How Pretty

Winter Storm

We had a wild and wet night last Monday. First real rains for the year came with a massive thunderstorm that destroyed a lot of property in my city. I brought Xena inside as she wouldn't take herself to her kennel and I wasn't going to risk getting hit by the lightning overhead. Then the back room, where we were all sitting, flooded. The entire back wall looked like we had a waterfall coming down through the joins of the ceiling and the roof. Once the storm had pretty much past we took her out to her kennel. It was warm and dry. We closed the door so she had to stay there with the small run. Its scary when the metal shed in the yard is more water tight than the house you live in. It makes you wonder!

Anyway she isn't liking the new cooler weather. Even though it hasn't rained since she still sooks at the back door. She has a perfectly warm, dry and comfortable kennel but refuses to use it. Instead she sleeps out in the open of the back door. I'm annoyed by that. I don't think its healthy. She has also started launching herself at the back glass sliding door to try to come into us.

This is even though I have gone out several times a day to spend time with her and the kids have played with her for quite some time. She's a sook and needs to be near us ALL the time.

I mean she is rather insisting at the moment. She has already destroyed the back screen door by launching at it. It doesn't work on its runs anymore. Now she is aiming for the glass sliding door.

She is not going to be an inside dog. Its as simple as that. But she isn't taking it very well. I cant wait for her gentle leader to arrive so we can walk her and hopefully get some energy out of her.

1st obedience class tomorrow... thank God maybe they can suggest something. I love Xena but I'm desperate here... things are being destroyed.

The one good thing about puppy training is you realise you are not alone... every ones suffering to some extent with their puppy. There are a lot of naughty things Xena isn't doing.

We just have to fix her body slams at us and at the doors and the back gate (so she can run around to the front door to make sure we open it to get her back in the yard- through the house). I would be tempted to let her in the sun room BUT I think I know her well enough to know she'd only launch herself at the next glass sliding door into the house. Then she'd be in our beds! Come on! I am allowed to have rules.

That's just sad cuz she really is a sweet dog. I'm not happy. She's not happy. She wants to be with her pack, and she is for several hours each day. We play with her, I spend a lot of time with her. She has toys to play with and she uses them. She has been quiet at night until the change in weather but now i think shes cold and the ground is damp.

I have ordered her a jacket. I think she may need to be locked in her kennel at night but as soon as the suns up she goes berzek in there barking and sctratching to get out.

I'm losing it here.

We are doing our best.

1. I know the easy answer is get another dog so she can have a friend but I recon they'll just encourage each other in bad deeds. ahhhhh

2.I'll see what the lady says at obedience class tomorrow. Bet she says to let her in the house.

3. Keep her on chain at night down at the kennel

4. Lock her in kennel and find a way to stop her nutting out in morning that doesn't involve me having to wake up at 4am for the next 12 years

Xena 14 weeks (Video) and Puppy Class Certificate

Press play


Yes we are so proud :o)

Lead- Check, Water- Check, 1/2 a 'Dead Chicken'- Check...

'Xena sit,' I say as I look her in the eye.

She looks at me with a kind of, 'Me no comprehehda de english' look.

I rub the bag containing cooked shreded chicken meat in my hands.

Food = Babble Fish for my Ridgeback

'Oh, oh, ok you said sit, yes now I understand,' Xena replies. 'And thank you for inserting that delicious peice of chicken into my mouth. What would you like me to do next? Stay or wait? Come here? Just don't forget to rain chicken down on me like manna from heaven.'

'Xena sit,' I say, holding 1 finger up and making beautiful eye contact. I raise another finger. Oh she is watching them intently with a yes I know look on her tilted face as I say 'Stay.'

I walk backwards holding my two fingers up as I go as I've discovered that sometimes Xena prefers sign language... with my partner she responds to whistles- I can't whistle :o(

She sits beautifully and stays in her place. Oh I am sooooo proud of her.

'Come here,' I say dropping my hand.

She races full pelt at me and launches her body sidewards at my leg. I feel my kneecap POP...

hmmm may need to work on that... If I don't want to have reconstructive knee surgery any time soon.

She gets some manna anyways.... yeah I'm not calling it treats anymore... Its manna in abundance if I want her attention. But her lunch will be smaller... see I'm not just a pretty face.

'Sit.... stay.... come here!'

I freeze as she runs full pelt at me again.

4 metres till impact... 3..... 2.....

