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 Puppy lovePosted April 16th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life
I wasn’t ready for a fifth child, honestly. We’ve talked about getting a puppy, but only after the house is built. We’re in a rental right now, but hopefully by the end of summer/early fall our house with lots of land will be done. So my “plan” was to have the house totally completed, the barn up, the kennel built, the property fenced. But like an unexpected pregnancy, you just jump right in and start loving the little guy, planned or not. My husband had been out shopping with the girls at Big R, and there was a cattle rancher in front of the store with this litter of Border Collie/Heeler pups. The girls begged for a puppy, as usual, and Dad said “No,” as usual. But on the way out, some crazy notion hit him.
I can’t believe that just a few days ago I was commenting to Dana, who’s having a baby today, that I was having tender thoughts about my littlest being almost out of diapers! I’m thrown right back into babyhood overnight, with the all-night whimpering and the constant attention to bodily functions. But, oh, puppy love. I’ve taken 32 pictures of this mutt in the past 24 hours. And he barely has a chance to walk with four children constantly vying for a chance to hold him. Like a good homeschool family, we immediately went to the library to possess books, videos, and manuals on dog breeds, dog training, dog care…and never has motivation been higher to learn about this species. I think we’ll be doing a veerrry long dog unit. For now, puppy duty does not even need to be discussed–it’s a battle over who “gets” to clean up the poo-poo, who’s the privileged one to prepare the food, who gets the enviable job of bathing Reilly. NOTE: Anyone know what a “Celtie” is? I don’t know if I’m spelling that right, but the rancher we bought the puppy from said the mom was pure-bred Border Collie, and the dad was part Heeler, part Celtie. Can’t find any information on this. Thanks! UPDATE: Kelpie, not Celtie! Oops, husband must have “heard” wrong, on this “herd” dog =) Thanks to Catherine, my homeschool-mom mentor and amazing woman. The kids and I stopped by her house yesterday to show off the puppy, and she said, what a beautiful Kelpie! And it turns out mom was full Kelpie (a tough little sheepdog of Australia), dad was Border/Heeler. Does this happen to you when your husband goes shopping? |
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No question about the kids’ reaction. J. (5) said, “Now there’s eight people in our family!” We’ve got Grandma, the dog, the parents, the kids…now we’re complete. My 7 year old son, a bit more serious, said, “Having a dog is a big responsibility.” Our two year old keeps informing us all that “Wi-wee (Reilly) wants to eat some water,” and J. (4) can’t stop dancing around with pure glee, “He wants to chase me!”
7 Responses
Cute puppy! Perhaps the puppy man meant ’sheltie’ They are quite collie like, if you look it up you’ll see tons of pics.
I was thinking the same as Kathleen- “Sheltie”. Great Canadian minds think alike… My husband was just saying we should get another dog soon as our present dog is getting old. My reply was that I just wasn’t ready yet to train something else! We will see- let us know how it is going.
Your puppy is ADORABLE! I’ve got two words for you. Crate. Train. We’ve had our boxer for just almost 5 1/2 months and it is a LIFE SAVER! You don’t have to worry about where puppy is while you are gone or sleeping. He has a “safe space” where the kids have to leave him alone and most importantly, it reinforces his place in the pecking order of the family. Firmly and happily at the bottom rung. At his age it should only take one night (with a warm towel/rice bag) and a small cozy space to keep him happily in his crate.
Especially since you are in a rental.
Kathleen and Jane - you gals were definitely on the right track with the name being wrong - I added an update above - it’s Kelpie, an Australian sheepdog.
Heidi - we’ve got the crate! But my question is, how do you handle nighttime? Do you get up several times a night to take puppy outside to do his business? We’ve been putting his crate in the laundry/utility room at night, with the crate door unlatched, and newspapers covering the floor…he gets out of his crate during the night and poos or pees on the newspapers. Is this okay?? During the day, he naps in the crate and plays outside with the kids off and on all day, and always cries to let us know when he wants to relieve himself, so someone gets him out right away. A friend let me borrow “Puppies for Dummies,” maybe that will help =)
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It’s been a heckuva week!
We had the crate in our room and he would whimper for a few minutes when we first put him in (which prompted us to throw a slipper at the crate…) and then again in the night about 3-4 hours later. So, my husband or I would get up and put him out, he’d pee and we’d put him back. It was a little like breastfeeding a newborn but without the complete “wakeup”. I think what you’re doing is great! Our house is tiny and we didn’t have the space to put him anywhere else. The only problem I have ever had with “paper training” is that sometimes it can take awhile to break your puppy from the habit of peeing on papers or anywhere there is linoleum. Other than that my biggest advice is to be very physical in how you train your dog. I advise reading “The Art of Raising a Puppy”.
Working dogs are generally brilliant and focused. Without training (even bare minimum family requirements) and a consistent firm hand they can become quite a nuisance. I grew up with cattle dogs and other working dogs and what they absolutely need the most is a “job”.
Well, that’s my two cents. $1.47.
Cute pup. Wow…what a working dog mix. Fun times ahead.
Make sure you give that dog a job. :) seriously… they are smart and get into trouble quickly unless you train them and give them a job.
The job can be ..getting the mail with you, scaring off the neighbours cats on command only, agility, obedience, canine freestyle, take out the garbage, pick up cans, how many tricks can you learn and will you do them when asked, and so forth.
That said…I”M JEALOUS>>>I WANT ONE TOO! :)
Paper training is ok, but like Heide said, it can be difficult to break later. We crate trained two, also taking them out at night. It is amazing how fast they learn…and it really is only a couple months before they last through the night (assuming someone takes them out right before bed and right at wake up time (ours went 6 hours within a month).
Our lab is about 6 months old now and it has been a couple months since he’s had an “accident.”
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