Layla update

Well, as you might remember we potty trained her with bells on teh door, which worked great. It was up to her to let us know when she needed out and she did. We've now weaned her off those and she just looks at us, or if we ignore her, she will whine at us.

Which left the crate training. We crated her at night and when we were gone. Its a lot on the weekends - particularly if we go out Friday night. I know, that's a lot of crate time but she had so much energy she would find things to get into - often paper-trash, so we would fine tissue, napkins etc all over if she was left out for a little bit unattended. (even during a nap sometimes) Mr. Lush has been requesting that we leave her out at night for 6 months now, I held firm that we wouldn't consider it until she was a year at least - she's now 15 months.
Last week was her first few nights out - they went ok. At first she was confused and pretty annoying - she didn't know it was sleeptime so she was up eating bones, bothering the cats, etc. Eventually she went back in her crate where she settled down for a good night's sleep. Not so successful.
Try #2 was after a 2 mile walk in the morning and a 4 hour playdate with another dog in the evening. This time I took her to her bed (in living room) and said lay down, stay, and "sleepytime" (which will probably be my "command" for going to bed.) She got up from her bed and followed us into the bedroom, but then went back and slept great. Whined to be let out about 2 am, but other than that, she was pretty good.
Try #3 was last night - no play dates to wear her out so we were nervous. Once again, took her to the bed, said "sleepytime" and then went to bed. She was good.

Now, during all these, trash was up on tables so she wouldn't get into it, but all in all, no mess, no disaster. We'll still probably ease into it before we do it every night, but we're well on our way.

She will still be crated during the day - but we'll both feel better that she's not crated so much on the weekends when we go out. Progress.....

Boxers can't swim.....or can they???

Mr. Lush has always said that boxers can not swim- “their chests are too heavy….they will sink like a rock”.

Hogwash I’ve said.

A tidbit from Americanboxerclub.org, which I just read for the tongue-in-cheek benefit of the post….

“Precautions must be taken to ensure your dog's safety. Being deep-chested and tailless, our Boxers need plenty of instruction learning to turn and maneuver in the water.”

Hmm. Well, this last weekend we went to visit my parents at a lake. Someone suggested putting her in a life jacket. Which of course this is evidently not a new idea:

“Boxer's do not have the benefit of a rudder (tail) to help them steer, for example. Invest in a good quality canine life jacket.”

As you can see she didn’t like the life jacket much.

“Do not expect your dog to be a "natural". Starting to swim will require your patience and encouragement. It takes more than a few times in the pool or the lake before your Boxer starts to really enjoy himself.”

Hmm. Oh really???? Here she is with no instruction, no life jacket.....



It took her about 15 minutes of being locked off the boat with all of us in the water for her to swim on out to us. ALL ON HER OWN.

And here she is, sitting naturally in a floatie. Just like her mamma...well, minus the drink of course. ;) Yep. Boxers can't swim. Nope. Not at all.

My dog needs some bitch friends

Layla has two boyfriends, Brix and Bodhi, that she plays with. She’s fickle and can’t decide which is her favorite – such a player, my doggie! Brix is big and strong and wears her out and Bodhi lets her dominate. Choices, choices. ;)

Well anyway, today I took her on a walk and noticed some boy-like behaviors: she went pee like 6 times, as if she was “marking her territory” (the walk was only a mile- she didn't need to go that often and it was always quick!) and at one point, she even started to lift her leg! I guess its “monkey see monkey do” (“doggie see doggie do”) so we need to Layla around some girls to teach her some ladylike manners!

Does my dog really look vicious???

Yesterday the Fed Ex guy came by with (you guessed it!!) wine and got really freaked out when he saw Layla. He raised his voice and told me to get the dog back and sorta freaked out. I told him to calm down and I started to exit out the front door and hold Layla back (not that she needed it-she was just curious) and he said (loudly) "I don't need to calm down, not when there's a dog". Anyway, I went outside, signed it made a joke about how she was really vicious, he made another rude freaked out remark and told him he didn't need to be rude and went back inside with my wine.

Here she is, the day of the "near attack".

Now, lets look at this from a couple viewpoints. Yes, she's a boxer, but she's also a SMALL boxer (she's about 52 lbs right now-about 10-20 from being full grown and filled out). I'm sure, given the right circumstances I could probably count on her to be ferocious and save me....however, right now the most it appears she is capable of to lick and wiggle her butt until some criminal gave up and ran away. Which doesn't seem all that likely.

