Sam's Tale:
Wow, we finally made it home. We drove forever and Lolo didn't want to "hurry" at any of the rest stops because it was windy and lacking grass. No accidents though! It took me a few days to recover - I was grumpy. I had fun bringing Lolo to school one morning to meet my friends. She did all her commands great - visit, shake, step, lap. Mrs Bitner's class all went "aaaahhh" and clapped for her when she picked up my washcloth and gave it back to me. My mom was kind of nutty and decided to bring Lolo with us to the zoo for Disability Night. Lolo was so well behaved even though there were tons of things to distract her everywhere!! The cougars wanted to eat her but she remained strong. Now it is summer vacation (with only a little summer school)....more time to get to know my girl, Lolo! Oh yeah, I almost forgot....tonight we were watching TV and a doorbell rang on a commercial. Lolo darted up from a deep sleep on our lap and ran to the door. I laughed and laughed! Silly girl.
Amy's Tale:
Life sure is different now than it was on the CCI campus. We (not neccessarily Lolo) have all these other distractions! It has been fun to have Sam introduce his special buddy to our friends. He always gets a big smile when people ask him about her. Lolo followed me around the house the first few days but now she is feeling more at home. Her and Napa (our pet dog) are doing fine coexisting and even swapping each other's bed on occasion. Lolo took to Sarah right away and Sarah to her however, Sarah has been very sensitive to making sure she doesn't distract Lolo away from Sam. I was trying to designate a dirt patch in our back yard for Lolo to potty. She doesn't like it and we have had a few "mexican-standoffs". She is winning this battle and Andy thinks it is funny. We enjoyed celebrating Lolo's 2nd birthday with her on the 4th. She got a sterilized bone and seemed to enjoy the treat. Tonight we got Lolo to "speak" without a toy to encourage her - Sam laughed and laughed. It has been great to share emails with our new friends to hear how they are adjusting with their new companions. Thank you all again for your wonderful responses. I will try to continue to update this blog once a week.
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3 comments:
Hi guys, this is one of Lola's puppy raisers, Nicole. Just wanted to give you a couple tips to get lola hurrying where you want her to. These are just suggestions, and of course you can handle it however. When she was a puppy, she strongly prefered the grass, and it took some work to get her in the dirt.
So, when she lets you know that she needs to go out, take her out on the leash, tell her to hurry and her two minutes max to go. If she doesn't go by then, she just doesn't need to go that bad. When she doesn't go, take her directly inside with no stops along the way and give her some quiet time. Maybe a down stay, kennel time, something like that. Just try not to make it really social and exciting. It's not a punishment, it's just an alternative to having fun. However. if she does go in the right spot, make it the most exciting thing ever. Play some ball, go on a walk, giive her some treats or give some good all fashion praise. It's all good. Just make it exciting. After she starts to get the hang of it, you can taper off the praise and soon she'll be going to the dirt every time. Lola got it pretty quick when she was with us, and I'm sure she'd figure it out for you guys.
Congrats on getting her to speak; this was one of the hardest challenges when we had her. Good luck on hurrying, and best of wishes.
Nicole
PS- Warning: these ideas arre not foolproof(or reall, dogproof). ;)
Welcome home guys! Can't wait to meet Sam's new best friend. Hope that you are starting to feel settled in and settled down. Amy, you are doing a great job keeping us all informed about your "dog adventures" Keep up the good work. Much love to all. L+K
Sam and Amy,
Just sat down to read about your adventures with Lola...with joyful tears. Can't wait to meet her and see all of you.
Ann G.
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