First Day
Sue: Before we brought Pearl home, we bought soft toys, a bed, food and water bowls, a brush, shampoo and of course, food. We bought a crate from the breeder so we could drive Pearl home.
Pearl:I wiggled a lot.
S: Yes, you did. The first night we put the crate in our room.
P: I should have slept in your bed.
S: You couldn't even reach the bed!
P: I know.
S: Pearl made some noise in the night but overall things went well.
P: I didn't wiggle too much.
Food
S: The breeder had been feeding her Iams. We fed her that for awhile until we noticed runny eyes and soft stool. We changed over to Purina One and saw immediate improvement. She's been on it ever since.
P: Mommy and Daddy don't feed me enough.
S: We feed Pearl as much as the vet recommended - she gets just under a half cup of kibble twice a day.
P: I'm starving.
S: We know.
House Training
S: When we first started teaching Pearl to go to the bathroom outside, we would take her out every time she went to the glass sliding doors at the back. Some mornings I would take her 10 times before she actually had to do anything.
P:I just wanted to go out and sniff the flowers.
S: Or eat the flowers.
P: Sniff. Eat. Whatever.
S: Andy used to get up in the middle of the night to take her out. I think the rule is that they can hold it for every month of age. Andy started taking her out at 4 in the morning (she was 4 months when she came home with us) and he just gradually moved up the time until she could go through the night without having to do her business.
P: I got to visit with Daddy during the night.
S: Andy found it exhausting.
P:He should have napped during the day.
Attached at the Hip
S: I was finding my daily chores very difficult. When I cleaned the bathroom, Pearl would be running in and pulling on the toilet paper. When I tried to do laundry, she would come in, take the underwear and run away. She wasn't much of a chewer, thank goodness, but I also didn't like to leave her alone because we were trying to potty train. I also just never knew what sort of things she could get into.
P:I was very curious.
S: You were. And I couldn't be everywhere at once. A friend who used to train dogs, recommended I tie Pearl's leash to my waist somehow and that way she could be attached to me while I went about my chores. Apparently, it's a good way to bond with your dog. At first, I found this very very difficult but I got used to it and am so glad I did it now.
P: I liked being near Mommy even though she wouldn't let me poop in the house.
S: That's right - no pooping in the house!
P: Got it.