Puppies chew. It is part of the way they explore the world. They do not have hands so anything they want to pick up and explore must be done with their mouth. Puppies chew. It is the way they handle teething pain and the weird sensation of loose teeth. Daisy is both a regular puppy and one who has loose teeth. Today she lost her first teeth. The lower two center incisors fell out (see photo below). She is now a gap-toothed dog!
Daisy and her missing teeth. Note the gap in her teeth on her lower jaw. This photo is not very clear because Daisy kept moving! She would not let me take a photo of her teeth.
If she was a kid she would squish jello or squirt water or force part of her tongue through the gap. Since she neither eats jello nor sucks up water to later be squirted, she does not get to have much fun with her gappy smile.
We are feeling her pain as well since she is chewing more aggressively than usual on everything: toys, Charley (her adopted sibling), the kitchen table legs, US! It isn’t fun. Toys and Charley are ok. Us and the furniture, not so much.
With redirect and exercise she is much easier to manage. Unfortunately my in-laws are visiting. They are not particularly good with dogs so this extra chewing phase is difficult on us all.
In addition to the teeth and chewing problem, Daisy has taken to barking at the dog in the yard across the path behind our house. Although she can no longer fit her whole body through our fence (it is a fence with metal bars) she can still fit her head through. She likes getting a look of the lay of the land through the fence. Anyone on the trail can be stared at for quite some time as they walk past our property. She has not started barking at people (and dogs) on the path but the neighbors dogs? Yeah, she has that down pat.
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.
Chewing on the weeds
Helping dig
Chewing on her cow hoof
Nap time
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.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Daisy on the way home first day at 8 weeks on April 12, 2018
Daisy was one of two puppies left. I chose her because she was happy to see a new person but not overly so. She was happy to sit with me for a long time. She was slightly smaller than her sister. The first two were more important than the third reason.
It has been a long time since I raised a young puppy. The last time I had a puppy was my yellow lab, Muggsy, when I was about 12! She was the last dog I had as a kid before moving off to college. I have had my own dogs since; but, they were always adopted at 5 or 6 months of age at the earliest: Jordan, a beagle mix from Chapel Hill, NC, 6 months; Jake, a yellow lab from Houston, TX, 6 months; Maggie, a chocolate lab from Milton, FL, 5 months; and Charley, a chihuahua-pug mix from Houston, TX, 1.5 years. All have crossed the rainbow bridge accept Charley. She is still alive and kicking at 7 years old! Maggie most recently crossed on March 30, 2018 at the ripe old age of 13.5 years. Her death was the hardest to take as she was my buddy. My doggy soulmate.
Maggie on March 9, 2018, 3 weeks before her death. I loved her deeply.
Getting Daisy has reduced the hurt. Prior to getting her, I cried long and hard whenever I was alone. It was hard to be at home because everything reminded me of Maggie. I would look at her bed in the morning (I didn’t have the strength to put her things away) expecting her to be there. When I would remember that she was gone, it was a real punch to the gut. That is not a pleasant way to wake up.
Daisy weighed 12 pounds when we got her. What to feed her? How much? How often? These were things I had to figure out as Daisy did not come with a users manual. I decided to feed her Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy food as I have been feeding Maggie and Charley Blue Buffalo grain-free with good results for years. I still don’t know how much to feed her.After some research and trial and error, I settled on 1/2 cup of food three times a day which seemed to work.
Daisy slept through the night in her cage the very first night. By 5 am, she needed out. We began her potty training with a combination of out every hour or immediately after she woke up or immediately after she was let out of her cage. A few messes here and there by mostly, she went potty outside.
Our gorgeous little girl! April 12, 2018
The first week flew by. She tired out quickly and took many naps during the day. I suspect that will become less and less common with each passing week.
Brakes Not Included 