#56 Happy Birthday, Dolly

In character as the Devil photo by Leah Naidorf

In a few days, Dolly, my miniature poodle, will be two years old. I would like to share a few reflections on the Dolly puppy experience. Like most of life’s experiences, some days it goes well and some days it is a literal shit show. Folks say the puppy behavior goes on to age two.  Now people are telling me I have another year of some annoying puppy behaviors.

some of the dozens of leashes Dolly chews photo by Joan Naidorf

First of all, the girl likes to chew anything she can get her teeth on.  In the first few weeks she went through multiple twelve-dollar leashes and harnesses.  I wised up and started buying leashes at the local Dollar Store.  Even those toys mad specially for heavy chewers, last a mere 15 minutes with Dolly on the job.  Some toys that my first dog had for 16 years, were torn apart in days. She chews on bushes in the garden. The new bed I bought her was soon chewed up and eviscerated of all its stuffing. We may have gone through 50 leashes until recently discovering a coated wire variety.

Because of this and other training issues, she spends her time in the crate when we leave the house. We can’t trust her any other way. Fortunately, she stopped chewing on the walls and baseboards. I moved my work area to the kitchen where I could literally chain her to the kitchen table with chain from the hardware store. My frou-frou poodle was chained up like a junk yard dog. From there, I could take her outside so that she could learn that there was where she was supposed to do all her waste functions.

Dolly was bred by a very nice fellow in the Midwest and during the months after her birth, the weather was so cold there, he never let her go outside.  When we picked her up in February, she had NEVER been outside. Her lovely breeder had inadvertently trained her to do all her business on a pad in the corner of a playpen IN THE HOUSE.  It has taken more than a year to break her of this habit of finding a corner and letting it fly.

Some of the inconsistency with her bowel function has clearly been a function of indifference to food. She just isn’t driven by food the way most dogs are. I will put out a bowl of food and she will not touch it for hours.  Without a regular eating schedule, its hard to have a regular pooping schedule. I suppose her finnicky eating patterns are just how the girl keeps her 12-pound slim figure.

photo by Joan Naidorf

When she wakes up and sees us after a brief absence, Dolly is the most sweet and affectionate dog ever. She does not feel so friendly towards other dogs.  She growls and takes a very provocative position with other dogs who walk by our house or who she meets on walks. I have tried bringing her to dog parks and day care situations to be around other dogs.  It has not gone well.

We have done several training sessions to try to teach her some better behavior. She did well with these lessons and can follow simple commands.  She needs more practice and consistent lessons but the party failing her here is me. I have not followed through with the videos and the home training. Dolly gets a B+ and I, sadly get an F. I take responsibility for not doing more.  I was hoping that this was going to be a little easier.

Photo by Joan Naidorf

One more thing: she bites. When we try to move her, she snaps.  Those are for real. When she wants my daughter to play with her, she nips at her ankles and toes. Those are for play and attention but they do hurt. For this reason, its hard to ask other people to watch her.

Dolly is very active.  I suppose one cannot help but compare her to our previous dog who was (in retrospect) really EASY. Ginger liked to nap for hours, and she was much more submissive. Oh, I miss that little girl so much.  I adore Dolly, too, but the experience is far more challenging.  Just like our “difficult” patient interactions, I like to say this is not a “difficult” dog. She is certainly a challenge.

Dolly likes to sit on my lap and to maintain body contact with me day and night. She is on my lap as I type this blog post.  She follows me from room to room and from sofa to bed. She has clearly trained me to do her bidding. Mostly, I do whatever she commands me to do. I dearly love this demonic dog.