The New Energizer Bunny, er uh Puppy

I've never seen a little puppy that can keep going and going and going like Bentley.  I don't know what he did while I was at church this morning but I do know what he has done all afternoon and this evening....play!  He only napped briefly around 5 p.m. and the rest of the time he has been going and going and going.  Now he is in his crate and he is quiet but awake.  I have to wonder where does he get his energy?  I want to know his secret!

Bentley, 11 weeks

Bentley is now 11 weeks old and has been a part of my household/pack for 3 weeks.  He has fit into the routine so easily that it is hard to believe it has only been 3 weeks since I brought him home.  I don't think he would have been happy being an only dog.  I had let the others spend the weekend at the vet's while I traveled to get him so there was a short time while he was the only dog in the house.  When he finally got to meet his playmates he was so excited.  His little tail was just wagging away and I know he was thinking, "other doggies, other doggies, just like me"!  He is so cute with them because he doesn't realize he is small and just does whatever they do.

He is a lot like Baylee, quiet and easy going.  I've only had to get on him a few times about doing things he shouldn't (like pulling on the leg of my pajamas while I walk and for chasing cats) and he always minds me.  We had some sleepless nights at first because he did not like being put in the kitchen at bedtime.  I finally put together my 24" cage and put it next to the big dogs 36" cage in a corner of the breakfast room.  I was uneasy about doing that since he is so young and I was afraid he would potty on himself but he has not had a single accident in the cage!  He only cried a little that night and then slept through the night.  I'm now a firm believer in crate training!

I didn't realize how much he has grown until I looked at some of the early pictures.  I need to shoot a few pictures because the others are almost out of date.  He is just a sweet little baby dog.  What a little love!

Housebreaking

I was going to do a post about Bentley but decided to do him next post.  Instead I feel compelled to discuss, ahem, housebreaking.

When I got Blossom and Sawyer I had no concerns about housebreaking them or training them.  I had had dogs before, and they were trained.  No problem.  Or so I thought.  I had bought a dachshund magazine while I was waiting for them to be old enough to be picked up.  This magazine was pretty forthright about dachshunds and their stubborn quirks.  It also discussed training issues.  I remember that I thought, oops maybe I've gotten the wrong dogs.  But then I looked at their little pictures and how cute they were so I didn't worry.  After all, the magazine also discussed how dachshunds are wonderful and loving little dogs.  And besides, I knew everything about training a dog.

Well, when Baylee joined us several months later Blossom and Sawyer still had not learned to go to the back door and ask to go out.  When I took them out it was hit or miss.  We had accidents (x2) all the time.  Finally I started putting them in a wire cage at night.  This helped, or at least it kept the kitchen floor clean overnight.  Baylee didn't catch on either.  I just didn't get it, I was frustrated and my house was stinky. 

I finally gave in and decided that I needed some expert advice.  I found a book that utilized a 7 day plan to housebreak a dog.  It was excellent.  I found it easy to read, and realized that I had been on the right track but just didn't have it quite together.  So for the last week we've done this training.  Bentley is really too little, but I've included him in the plan and he has done quite well.  It has been hard to keep the dogs in the kitchen all the time but we are having success.  Last night I let them loose in the house for a little while, and again tonight.  No problems.  Now when I say "let's go outside" and open the doggie gate they all run to the back door.  And we usually average about a 90% success rate with outings.

But here's the funny part.  I don't know if they are really trained or if I'm now the one that's trained.  We'll see! 

A Year Ago...

A year ago this time I did not own a dog.  I was owned by 5 cats.  We were very happy and I would occassionaly think that someday I would like to have a dog again.  I missed having a dog to walk with me but I also knew that it would not be right to leave a dog alone, inside or out, all day while I went to work.  I have a fenced yard and a nice shady yard but there is no protection from rain and bad weather for a dog.  All in all our little community was happy, just me and the cats.

Then one slow day at work I did a Google search for "Biloxi".  While I was looking through images of Biloxi I saw several pictures of a little dog named "Biloxi Belle".  Now, that name intrigued me because of a past association with another "Biloxi Belle".  So I clicked on the little picture and that is how it began.  Biloxi was a beautiful long haired miniature dachshund that lived at Splendor Farms and I was intrigued.  Forget about doing anymore on the Google search!  I checked out the entire web site of the kennel.  I could tell that Kelly was a careful breeder and just loved all the pictures.  I never dreamed of owning a dachshund, but over the next few weeks I kept coming back to the Splendor Farms web site and just fell in love with this breed.

Long story made short, in April I drove to Louisiana and picked up two 8 week old puppies, Blossom and Sawyer.  In August, I drove back and picked up Baylee who was almost 4 months old.  And, in January I drove back and picked up 8 week old Bentley. Now the pack is complete and this blog is devoted just to them!

First Post of a New Blog

I've had so much fun with my other blog that I decided to diversify and created this blog devoted strictly to my dogs.  I think it will be like the blogs that moms are doing now to create an on-line type baby book (only it features my dogs).  It will be a way to track their development and to record stories about them.  I've also had the fun thought that if I ever write a book this blog could be a source of material.  I think it will help to clean up and focus my other blog.   So, here goes!