Dog Days

I haven't been writing here or anywhere for that matter, because for the past three months, my life has revolved around fulfilling the needs of this little guy. She's our 4.5 month old Golden Retriever, Sourdough Cherry ("Cherry" a contribution from Edna's boss cause she's growing up in Michigan). I've never lived in a house with a dog 24/7 before and making sure that Sourdough's needs are met has been pretty challenging. Here's a typical day:

7am: If I'm lucky and she hasn't woken up earlier, open up crate and let her out. At night, the slightest noise can set her off (ie she'll bark for attention) so even when I need to go to the loo at 4 am, say, I need to go softly and gently. We're actually pretty fortunate puppy owners cause Sourdough is holding her bladder the entire night.
7.02: Leash her and bring her out for the first in a series of potty sessions.
7.10: Training. We figured that for a dog to live properly with people, you've got to make sure that they behave properly. So we do short training sessions throughout the day. Sourdough's learning how to do all the doggy things. She'll sit and down quite reliably (and was the "stay" champion of her puppy class). She also gets a healthy dose of "come", "leave it", "follow" and "paw". She's not very good with roll though, always trying to get the treats I'm using.
7.30: Food. There's a whole galaxy of info out there about what's good and what isn't. Sourdough had a few troubling weeks of soft-stool (meaning we were up all hours cause she had to poop all the time) so we feed her dog food with white rice and veggies.
8.30: The first of four walks.
9.00: She mooches around the house a bit, sometimes I put her in the crate and go do my stuff. By 9 am, and after the walk, her first burst of energy is usually used up. She'll potter around for a bit and make feeble attempts at playing with her toys but she usually goes to sleep.
11.30: Time for her second walk. These walks and going outs have two functions. First, they teach her that she can only pee and poop outside, on the grass. Sourdough's learning this pretty quickly. The only times that she's had accidents in the house is when I ignore the signs. The second reason for walking her a lot is to tire her out. Apparently lots of behavioral problems (barking, chewing on furniture, jumping UP on furniture) with puppies come from boredom and a tired dog is a happy dog. There are lots of differing opinions about how often and long to walk a puppy ranging from "only five minutes" to "as long as you want".
2.00: Time for walk number three. Part of walking Sourdough is to train her to walk "loose leash" properly, which we'll translate into a "heel" later on. Most dogs that I've walked (and are acquainted with in Singapore) pull on the leash. It's really counterinstinctual for dogs (at least medium and large ones) to walk at a human's pace, so walking beside the walker needs to be trained. Essentially, if Sourdough pulls on the leash, we don't go forward. On a "bad" session, we can take ten minutes to walk 100 yards. When I first began this regime, it was "start-stop" all the way. But when she's in the "zone" now, she can walk for 15 minutes without pulling while keeping right at my side.
2.30: She eats again. We do three small meals because her stomach wasn't doing well on two larger ones. We've become obsessive "poo" watchers and the nature of puppy stool colors many a conversation: "Was it logs that she pooped?" (Logs are good ...) "Yeah, two medium logs and three little softish plops at the end ..." There are other poop details (color, smell, what I find in it) but it ain't for public consumption (!)
5.00: After an afternoon lull (she sleeps most of the afternoon away), she goes for a fourth and final walk. This is usually the most challenging time of day to walk her. Lots of people, dogs, sights, smells. Sourdough REALLY likes people. She'll do anything for a pet, stroke and cuddle. But not everyone likes dogs. A few weeks ago, when we paid a visit to Ann Arbor, I sat outside a cafe with Sourdough. She must have been pet by at least 100 people. I suppose people don't normally take puppies on days out (though it's supposed to be essential for socialization) so lots of people wanted to pet her. So with people, I'm working on her being calm first before being pet. It's really hard for her to contain herself, though.
5-6.30: After the walk, is when her high energy phase kicks in. Evenings are all about her playing maniacally with her toys, romping around the house and dashing here and there. I would like to eleminate all that behavior entirely, but apparently puppies do get these moments of "craziness". When she's excited, she needs to pee VERY often. I'll take her down and then she'll bark to pee again fifteen minutes later. Accidents happen when I regard her pleas to pee with cynical disbelief.
6.30. Final meal. And then more romping.
7.00 to 11. She plays a little but usually is pretty worn out by now. She'll sleep, potter around, sometimes wake up and be playful for a bit then doze off again. It's usually in the evening that I sit on the floor and allow her to climb into my lap (even that's a controlled process in this household ... cause we don't want a dominant, pushy dog).
11 pm. After several outs, she gets her last out at 11 pm, where she pees and heads straight for her crate when she comes back. And we do it all over again the next day!

The pic above is of Sourdough when she first came. It's her "New York Dog" pic because the cool bowl was given by Edna's friend when we were leaving New York. This picture has an older Sourdough. She looks more like that now. Notice her right leg. This is when she sits in her anyhow manner. She can sit properly if she wants to but saves that for formal occassions.