12th day with the UGODOG Puppy Potty

This morning when I got up, I looked out the window and it was pouring rain.  I was a bit disappointed, since I was looking forward to a morning walk with Coco.   But at the same time I was very relieved that I did not have to take Coco out in that mess!   Visions of muddy paws, wet coat, and shivering puppy all flashed through my mind in a moment.

I walked over to Coco's pen and I could see Coco had used her UGODOG toilet during the night.  The pen was still perfectly clean.  I love the UGODOG Puppy Potty!

Don't let her tell you any different...I'm a GOOD dog!

Now let me tell you what happened yesterday.  Yesterday morning I was doing my usual puppy pen maintenance.  After removing the stinky pee pads I put a fresh Pee pad under the grate (with the small soiled piece to keep a pee scent).   I put another small piece of puppy pad on top of the grate so Coco could have that familiar piece on top.   I used a narrow strip of pee pad long enough to tuck the ends of the pad under the grate, so there was no chance for it to slip around or fall off the puppy potty.

After everything was in place in my puppy potty, I left the room for just a minute.  Alas!  When I returned my efforts had been undone!  Coco had walked right over to the puppy potty, and grabbed hold of that pee pad pulling it right off the top of the UGODOG.  Even though the pee pad was tucked under the edges, it was no match for a puppy on a mission.   She had torn it into a big crumbled mess.  Bits of the absorbent substance had been chewed into a million tiny bits all over the pen.   The big problem was Coco was chewing on the bits of fluff.  I was glad I checked back on her so soon.  It would not have been good for her to be chewing on these pieces of pee pad for very long.

So I took the crumbled piece of pee pad and tossed it in the garbage.  I got the vacuum hose and sucked up all the tiny bits from around the pen. 

The pen was clean once more.   The UGODOG still had a Pee Pad under the grate....but the top of the grate was now clear.   At that point I knew that I would never put another Pee pad on top of the UGODOG.   Now that Coco sees the Pee pad as a potential for destruction, I don't want to give her that opportunity.   Lucky for me, she is already so good with using the UGODOG, that it really is not needed anymore anyway. 

Give Mom the cute pathetic look and I can get away with anything!

I am so relieved that I have a UGODOG potty for Coco, because it gives a surface for the puppy to pee on, that Coco will not chew up.   Ideally, it would be a great time to also start Coco on a regular outdoor potty training schedule.  I am not going to start that right now, because I have travel plans in a few weeks, and want things to be as simple as possible for the family members who will care for Coco in my absence.   Instead I will just start taking Coco out for walks now and then to help her get use to using the potty outside.

I really like this method of raising a puppy.  So far Coco is not much more trouble than a hampster!   We are loving the ease of having a Puppy Toilet very much!

Lots of fun with socialization!

This weekend was a busy one with friends and family.   We are lucky to know a lot of people who are happy to come meet a new puppy.  I don't always remember to get my camera out during such visits...but I did snap a few photos!

Introducing our new Puppy to other Family Pets

Toby knows we expect his patience.

Introducing our new puppy to our other family pets is a gradual process.  When we first brought Coco home, the dogs could smell this strange puppy and were not particularly welcoming.  They barked at Coco when we put her in her cage.  We told them sternly to be quiet and they calmed down....but they were clearly not pleased with her presence. 

Dixie is not minding Coco.... too much!

That was fine.  We would not expect Toby and Dixie to understand that Coco was going to be a part of our family.  She had all the smells of her last breeder and her litter mates.  It would take several days for her to lose some of the old smells and for them to be use to her scent.  We did not force the introduction.   Because Coco was in her pen we did not have to worry about how the dogs liked her.  She was safe behind the pen walls.







Past experience has shown that our dogs tend to adjust quickly to new dogs that come into our home. Happily our pets have all had good socialization since they were young.  This makes a new puppy much easier to bring into the family.

With Papa at his side Toby will put up with anything.  Even kisses!

