World, meet Francine, aka "Frankie". Frankie, meet world. It's day four and eight hours of sleep later--TOTAL hours, just to be clear. Who needs sleep when you have this little precious soul totally dependent upon you. Oh the love we have poured into this hellion, sweet, sweet baby girl is beyond words. Well, there probably are words, I just haven't the brain cells right now to convey them. We picked Frankie up on Saturday. As you can see, she slept most of the way home. We made formal introductions to the pack, and from the get-go two things were abundantly clear.
First, our oldest (around sixteen, we think) and most needy rescue is not having a thing to do with the rolling "cotton ball". (We use the baby gate system throughout our home to keep us all sane.) Frankie approached said gate, happy-go-lucky and stuff, and received quite the roar-of-the-jungle response. She is not a dog person, she is a person canine. She always has been. She will remain so and be our ever-loving side companion. We respect her wishes on this matter. NO Frankie for her. Ever. She watches with amusement and disdain.
Second, her other sissy, also a rescue, but came to us with issues of her own as well: Frankie adores her. From the moment she laid eyes on her, Frankie saw her as Big Sissy and went all agog over her. Tail wagging, downward dog moments, rolling over and then. . . nip and nip some more at her sissy's toes--and that's when the Doggie Discipline came to order and permanently remained. Rules were imposed by Big Sissy and little sissy, Frankie, has respectfully obliged. It's a miracle of sorts to watch.
Big Sissy's first year of life was spent entirely outdoors and in no way, shape or form was she ever given the divine attention our newest addition to the family has been granted. (Though we've quickly made up for those lost "petting and hugging" moments.) When we brought her home ten years ago, she literally had to be coaxed into learning to walk on carpet, hard floors, stairs (of course)--and in general, learn that there was such a thing as "indoors". Not to mention, we had to immediately seek tick treatment because her entire lower torso was a tick landing. (We almost named her tick because of this. But we didn't.)
She has greeted Frankie with an incredulity that is at times hilarious, and other times makes us feel like very bad parents for hoisting this terror canine upon her. But . . .
Who can resist this FACE? OMG! We are smitten with her beyond belief. And can you believe--she was the last one nobody wanted! We got the BEST.
We have made it our mission to be strict about how to raise our Pyr puppy to be of sound mind, good temperament and kindness. We are crate training--I wouldn't in a million years EVER bring a dog into the house without doing so. DH and I spent this past month combing through puppy training videos, blogs and articles detailing Best Methods for Puppy Training (which really should be called: Best Methods for Human Training). Anyhow, these nuggets of information have been invaluable to us. It's not like we're new to the whole 'canine raising' thing. This is our fourth Pyr--three previous were rescues, and our twelfth dog we've rescued/raised together. We just needed some refresher courses to get us through.
I thought I'd share a few realities with you. The Pyr puppies are adorable, inspiring, lovable and. . . will try your last nerve: over and over again. Be ready to laugh and cry, to feel like you may have just brought home the spawn of Satan from the way she acts. Fear not, in time, day-by-day, learning to sleep on four or less hours of sleep--we wake up tired--but full of joy to find her staring up at us ready for the big new world all over again.
The reason we are a Pyr family (from here on out) is that they are one of the most loyal, protective and smartest breeds out there. (Obviously if you are someone who gets "uptight" over the hair thing, it's very clear from the get go--you need to get over that or move on to some lesser-hairy creature for your companion.) Perhaps a fish. I have a coffee mug that sums it up best: Dog Hair: Don't Leave Home without It--and I never do. Grooming is mandatory. All that's required is a weekly brushing. You cannot 'opt out' on the grooming front with these guys.
If you desire a dog who is all about playing and being sort of goofy and flopsy 'doggie' for you for the rest of its life--the Pyr is not that kind of dog. They are very much a Gentle Giant of all the dog breeds. Prone to giving you a "paw", not so much giving you kisses, love hugs and require discipline--they are intuitive and learn very quickly. Yes, still very playful as a kid, but very soon realizes its role as guardian. (Many Pyrs spend their lives as livestock protectors--sheep mostly--and there are those who have sworn Pyr loyalty has saved their lives.)
As adults they become independent, aloof and quite stoic. In personality and in spirit, they kind of exist in their own world, and YOU are a guest. I personally LOVE them for this exact reason. Why?
(Because that is sort of how I describe myself.)
**A million little lights are going off in Frankie's head with every passing day. She is literally growing right in front of our eyes. (We anticipate she will be around one hundred pounds or more given the ginormous size of her paws.)
