We arrived home at around 8:00 p.m....let's just say that it's been a crazy night! The car ride home was uneventful...she cried for a bit, and my stepson just held her on some towels in the back seat, and she eventually fell asleep - the whole way home!!! We then arrived home, and I wisked her outside, where she immediately pottied!!! No boo-boos in the car!!!
I then kept her in the kitchen, with the baby gates up, and she and Melvin (our golden retriever) engaged in a woofing/sniffing match through the gate. I then offered her a small amount of food, and some water, and after a while, she ate a bit (about 1/4 cup), and drank a bit also...
We practiced "Rita, come!" with a lot of success (with the use of treats, of course), and then tried a bit of crate acclimation...well, that started to go well. I was tossing bits of her kibble into the back, and eventually she became gutsy enough to step in there 4 times...she then lost interest in that game. It did come time for her to actually be crated for the night, and I ended up having to basically physically put her in there, which I didn't want to have to do...she just wasn't responding to my attempts to lure her in. Then, came the WHINING and the CRYING, which quickly turned to the HOWLING...we then moved her into the bedroom, and the crying stopped, and she's currently sleeping. So, while I didn't sell her on the crate thing in an evening, at least we got SOMEWHERE. I have to tell you, it's no easy feat ignoring those heartbreaking cries!!! Your first impulse is to snatch her out of there, cuddle her, and plunk her in bed with us, and call it a night! But we'll stay strong...it's really important to us that she use a crate, for her safety around the 2 big dogs while she's so little.
She's already discovered that it is great fun chasing the kitties...
We're going to correct that immediately...hopefully.
And we were actually surprised at how small she actually is...she's only 10 lbs. The photos made her look enormous!!! But, she's still very much a little gal...and did we mention that she's ADORABLE????????? She's absolutely tripping all over those mammoth ears when she's outside! When my hubby first laid eyes on her on our doorstep, I swear he turned to syrup. And Rita's already a huge fan of my stepson - she follows him everywhere when is in the kitchen.
It's going to be so exciting to see how her personality develops, and how she grows. We're in for a long stretch of puppyhood, but we know it will be worth it. She's quite stressed from her first day away from her littermates, but hopefully in the next few days, she'll start to settle in.
Anyway, I just thought I'd provide an update!
We practiced "Rita, come!" with a lot of success (with the use of treats, of course), and then tried a bit of crate acclimation...well, that started to go well. I was tossing bits of her kibble into the back, and eventually she became gutsy enough to step in there 4 times...she then lost interest in that game. It did come time for her to actually be crated for the night, and I ended up having to basically physically put her in there, which I didn't want to have to do...she just wasn't responding to my attempts to lure her in. Then, came the WHINING and the CRYING, which quickly turned to the HOWLING...we then moved her into the bedroom, and the crying stopped, and she's currently sleeping. So, while I didn't sell her on the crate thing in an evening, at least we got SOMEWHERE. I have to tell you, it's no easy feat ignoring those heartbreaking cries!!! Your first impulse is to snatch her out of there, cuddle her, and plunk her in bed with us, and call it a night! But we'll stay strong...it's really important to us that she use a crate, for her safety around the 2 big dogs while she's so little.
She's already discovered that it is great fun chasing the kitties...
And we were actually surprised at how small she actually is...she's only 10 lbs. The photos made her look enormous!!! But, she's still very much a little gal...and did we mention that she's ADORABLE????????? She's absolutely tripping all over those mammoth ears when she's outside! When my hubby first laid eyes on her on our doorstep, I swear he turned to syrup. And Rita's already a huge fan of my stepson - she follows him everywhere when is in the kitchen.
It's going to be so exciting to see how her personality develops, and how she grows. We're in for a long stretch of puppyhood, but we know it will be worth it. She's quite stressed from her first day away from her littermates, but hopefully in the next few days, she'll start to settle in.
Anyway, I just thought I'd provide an update!