During this first week that Coco has been with us, her playtime outside of the pen, has always been supervised.   At first the dogs did not wish to have much to do with her.  Coco on the other hand was very eager to meet them.  Mostly she would try to run up to them, and try to play, but they would walk away.  We would not allow Coco to run after them too much so we could keep the experience positive for all the dogs.

As each day went by, the older dogs were more and more relaxed with Coco's puppy antics.  As the weather warmed up, the snow melted and they were running outside more.  Coco was so excited to follow the big dogs.

But it was good to see that if the dogs ran to the back yard, Coco would leave me at the porch steps for no more than a minute.  She would come running back as soon as she realized I was out of sight.  This is a good thing.  Puppies at this age, should still have very strong attachments to their care giver.

Coco wants to adopt Dixie has her big sister.

If the big dogs turned to chase Coco, she would immediately roll onto her back to show them submission, and that she was not comfortable with being the object of the chasing game!

Will you be mine?

Don't push me, pup!

As for the cat, that is also interesting to watch.  Candy is always very patient with the dogs, and knows how to communicate in her own way.  But sometimes she is in no mood for their antics and will put them in their place very quickly.   In this photo we see that Coco has noticed Candy at the front door and wants to play with her.  In just seconds Candy made it clear she was not feeling patient that evening.  She gave Coco quite a startle when she hissed at her.  The communication was quite effective.  Coco will definitely modify her enthusiasm for the future.

It is interesting to see the language of the dogs and cat with one another.  Coco is very responsive to their cues and will fit in just fine..

Coco's First Time in the Snow

Coco likes licking the snow!

The morning after the snow, Coco can run on the icy surface of the snow.

Just a few minutes to run around is all she needs.  It's awfully cold for a little puppy!

9 weeks old - Socialization & exposure to life

During these early days the puppy is so very impressionable.  It is important to expose the puppy to a lot of different things that she will experience over the course of her life.  In our house she certainly won't lack exposure to family noise!

But Socialization is one of those things that everyone needs to work on...because socialization with your own family does not make a truly socialized dog. 

We cannot wait until after the puppy has had all her shots, or we will have lost a lot of valuable time.  We can't yet take our puppy out in public, but we can invite  people to visit her. 

This week I have been making phone calls and thinking of friends that we can have come to visit with Coco.  Dr Ian Dunbar recommends the puppy meet 100 different people this month.   So that is what I will set out to accomplish. Yesterday I had a friend and her 20 year old son stop over for a visit.  I invited another friend to bring her 10 year old daughter on Thursday and her 1 year old poodle (who I know has all her shots).  Friday I have another family coming to visit with their three children.  I have made a list of people to visit spacing them throughout  the month.  By making several visits a week, it will not be difficult to expose my puppy to a lot of different people of various ages and genders.

To enlarge our puppies experiences in our home, I set up a second pen in another room.  This allows us to bring Coco with us as we move around the first floor.  

In the second pen, I put a Lixit water bottle, some new toys, and a small travel carrier.  Using the carrier instead of the wire crate, will give Coco a chance to get maintain a familiarity with that smaller enclosed space for the times that she will be traveling in it.

Another day, I will use our hard shell carrier.  We have a variety of dog crates, so I want our dog to be comfortable in any type of confinement.

When I put Coco in her pen, she immediately tried out her water bottle.   I would guess she had used a water bottle in the pen at her breeders.
I like water bottles because they keep the puppies beard dry, which is better for preventing bacteria. They also don't get knocked over when the puppy plays.

I noticed that Coco seemed to avoid climbing in the carrier.  Rather than putting her inside and closing the door, it is better to let them get use to it on their own. 

To encourage Coco to try it out, I put a stuffed Kong in there.  I stuffed the Kong with a mixture of Coco's kibble, a few pieces of some tiny treats, and some shredded cheese.  Coco could smell the food and immediately climbed in the carrier to extract her lunch from the Puppy Kong.   The Kong occupied her for quite a while, and soon she was fast asleep.

