Accomplishments

Emma has really settled in well since we brought her home almost two months ago. Not only has she gotten HUGE (she is all legs and a round puppy belly), she’s learned a lot:

1. She loves to chew and play with Sammie, and they are absolutely fun to watch together.
2. She has finally conquered the stairs! Last week, she climbed all the way up and all the way down by herself. Like we predicted, she’s become difficult to contain ever since.
3. She’s now big enough that she can jump up on the couches (most of the time – sometimes, she still fails).
4. She has caught on to ‘sit’ very quickly, and we’ve moved on to ‘stay’ now. She won’t keep in a ‘stay’ if we pour her food into her bowl on the ground, but she does keep a ‘stay’ when we pour the food up high and have her wait to eat after we’ve set it down.

Things to work on in the future:

1. Socialization with other dogs. We tried putting her with our neighbor’s dog Pepper (not the one that Sammie got) that she plays with through the fence, but she whined and hid until we got her back on our side of the fence. Then, it was game-on again. However, we’re traveling for Christmas, so she’ll have lots of opportunities to play with other dogs in the next few days. We’re anxious to see how Sammie will react (and will keep her in her kennel until we’re sure).
2. Potty training. This week, she got off in her potty schedule, so she has been having a lot more accidents than usual. We had her in her kennel overnight, and I saw her poop this morning before I went to work, so I hope we’re back to a more normal routine!
3. Not biting Sammie so much! Every time we go outside with the girls, Emma bites on Sammie’s ankles and body. She also gets in front of her and distracts Sammie from what they need to be doing – pottying! I’ve tried distracting her by asking her to sit, throwing a ball, etc., which seems to work, but only in the short term.
4. Leash manners. Both girls need work on this. I just want to be able to take them for a walk around the neighborhood and in the nearby park without losing one or both of them from Sammie’s need to chase all the squirrels and Emma’s desire to chew on/through the leash.

Thanks for being on this journey with us, and if you have any training tips, I’m all ears!

Merry Christmas Eve!!