Roxie The Rescued Puppy - A Greyhound Wannabe

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

Yesterday, I stopped in the local city animal shelter to look at a pit mix pup that DH and I had seen online. As fate would have it, she was taken.

 

Did I leave immediately???? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LOL! The second our eyes connected, I knew which pup would be our new family member ... a Great Dane/Lab mix! She's 2 months old (10#!) and showed up at the shelter one day with two kind hearted young women who had her wrapped in a towel soaked with blood and were upset because they'd witnessed her being hit by a car near the shelter. The kind shelter staff rushed her to a local vet (who just happens to be our family vet - the one I described in another thread regarding our vet dilemma - for this reason, we think it was all meant to be that Roxie is in our home), who kept her for weeks and operated to repair her damaged back leg, did weeks of PT and aquatic therapy with her, socialized her (she was terrified of people) and .... the day I showed up at the vet was the very day the vet released her back to the shelter as available for adoption. We named her Roxie.

 

She walks just fine in her own way - a little wobbly, but it doesn't slow her down or discourage her a bit ..., but struggles a little with losing her balance when she runs. We'll continue the aquatic therapy and we think that just trying to keep up with our two grey girls will be her best therapy.

 

DH and I have to be totally honest and admit that it's been decades since we've had a puppy in our home and we're way out of practice.

 

She slept well in her crate in our bedroom (placed where she could see the girls in their beds) and only woke around 1am for me to take her outside.

 

We know this little girl is going to stay little for probably all of a week or so (slight exaggeration) before she's a very big girl. She loves our girls and the girls are very good at setting limits with her. They put up with the cuddling and face licking and taunting to play, but draw the line at tail biting and give her a very threatening bark to let her know to stop, which she does. Our kitty is going thru her usual adjustment period - just as she did with the girls - where she wants to cuddle and groom her, but has to teach Roxie when she's being too rough.

 

In fact, our fur babies have all adjusted very well - it's DH and I who I think are flunking. Well, maybe not flunking, but we're at a loss as to how to be persistent with her, while still managing to carry on a semi-normal household routine and not totally robbing her of her personality.

 

I'm trying to determine how I will keep her in my line of sight while cooking, cleaning, etc.

 

We love her dearly and know the puppy phase isn't going to last forever, but we don't want to make any mistakes with a teeny puppy that will be insurmountable when she's the size of a horse! LOL!

 

Am holding out hope and praying that her Lab genetics will be predominant and she will have a long life, as I understand Danes aren't known for growing to a ripe old age.

 

Will investigate enrolling her in puppy school soon - the ones we've checked into have a minimum enrollment at 10 weeks of age and she's not quite that old.

 

The one puppy habit that I want to address first is to learn how to respond when she wants to chew on us with her sharp puppy teeth. We've heard all kinds of methods - saying NO -which I would have to just record and play on a loop constantly ... or, shaking a finger at her while saying no and touching her nose ... or making that "Tssst" (?) sound to get her attention and redirect her to an appropriate chew toy, etc. Regardless of which method we choose, her response is to bark at us playfully and bounce around as if it's a game.

 

I'm sure there are as many opinions as there are individuals, but I do appreciate any input.

 

Here are a few pics of our little darling:

 

The white mark you see on her back leg are the extensive scars from her leg repair:

 

 

Edited March 5, 2011 by TexasGreytMom

[sabrina]

Roxie glad you found your forever home.

 

For you & your DH you are very brave, good luck

[krissy]

Omg! What an adorable little girl! Congrats, and good for you to open your heart and home to a puppy with medical challenges!

 

In terms of the nipping, what really worked for me with my foster puppy was to yelp, like another puppy. I would offer him a small treat and when he grabbed it and 4 of my fingers in his little needle teeth I would make a surprised, sharp "yelp" just like another puppy or dog would do, and pull my hand (and the treat) away. Then I would offer it again and repeat. After a couple of attempts he would become more and more gentle, and I would decrease the sharpness and intensity of my yelp accordingly until I finally felt no little teeth, would release the treat and praise him highly. This lesson usually had to be repeated every day as he would forget, but after a couple of weeks he was very gentle taking treats. When playing with him with a toy, if he got me instead of the toy with his teeth I would yelp, remove the toy and turn my back on him for about 15 seconds. The idea is "you touch me with your teeth, I don't play with you". Of course since he was a puppy he had a pretty short attention span so 15 to 30 seconds of being ignored was sufficient as a lesson, and then I would turn around and play with him again until I felt teeth. You don't want to ignore the puppy for too long, because then instead of a lesson it becomes a punishment.

 

Good luck with the puppy phase! It's difficult but also wonderful.

[Guest Lakota]

Congratulations, he is super cute. I can see how he would steal your heart.

 

Consistency is the key with what ever training method you choose. You, your husband, and anyone else in the house must be 100% consistent with the message. If it's ok even once, it will take longer for him to learn.