I am glad that I have this second pen.   It is an easy way to enlarge Coco's confinement experiences, just a little bit, while still keeping her in a controlled environment.

Coco Puff at 9 weeks

Took some photos of our little Coco puff this morning.  Thought you might enjoy them!

Coco at 9 weeks old

3rd day with our White Mini Schnauzer

Today is Coco's third day with us.  It is Saturday and that is a crazy day in our house.  We do the shopping.  All the kids are home from school.  There are errands to be run.   There is a lot of in and out with everyone going in different directions.  Today I let me DH do the shopping and tried to spend some morning time with the puppy.  I supervised the puppy playtime with the two youngest children (3yrs and 7yrs).

I had to run a few errands in the afternoon.  I have to say, it was a real source of comfort to know that Coco needed no special attention while I was out.  No one had to take her outside.  She had her food and water...her puppy toilet.  It was great.  I had no worries that she would be perfectly fine.

When I got home she was playing with one of the older kids.  I could see that she was really coming back to her true self.  She's gotten really spunky and playful. She zips around full of energy.   I was waiting to see this transition.  It is fun to see a new puppy start to feel perfectly at home.

Update on Snuggle Pet:   Coco loves her Snuggle Pet.  She has a few small stuff-less toys, but she always loves wrestling with the Snuggle Pet....and its bigger than she is!  She drags him around.  Shakes him from side to side, then curls up on him and falls asleep.   It really is similar to the way puppies play with one another!  So I give 2 thumbs up to the Snuggle Pet....whether you make your own....or buy it from the store.  It is really a great companion toy!

I put a new Heat Pack in the Cuddle Pet every evening and it lasts till the next afternoon.

Update on Puppy Potty:  Coco continues to do well with the Ugodog puppy potty.  My daughter was playing with her in the office and did not leave the pen door open.  I was watching them play.  Coco was zipping around the room.   Suddenly Coco ran over and started zipping back and forth along the pen wall.  She was trying to get to her puppy toilet!  I quickly picked her up and put her on the puppy toilet.  Immediately she went poop.   I was so relieved that I noticed in time.  Shame on us, for not leaving the pen open for her!   But she made it to the potty in time so we were saved.  Third day has come and gone....No Potty Accidents!

Puppy Toilet training on UGODOG - 2nd day at home

After Coco's first night in her new home, we woke up with Coco all snuggled and cozy in her bed.  The Snuggle Puppy was still nice and warm.  I had turned off the heating pad for the night, and so I checked it to be sure it was still in perfect condition, and turned it back on to 'LOW'.

The first time Coco soiled her pee pad.

The stain on the pee pad indicated that Coco had relieved herself in the right place again.  I set about getting Coco fresh food and water, and changing the pee pad to a fresh one.  Again, I just cut the pee pad in half, so Coco has to walk over the grate to get to it.  The freshly soiled pee pad was left under the crate to give her the right scent.  Every day we will leave a smaller and smaller piece of pee pad on the toilet, until the puppy forgets about stepping on pee pads, and associates the grate with her potty spot.

We are making the pee pad smaller each time we change it.

By the end of our second day, Coco was so reliable with using the UGODOG, that I felt comfortable enlarging her pen to the largest size it could be.  I moved the UGODOG as far from her bed as it could be in the pen.  So Coco now has to walk on the floor, and then step up onto the UGODOG to go potty.

As Coco shows a reliable habit of using her toilet, we can increase the size of her confinement pen.

Throughout the day, the kids took turns holding Coco.  I watched them like a hawk, to be sure there would be no 'tug-of-war with the puppy.   I made sure to go over the rules of holding a puppy.
-We only take Coco out of her pen when she has just been to the potty.
-We don't walk around with the puppy.
-We do not stand with the puppy.
-We sit on the floor and let the puppy sit on our lap while we pet her.
We even used a timer so the kids would know it was time to let someone else hold the puppy.   I kept the play time to a 15-20 minute segment, to give the puppy a rest.  Then I could go about my day as well, and Coco is learning independence.

