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We took Hortense (Ellie-we have named her) home on Sunday. Lovely little girl. She is a whiner when it comes to food. She would eat her way into tomorrow. Hoovers up her food. Very gentle and loves cuddles. We are noticing she is competitive at times when we play tug with her. And her teeth are so sharp! We look after my folks shih tzu lucky sometimes and his little teeth are like grains of rice in comparison. She is very clever and played her finest card on her first night with us. Cried and cried until we let her sleep on the bed with us, and then she just snuggled up and passed out. And last night when she came up stairs she got straight on the bed and fell asleep. That’s the end of that so. Ah well she is adorable. And getting myself and Che up a lot earlier, which is nice. Beginning paper training, she has found her spot to do her poo-right in front of the fridge door! And when she wakes up in the morning (6.30) one of us takes her straight down to the garden to do her business. No accidents on the bed-so far. Great little girl, is just adorable. cant wait to get her second shot so we can take her on walks and show her off to our canine and human neighbours. I think she’s a cross between a princess and a tomboy, so sweet and so bold all at once. We are delighted with our little ellie. Thanks Barbara for taking care of her and harriet (which I almost took aswell!) and lovely Hermione.
Liz.Hi, we took Hermione(not renamed yet!) home on Sunday too. she is such a dote it feels like she has allways been here. I have a question, how much and how often do you feed Hortense? Hermi eats what she is given and I don’t want to over feed or starve her, by the way, I bought a very nice bed for her which remains unused, she sleeps in my daughters bed and all my resolve in regards to ‘no on the couch’ went out the window day one
Debo
Hi Debo.
We have been so undecided over a name, Ellie didn’t stick, I think we had one for every day we have had little Hortence. I think we are settling on Millie, but who knows! I bought puppy Science Plan food and give her 240grms a day, which is the recommended amount, as it says on the bag. Our little girl whines when she has finished hoovering up her food and then cries and paws the press the food is kept in. As if she hasn’t gotten any food at all. Cheeky mare. We devide the food into 3 meals a day. She got diahoria on Tuesday and was vomiting until 3 in the morning. Poor thing, All better now. 24 hours with no food to expel the bug and then boiled chicken and rice. She loves that! (Thanks Justine for that tip). She is very bitey with me at times, and just loves to bite my zips and hangs out of my jeans, and if I have flip flops on she bites my toes-which is really sweet except her teeth are like needles! Anyone got any advice on the biting thing? Otherwise she is a very contented little girl, very independent and does not like to be told what to do. The toilet traing is not going to well, anyone got any tips on that too? She just isnt getting the paper thing at all. if there is a tiny gap on the floor with no paper she will just pee there.
Anyway she is a beauty.
Liz.hi liz, so happy to see you and che with your new baby! i was thinking about you guys over the past week and wondering who you would end up with…she is a gorgeous baby! our ruby is a biter (only playing but still, it hurts!) and we have been giving her a firm "NO!" when she tries to bite and it seems to be working… she is an older pup though (over a year) so she already knows what NO means…
not sure about the paper training, i have some training spray which according to the pet store, you are supposed to spray on the papers and it is supposed to attract them to wee where you spray. we don’t use it as ruby is luckily totally trained, but if you want to give it a try i can drop it over to you. we’ve never used it and its just sitting here…
let me know about the spray and good luck with your new baby!
amy
Victoria Stillwell (It’s Me or the Dog) has a great book that gives lots of tips on curbing puppy biting. There’s also a book by Gwen Bailey called The Perfect Puppy which is really good, and will give you lots of tips on basic puppy obedience training, as well. when our little fella was stuck in the house waiting for his injections, we spent the time learning sit, stay, down, paw, etc. if she has something to focus on, she’s less likely to amuse herself by eating your toes!
for teething, i’ve always found a frozen washcloth to be a good distraction (or a frozen peanut butter stuffed kong, for a treat!). frozen carrot slices were a great favorite in our house, as well.
enjoy those little needle sharp baby teeth while you can. they’re gone all too quickly!
There is information on the main web page in the section ‘Before you Adopt’
This is the link….
I took home Hortense’s sister Harriet a week ago and by the sounds of it they are most definitely sisters! Harriet is a serious nipper and although she thinks shes playing it is hard to stop her. We bought the Gwen Bailey book and its like our bible at the moment. For the biting we first try clapping our hands hard and saying no which usually works if shes not too hyped up (waving your finger at her doesn’t work….she just thinks its a toy!
) and if that doesn’t work we just always have a toy at hand and just put that in her mouth. Good Luck!Well….
We have settled on a permanent name, Millie. So that’s it, have it for 4 days now so its sticking. Thank you to all who gave me advice, I went out and bought Gwen Baileys Perfect Puppy. What a great book. Myself and Che have been reading over each others shoulders for the last few days. On Tuesday night we put Millie downstairs for the first time for the night. She cried for an hour and a half! But we left her and didn’t go down. A friend gave us a really good tip, before we put her in the kitchen for the night, he told us to put her in and shut the door for 5 minutes, and then let her back out, and to do this a few times over the evening to prepare her for sleeping alone. Also I bought a kong and stuffed it with a few little treats, brilliant idea. The next day she was so excited to see us, and was so good all day yesterday, even her fierce biting has calmed down. And the best bit was last night, she went into her bed in the kitchen all by herself and there was not even a single peep out of her! We honestly think someone swapped her overnight with a well behaved replica!
As this is myself and Che’s first dog together, the learning curve is huge. We both grew up with dogs, but have never been the sole carers, and when we see such a dramatic change over night in Millie, its incredibly fulfilling. She is such an beautiful, intelligent and independent dog. I think Che is going to marry her instead of me in July. The toilet training now needs our full attention, and we just have to be very vigilant about bring her outside every hour to do the business. Hooray for routine and boundaries! Never thought I’d say those words in the one sentence.
Liz.So glad to read all the posts re biteing I thought there must be a problem with my little one, she is as good as gold most of the time but then sometimes she gets this mad look in her eyes and off she goes like a whirlwind, jumping and biteing then fast asleep.
it can be quite unnerving. have just bought RC Medium Jr. thanks for that info. Millie is a lovely name. we are just the same not able to settle on any one name even borrowing a book of dogs names but I think we are going with Jessie for Hermoine. will try the sleeping thing and am on the lookout for those books. the date of birth I was given was 24th Feb were you given the same date and when do you expect do have the second lot of vac given, next week?Deb
Hi Deb,
We got Millie her second vacination on saturday 1st of May. Millie is doing great, still biting and going rasher at times during the day. We have figured out that when she does that she needs playtime, interactive play time. Myself and che play ball with her where we sit opposite each other other about 3 or 4 meters apart and pass the ball and she tries to steal it. She loves that game and I think it teaches her that we are the leaders of the pack, and its fun. Today I took her on an enormous walk, all the way from cabra to rathmines to my studio. Met loads of people who just cuddled her on the street. It is so nice and socialable to stop and talk to strangers and hear their stories of their dogs and be given advice. She is great with people and kids, and very good on the lead. Getting her used to all sorts of new things, smells and noises. She is absolutely bunched after her epic journey and is passed out on the couch now. Hits home how much these dogs crave exercise and how it benefits them. We are in love with our big Milie and her wonderfully long eyelashes. Hopes babies are the luckiest puppies. x
) and if that doesn’t work we just always have a toy at hand and just put that in her mouth. Good Luck!
it can be quite unnerving. have just bought RC Medium Jr. thanks for that info. Millie is a lovely name. 
we are just the same not able to settle on any one name even borrowing a book of dogs names - You must be logged in to reply to this topic.