Funny Kimmy

Yesterday Kimmy gave me a good chuckle. During the afternoon, I suddenly realized I didn't see her anywhere, so I went to investigate, where she was hiding. I thought it was suspicious, because normally she is like my shadow, following me everywhere around the house.

So I looked in every room downstairs, then went upstairs. Looked in Ben's room, but nothing. Looked in our bedroom, where her bed is, to see if she's sleeping there, nothing. Then I took one look at our bed and YEP - there she was, in the middle of our bed, snuggled under the duvet, she looked at me with her cute puppy eyes and I just couldn't help but laugh.

Sneaky thing! So I took her downstairs with me, I bet she was not happy about it ;)

15 weeks today!

You're growing up, my baby girl! :)

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Kimmy loves running outside in the snow (yes, we actually have snow that hasn't melted immediately after falling!!!). I took her for her morning walk and she just frolicked in the snow and ran up and down the hill like a ... well, puppy! ;)

It's so funny when she sniffs and licks the snow, then looks up and her nose is all white, so cute :)

I need to somehow get through her skull that I am not her littermate, and that she can't play with me the same way she would play with her brothers and sisters. Every single time we start heading home from our walk, she will try to initiate puppy play with me. She will go in front of me, block my way, then do the "play bow" (front paws on the ground, butt in the air, tail wagging side to side), sometimes she will add a short bark as well, and then she'd grab the leg of my trousers with her teeth and start shaking.

I know that this is how puppies play but heck, no matter how many times I say "no!", she still does it. It must be a funny view when we head home. Every time she does this "routine", I stop in my tracks, say "No!" and if she doesn't let go of my trousers, I remind her to do so with my hand. Then she looks at me and waits. As soon as I make another step, the whole process repeats. Step, bite, stop, step, bite, stop, .... It's a very slow way to get home ;)

I wonder if she does it because she doesn't want the walk to be over yet?

In every case, I need to be patient with her and just keep on letting her know that she is not allowed to do this.

Dear Kimmy

My adorable puppy. You are so cute and cuddly. You really make my heart melt. But honestly, we will need to work on your manners, young lady.

1. Ladies don't sniff people's crotches.

Trust me on this, it's just not done. I understand that my private bits smell irresistible to your sensitive doggy nose, but no, you may NOT sniff me, not in private and HELL NO in public.

2. Ladies don't fart in bed.

If I managed to train my husband not to fart in the bedroom, it comes as a no-brainer that I will not tolerate it from you, my underling. You have the privilege of sleeping right beside our marital bed. Please keep your poisonous gases to yourself. You stink! ;)

3. Ladies don't bite.

I don't know what got into you lately, but chewing and nipping on my feet is not appreciated. The numerous socks that now have holes in them do not please me. You may not be aware of the fact that I do not mend socks. I have aversion to anything involving needles and threads. It would be also nice if you stopped grabbing my son's trousers with your teeth and PULL. You see, your puppy teeth are very sharp. When you pull with your weight on fabric, it will more often than not rip. Ventilation holes in my son's trousers are truly NOT necessary. So, please, I beg you - refrain.

At inlaws' Christmas dinner, Kimmy was the star

There is nothing better than a puppy snuggle

Okay, Kimmy is definitely starting to look more like a small dog than a puppy, but she is only 14.5 weeks old!

Her fur is so soft and silky to the touch. I enjoy brushing it. She seems to enjoy the grooming as well, is very patient even during ear cleaning, but she doesn't like her paws wiped after coming from outside very much, I guess it tickles.

She doesn't mind me clipping her nails though, which is good. So far they don't grow very fast.

She got so much better with the housebreaking, I think it's been a week since the last "accident". I definitely enjoy not having to clean up messes at home, ha!

She regularly sleeps for 8 hours straight at night, too. This is wonderful!

I got ill with strep throat and flu a few days ago, and took to bed with raging fever, full body aches and the worst sore throat imaginable. I left Ben downstairs with instructions to fend for himself, and went upstairs and crawled in bed. Kimmy, as she always does, followed me, and looked kind of puzzled at seeing me go to bed in the middle of the day. She watched, observed, then climbed up the bed, curled up right beside me, put her head on my shoulder, and just laid there, as I listened to her heartbeat and ejoyed the warmth, the soft fur, the closeness, the peace.

I think who hasn't tried this, doesn't know, but it has to be said that a snuggling puppy when you're sick is almost as good as chicken soup!

Kimmy didn't move from my side until my bursting bladder made wake up and go to the loo, and then I took her for a wee as well, and we both went straight back to bed.

The Christmas tree survived

despite Kimmy attacking its lower branches, chewing them, and bumping the balls with her curious nose. I consider this a success!