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

Thanks, all!

 

Krissy - It just dawned on me that what you describe doing is practically the same method our grey girls use with her ... and if it works for them, it should work for us!

 

I really like that approach, because we don't want to use any type of physical reaction. I do realize that, as with human kiddos, consistency is key, so we'll both try very hard to follow-thru.

 

The housebreaking is going so-so. We've been letting her out every hour or if we see her show indications that she needs to go out. Her being able to go out with our grey girls and mimmick them appears to be a big help.

 

We'll get thru this fine, just want to do as little unintentional psychological damage as possible to her through our ignorance! LOL!

[DesiRayMom]

What a beauty!!!!

 

You are much braver than I to take on a puppy, but I can certainly understand why you did.

 

Let's all watch her G - R - O - W!!!!!!

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

So true! She's a little doll right now and DH just commented that in a few weeks, we won't even recall that she was ever this small. Am sure enjoying this while it lasts, though!

 

[Guest Scouts_mom]

She is addorable. Have fun with her and good luck with the training. I once heard a trainer say that you need to remember that puppies have only one brain cell in their cute little heads--hence the short attention span and memory.

 

I've used the yelp method with dogs that are too mouthy -- it works.

[4greyhounds]

She is Adorable!!!!!!!!!! :wub: Congratulations to all!!!!! Please keep those pics coming.... I just want to Squeeeeezzeee her! :confetti

[Jenbo]

She is a beauty! *swoon*

[RobinM]

She is beautiful and will be stunning when full grown. Hoping you have many happy and healthy years together.

[JJNg]

Congrats on your new addition! She's adorable! I agree with krissy's suggestions for dealing with her biting. I've found that with or without an immediate yelp or 'ouch!', ignoring is the most effective method for a puppy who is play biting. When she's excited and nipping because she wants to play, she wants your attention more than anything - hiding your hands and turning your back on her takes that away. Most of the other methods, such as saying "no", tapping her nose, etc, still require you to give her attention, even if it is negative attention, and any type of response from you can make her more excited.

 

For the more persistent pups who keep jumping and nipping at you from behind when you turn your back, and don't stop even when you try to wait it out for 10-15 sec, you can calmly walk away from her, go through a door, and close the door behind you without allowing her through. You don't need to stay gone for more than 5 sec or so. I also like to use a '3 strikes' rule where if you have to ignore her for biting for 3 times in a row, she's probably too over-stimulated and needs some time in her crate to calm down.

 

For the chewing/gnawing type biting, like a pup who's teething, redirect her to an appropriate chew toy, and praise for chewing on the toy instead of you. Good luck and have fun with your baby!

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

This little girl is so spunky that when we yelp when she chews on us, she stops, looks at us and barks at us as if she's talking. It's as if she thinks she has to have the last say! We'll keep it up, though. And, I've also tried hiding my hands where she can't reach them to chew on them.

 

We had family over today and, along with our two grey girls, there were two smaller pups, but both were larger than her. One of them was a little too rough with play. But, the other was gentle with her and seemed to sense that she was "special" and needed to be treated a little more gently. They had such fun bouncing around the lawn together. When Roxie couldn't keep up and had to sit down to rest, the other pup would go back to her and sit with her. It was absolutely so sweet to see.

 

Since we knew we'd have so many people over today, we put her crate in our foyer with the door open and she seemed pleased with being able to escape for naps when she needed them.

 

The only other pup I've housetrained has been a toy poodle and she took to it immediately. This was years ago.

 

Roxie is having a little bit more difficulty. We let her out every 45 min - 1 hour, if not more often. She'll do her business outside (tinkle and poop) and then about ten minutes after coming inside, she'll tinkle on the floor. She's only 8 weeks old, and we're being patient, Have removed our large area rug from the living room until we're past this phase.

 

Will make an appointment this week to rule out the possibility of a kidney/bladder infection, but I don't suspect that's the case because she'd gotten a clear bill of health from the shelter's vet (who is also my vet) the day we adopted her.

 

I've forgotten what's considered normal frequency for pup's to urinate - does it seem odd that she's tinkling outside and then coming inside and doing it again 10-15 minutes later?

 

Thank you all for your wishes of congrats - and for tolerating my non-grey topic. After being grey-parents for the past 15 years, we just need all the advice we can get relating to this little girl!

Edited March 7, 2011 by TexasGreytMom

[krissy]

For a large breed 8 week old puppy that seems a little odd. I had a 7 week old foster puppy a couple summers back (had him for 3 weeks until he was 10 weeks old) and he didn't have any problems with house training. He would crate for half days (I came home at lunch to walk and feed him) and after the first week I realized that he could hold it through the night. He was a ShepherdX (so a large breed).

 

Depending on her injuries, she could possibly be slightly incontinent?

