She was born September 20, 2012 in a very remote area of Alabama. I had been searching for her for over a year. She's a full sister to Tuck Everlasting Wagginbottom, just a two year difference in ages.
Life with an 8 week old puppy is chaos and confusion, trial and error, and sometimes very frustrating, but always challenging. That's what I've always liked about fostering dogs, the discovery process.
Raising Cricket is a discovery process every day.
Every day we take the opportunity for 'teaching moments'... like when I take a shower, she is always in the room with me, the other dogs are fine in the living room, but Cricket can surely get into some juvenile mishaps when she's not being monitored every second. I have learned that my tennis shoes will be the target of puppy teeth, if I don't provide another, more appropriate chew. The winner is "BULLY STICKS"..... one will keep her attention for the entire time I am getting ready for work. She absolutely LOVES them. ( and one stick has lasted about 3 weeks, so far) I only give them to her when she is in the bathroom with me. Another side product of this is that while she chews, she is aware of my hair dryer, but it does not bother her. Kinda like desensitizing without even trying.
Another teachable moment is the vacuum cleaner. Once upon a time, I would have thought that watching a cute little puppy bark and attack the vacuum would have been alright and fun entertainment. But through fostering 27+ dogs with each having their own negative behaviors, I've tried to learn all I can about training. So that I can reshape the foster dog to be a better forever dog for their new owners. I spent many an hour reading training books and watching professional trainers retrain problem dogs (like Victoria Stillwell, and yes.. even Cesar Milan- you can always take something away from even those individuals that you don't always agree with) Gosh, I still have so much to learn, but that's also the great thing about the discovery process... these dogs always, always give you even more things to research and educate yourself about. It's a never ending learning process.
So when Cricket started barking and attacking the vacuum, I knew right off the bat, that this was unacceptable behavior. We are now learning SIT, STAY, LOOK!! from the sofa while Mom is vacuuming. (baby size treats are the ticket, just have plenty on hand!) Does it take a tediously longer amount of time than just zipping through the vacuuming process. YES!! But I know that this is time well spent. Not only will she learn SIT, STAY and LOOK, but also teach her to focus on me, even while I am vacuuming, or other opportunities to use these techniques in everyday life in the future. The good part is that BonnieBlue and Tucker are great while I'm vacuuming so Cricket will also learn from their behavior.
Crate Training has also been such a rewarding experience. I've trained older dogs many times, but never an 8 week old puppy. At first the crate was not the happiest place for little Cricket. She was like a child pouting NOT to take a nap. NOW... when I say "let's go to bed" she RUNS to her crate in my bedroom and turns around and sits lickety split... She gets her two treats and when I shut the door, if I am lucky and have timed this correctly she will lay down and go to sleep almost immediately. Sometimes she's not quite ready to give it up, but I pay no attention to her whining. In about 30-60 seconds it's over and she's asleep. After 4 or 5 weeks of this she will sleep all night.
Stay tuned for more antics in the ongoing life of "Raising Princess Cricket Wagginbottom"!
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