Our priority has somewhat shifted since the arrival of Cooper and Maxine. Before I go into too much detail about these two little darlings, I want to say that, although I had intended to start a "dog blog" just for the dogs, I find myself with little time to do so. I was really fooling myself to think that I would have time to blog every single day....between the dogs, Russell and the household (in no particular order), I find myself quite occupied - even as a retiree! I would be remiss if I didn't add that it is the same for Russell. Having two dogs is really a joy, but to be fair to them, we owe them our full attention, which is what we are doing. So, we changed the name of this blog to reflect Cooper and Maxine, as such, I will spend time talking about them in my weekly blog. Once things settle down (when???), I may have more time to do a blog just for them.
This past Wednesday, we picked up Maxine and we are now one big happy family. Both dogs are adjusting quite well to one another, although, when they play together, it is a bit on the rough side for my liking, but I am getting used to their dog play. They are not harming each other, but we have to be mindful that Maxine is only 10 weeks old, compared to Cooper who is 6 months. He has the weight and height advantage on her. Having said this, Maxine is one feisty little gal. She stands up to Cooper in more ways than one. Once she is more grown up, we believe that she may overpower Cooper, but time will tell. From my perspective, I am happy that little Maxine is a tough little puppy.
They both sleep through the night, for the most part. We have had to take Maxine out twice during the night (around 3 am). I think that she is still adjusting to her new home and her previous routine has been somewhat upset. As for Cooper, he sleeps through the night, no problem. Our day starts around 6 am, and the first thing we do is take the dogs out to do their business. It is dark at 6 am, and although we have spot lights on in the backyard, I am still afraid to run into skunks or other animals. So, I take a quick peak through our bay window to make sure that no critters are out there, then I go out with the dogs.
A day in the life of Cooper and Maxine is quite simple: get up, poop, eat, play, nap, go outside, go for walks, and this goes on and on. This routine will be more or less the same for the next few weeks, until Maxine gets her second set of shots, which is on December 2. At that time, she will be protected against viruses that can live in all public places where dogs go (parks, pet stores, streets, etc). Until then, we must put Maxine in a pouch when we go for walks so that she doesn't touch the ground. The virus, called Parvo virus, can be fatal to any puppy who catches it. Cooper is totally protected against this virus since he has had all of his shots.
We are also working hard to housebreak Maxine. She is doing well so far, but we must always be vigilant for any signs that she needs to go out. This takes up a lot of our time, but it will all be worth it in the end.
So far, it's been what we had been hoping for. Cooper and Maxine bring us a lot of joy, laughter and they are just so sweet. I particularly love it when either one of them will have a nap in my arms. So far, Cooper appears to be a mommy's boy but that could change.
I must talk about the training that we are doing with both dogs. I say "we" but Russell does a lot more than I. He is really good at training the dogs to "sit", "stay", "heel", "down", and "come". Cooper is much more advanced than Maxine since he has already been at training school, but I have seen a huge difference since he has been living with us. Russell is patient, but he also has a great voice for calling the various commands, which is key to this training. As funny as this sounds, it is important to sound very entusiastic or animated when you train and call your dogs. The tone of voice has to be friendly, happy. This is something I have to work on. Not that I am not happy or friendly when I talk to the dogs, but I have a hard time acting silly or animated when I train. It doesn't come naturally with me, as it does with Russell. I will work on it this week.
We have already enrolled Maxine for training, starting second week of December. Cooper will also join the class. You never get enough training and socialzing.
Finally, everyone that we talked to said that our lives would change once we would have the dogs. That is true. We now have wet wipes in our cars, and every room in the house, in case there are accidents. We carry poop bags in every coat pocket and in our cars. We also carry treats in our pockets for training. I have squares of paper towels lined up on the kitchen counter to wipe their little faces when they drink water, so the water doesn't drip on the floor. Cooper doesn't seem to mind but Maxine hates it - with time she will be conditioned to love it! I have towels on the back porch and by the front door, ready to wipe their paws if the weather is bad. So our lives have somewhat changed...but we get so much from both of them. We truly love our dogs and look forward to many years of happiness with them.
So much to say and more to come. I must go and hug the dogs now (oops...and Russell too). Until next blog, have a great week.
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