Recommendation

After getting little to no sleep the last two nights, I have a recommendation to anyone considering getting a puppy: don't take home a puppy that is not at LEAST 7 weeks old. If I had had a choice in the matter of Sadie's age, I would have left her at the breeder for another two weeks, but he was adamant that he wanted the pups gone by 6 weeks of age. I am really regretting not telling him we could not pick Sadie up until she was 8 weeks old.

I became painfully aware during her first 24 hours in the house that her puppy brain had not yet developed to the point where I could do much with her besides listen to her endless yelping and howling at all hours of the day. She is too young yet to understand any kind of reprimand. She is at an age where she is more curious and wanting to explore than she is fearful of anything. She is also at the age where puppies learn by playing with their litter mates what type of biting is acceptable and what type is not, meaning she gnaws on anything and everything she can get her little mouth around. My hands are all scratched up because of her biting milk teeth. I finally got to the point where I pulled out a bottle of Bitter Apple dog spray that I bought when I first got Maggie and then never needed and dipped one of my fingers in a capful of it. Sadie did not appreciate the taste at all when she next tried to gnaw on me, which I was really glad to see.

We have come to the realization that the next week or so could be rough with this young pup until her adult brain really starts to develop. I know it sounds sad, but I am looking forward to when her fear stage kicks in at 8 weeks so that we can begin bonding and I can begin training her. There really is a big difference between a pup that is 6 weeks and one that is 8 weeks.

Maggie tries to tolerate the pup as best she can, but even she gets fed up with the constant whining and biting. Whenever Sadie starts to cry, Maggie picks up and leaves the room. I got her to rough house with Sadie for a little bit tonight, which was really fun to see. She is definitely jealous of the pup and guards me with her life. She shows her possessiveness by sitting in my lap or touching me constantly with a paw. I do encourage her to rough house with Sadie as much as possible.

The best advice I have received so far was to put a ticking clock next to Sadie's crate. Apparently it soothes the pup and reminds her of her mother's heartbeat. I gave it a whirl today, and I have been absolutely amazed at how quickly Sadie hunkers down when I put her in her crate with the clock ticking away on top of it (thank God!). I just hope it proves to be as effective tonight while I'm trying to catch some much needed sleep.

I know I am not supposed to compare my puppies, but my first two border collies were a walk in the park compared to this pup. They never howled and whined and they never chewed on anything that didn't belong to them. I attribute most of this to Sadie's young age, and I just hope that I'm right.

For now, this frustrated pooch mom is signing off while the pup is sound asleep in her crate.