The tree on the Christmas Day morning:

Kimmy got rawhide chewies, which she was pretty thrilled about. I am hoping those will keep her from chewing and biting other items, like my shoes, my feet, my hands, ...

Thrilling day today!

At least for Kimmy :)

As we were outside for a walk, we walked past a neighbour's house, the lady who lives there is a frequent customer in my husband's place of work (butcher shop), and she has two dogs herself, a Golden Retriever (16 months) and a brown Labrador (4 years), both males.

When she saw me with Kimmy, she called out to her and when we came closer, she petted Kimmy and told her what a cute puppy she is. Then she asked me if I'd like for Kimmy to meet their Golden Retriever, and I said sure! She is quite shy around other dogs, so a bit of socializing will do her good.

The Golden boy was thrilled to bits when she took him out and he saw Kimmy. Unfortunately, his leash was not properly fastened and as he lunged towards the pup, the leash let go and he was within one jump right at Kimmy - who of course totally freaked out, yelped and jumped backwards, completely beside herself.

Then the owner's son, Claude, came out and restrained the doggy, and spoke soothingly to Kimmy, and after a while, she overcame her fear and sniffed the dog and they touched noses, it was so cute.

Soon there was a lot of play bowing and tail wagging and playful barking.

Then Claude took out their Labrador out, who was also very excited to meet Kimmy. Soon they were running around the front yard together like two maniacs. Unfortunately, then I had to go because it was time for attending Ben's Christmas Party at preschool.

I hope we can do this "play date" soon again, it was fun for Kimmy, she was sad to leave :)

We finally put up our Christmas tree

Gerry and Benny decorated it last night. Kimmy was of course, with her nose right in the middle of action, this dog is sooo curious! Ha ha :)

So, let's see how long before I can report the first tree casualty... ;)

Snow!

We got snow on Monday and Kimmy just loved running around in it and of course, she licked and ate the snow, too!

14 weeks today!

Kimmy is 14 weeks old today. Time flies when you're having fun ;)

Yesterday I took her and Benny to Ettelbruck for a walk in the pedestrian zone. Loads of people, other dogs, shops with blinking lights, noise and bustle, this was sure a good socialization outing for our puppy.

We met the dog trainer accidentally as well, he was walking one of his dogs and another dog from the dog hotel he and his wife have in the nearby village of Fehlen.

As we walked, we got stopped by a woman with her young son, she asked if she could pet Kimmy. I said yes, and so she petted and cooed over Kimmy and told me how Dobermans are just the best dogs ever, and that they also had a Dobie, now dearly departed, and that they want to get a new one, but can't find any in Lux. and asked where we got ours from, so I told her.

Kimmy could tell that this woman liked her because she wagged her tail like crazy and licked her hands and tried to get a hug, too ;)

Then, this woman looked so longingly at Kimmy and said: "Awww, she is so beautiful, I could take her home with me right away! I will tell my husband I am puppy sick and that we need to drive to Germany and get a puppy right away."

We get a lot of compliments on Kimmy as we walk, she is really a very good looking doggy!

Practicing recall - Kimmy running to me

click on the image to see larger view

Isn't she beautiful?

Second puppy class

This afternoon I went with Kimmy for her second puppy class. This time there was not only the Golden Retriever puppy, but also a man with a dog whose breed name I never heard of, it was one of those bull breeds, not pitbull, but similar.

Anyway, this guy (older man, maybe 50?) was absolutely not in charge of the dog, who might have been 5 months old, he pulled very powerfully and the guy just tried not to lose footing, it was a bit scary to watch.

The trainer said: "Oh my, what the hell will you do when the dog is 130 pounds??? You need to get him under control pronto!"

Kimmy was scared of this dog, every time he came closer to her, she would howl out and try to hide between my legs, poor thing.

Gerry and Benny trailed with us, to watch and observe, Gerry also wanted to meet the trainer.
We went for a walk along the river and did exercises along the way, like teaching "heel", and passing other dogs, and recall, etc. It was very interesting, but it snowed all afternoon and I didn't have gloves, so my hands were frozen by the end of the 90 minute lesson.

Kimmy did well, I think, the trainer said she needs to build her self esteem and she will be good as gold, so we need to work on that.

She is not scared of women and children at all, a bit wary of males, and scared of other dogs.
The last exercise was something I didn't expect. We came to a building that had very tall stairs leading to its entrance, you really needed to lift your foot very high to your hip to walk up.
So, the trainer had me climb up, while he held Kimmy by her leash. Then I had to call her to me and the exercise was to see if she will figure out how to get to me. He said that a dog should run through fire to his master, and a puppy should overcome its fear of height and climb big stairs to get to his master.