 Later that afternoon, I took Coco to the veterinary to have a quick health checkup.   Her eyes ears abdomen and heart all appeared normal. Coco weighed in at 2 lbs 13 oz.  and she is almost 8.5 weeks old.   Wow, she's smaller than we expected!

So our second day was a breeze.  I am actually surprised at just how easy this puppy is!  She seemed perfectly content in her confinement area, throughout the day.  She was fun to play with during her playtime.  And when we put her back in her crate, she was perfectly content to curl up in her bed again.   I think the warmth of the Snuggle Pet, and the warmth of her heating pad, are really making a big difference! 

Of course, Coco will not live her life confined to a pen.  As she gets older we will continually enlarge her freedoms throughout the house.  But with little kids, this is the only safe way to keep a new puppy.   You want to be sure that your puppy is safe, and you need to train children and puppies gradually.   Even if I did not have children I would do this method.   

If you give a puppy full reign of the house from the git go, he will potty in the wrong place, and he will chew on the wrong things.  The bad habits will increase, you will have house damage, worse yet, a veterinary emergency!  At that point, most people are pretty angry at their puppy.  Some people punish the puppy and then confine it.   The poor puppy doesn't know what it did wrong.  It isn't use to being confined, and is very sad.   He howls and cries, and its a very hard on everyone!.  That is the first step of a journey that will lead many dogs to a shelter!

On the other hand, look how easy it is to teach confinement from 8 weeks old.  All breeders confine their litters to a pen (there IS no other way to do it) So puppies have been use to a pen since birth.  It is not the least bit strange to them to be placed in a pen in their new home.  In fact, I can tell that Coco is very comforted by her confined area.  The important thing is that we will not ignore her socialization either.  We make sure she has many opportunities to have fun.  I already am planning my next week to have friends come to meet the puppy and take my puppy to visit friends. 

Our Miniature Schnauzer Puppy - 8 weeks

We finally brought our new White Miniature Schnauzer home yesterday!  Here's introducing 'Music Makers Coco Chanel'.

We picked Coco up from the airport yesterday and she seemed to have had a very comfortable trip.  She had left her breeders at 12:00 pm with her lovely lady companion.  She had the royal treatment as she was transported to the airplane in a little shoulder bag.   On the airplane, Coco got to sleep on her companions lap....all the way from Houston to Washington, DC.  She arrived at 4.:30 pm our time and was brought out of the airplane and straight to our arms!  (that was easy!) 

When we got home, I put her in the confinement area that I had set up for her  in our computer/office room.   Just a crate bed that opened to her puppy potty.  No other room to roam...so no chance for a potty mishap.
 

Coco immediately recognized the pee pad that was on the UGODOG and relieved herself right away. Excellent beginning.  I cut the pee pad in half, and put the peed side underneath the grate of the UGODOG, while leaving the fresh half over top on half of the Ugodog..  (Step 1 of Potty training well underway!)

Poor thing, Coco did seem a little out of sorts.  She ate very little and drank just a little water.  At times she was a bit shaky.  But she made no noise.   I right away put a Heat Pack inside of her Snuggle Puppy toy, and turned her heating pad (under her blanket) to low.  One by one the family members took turns holding her and she in turn gave us kisses.  I tried to limit her commotion.

It was already past dinner time at this point, and she needed to adjust to her new bed before we all went to sleep.  She seemed to be OK as the evening went on.  Soon she was settling down in her bed. I put a ticking clock next to her crate.   Dixie settled down on her bed in the same room.  By the time we were turning out the lights, Coco was already fast asleep.

I had a great night sleep too.  Never heard a peep from the pup.  It was awesome.   Day 1 of  puppy rearing a big success!