So, assuming she IS capable of a violent attack...wouldn't being mean to the owner and having a freaked out tone antogonize the dog? I mean, if she was a chow (and I had a chow when I was lil tike- very sweet dogs but very territorial) she would've attacked based on his tone alone and the anxiety he caused me to have. Of course, she just sat there, like a good little doggie, and looked. Never a growl, just a curious "are you here to play with me" look?

However, it has waken me up a bit. She is no longer my little lap puppy. She's getting big and people are afraid of big dogs. Which, is good, when I'm walking her, not so good when the Fed Ex guy doesn't want to deliver my wine. Hmm.

Merry Xmas - from Layla

Look- mom put a santa hat on me.

How ..... cute, right? I sure love it. Tons.

Happy holidays, be safe, and spoil your dogs,

-Layla

Layla lush update

Here she is at a park, being a good girl "staying" while I took her picture.

Pics of Layla Lush (10 weeks)

I realized that I haven't updated with pictures. And its unfair to talk about a cute puppy and not update with cute puppy pictures, right??

Ok, I'll be honest-I staged this one a bit. She was sleeping with the sheep, but her little arm wasn't around it...
No, this isn't trick photography-the soccer ball is bigger than her!

Hallelujah.....tentatively....

Ok, to at the risk of being overly excited....Layla is turning the bend on the potty training. We were having troubles, to be honest. Yes, I know, she's only 11 1/2 weeks old. Its a bit of that and a bit because she didn't know how to let us know she needed out. During crate time, whining/barking doesn't get her anything. So, how does a little puppy let us know she needs to go potty? Well, after some research, we put a string of bells on the back door handle.

Provided we hear them (this is the tricky part) she will ring when she wants to go out. As of right now, 4 the past 5 times she's rang them she's gone out and gone potty. (the other time she wanted outside) That seems exciting, right? Well...lets not get too excited, but its a start.

For those of you who didn't know, I'm a cat person who likes dogs and Mr. Lush is a dog person who likes cats. I told Mr. Lush if she quits peeing in the house while she's still cute, she might win me over....I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, pray that the bells ring loudly. :)

Let us train our dog, please!

As you know, our lovely Layla Lush is in the process of being potty trained. Now, I understand she is oh-so-cute. In fact, we have an old soccer ball that she sometimes carries and allows me to pretend she’s fetching. (I’ll try to get a pic-its adorable-the soccer ball is as big as she is and sometimes she trips and rolls over it!!!)

However, last night in one of our many, many trips outside to go potty, I left her outside for a minute to grab the phone. During that time, our neighbor wanted to play with her through the fence. For the record, this man is easily 45, if not more, so no, we are not talking about a 6 year old. I came out, saw it, and let him play with her. No harm, except he seemed to let her bite his hand. (play bite, but bite) Well, we are trying to have her chew on things other than hands, shoes, furniture. Thus far, its been fairly successful, but I think it might be because of the fact her teeth are small. Anyway, ok, so he played, I brought her back inside. I’m sure she didn’t go potty-why would she? It was play time. So then of course, she “went” inside. Fabulous.

Fast forward an hour-we are back outside. He calls his dogs inside, but remains out there, talking to her through the fence (I see you, that kind of thing). I try to hint to him that she’s out there for a reason and please shut up… I say “Layla, quit chewing on grass, do your business”. But then he just keeps on. Man, shut-up. I’m trying to train our dog here. Yeah, she’s cute. Let her pee and poo and then I’ll even let you hold her. She’s way cuter when you don’t have to clean up her messes, trust me.

Argh.

Introducing Layla Lush

Here's our latest addition to the family. Layla is a boxer, currently 8 weeks old. She's precious and cute and has big ole paws and lots of puppy skin, which means she's going to be a big doggie.

I will say that having a puppy is enough to make me temporarily question our desire to have kids. (I said "temporarily" Lucy-don't read too much into it) For the first week we were up every 2 hours letting her out. Between her teeny bladder and being scared of the crate, it was an exhausting week. Finally, last night and the night before we are down to letting her out once during the night. Almost glorious. Almost.

Today she's learned to jump on the couch and get into trash, two things she can't do. Tomorrow we start training classes. I don't know how to feel about it-if I'm excited that we finally get to try to teach her things we want her to do, versus things we don't want her to do, or if I'm just tired of following her around and telling her what to do.

I bet my husband wishes I'd get tired of doing that to him. :)