OK, so I called her to me and she saw me standing up there, she went to the first stair and put her front paws on top of it and looked at me so longingly. I kept calling and cajoling her to climb up, and she started climbing the first stair. She was shaking, poor thing, she was so afraid, but she made it on the first stair and tried the second one, but the third (last) stair, she just shook like a leaf and whined so pitifully, and the trainer went up to her and pushed her butt up and then she ran to me and wagged her tail and I praised her and petted her and gave her a treat.

Now she's dead tired, lying on the floor under my feet and snoring away :)

Ripping paper to shreds is so much fun!

Leaps and bounds

Kimmy is wonderful! As she's growing, she is starting to be able to hold it for long periods, and today I noticed she finally started signalling the need to go potty - she will go to the door where I always take her out in the garden, and look at it and quietly whine. Yes, Kimmy, that's a good girl! :)

She loves to nibble on shoes, so I had to put up a kiddy gate in the hallway where we store our shoes, to keep her nosy nose out of this area. She is now tall enough to reach on the table as well, which prompted her to try and "steal" food! So, that means, no more food lying around here!

She's no longer sleeping in her crate at night - because she definitely outgrew it, and so she is now on her dog bed beside me on the floor and sleeps very well - for 7 to 8 hours at a stretch. When she needs to go potty, she gets up and puts her head on my side of the bed. I am a light sleeper, so that's enough to wake me up.

She is truly a velcro doggy, follows me around the house wherever I go, and when I am on the computer, she settles down on the floor between my feet and snoozes. She's starting to be a bit too big for my lap!

She eats well and with great appetite. I now feed her 3 times a day.

She is very cute and loves a cuddle. Doesn't protest when I handle her and look at her teeth or clean her ears.

When we go for a walk, I mostly let her go off leash, and she likes to sniff around and always keeps me in her sight and doesn't go too far from me. I noticed, that when we go away from the house, I am in the lead and she trails behind me, and when we start heading towards home, she switches positions with me and gets in the lead, but always stops to turn and see if I am following her. She knows which way is home :)

Our princess is growing!

First puppy class

Yesterday was an eventful day for Kimmy. We went for our first puppy class in Ettelbruck together. There was another puppy, same age as Kimmy, a male Golden Retriever. The trainer himself has a Doberman, so he has a lot of experience with this particular breed.

We did some exercises, first to see how well the puppies have bonded to us in the few weeks they've been with us. The trainer held Kimmy by his side, while I walked across the field, then stopped and called Kimmy by name. She looked at me, then walked, turned into running, then galloping across the field to me, and when she reached me, I gave her a treat for a good recall.

Then it was the other puppy's turn. I had to stiffle a giggle when the owner called it, and the pup ran to Kimmy instead of the owner, oops ;)

The next exercise was the same, only this time, we didn't call, we just stood there. Kimmy started running towards me right away, and again got a treat :) The other puppy first ran to the trainer instead of the owner, but then finally understood what was expected and ran to the owner.

Up until then, she (the owner) was very snooty and overly self confident, so I kinda had an internal giggle when her doggy wasn't doing what he was supposed to do. Her obvious competitiveness rubbed me the wrong way. When we first arrived for the class, and the trainer told us to follow him to the field, Kimmy was scared, and so I carried her. The other pup walked happily, and so the woman turned to me and in this condescending tone she said: "What, your dog can't even WALK yet?" Grrrrr....

Reminds me of competitive mothers who compare their babies' development milestones and love to brag. It definitely sounded that way when she announced that her 12 week old pup is already toilet trained! I admitted that mine isn't, so what. The trainer laughed, and told her: "At 12 weeks, the dog isn't trained, YOU ARE!" and she started arguing with him that yes, her dog is definitely trained, bla bla...

Then we still did an exercise with a rope-toy, and practiced taking it from the dog in exchange for a treat, to train her to give it.

By then, the class was almost over, so we still spoke about puppy development and the trainer gave us advice, and told us to practice recall several times a day, always with a treat.

Then I packed Kimmy in the car and drove to the veterinarian, where I met with Gerry and Benny. It was time for Kimmy's 3rd round of vaccination.

The doc checked Kimmy and gave her the shot. All the while, Benny stood quietly at the wall, so as to be out of the way, and just watched.

As the checkup was over, the vet told us:

"I can't believe your son is so well behaved! I literally didn't her a peep from him. This is the first time in my practice I've encountered such a well behaved child! A lot of people bring their kids with them when they come here and you wouldn't believe the antics they let their kids do! They run around the office, scream and jump, open the drawers, take out my instruments, it's awful - and the worst thing is that the parents don't even say anything!"

Then she smiled at Kimmy and added: "When I'm already praising here, I must say your puppy is very calm and quiet too!" :)

Then we went home and Kimmy was just so exhausted, she slept all evening. It must have been a lot for her.