The first thing we did was schedule a vet visit. This is mandatory. They know EVERYTHING and have seen everything about bringing "the puppy" into adulthood. We've never really had to be diligent with such rigorous vet visits, given most rescues we've had were two or more years old, spayed/neutered--usually going in to check for overall health status reports and routine shots and pedicures (because I hate toe clipping--I am always afraid I'll hurt them). Our vet offers a one year puppy package we signed up for. It covers all of her vaccines, physical health and growth assessments and what have you. At seven weeks, she weighed in at 11.5 lbs. Oh, and Frankie will be spayed.
Let me talk about the crate training stuff for a minute. We had her "space" and toys, bowl, treats and food ready for her when she came home. We had the kennel out for a week so the other dogs could inspect, smell and 'wonder'. We kept saying, "Frankie's coming home!" to looks of strange curiosity. But still, it helped create a world of less chaos to deal with once the little hellion sweet puppy arrived.
The day we picked her up, we brought along a stuffed toy and blankets to have her litter mates and mama run around in--so the scent of her family still remained with her even though she'd been plucked up from that familiar world. This helped tremendously.
The second thing was, we didn't just bring her home and upsy-daisy into the bathtub she goes. She was cleaned by her breeder when we picked her up, so for me, it was important she retain the scent of her prior life for as long as possible. (She got her first puppy spa day on day three.) As for toys--chewy and plushy, we have about a dozen or so scattered about the kitchen for her, outside of her crate. She is right in the middle of the action here, so this works best.
**A second crate is set up in the bedroom for her for nighttime.
Within a day, she was in and out of her crate without nary a whimper. We implemented a lot of the crate training techniques found on the ASPCA web site.
And now for the hard part. All cuteness aside, this is where the rubber meets the road. But it's the most crucial step in training our baby Frankie to become a most responsible indoor dog as possible.
**If screaming and crying bother you and you don't want to have to wake up to a house that smells like the Zombie Apocalypse spent the evening in your home, then pay attention here.
I'm a person that needs her sleep or else I begin to hear songs in my head--over and over again. I see things that aren't really there, and my speech takes on a rambling, non-coherent jumble of dribbly-drab.
And yup, that's where I'm at right now:
The Non-Coherent Sleep-Deprived Puppy Mommy.
The method we've implemented on getting through the nights with Frankie is called The Light Sleeper Method for crate training I found in a book by Rebecca Setler. I highly recommend this book and her website to any and all new puppy parents.
**I need to write this woman telling her, You've stolen years from my life! Or write her telling her, OMG, this is so hard, but it is SO working.
The Light Sleeper Method is named after YOU not the puppy. If you are a light sleeper (and I am)--this method works the best. You are basically NOT awaiting a rallying cry for bladder relief, instead the entire evening is spent in a pleasant state of on-again, off-again sleep walking trips outside.
(Given my fear of the dark, raccoons, deer and anything else that goes bump in the night--Frankie has helped all but erase my once "night fears" with an: Alright Mr. Nighttime, Big and Scary Darkness, here we are: bring it.)
Now I'm just la-de-da about walking out into our unlit yard like it was the middle of the day (even though it's one a.m., then three a.m., then five a.m. and then. . . Hello Morning) and it begins all over again.
So far, Frankie hasn't had a single "mistake" in the house. I thank our vigilant crate training for this.
Dr. Thyme and I have instituted a Mommy goes to bed at eight p.m. rule, while daddy then takes over and keeps Frankie entertained and AWAKE until around ten thirty--leaving me with overnight duties. But at least this way, I have a solid five hours on the front end of the night under my belt, and catch the rest of the winks here and there until six a.m. Bleary-eyed? Yes. Tired? Yes. But pushing through it all: Yes!
I won't say it didn't come with some Jesus H. Christ, what in the WORLD were we thinking! moments. (But I have close friends who called me from bathroom closets in their homes when they had toddlers telling me they thought they were going crazy and could become homicidal if their offspring didn't STOP!--you fill in the blank)--so this is nothing.
Dr. Thyme keeping "The Spawn" entertained.
Mommy and Frankie--First Spa Day. Um, not a fan. But I had plenty of treats on hand to keep Frankie at least curious about what in the hell was going on here with the wetness and all.
Ahhhh. Post spa day nap under piles of towels. Whew.
And a valerian afternoon tea and cookie break for mommy.
Until she wakes up and we begin again.
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