We are getting to know Daisy. Her likes. Her moods. What she needs. Potty training is going ok. We still have accidents when we lose focus and don’t take her out enough. She does not ask to go out. That will come soon, I hope!
PUPPY TEETH ARE SHARP
As young mammals will do, Daisy puts her mouth on everything! She picks up anything. Pulls down anything she can reach. She likes to grab moving legs. It is bad enough when you have on pants and she catches the pant leg (I have holes in my sweat pants now); but, it is even WORSE when you do not! Puppy teeth on flesh is exceedingly painful!
GARDENING WITH DAISY
As we live in a master-planned community with “master planners” who like to make sure you are following the rules of the neighborhood, when my front garden did not get its spring cleaning on time, we got a nasty gram from the homeowners association. I always figure I have about a month or two to get the work done before they start threatening fines and such.I planned to start over Easter; but, I was still reeling from Maggie’s death. Far too distraught to dive into weeding and trimming wayward plants. We got the letter in March and on April 20th I got out and did the weeding and trimming and whatever else was needed. Daisy came with me to “help.”
To keep her busy while I was weeding, I brought out a flattened plastic water bottle, a ball, and her new cow hoof to chew. She was keen on the hoof. It kept her very busy, albeit right in the middle of where I was weeding. She was occupied until I started digging with my garden tool. At that point she abandoned her hoof and began digging. Of course, it wasn’t simple digging which might have actually been useful as it would have loosened the soil and made pulling weeds easier. Instead, she FLUNG the dirt behind her with such force and gusto that the dirt flew six feet straight OUT of the flower bed and all over the sidewalk! Needless to say, I needed for her to do something else. I kept redirecting her back to her toys. Eventually she started dosing and I could get the work done.
Charley, Daisy’s adopted sister, is a Chihuahua/Pug mix. Charley is 7 years old and is not always the friendliest of dogs. She is the archetypal ankle biter. To friends and family she knows well, Charley is a delightful little dog. To those she does not know, she becomes Cujo, in miniature.
Charley, Daisy’s adopted sister. She is 7 years old and has a bad case of little dog syndrome. But she is so cute that we sometimes forget how terrible she an be.
This week, Charley agreed to play; but, only outside. She is still nasty to Daisy in the house. Daisy tries and tries to get Charley to play but she just growls at Daisy. Most of the time Daisy seems a bit confused but relatively unscathed. A couple of times, though, Charley got her good and there was some yelping involved. Mostly, we intervene when Charley is clearly in an unfriendly mood. Charley has spend a lot of time locked in the bedroom.
In dog culture, Charley has a dominant personality in the true fashion of little dog syndrome. She will challenge any dog of any size, male or female. When Maggie had enough of Charley’s nonsense she would put her in her place. Daisy is not yet old enough nor big enough to do anything about it. Additionally, it is possible that she is so young, she doesn’t really understand what Charley is doing when she is aggressive and domineering. All Daisy knows is that Charley is a dog her size with whom she can play. It took a full week for Charley to actually play with Daisy. Despite Daisy’s many attempts to engage Charley in play, Charley snapped and snarled her way out of playing with Daisy, until April 21st.
Brakes Not Included 