Wordless Friday

Poppy

Black-nosed, brown-eyed, floppy-eared, pink-tongued, tail-waggin' nuisance of a dog.

Beach Day

Just for Sean

More Poppy Love

Isn't she adorable? Poppy's getting big and losing her puppy face. Most of the time she's got great manners. She's smart, attentive, affectionate, and playful. With strangers, though, she gets a bit hyper and anxious, so watch out-- if you come over make sure not to stand to near when she greets you, or you'll get puppy piddle on your shoes. If we can keep bringing out that lovely calm sweet-natured girl, we're going to have the best dog in the world. The times when she's not the best dog in the world, well, hopefully with training and patience she'll grow out of it. She's enrolled in puppy class, and once she warmed up she enjoyed meeting the other puppies and their people, especially since the people gave her treats.

The gents adore Poppy, even after she nips them too hard. They beg me for treats to give her when she's behaving herself. "Dood dog, Puppy," says two-year-old gent as he gives her a puppy tweat, er, treat. She loves to run in the yard with the little guys, and I love it too. By bedtime I've got a tired puppy and tired gents. Life is good.

Bad Shoe!

Puppies love shoes, and Poppy is no exception. I don't really care much about puppy tooth marks in the yard shoes, but we do try to gently discourage her because we don't want it to turn into a shoe-chewing habit. But, like I said, I don't get too worked up about it because she's a puppy and I'm more focused on prevention and distraction than correction. Except last night, when we were getting ready for our evening walk and she went for lovely lady's leather choir shoes. Time to pull out the big guns, and try a technique I'd read about in our puppy book.

When Poppy approached the shoe, I tugged her leash sideways. Then I picked up the shoe.

"Bad shoe!" I shouted. At the shoe. I tried not to imagine what I must look like, scolding a shoe. "Bad, bad shoe! No!"

Then I put the shoe back down. Poppy approached the shoe again, a little more slowly with a sideways look. She decided that she still might like to know what a bad shoe tasted like. Another tug on the leash.

"Bad bad shoe! Naughty shoe! No, you bad shoe!" I yelled at the shoe. I must be crazy, I thought to myself. This is never going to work.

I put the shoe back down next to Poppy. She backed away. Started to approach the shoe. Backed up and sat down, looking at the shoe with her head cocked. Backed up again. And decided that she really wasn't all that interested in the shoe after all.

Even when we got back from our walk she carefully skirted that naughty shoe.

Puppies

I took the puppy for a walk this evening. To be frank, it was a relief to get out of the house and away from the ladies and gents. My patience was tried to the limit today as we try to slip back into our regular school routine. Kindergarten gent was even and on-task; the rest of the gang, not so much. There was a lot of fighting and arguing today. There were tears. There was yelling, and not all of it came from the kids. So the quiet neighborhood and a good walk in the cool air was soothing to my jangled nerves.

Poppy's such a sweet girl. She's eager to please, sociable, smart, and adorable in that roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble way of puppies. (I'll give you a dollar if you can tell me what book "roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble" is from. All right, I won't really give you a dollar, but leave a comment if you know and I'll think you're cool, which is better than a dollar anyway.) Poppy will do just about anything for a treat and a pat. She usually walks well on the leash for such a little one, just trotting along in her own happy little puppy world, but tonight she was pulling and pulling on the leash, lunging against the end until the collar choked her, making her gag. It was so bad that I turned back home, and the walk home took twice as long as the first half because I kept stopping to soothe her. I let her loose in the back yard so that she could run around limited by the fence rather than the leash, and we had a good romp instead .

A bit later in the kitchen, as a content Poppy settled on a blanket in the living room, I remarked to loving husband, "It hit me as I headed home with Poppy pulling and lunging and choking herself that I felt like the entire day with the kids has been like this-- kids pulling and testing the boundaries even though they're gagging and choking themselves. It was like walking five little puppies all barking and lunging. That's exactly what it felt like. I'm exhausted." The kids don't know that the boundaries I set for them are intended to keep them safe, to keep them strong and healthy, to teach them good manners any more than puppy knows that the leash is for safety, health, and instruction. And the consequences of pulling and pulling didn't seem to be sinking in, at least in the immediate moment.

With Poppy it's an easy dilemma to solve. Tomorrow I'll use the little body harness to walk her so that she doesn't choke.

With the ladies and gents...who knows? Of course they're not puppies, and shouldn't be treated like them. But there are lessons to be learned in everything. Sometimes reframing a problem helps us to look at it in a new light, which allows us to find better solutions. I know that one lovely lady might benefit from a day that's a bit more like a romp in the yard than a guided walk. As a matter of fact, her day brightened and evened out this afternoon when I tossed some fruit on the table and asked her to draw a still life as a preparation for our next art study. The youngest two gents would certainly benefit from some time and attention just for them, a game or a puzzle instead of a belly rub. Or maybe chase-and-tickle, a game that puppies enjoy too. Kindergarten gent was praised and rewarded with quarters for the ice cream jar for his wonderful behavior. And the other lovely lady...well, time and patience are the key. Gentleness and trying to find ways to provide instruction that don't make her want to pull so hard in the other direction has been slowly turning the tide.

So maybe they're a little like puppies.

Heeeeyyy...a treat from time to time can help reinforce desired behaviors. I didn't run away screaming, lock anyone in a closet, or threaten to get out the duct tape. Refraining from those kinds of behaviors is desirable, right?

I think I deserve a piece of cheescake.

Fun with Poppy

Kids and puppies. Poppy is settling in so nicely. She's a very sweet girl, very gentle and well-mannered for such a young puppy.

Here's what she did most of her first day. A long drive, very recent spay surgery, and a completely new home can wear a girl out. Isn't she adorable? Plus she was worn out from crying all night long. Poor baby. We're working on finding a solution that isn't bringing her into our room, but doesn't leave her feeling so lost and lonely. I'm exhausted too.

She spent some of her time yesterday and a lot of time today playing with the ladies and gents in the back yard. I'm so impressed by her manners-- except for a short time this morning when she was getting tired, she doesn't nip or jump when the kids are playing chase with her. And this morning some quiet time and a short nap restored her to her sweet gentle self.

She seems most comfortable in the back yard. That's when her playful nature comes out. But she likes to spend a lot of time just laying near me, ears perked, watching the kids run around.

The kids are all using their best manners. On Puppy Day, before we left to get our puppy, I set down the Puppy Rules:
1. Please be quiet and gentle. We talked about how scary it would be for us to leave our whole family and go to a completely new place far away. What loving hearts they have. They've all been so sweet and welcoming to our new little one.
2. Teach puppy good habits. This is more about me training the kids than the kids training the puppy. I want our puppy to be a pleasant companion as she grows, and the kids are my partners. Now when I offer a correction to the kids, I preface it with, "Remember, we want to teach Poppy good manners so that she grows up to be a good dog. Let's try it this way."
3. Mom is the boss of the puppy. I set the rules. There is only Mom's way with the puppy so that no one gets confused. We have "puppy class" in the morning where I tell the kids what I'd like them to say if Poppy nips or jumps, and let them know what I've noticed them doing right.




It's really hard getting a good picture of an active puppy! Most of the pictures I took are variations on this theme.

Poppy Love

Meet Poppy.

She joined our family yesterday, and we are smitten.