As my daughter says, “You didn’t really think that through, did you?” She wasn’t referring to getting a new puppy which we’d talked about for months. She was referring to getting a “winter puppy” in the North.
We trained new puppies in the summers of 2006 (Pepe) and 2008 (Coco). We had to let go of Pepe in 2017 due to a tumor on her liver; since then, we focused all our love on Coco. Then, we decided Coco needed an “intern”. Coco would have a friend that she could help train. What a concept!
We got our new puppy, Rosie, in late January. She was about 10 weeks old then. We bought her a little dog sweater and puffy dog coat. We got her a collar and a leash. We hadn’t really thought that through.
Because, when we picked her up, the breeder said she was like an infant. She couldn’t go outside until probably end of March or she might catch a cold or pneumonia. Plus, she needed her three puppy shots – second was due mid-February and the last one mid-March – before she could be outside around where other dogs have been. Coco is up to date on shots, so they can share space in the backyard. That is, after the snow and cold is gone.
I haven’t even gotten to the two dogs getting to know each other part yet.
We set up Rosie in the shower stall of our guest bathroom. We made a little bed for her, put her food and water dishes nearby and put down papers for her to do her business on at the other end of the shower stall. We leaned a baby gate across the entrance to the shower. We let her out and played with her on the bathroom floor several times a day. We brought her down to the living room at night to sit on our laps while we watched TV. Mostly this worked and she was content.
After several weeks, the shower stall seemed too confining, so we gave her the run of the full bathroom most of the day. She quickly decided there were more places on this big tiled bathroom floor to do her business than the newspaper in the shower stall. And that her teething needs could be met by the baseboard in the bathroom rather than the approved chew toys we got her.
As of this week, she has graduated to periods of time in our offices while we work at our desks. Mindful we have nice rugs, this happens only after we know she’s done her business somewhere on the papers or bathroom tile floor. The pack nature of dogs becomes clear at these times. Rosie is content to just lay on the carpet a few feet from me. Just as Coco often sleeps under my desk most of the day.
We still keep Coco and Rosie separated. We don’t remember how we got Pepe and Coco to get along back in 2008 but then it was a two-year-old dog and a new puppy. Not a ten-year-old dog and a new puppy. At first, Coco wouldn’t even look at Rosie when they were being held a few feet apart. She would leave the room when we brought Rosie down at night. Now, she is a little curious about her. But Rosie knows no bounds and just wants to play with this other furry creature. We used to think Coco was a high energy dog, almost like a puppy still. But Rosie is like the energizer bunny who just wants to be in Coco’s face.
Next step is figuring out how to get them to be in the same room together without Rosie bothering Coco to the point of Coco snapping at her. And within a few weeks, the big outside adventure begins. That is when we are counting on Coco to help train her intern. Showing her that dogs can do their business anywhere outside and not in the house. A whole new reason we can’t wait for spring this year!
Unlike my previous post on Pepe and Coco, “A tale of patient advocacy”, I have no healthcare or IT lesson to share with this story. I guess it’s just a story about patience and learning to adapt to another creature’s needs. Lessons we all need.