Things have settled down a bit this week. After Poppy choosing her own bed last weekend, bedtimes have been much smoother. Poppy comes upstairs with us, sniffs around while we get ready for bed & then settles down quite nicely. She usually sleeps until we get up & knows what the alarm is in the morning! She’s definitely happier, as are we as we get to sleep longer! Yes! We’ve also been working on her training & she’s pretty much nailed sit, wait (at the side of the road) and has really improved on ‘stay’. We’re really proud doggy parents!
Tonight we’re taking her to frustration training and I’m really hoping that this will help with her frustration when she: meets other dogs, meets new people, smells squirrels, sees pigeons, wants attention & doesn’t get it, and when she can’t see what’s going on. She loves to be the centre of attention. We had someone come over to measure up for new carpet on the stairs this week. Fortunately he loved dogs, as Poppy was all over him! She climbed up next to him, stood on him & presented herself to him so that he would rub her belly!
Poppy has had me in stitches a few times this week. The other day she was standing in the garden, sniffing the air, and her (massive) ears were blowing in the wind!
These are some of the things I’ve learnt about Poppy this week:
- She really does behave like a puppy. We’ve been reading more about training her this week & she shows lots of puppy behaviour. For example, when she thinks we’re playing, she bites like a puppy. In order to rectify this, we have to yelp at her like a puppy would.
- She doesn’t know how to play with other dogs. Poppy has met a lot of dogs in the park this week, but beyond basic hello’s, she doesn’t know what else to do with them. One dog wanted to play with her, but because he didn’t do the puppy biting, Poppy didn’t know what to do.
- She doesn’t like the hoover, like most dogs but doesn’t mind the drill one bit! She also isn’t keen on the ironing board. (I know how she feels!)
- When Poppy yawns, she howls! I love this bit about her, as it really shows her hound side. And it’s supercute!
- Poppy wishes she could climb trees! Whenever she sees a squirrel or a pigeon, she follows the scent to the tree it’s in, she bounds about on her hind legs, trying desperately to climb the tree with her front paws! She’s so funny!
Poppy has met a lot of people in the park this week, and everyone concludes that she is adorable! Her massive ears & paws that come from the Basset Hound in her make her stand out and they make her really cute!
I’m really keen to go to the frustration training later on. When she smells or sees a squirrel she goes crazy & pulls on the lead like her life depends on it. It can make the walk quite unpleasant if she doesn’t calm down. She’s so focused on the smell, that we might as well not exist – we cannot get her attention for love nor money! Fingers crossed!