I have learnt a lot about Nova in the first 24 hours after bringing her home;
she is great at playing tug ‘o’ war;
she likes to dig in the water bowl;
she is excited by movement – walking gets my feet attacked!;
she is very good at being calm when needed;
and yet has lots of fun playing with her sister, her reflection and toy;
oh! and a cat harness fits her very well!
I have encouraged lots of calm behaviour through the use of long lasting chews and slow feeders like the classic KONG.
We have practiced a tiny bit of teaching Nova her name and all of 3 minutes of crate training – after which she promptly went into her crate and did a poo on a puppy mat!! Yes!!
Puppy training is 24/7 especially with other pets in the house and I have three cats of various ages – so marking and treating desired behaviour is crucial! As a cat walks past Nova gets praise and/or food, and especially when a cat runs past and that is super exciting to Nova!
Nova also had her first bath today, just a quick one. Oh dear, she is not a fan! Nova can shout when she wants to though she is generally very quiet. But I wrapped her up and she got lots of cuddles afterwards and the cool water probably helped on this hot day!
I can’t say I am looking forward to my second night with a puppy, but I have a plan which worked last night – only up twice with her.
Play tug ‘o’ war for 5 minutes! Have some food perhaps scatter feeding, practicing middle or crate training! Have a drink and then popped back into her play pen for a chew and calming strokes until she falls asleep!
Thinking back to when your dog was a puppy, how did you manage to settle them back off to sleep?
