Week One, Quite Successful

Week 1 comes to an end for Stella and me, because I'm heading out of town for the next few days. Our final day was pretty uneventful. We have a pretty nice little routine going at this point. She's still had only the one accident in the house because I am quite diligent about taking her out often. Nonetheless, Stella did learn a thing or two today.

Things Stella (and/or I) Learned Today About Being a Puppy

• Sweatshirts and jeans are tasty and all, but today while Tommy was studying, I kept sneaking between him and the couch back to attack his underwear band, much to his dismay.
  
• I found a new game! I run full speed from the front room into the kitchen and plow into my food bowl! It knocks my food everywhere, which is pretty convenient for me when I then nibble two or three little pieces straight off the floor. But the best part is that Tommy has to clean it up every time. I played this game only about three times today.
  
• I learned how to walk on two legs!
• 
  
  jk jk! Tommy's just holding me up!
  
  
• When it's raining, I am not thrilled to be outside. Exhibit A:
  
  
  
  
• Most importantly, I learned how to climb stairs! When Tommy was in the bathroom and left me unattended, I suddenly figured it out! I went all the way upstairs, even though he was gone for only about thirty seconds. He looked all over for me before finally finding me on the second story! Which means...no more pictures like THIS:
  

Tummy Ache = Uh Oh?

I awoke this morning at the God forsaken hour of 7:30am and had an email from Mommy that Stella had a rough night and had a bad case of, how shall I put this delicately... diarrhea. Oh, brother. This was not going to be a pretty day. I got there just after 8am and immediately took Stella out of her Cage and straight out the front door, in case she had any diarrhea that was just waiting to make me clean it up.

Stella seemed in rather good spirits - she didn't appear sick. It was a bit cold and rainy out, and the last place she wanted to be was outside. Instead of exploring the surrounding grassy areas like the day before, Stella kept running straight to the steps leading to the front door. After trying for the umpteenth time to climb the steps herself (to no avail), she'd run back to me, paw at my legs as if to say, "Hey, pick me up, guy." She'd then run back to the stairs and look back at me as if to say, "Don't you get it? I want to go INSIDE." No such luck. I withstood her unrelenting cuteness and held my ground. I kept picking her up, alright, but moving her farther and farther from the steps. Equally stubborn, Stella kept running farther and farther back to the steps. As you can see, she can't climb steps yet.




Finally, Stella caved. She didn't quite give me what I was looking for (never thought I'd say I was "looking" for diarrhea), but she finally peed and that was good enough for me. Hey. I was cold, too, ok?

We went inside and Stella and I played for a bit. Then we got super duper tired and rested our eyes for about the next two hours on the couch. It was much needed for both of us, I'd say. Stella woke me up a couple times, like when she decided to move from the gap between my knees to my stomach. Or the time she walked up my chest and curled up on my shoulder and into my neck. It was precious. Sorry, Loyal Readers, no pictures. I was too dang tired to get the camera!

We finally woke and Stella ate about half her bowl of food. Yay, Stell! That's only about 1/8 of a cup. But she's little, you know. I wonder if her tummy is larger right now than someone who has had gastric bypass surgery. That'd be a good bar bet.

After she ate, I took her outside and she peed. Once again, I was thwarted in my attempt for the Good Stuff. Drats. When we went back inside, I did a little homework and the Stellster curled up next to me on the couch for her second nap of the day. She had a long night of bowel movements, lay off!



After Stella awoke, or rather, when I decided to take the opportunity presented by her lethargic mood by scooping her up, we (read I) decided to try some crate training. Results? Not good. BUT! Better than yesterday. I put her in there with her food thinking maybe she'd eat and that'd calm her down. Uh, no. I decided to move her from the kitchen to right next to me in the front room so that she could see me and see that she had not been cruelly abandoned, hoping that this might calm her down. Uh, no. Actually, it worked for about two minutes. Then the wailing returned. I used a lifeline to Phone a Friend, and when the friend heard the wails he/she said, "awww" and gave one of those half chuckles, which says, "I'm not sure who I feel worse for. The dog for being so miserable or you for having to hear it." Knowing this friend, he/she most certainly meant the former.