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

For a large breed 8 week old puppy that seems a little odd. I had a 7 week old foster puppy a couple summers back (had him for 3 weeks until he was 10 weeks old) and he didn't have any problems with house training. He would crate for half days (I came home at lunch to walk and feed him) and after the first week I realized that he could hold it through the night. He was a ShepherdX (so a large breed).

 

Depending on her injuries, she could possibly be slightly incontinent?

 

Thanks for sharing your experience! Will schedule a consultation with our vet.

 

Odd thing is, the first night she let us know only once that she had to go out (we crate her at night) at around 1:30am and didn't soil her crate.

 

Last night, she slept completely thru the night from 10pm thru to 6:15am, and again no soiled crate. hmmmmm.

Edited March 7, 2011 by TexasGreytMom

[JJNg]

I've forgotten what's considered normal frequency for pup's to urinate - does it seem odd that she's tinkling outside and then coming inside and doing it again 10-15 minutes later?

I'd agree this is more frequently than what I'd consider normal for her age/breed. However, it's not unusual for the stress of transition to a new home to cause increased urination for the first week or two. That might be all it is, but definitely a good idea to get her checked out by the vet.

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

What a difference a few days makes! A few days ago, Roxie was chewing on us and everything in sight that she could get her paws on. She'd tinkle on the floor inside right after coming inside from doing that very thing outside.

 

Today, it was as if a switch was flipped - DH works from home and said she didn't have any accidents at all. She stopped aggravating the grey girls - didn't stand in front of them and bark and hop around trying to get their attention.

 

We took her in for her first well-puppy vet visit and she did great. She got a perfect bill of health, with the exception of a vaginal bacterial infection, for which we have meds. No bladder/kidneys problems whatsoever, thankfully.

 

She's gained 2# since Friday and is now at 14# at 2-1/2 months. Took my list of questions in to the vet, along with printouts of the grey girls' food nutritional values and learned that the Large Puppy version of the Adult dry food we feed the grey girls is perfect for her until she's 6 months old. Also learned that we need to feed her more food more frequently since she's growing so quickly.

 

After the vet visit, we stopped by to see a friend's full grown Dane - she's 11 months and 120# and very well-mannered. After seeing her, we just don't think Roxie is going to be that large (fingers crossed). She had such fun "playing" with the monster Dane. Wish I'd taken pics.

 

This evening, in another turn of events, she picked up a small rawhide and took it to Shelby's bed and layed beside Shelby while she chewed on it. They layed side by side and Shelby didn't jump up to get away. It's so nice to see them all settling into a routine and accepting each other.

 

And, it always amazes me how quickly things can change and everyone can settle in so nicely. Black pups seem to not show up as well in photos (probably operator error), but here's a pic from this evening:

 

[DonnaBehr]

It sounds like things are going well and you have a smart pup there. Between you and the other dogs, she's learning very quickly. She is absolutely adorable. Can't wait to see her pictures as she is growing.

 

Roxie is lucky you went to the shelter that day.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

OK now that is adorable!

[fionasmom]

Sooo cute. Nessa (english pointer) was about 8 weeks old when I adopted her. It seems to be normal that they pee very often. I would take Nessa outside and then 15 minutes after we came back to the house she would pee again. At some point I realized that she had to pee 3 times per outing. Lucky for me, her foster mom had started paper training heer so even if I wasn't getting the signal she would usually go over to her paper to pee.

 

When Nessa put her teeth on me I would say "no" and redirect to something appropriate. That certainly worked in our case and she quickly learned to grab a chew toy or rawhide. Then again pointers don't retrieve so she may not have the same mouthing issues that a lab would.

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

Sad update - we lost Roxie yesterday due to a virus that she was not able overcome. After a week of not eating and being at the vet clinic, we visited her and we could tell by her demeanor and the look in her eyes that she did not want to fight to live any longer. I held her and told her how much she was loved as she quietly fell asleep forever. It's too soon for me to to talk too much about it it all yet. My heart is broken and I'm devastated. DH and I have never had a pup adopt us, be with us for just a few days, and totally change our lives the way she did. I may update later when I'm feeling emotionally and physically stronger. But, right now I'm feeling as if we've let her down and feel so helpless and hopeless knowing that what would have a been a wonderful family member is no longer with us. She was only in our home less than a week, but we couldn't imagine having the vet dispose of her body, or burying her, so, as with our grey angels, we're having her cremated and we will have her ashes back with us soon.

 

As always, thanks so much for your support and for accommodating my rambling on and on about an adorable non-grey wannabe that touched our hearts!

[dante2zoe]

I am absolutely stunned and feel so badly for you and your family. How tragic.

[Guest iconsmum]

oh no, I'm terribly sorry for you and her.

Edited March 14, 2011 by iconsmum

[Guest BigTurtle]

She is adorable!

[kickchick2000]

I'm so sorry for your loss , yet thankful that she had a week where she was part of a family and loved unconditionally.