So, it's been a few days since I posted anything about Juliette, but that's not to say we haven't been incredibly busy!
Things are going very well with her here. The thing that we've been working on most this week is her puppy biting and teaching her what is okay to chew and what isn't. There is a series of books out there on weight loss and better eating called Eat This, Not That, and it's kind of been the same way around here, showing her what is okay and what isn't. At the moment, for example, Juliette is laying next to me on the couch and instead of letting her chew on my laptop, iPod, or (her personal favorite) my arm, I have her chewing on her blanket. She's not really a destroyer of anything, with the exception of napkins, so it's pretty safe to let her chew on the blanket.
Juliette has also started to become quite talkative. She likes to talk to us while we make her dinner or, if she's doing something she's not supposed to, she also gets a little sassy. However, it's never out of control or mean, she's clearly just voicing her opinion on it. My mom says she's like me.
We seem to have had a minor set back in potty-training -- she's had about one accident a day inside -- but we think this is probably because she is becoming a little more comfortable around here. Part of it is also that we are trying to learn her new signals for going potty. In her first few days here, she found she really liked to lay by our front door. She was also really good about going and sitting by the door and whining if she had to go out. But it got so frigidly cold and wet that we ended gating off our foyer so that she couldn't lay by the front door, so now we are learning new signals for her needing to go, which aren't always consistent. I hope I'm not speaking too soon in saying this, but she seems to be doing great today and we have yet to have an accident. Luckily, the few accidents she has had have been on our rugs that come up and can be washed easily.
Juliette is also starting to develop special games, habits, and things she likes to do with each person in the house. In the morning, she loves to sit in my mom's lap and cuddle for awhile while she reads. When my dad gets home in the afternoon and goes to put on the flip flops he wears around the house, she loves to sit at his feet and chase his toes. And if my dad is home when I've taken her outside, getting dried off by dad is a favorite activity and game.
We are having major breakthroughs with the crate this week. She is now really starting to accept the mid-afternoon nap concept. And, the past three nights when I've put her down in my room and asked her to go to her crate to sleep, she went in without any fight. Today, I did the same for her afternoon nap for the first time and she was happy to go in. This is really great. The first puppy that I remember having (my parents had one dog before I was born that was well out of the puppy stage by the time I came around), Midnight, loved her crate and treated it like her room. We want Juliette to love her crate just as much.
One downfall this week is a personal one. I have come down with some kind of bug and have been sick now for about eight days. I have been to the doctor two or three times now, and they believe I may have mono again. We have yet to be able to get a blood test done because I have been too dehydrated for them to tap my veins. However, I am not too worried even if I do have it again. Juliette has really warmed up to napping (and sometimes I even let her nap and cuddle in my bed in the afternoon). The biggest issue if I do have it again will be that I need to take a week or two more away from school, so I will have to enlist my Student Access Office to negotiate with my professors. I'm able to keep up with Juliette just fine, though, and of course my parents are a big help.
I am still really learning how to handle being a "puppy-parents." But my mom and dad have both had so much experience, so they have been really helpful. A personal triumph between she and I this week is that she is starting to come whenever she is called and if I say "No," to her when she's moving towards something at a distance (i.e.: the remote controls on our end tables which are some of her favorite toys), she will get away from them. She is also walking well with me on the leash around our yard. I'm confident that by the time the warmer weather gets here, I will be able to get her leash trained to take a couple walks with me a day.
The most exciting event for Juliette this week was that one of my best friends, Maggie, came over to visit her on Tuesday. Maggie is one of Juliette's many aunts and was very happy to meet her! Here are pictures from Maggie's visit:
That's all for now. :) I'll post more this coming week!
--Heather
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