It also needed doing as a dog tried to grab her the other day, and the stress of worrying about that also was not something I wanted.

I am glad your dogs are thriving on your chicken diet. The vet seems very happy with her. As apposed to when we got Eric from the dog home where he hadnt eaten for days and was recovering from major surgery to his legs. We took him there to get him checked again and they said he was in seriously poor condition. All is well now though. He is fighting fit.

Janie Junebug said...

I'm glad to read that she's doing well. I look forward to an updated photo of her. Penelope likes an audience in the yard and will not perform without encouragement. I have to say "go potty" in a very enthusiastic way. She obliges me, and then I say, "good potty, good girl." The things we do for our dogs. And they are worth it.

Love,
Janie

Sol said...

Hi Janie, the builders next door were sniggering, but when they found out she was only 5 months and went to the loo on command, they said to my neighbour was a dog trainer. I take that as a compliment. One was saying to me that his boxer dog has to live in the kitchen and utility room as it still has accidents, its 4 years old. I blame it on not praising and not giving treats. Its all to do with the voice as well. She wags her tail so much she wiggle/shimmies nearly bending in half.

It sounds like Penelope is really happy to accept commands as well. It makes life a lot easier. Hope you are well!