Amazingly! Holding the phone up to the cage with the speakerphone on seemed to intrigue Stella enough to keep her quiet for a bit. And when she did... I waited a couple of minutes and then took her out of the Cell, gave her a treat, and praised her effusively. Which made the training quite successful.

Having been in the Cell for about 45 minutes, I figured Stella might need to use the potty. Good thinking, Me. I took her outside and got a double whammy - pee and poo! Woo! And the best news was that there was no diarrhea. Her tummy ache was officially over. 

We went back inside and played for a bit, followed by Stella's third nap of the day. I quietly packed my things and sneaked her into her Cell before stepping out around 4, with her yelps trailing me as I left.

Things Stella (and I) Learned Today About Being a Puppy

• When you are a puppy, you are so cute that people in cars literally stop to tell you how cute you are (as if you didn't know).
  
• There is some sort of lesson in this Prison Cell thing they keep putting me into. I just don't quite have my finger on it yet.
  
• Cell phones are strange. The sounds emanating from them are alternately alarming and soothing. Stand by for further investigation.
  
• No matter how many toys you put in front of me, I prefer every bit of Tommy's clothing I can possibly get my teeth on. But mostly, I love ears. Mmmm. Ears.

Examples:

Sorry, no examples of ear biting.

Adventures in Puppysitting: Day One

I arrived today at just after 9am. Stella was in her crate and already whimpering, even though Dad was literally walking away from the door as I walked up.

This crate-breaking thing is going to be difficult.

I should back up a bit.

Today was my first day puppysitting little Stella. This is Stella.



Adorable, right?

Stella is a Tibetan Terrier. She doesn't look like that picture on the website right now, as you can see. She doesn't have the long hair. Plus, she is white haired with a panda face. So cute.

Stella and I are going to become best of friends, I think. I am going to be here for a few hours a day for the foreseeable future, so I am sure we will have lots of adventures.

When I first arrived, Stella napped on the couch next to me for about two hours. It's tough bein a pup, apparently. When she finally awoke, we played on the floor with her toys (a giraffe and an octopus). Suddenly, Stella ran under the dining room table. And proceeded to tinkle. Just a little tinkle. I suppose her first accident under My Watch had to happen at some point. I just wish it hadn't been her first bathroom break. Thinking she might still have to go, I took her outside and we went for a walk. A short walk - she's little yet.



Stella's legs are barely taller than the grass, so she sort of bounds around. It's pretty dang cute. It also makes it difficult to tell when she is going potty. On this walk, though, she most certainly pooped!

After we went back inside, it was time to start her crate training. This basically means putting her in her crate while she screeches and whimpers the entire time. I left her in there for about 45 minutes, and she whimpered and whined for about 40 of those minutes. It was pretty heartbreaking! If I could, I'd record the whimper so you could hear it. Devastating. I held strong, though, and watched the new episode of Flight of the Conchords while she bellowed away.

Finally, I let her out of her Cage, as I imagine she calls it. Or maybe she calls it her Cell. But Stella was not grateful to me for letting her out of her Cage/Cell. She was angry at me for putting her there in the first place, so she sat on the other side of the couch for the next 30 minutes to teach me a lesson. She lost the battle of wills, though, as she finally got a hankering to nip at my toes and needed me to let her down off the couch in order to do so.

The rest of the day was a cycle of playing, eating, drinking, playing, whimpering to go outside, going on increasingly farther walks, and sleeping. I tried to teach her to eat in her crate. She had about two bites. To be fair, the food has to be made soggy with water. So mushy. I wouldn't eat that stuff in a house or with a mouse, either.

As a puppy, Stella is of course exploring her new world, learning a lot about her surroundings and about being a puppy. She's not the only one, though, as I certainly learned a few things about being a puppy, too.

• When close enough to strike, human ears are irresistible to a puppy's teeth.
  
• The same can be said for curly hair.
  
• Leaves are fun to play with...
  
• But not when the wind blows them around. In that case, get as far away as you can, as quickly as you can. This is a matter of life and death.
  
• Similar to ears and curly hair, puppies love anything they can tug at. This includes hoodie drawstrings and backpack straps...
  
  
  
• The Sound of a Train is not to be trifled with. If you encounter it, proceed with caution. Extreme caution.
  

Our day finally came to an end back where it began, with a tuckered out Stella asleep on the couch next to me.