Her crate is now a bit too small for her (she is now 10 kilograms), so we took a chance last night, and let her sleep beside our bed in just her dog bed, without the crate, hoping she won't soil on the floor - and she didn't! She slept from midnight till 7:15 AM, and didn't make a peep. What a good girl!!! :)

Yesterday was a fun day

Kimmy really makes me laugh! What a goofy little puppy she is. In the morning, I took her for a walk off leash, and as we walked, a large noisy tractor came along the street. Kimmy looked at it with a horrified expression, then when it got really close, suddenly she barked like mad a few times and then bolted it out of there at top speed. I swear she was running for her life! In a few short moments, she was in front of our house, panting and wheezing, poor thing. The tractor really frightened her! Now I know for a fact that she knows where we live, though, ha ha ;)

In the afternoon, after she had a good nap and recovered from the mental anguish, I took her for another walk. Just as we were coming back home, we saw a woman with a tiny little mop of a dog in front of our house. This was the first time Kimmy met another dog from up close, so I was curious what she will do.

She cautiously came up closer to the doggy, eyed it, but didn't bark or touch it. Just observed with great interest. She is just a puppy, but she was towering over that little 7 year old doggy! The woman offered Kimmy her hand to sniff and lick, and commented what a well behaved puppy she was when she sat to be petted. I was impressed that Kimmy didn't jump at the woman!

In the evening, as we were in the garden for a potty break, we saw the neighbour rake leaves in his garden (separated by a fence from ours). Kimmy started barking, but clearly this was just bravado, because with each bark, she took a step back from the fence. My little watchdog ;)

The neighbour has a German Shepherd himself, so he wasn't phased by the barking and spoke soothingly to her. She stopped barking but stayed in the "high alert" position and watched the neighbour very intently.

She will turn 12 weeks old tomorrow! Time sure flies when you're busy with a puppy! We are going for our first puppy class on Thursday. I am really curious how Kimmy gets on. The trainer I spoke to over the phone told me there will be another Doberman in the class - a 6 month old male. Hope Kimmy doesn't fall in love! ;)

Kimmy should be called "The Shadow"

because she follows me everywhere I go... It's clearly true what they say about Dobermans being "velcro" dogs ;)

I am used to being followed around the house already (Ben), so I don't mind have a little shadow behind me. It's cute :)

Kimmy and I are finally settling into a routine properly. She now knows 6 AM is NOT waku-up time, 7 AM is. Dogs have amazing internal clocks - she will start whining and squeaking as soon as it turns 7 in the morning, even if the alarm clock hasn't peeped and all is quiet in the house.

The first thing I do when I get out of bed is open her crate (which is beside my bed), let her out, take her in my arms and carry her downstairs and then out in the garden for a good morning pee. Then we go back in and I take my thyroid meds and prepare her kibble moistened with some warm water. She eats her breakfast while I prepare Ben's morning milk and his school snack, then I get dressed and take her out again for a wee/poo.

Then I go wake Ben up, help him get dressed, and then he settles (still half asleep) on the sofa in the living room, sips his milk and watches Thomas the Tank Engine on TV, while I eat something, put the contacts in and take Kimmy out for another pee.

Then I leave Kimmy closed in the kitchen, and walk Ben to school. As soon as I get back, I let Kimmy out the front door, and we go for a walk, just us girls ;)

She loves to sniff around and is always curious to meet people on our walks. She knows to stop for a moment at the neighbour's fence to see if their Golden Retriever is in the yard, and if yes, she will bark at him, pretending she's a big fearless dog ;)

After we get back home, she is ready for a nap, and that for me means computer time!!! I check my email, log in the forums and reply to my posts, all the while Kimmy is either lying at my feet or snuggling on the chair behind my back.

After she wakes up, it's potty time again. At around 11 AM, she gets more lively again, so we do a few minutes of training (now we're practicing sit, sit-stay, down, and down-stay. At 11:30 or so, I take her out to pee again, then go pick up Ben from school at 11:45 AM.

When we get home, Kimmy gets her lunch first, while she's eating I prepare Ben's and mine, then I need to watch her closely for signs of needing to go, in the beginning she needed to eliminate right after eating, now it's more to 15 - 20 minutes, so when I see she starts sniffing, I immediately take her and carry her to the garden.

Then it's naptime for her in her crate, so that Benny and I can eat lunch in peace.

On days when Ben has afternoon school, I take her with me for a walk, otherwise we stay home and I just keep taking her out every 50 - 60 minutes. She gets another meal between 3 and 4 PM, and then it's another short training session and some play time / cuddle time :)

Her last meal is at 7 PM, right around the time Gerry comes home from work, and he then takes her out for a wee/poo, and then we just pass her around and cuddle a lot which she loves :)

Then I go get Benny ready for bed while Gerry keeps an eye on Kimmy. At around 10 PM, she goes out for her last potty break, then she goes in her crate beside my bed for the night.

She usually wakes up to go potty around 4 AM.