Much like a real baby, having a new puppy will need a bit of adjustment at home. Before bringing her back home, it's all the preparations, including reading up on how to care for a pet, a Bichon puppy specifically, buying the stuff for the new puppy and organizing the home to be puppy ready.
Day 1, we brought home the puppy with lots of excitement. First night was good, considering that my sleep schedule doesn't really jive with a normal person's schedule, moreso a puppy. Lexie was quite good, slept through the night and woke up at around 6am to go pee and eat. It was in fact me who had a difficult time sleeping as I kept on peeking to see how she's doing. Anyway, at certain times, she wanted a bit of companion so I had to assure her that she was not alone by stretching my hand down to the floor where she could reach. Since I went back to sleep after that, she also went back to sleep. So far so good.
Day 2 to 4 was pretty much the same, although each day, we get more comfortable with our schedule.
I find myself looking at her all the time, making sure she is ok. Even if she is sleeping in her crate, I would peek to see how she is doing every few minutes. When I hear a tiny sound, I would stop what I'm doing and go see how she is, even if she is in the same room as I am. I watch out for dangerous things like wires and see what she can chew on. I just worry when I don't see her up and about wagging her tail. But being a puppy, most of her time were spent sleeping, napping, or simply lazing around. I remember watching my nieces and nephews when they were small, I would even watch them sleep. I guess it's but natural when you're presented with such a responsibility. And because I am not yet familiar with their behaviors, then each move matters.
But as each day passes, I get more and more comfortable. I get to leave her for a longer time either in her crate or just in my room, so that I can do my stuff. For a while there, I kinda put things on hold. Now I can go ahead and prepare my breakfast while she sleeps in her crate. I can sit by my computer and do my work while she eats or sleeps in her crate. I can watch TV in my room while she just hangs out. Most of the time, she sleeps, so it's easier. In the afternoon, I find some time to play with her. And bring Chubby, her dad, to play with her in the terrace where I can leave them for a short time. Lexie has also felt safer and become more independent. She can stay in my room alone for some time as long as the TV is on. It's as if she knows that I'll be back soon.
My challenge with the house is that there are too many places that she can run to. There's the stairs too, so I can't really leave them without someone looking after them.
Potty training is going well, although she would have some accidents at times, and mostly, because she is still getting the hang of the place. Since I move the newspaper around, to where we'd hang out, she gets a bit confused on where exactly to go. In a few days, we'll get the routine down and I'm sure she will be ok.
Eating, she seems to like her food a bit soaked. She eats thrice a day, compared to twice when she was still with her mom. I guess we will have to stick with this until another month or so and we can reduce the frequency. I changed the brand of her food, and her poo got a bit wet, expected as she is adjusting to the new food. I resisted in giving her milk for now, as this will be another adjustment. After a few days, she seems to be back to normal. The vet suggested to give her a bit of Yakult, which can calm her tummy down during the adjustment. We were also given some vitamins. At first, I had no idea how to give it to her. The vitamins came in form of a gel so I figured putting it in her bowl or on my hand will allow her to just lick it off from there. So far, it worked.
Lexie is starting to do some teething and thus, finding stuff to chew on, including my slippers. Good thing, she does not have too many teeth yet. She loves to sleep on my slippers and also take my slippers and hides them behind the couch. I bought her a toy which has a bell in it, she doesn't seem to like it, but these few days, she is going near it more often, although not yet playing with it. Soon, I suspect.
Bathing, we haven't bathe her at all. I just put some baby powder on her the other day so that she'll smell better. One time, she had a major accident, where poo stuck to her butt. I had to wash her butt off. She was in a panic but soon realized that it felt better after being washed off.
The vet gave an ok after her initial check. Lexie seems to be healthy but the vet suggests to keep her indoors for now, cause there are a lot of sicknesses around. I guess it's just like human beings. There are times when we want to keep the kids indoors to keep them away from viruses and other contagious illnesses that go around.
She can understand some commands like sit, although when she's excited, she can't focus. I try to train her now as the book indicates it may be good to do it early, for just a few minutes a day.
Some of the funny moments:
- Lexie loves to rub her butt on the floor, either when she is about to go or just feel itchy. When she does that, it looks like Lexie is dancing the shuffle, LOL
- Lexie loves to sleep facing up, just like a human being. Some people call it the corpse pose, or the dead pose. It just looks really funny because she has all her legs up. Sometimes, she is awake, and she just plays while lying down on her back.
- As part of her adjustment to Chubby, Lexie barks at Chubby even when Chubby is just sitting around, trying to establish her place. Such a small thing, yet so proud. And I'm thinking, let's just see how you'll react when Chubby gets irritated.
- When Chubby barks at something outside, Lexie starts to bark at Chubby with her tiny voice, thinking Chubby is barking at her, LOL
- A couple of times, Lexie squeezes into tiny spaces, then finds herself stuck. She still doesn't know how to back up, so she gets panicky and when she finds she can't make it herself, she would give out a soft whine
- Lexie refuses to play with the toy, but after a few days, she would explore and go near the ball while barking at it. But with any slight sound from elsewhere, she would jump and get startled, thinking it's the ball that's making that sound, LOL. She probably thinks it's alive.
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