I raise my hand with 5 fingers splayed....and

she scoots in on her bum and heels in front of me!


YAY!

I open the bag and shower her with shredded chicken. That was beautiful :o)

12 Weeks Old

12 weeks

Well Xena has past her 12 week milestone. She has had her last immunisation and nasal spray for another year, she's been weighed (13kg) and wormed.

We took her back to the vet clinic she was born at as her mum had a cesarean. They were very happy to see her again and there was much buzzing and playing with her by staff members cooing about how they'd been there as she had been born. It was kind of cute.

My partner and his dad were down from the mine and spent a lot of time playing with Xena. I threw my back out at puppy classes having to lift her up and down on my lap, whenever the teacher didn't want the dogs hyped up on the floor, and needed the break.

Gav has really enjoyed spending time with the puppy while down from the mines. For all his hard words about training, he hasn't been hard at all. He has a more domineering tone though and Xena doesn't have any problem doing what he tells her to do. He doesn't even use treats. Gav just whistles 'whooo whiii' for come, 'whi' for sit etc and I'll be damned but that dog must have been a sheep dog in its previous life cuz she gets it!

After having no back pain for two days I felt ready to get up and about. Now Xena's all immunised she is ready to take out for walks.

Boy, what an issue we had. She pulled the entire way. I stopped every couple of steps to pull her up. When I stopped she would soon heel but the moment I took a step she pulled. I felt like I carried her around the block cuz no matter how much lead I gave her (or didn't give her) she pulled on it. That and the occasional exuberant launching her full body up at me and leaping ahead of me.... means my back is now messed up again.

I called my partner whose back in the mines, and sulked and moaned in agony.

Now, I have being taking Xena to positive reinforcement puppy training classes and she begins Obedience 1 classes this week and I do want her to go on to obedience 2 and pass her good citizen certificate so I will bare with it.

The trainer suggested to me to get Xena into agility classes as she had a lot of fun at the last puppy class going through tunnels, jumping obstacles etc... the agility club is over an hour drive from me. I would have loved it though.

Right now I'd love it more if I could get her to walk nicely.

Speaking of, we passed 2 other dogs on our little walk and they both barked like lunatics. I was hoping to meet some nice friendly dogs so we could continue socialisation. But it wasn't to be.

One was a small yappy fluffy dog and Xena got all stiff and tail up over it, probably thought it was a cat, but I distracted her and we moved on. The other was a medium sized black Alsatian which Xena decided to quickly trot away from dragging me with her.


Anyways... I'm going to take some aspirin so I can hopefully sleep through my back ache.

Xena's First Night Out

This is the last photo of Xena in the house. She's an out door doggy now.


My first morning in 3 weeks not having to wake up to clean doggy dooos! Woo hoo!

Xenas first night out was fine. No crying or anything. She had her kennel in the tool shed and run of the back yard. We didn't hear a peep from her all night. So at least that's new problem we don't have to deal with.

In the morning she jumped all over my daughter and I like a psycho.... happy to see us but fully launching herself, 4 feet off the ground, at us over and over. I tried to ignore until she calmed down. I then patted her but she walked off and ignored me. She wouldn't come when I called her and went and laid down with her back to me.

So I went back inside.

Uff! More to fix.

1 Very Good Reason to Have a Puppy Outside

When puppies have new foods introduced they usually get diarrhea for a few days. This is what I was woke up to this morning. My lovely Xena who usually gets the puppy pad with a heat seeking missile type targeting system... failed her mission.

It stunk the closed laundry out for about 2 meters through the 3 entry doors. Putrid. I almost vomited when I opened one of them. My partner didn't want to know but almost chucked at the photo. He said, 'Right, those gates have to be fixed. She isn't sleeping in the laundry anymore.'

And he and his dad have been working on those gates for a couple of hours... thanks God.

Poor Xena is currently sitting on the chain while the works being don't. It took me ages to clean up the laundry and 1/2 a bottle of bleach. I feel violated its so foul. It's not the puppies fault but Yukkkkkkk

The guilty culprit



The fence and gates have been fixed :) Thanks to my partner and his dad.



Then we decided that spending $200 on a large second hand dog kennel was pointless when we had a perfectly good tool shed down the back. After cleaning it out and closing it off from the back garden we now have a comfy shelter for Xena.



Never thought I'd hear myself say, "It's nice to have a sparkling clean laundry." :o)