Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Settling in With Lana :)


This had been a big week for us all, with Little Miss Lana in our home. We love love love her! It's fun to see her come out of her shell and trust us more and more every day!


Well Baby Vet Visit: Monday Lana saw the vet, and aside from a case of ear mites that's a common ailment in floppy eared pups, she's a picture of health! One big shocker though! We were told Lana was about 2-2.5 yrs old, but Dr Chancellor said he's put her age at barely a year old! Wow! Our Little Miss Lana is a very accurate nickname. :) 


Potty Training: We were  told Lana May or May not be housebroken, but any big move can confuse any dog. She only had about  3 accidents and first she needed a short walk to go potty. We've advanced to going potty in the yard, but she doesn't want to be alone.


Back Yard Ambivalence!: Lana loooves playing in the yard and sniffing all around. :) But, as of now she's hesitant to be outside alone. I get it- new place, anxiety separation, etc. She just needs time and we can phase her out alone with incrementally larger time periods.






"Why no chase kitty?" "Dog! She'll kill us all!!":

It seems Lana and the cats are getting more comfortable living together. Hunter is pretty much ok with Lana, but Tigger isn't so sure. :-/ He's getting there. Last night be slept in bed with Lana being there too. Today she came down from the china cabinet for the day to his normal day long nap on the sunny bookcase. Lol. :) 



Beginner's Obedience Training Class! :D As luck would have it we got Lana into an obedience yesterday (Nov 19th)- the actual day I went in to sign up for a class in Dec 4th! For the next six weeks, Chris, Lana, and I will be at PetSmart helping Lana learn some better manners. In my opinion, people view obedience just for getting your dog to listen. But, the other half of the equation is your dog is now clear what you are asking and that cuts down on everyone's stress and confusion.


Week One:  Intro, "Sit", "Watch Me"

I'm sure you understand the sit command. :) The "watch me" was new to me. You are asking your dog to look into your eyes or at least your face. Great command for getting your dogs attention, especiallly when they're going a bit crazy!! :) In class Lana simply was too timid/insecure about the intimacy of eye contact. But, she finally would look in our eyes -not the instructors- very briefly. Before next Tues. we just have to work on those two commands! :) 


Lana's First Week Hwk: Weds- going nicely! She is showing me I need to do the same thing each time. We were practicing "sit" and I had to hold my hand position (palm open facing up, finger & thumb in a circle holding the treat) the same way of she took much more time to sit. Obedience 101 for Pet Parent: Patience, Repetition, and Consistency, Consistency, CONSISTENCY!


Very encouraged with her "Watch Me" command- a sit followed by a command to look at my eyes/face. She struggled with this in class on Tues because of insecurity, but in the calm of her home :) she's going pretty well! She makes definite eye contact & we'll work on increasing the length. 


I love getting to look into her gorgeous eyes. :) I've never seen brown eyes like hers. :) Not being gushy! They are a sort of a caramel-y light brown with a hint of red. So pretty. :) 


Fun!: It's so cute to watch Lana play. :) She really enjoys her "babies", her stuffed animal toys. They follow the beagle breed as hunting breed. :) She's got a pheasant, a rabbit, a fox, and a MIA porcupine. I guess she felt it didn't fit the criteria. :p She finds great joy in "hiding" her babies.  She just doesn't want to share I guess! She also loves small nylabones, Kong, and crazily this crackle ball cat toy with a bell. 



Cuddle Bunny!: One big benefit of the house breaking is we can trust (fingers crossed, no jinxes!) Lana can sleep in bed with all of us. :) She is such a cuddle bug! This week it seems about 2pm I've GOT to take some length of nap and of course Lil' Lana joins me too. Since my arm surgery I sleep with a pillow under by left arm for support. Today I fell asleep with Lana on the far side of the pillow and woke up with her cuddled up between the pillow and me. :) 


Silly puppy :)



This took a few weeks to post, but Lana is going great! 

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