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Ok, so Kira and Ramona, my 10 week old girls, came home with me Thursday afternoon. They're both very good, friendly with each other and other people and most other dogs they've met, and sleep through the night downstairs in their crates. I'm just wondering how I'm doing, so let me map out some of what I've been doing...
Mornings: I wake up around 6:30 and immediately walk the girls. We then come back in for breakfast, after which I give them a minute and then walk them again. On work days, I then run around with them to use up as much energy as possible. All in all they get about an hour of time with me before I put them in their separate crates and head to work. I make sure to leave a toy in each crate. I also have dividers in each and this seems to be working well. Neither has ever done #2 in their crate. Kira doesn't seem to do #1 in it either thankfully, but Ramona may have worse bladder control. She's still young and I know it happens.
Midday: On weekdays, I drive home during lunch to take them out. Like in the morning, I immediately take them out before feeding them. They then get lunch, then walked again, then more play time and running before I go back to work. On my days off, which so far was only last weekend, I spent a good amount of time with them but made sure that there were times when I went to other parts of the house and kept them corralled in the tile-floored entryway. My rationale was just that they should get some time out of the crate without me around. I don't want them to be clingy and I do hope to eventually leave them out of the crates during work once they're trained and trustworthy.
Evenings: Again, I come home on weekdays and walk them, feed them, then walk them again and play. I then hang out with them. Last night I watched a movie on my laptop while sitting on the tile floor near where they were lazily gnawing their tug of war toy. Then, around 10:00, I put them in their crates and turn off the lights except for one dimly-lit one. They bark and whine for a minute or two but then are quiet for the night.
As far as feeding goes, I'm not leaving the bowls out. Food and water is available during meal times but water is also available to them if I see any sign of panting, which only happened for the first time today since it was 76 degrees today around home and they came inside thirsty after I took them out after lunch.
Whenever they go to the bathroom outside, I make sure to give them a treat right then and there. This is a special treat that I don't give them on any other occasion. They seem to really like it and I'm finding that I have very few accidents to clean up as long as I walk them enough. They're puppies though, so that's still a lot of trips outdoors. I'm looking forward to when they go to the door and bark to go out, which neither has done yet. I'm guessing this is still normal and will happen within a few weeks likely?
The two seem perfectly healthy. They run and play a lot and they had a vet checkup last Sunday. Sometimes when they play, the noises really come out! Not quite growls, more like guttural rumbles. They both instigate play and neither ever runs or yelps much, so I'm not concerned there. I am keeping an eye on it and I try to calm them a bit if I think they're ever getting too intense in their puppy wrestling.
What else should I mention? Kira is smarter I think. She already figured out how to climb stairs, so I started using a gate. Then she figured out how to get around the gate by climbing onto the first or second stair from the side between the banister poles! So now I have to fortify the base of the stairs to keep her down there. Ramona, who was 0.8 lbs heavier on Sunday, doesn't seem to be able to make the squeeze.
Oh, so I gave them a bath Sunday evening with my girlfriend's help. They were not pleased! I've never seen them shake so much. I made sure they had each other for company and that the water wasn't too hot or cold, just warm. After shampooing their coats, We took them out, wrapped them in towels, and held them until they were dryer and had stopped shaking. I was surprised that even though they seemed to dislike the bath, they kept quiet.
So, how does it sound like I'm doing?
Mornings: I wake up around 6:30 and immediately walk the girls. We then come back in for breakfast, after which I give them a minute and then walk them again. On work days, I then run around with them to use up as much energy as possible. All in all they get about an hour of time with me before I put them in their separate crates and head to work. I make sure to leave a toy in each crate. I also have dividers in each and this seems to be working well. Neither has ever done #2 in their crate. Kira doesn't seem to do #1 in it either thankfully, but Ramona may have worse bladder control. She's still young and I know it happens.
Midday: On weekdays, I drive home during lunch to take them out. Like in the morning, I immediately take them out before feeding them. They then get lunch, then walked again, then more play time and running before I go back to work. On my days off, which so far was only last weekend, I spent a good amount of time with them but made sure that there were times when I went to other parts of the house and kept them corralled in the tile-floored entryway. My rationale was just that they should get some time out of the crate without me around. I don't want them to be clingy and I do hope to eventually leave them out of the crates during work once they're trained and trustworthy.
Evenings: Again, I come home on weekdays and walk them, feed them, then walk them again and play. I then hang out with them. Last night I watched a movie on my laptop while sitting on the tile floor near where they were lazily gnawing their tug of war toy. Then, around 10:00, I put them in their crates and turn off the lights except for one dimly-lit one. They bark and whine for a minute or two but then are quiet for the night.
As far as feeding goes, I'm not leaving the bowls out. Food and water is available during meal times but water is also available to them if I see any sign of panting, which only happened for the first time today since it was 76 degrees today around home and they came inside thirsty after I took them out after lunch.
Whenever they go to the bathroom outside, I make sure to give them a treat right then and there. This is a special treat that I don't give them on any other occasion. They seem to really like it and I'm finding that I have very few accidents to clean up as long as I walk them enough. They're puppies though, so that's still a lot of trips outdoors. I'm looking forward to when they go to the door and bark to go out, which neither has done yet. I'm guessing this is still normal and will happen within a few weeks likely?
The two seem perfectly healthy. They run and play a lot and they had a vet checkup last Sunday. Sometimes when they play, the noises really come out! Not quite growls, more like guttural rumbles. They both instigate play and neither ever runs or yelps much, so I'm not concerned there. I am keeping an eye on it and I try to calm them a bit if I think they're ever getting too intense in their puppy wrestling.
What else should I mention? Kira is smarter I think. She already figured out how to climb stairs, so I started using a gate. Then she figured out how to get around the gate by climbing onto the first or second stair from the side between the banister poles! So now I have to fortify the base of the stairs to keep her down there. Ramona, who was 0.8 lbs heavier on Sunday, doesn't seem to be able to make the squeeze.
Oh, so I gave them a bath Sunday evening with my girlfriend's help. They were not pleased! I've never seen them shake so much. I made sure they had each other for company and that the water wasn't too hot or cold, just warm. After shampooing their coats, We took them out, wrapped them in towels, and held them until they were dryer and had stopped shaking. I was surprised that even though they seemed to dislike the bath, they kept quiet.
So, how does it sound like I'm doing?
