A little retrospect!
Can you believe that our little 'Boo Boos' is already 7 months old??
Can you believe that our little 'Boo Boos' is already 7 months old??
I was recently talking to my neighbor Stephanie, who is 3 1/2 yrs old. She reminded me that I brought Coco home when it was snowing and that Coco was the size of her little wiener dog, Bronson. Wow, things have changed.
She has grown into quite the little stink bomb. Coco is now 65 lbs and very strong. She still gets 3 walks a day and it still seems like it's never enough exercise. We're hoping to complete our fenced-in yard this weekend so that Coco can run wild and will not be limited to the house and leash time, during walks. *fingers gently crossed*
What we did right
Well, that schedule kept Coco potty trained. She only had two accidents inside the house. We were pretty fortunate! Another success - we have been committed to making sure that Coco gets more than enough exercise. It's been good for us, too! We reinforced all 'commands' during our walks and when we fail - try, try again! She continues to test us every single day, and we continue to reinforce all rules so that she does not take advantage of us. Crate training is key, folks. It keeps your dog out of trouble and you get to correct your dog under constant supervision when it is not in the crate. I cannot believe that people don't crate train their dogs. Those are some of the same people who FLIP out when their dog chews up their couch while unsupervised.
What we could have done better
Well...to this day I still feel bad about that Pigs Ear that made her so tremendously ill. Yeah - I'm a sap and it was like MONTHS ago...but I still remember her anguish and discomfort. We also refused to crate her at night. I wish that I had just stuck with it, as we had MONTHS of sleepless nights. Wow. For those who are consistent, it can really pay off. Actually, last night we had a quiet night with Coco in her crate. She didn't make a peep! We'll see how tonight goes...so far so good.
I wish that I had saved my $$ on absurd dog treats/toys and spent more on obedience training. But overall - I am so grateful that I brought Coco home, very much against my husbands will. Don't get me wrong, he loves her to pieces. But he was NOT a fan of taking on this responsibility. Now we cannot imagine our lives without Miss Coco. SHE ROCKS!
I think that Mr. SC must've had some experience with a crate before. The MHS insisted that we crate him at night and when we were not around for the first 2 weeks. We made it almost that far! ;) He seems actually cozy in his crate. Sometimes when he's sleepy in the morning, he just likes to chill out in there...
ReplyDeleteThen when it's time for bed *usually* he just goes right in (sometimes it takes a few taps and me saying "bedtime!") though at first we had to use a treat to coax him occasionally. Now he sleeps there almost every night, and we leave the crate open...