News from the OES - The Puppy Diary!
 Well a lot of you know that we finally got little Baily on Saterday It was a megga drive to Dublin dog show to pick him up where his daddy just got best of breed that day.  So I thought it would be good to do a kind of diary as we go through the weeks as Bailey grows up. This week has so far been surprisingly good. It was a difficult day or so when Bailey first arrived because I was and am still grieving the loss of my adorable Murphy who is pictured in my avatar. I did think bonding would be a problem but we are getting there fine! Bailey is a most adorable fur ball. Like any small child there are often issued that need to be addressed and puppies are no different. The main issues we have been facing are - Pecking order! Eating disorder! Settling into routine! Chewing Toileting Socialising Pecking order First off I have felt it really important to set boundries right from the start. So the little man has no dilutions - he is bottom of the pack! We do this by remembering little things. The humans get fed first then the Cat (Who is top dog!) then the other dog Gizmo and last of all Bailey. It is important he "sees" the others getting food and attention before him as this establishes his place in the the pack. He is never allowed to push through a door first and is made to sit and wait until he is told to go through. This stops him pushing past folk in future and so he learns his place. He also learns not to push vulnerable humans over. (We have a toddler grandchild and disabled adults in our home.) It is a very important lesson for him to learn early as we all know these dogs get very large and so it gets harder to teach these things as they get bigger and bolder! He needs to know who is the boss! So I have his food and his toys. He only gets these things when he sits and puts up a paw or what ever else I want from him. - He is learning already and he never gets fed without sitting and giving me a thank you paw. Eating disorder. It was a bit allarming when we got Bailey home and he would not eat at all !!! We put this down to the trauma of the move and new home and all of that. It was worrying at the start because he was supposed to get 4 meals a day and he didn't eat the first day and barly anything the second. It was not a hard thing to get over. We offered food at the correct times and gave lots of encouragement and praise. We did start to hand feed. Now after 5 days with us he is back to "normal" eating 4 meals a day and clearing his plate. "for which he gets lots of praise"! He is now able to sit and put his paw up to say thank you for his dinner which is lovely as he sits beside the Schnouzer Gizmo and copies him! Settling into a routine. We are quite firm here about routine. Bailey gets fed and toileted at the same times most days. He still needs morning afternoon and evening naps as well as sleeping ALL NIGHT! He will grow at a rapid rate so his little body will get tired easily. We make sure he has access to the yard at least once every hour. However he has managed to stay in the house for 3 hour when we went shopping without an accident and he goes the entire night without peeing too! Chewing We have had a few issues - DH left his jumper on the back of a chair and it ended up with little holes in the sleve. I had to darn! It is easy to forget "everything is a toy" but we are still in baby mode after the grand child - so we are getting there. We discourage any chewing either on furniture, clothing or humans by giving Bailey a little tap on the end of his nose and a firm NO then we divert his attention to a chewy toy once he holds it he gets lots of praises and good boys!!!!!!! Furniture and clothing are expensive and humans do not need munched on ever!!!! So it is important he grasps this advantagious lesson in life quickly! He is rewarded with lots of soft toys chewing things and a blanket that he is allowed to chew on. Toileting He is getting there with 90 % of toileting outside - he NEVER gets told off for accidents. If he starts to pee pee he is grabed firmly but not tightly by the xxxx and escorted out of the same door to the yard! He uses the same door everytime. We are getting only little tiny puddles after excitement or if he doesn't get to the yard in time. He is almost there - he NEVER has poos in the house so we are very lucky! Socialising It is really important to get this ASAP. - After all pup has been with his siblings so he CAN SHARE!!!!! We have put him straight in with our other Dog knowing our other dog is healthy and up to date with vaccinations. We have been making sure that the little dog Gizmo is elivated in the pecking order of our pack by remembering to acknowledge him first and feed him first before Bailey. ( He will stay tiny while Bailey will grow so his place is vital in the pack to be established before Bailey is large!) This helps the little dog maintain his seniority and also makes him feel secure in our love despite the new arrivel. Bailey has discovered that the Cat is NOT a good playmate. We have not removed him from the cat. He is getting used to sharing with a feline! After a few paw slashes and hisses in the face the cat has made it quite clear what he thinks of the new pup. Bailey is yet to be introduced to the Chickens and other dogs in the wider family. He has already been introduced to the toddler. We NEVER EVER TRUST ANY DOG WITH A CHILD WHATEVER THEIR TEMPERMENT IS!!!!!!! It is important especially with small kids to teach them to respect a dog - but also to make sure the child goes through doors before the dog and eats before the dog and that the Dog knows this! Murphy spent 18 months of his life locked in a shed. He only got out to chase a 4x4 round a field for exercise. I know from experience what "damage" it does to a dog not to be properly socialised at a young age. Murphy was a rescue and so I had lots of issues to put right while Bailey is fortunate that he will get taught from day one what we expect from him. This week has been very much a settling in week and establishing the ground rules. Bailey is starting lessons and is able to sit on comand and give a paw on comand. He is also learning to Sit/stay. Which is a good game - he does have limited attention and so these "learning games" only last for 5/10 mins at a time. SO that is the news from the OES this week OES |
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| It sounds like everyone is settling nicely. Only a few accidents! Wow how lucky can you get. I know with Simon it took 4 months for him to "get it". Sleeping through the night? Again, how lucky. I was up two times the first two weeks and than once a night for the next few weeks. One thing to remember...OES have a special love for TP  And yeah the cat is not known for playing  |
| Yes we are very lucky. The wee man is really really good. The breeder was a great guy and so he has good foundations to work from. Bailey is learning very quickly - he is now mastering Stay!!! Which is really good for a boy of 12 weeks. Next Friday we are getting his Vet check done and his Vaccines but then I have to wait two weeks after that to get the other half so it will be a while before I can breath easy. We have lots of other dogs in the family. Where we live out in the country right beside the beach folk don;t seem to bother much with cleaning up after their dogs. It really annoys me a lot because I don;t want my dogs getting sick because they are lazy. I know its a bit hard when you have a dog that does nothing but Elephant poo - but we managed to clean up after ours. Bailey is a great play mate for the Schnouzer here and that is brillient as the wee Schnouzer pinned a lot when Murphy died. Also our disabled boy is thrilled with Baily and loves to stroke the Fur ball! It is good to get Bailey used to lots of new experiences as soon as possible so that he grows up used to these things. If he knows no different he will simply slot in because he doesn;t have options! He has to get used to toddler and disabled and chickens wandering and the cat which I am certain he will. We have not yet gotten TP experience! We did however have a talk about how expensive replacing doors might be before we got the boy. So far he has been a darling though and I don;t have much of an issue with that yet!!!! However he still has the baby teeth so watch this space! Oes |
| Ok News from the OES This Saterday Bailey will be 14 weeks old already. He is bigger than Giz and is starting to bully him which we are concerned about. Giz had a spinal injury about 10 months ago and so we are watching how bailey plays wiht the Giz as puppies can be really rough. Bailey is still having accidents on purpose I think! But it is still mostly out in the yard. We are for the Vet tomorrow so I will be able to ask a lot of questions then. This week has been quite tiring. I cannot wait until Bailey has his shoots so I can take him out and walk off some of this energy of his!!!! He seems to be massive already. Anyhow I am tired tonight so am away to bed before the big Vet trip tomorrow. Oes |
| Well Bailey got his Shots on Friday. The Vet said he was a very good Pup indeed. So I might leave the boy in tact and use him to stud. I would not have thought about that before but now with these dogs on the rare breed listing it makes sence if you have a good Dog not to nobble him. I was able to ask quite a few questions at the Vet regarding things like - when feeds change and worming and all of that stuff. It was a good visit. I am thrilled that the Vet thought the breeders were very good indeed! He was surprised the little fellow came from so far away though. He made sure I got the right pup and that the microchip was correct! lol - I was going to ask if he thought I was "dog trafficking!" But thought better of it. Anyhow since then we have taken Bailey (Hay bails - for some reason he gets called that in our house?) out to a few places. He really liked the walk around a local national trust property as they have a big pond with lots of wild fowles there. He was really good on the lead and we got some nice pics of him watching the birds. I can't wait to put them on the thread. I guess everything is new and up for investigation! It is wonderful to watch him in this new big world he has found. We have to take him down to the beach but have not done that yet. It has been Soooooo cold here. (The trust place has a coffee shop - the beach doesn't no brainer really!) The issues we've had to work on are: Nipping Jumping up. Learning his name. Sit/stay Sit/ paw Leave!!!! and NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Nipping and jumping up are things that we discourage very much in this house. We have tapped on the nose and firmly said NO if he starts to even baby nip. Also jumping up isn't acceptable. ( yes it's cute and all those things) But he could easily even at this age knock over a vulnerable person. We have disabled and toddler child here so he has to grasp that very quickly. We do this by simply steping sideways so he hasn't got the perchase to stand upright. He never gets anything for standing on his hind legs. We always give treats and food when he has sat on his bottom and put the paw up to say thank you! He has learned this very well already! Giving treats and calling him has helped to reinforce his name undrestanding. He now comes to his name and is starting to really bond with the "pack!" However when we were out it was clear that he would have gone home with anyone who chose to take him! I remember once Murphy was that way inclined. I had been shopping and he decided on the way out of the car park that he fancied a ride in someone elses car! "Soooooo embarrassing," when this great big fur ball pushes past this lady and her trolly to jump into her boot and park his bum on her weekly shop! I was mortified but also relieved she saw the funny side and he didn't wee wee! We are still working on basic commands Sit/stay which Bailey does 80% of the time. He does like posing for pics which is very helpful! I am also working on the "Leave" command. I delliberately leave an item down in the laundry room "accidently!" Then when he goes to sniff at it I say a quick firm Leave! And he is "getting that good!" I have not had anything more chewed up since DHs good jumper! After this I will be working on him picking laundry up to put in a basket or into the washer. He is going to be a good help. (Wonder if I can get him to do the Ironing!  )Anyhow that is where we are at at the moment - brave new world to explore! OES |
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