Puppyhood

To know just how long we have been on summer vacation we do not need to look at a calendar. All we need to do is to look at our puppy. Having joined our family at just 8 weeks of age and only 7 lbs a week before school ended, Ziva has surely added some weight. She is still much smaller than puppies her age at the local puppy class, but she has grown taller and heavier.

She’s a good little puppy. She seems to be housebroken now for she hasn’t had an accident for over a week now and she goes to the door several times a day asking to be let out. We are happy to see that she can go out on her own, as our last dog, Charlie, needed to be tied outside on her run since she would unexpectedly take off and run, leaving us to have to jump in the car to find her before she came home with another neighbor’s shoes found in their garage. Ziva, on the other hand, wants to stay close to us. If we do not go outside with her, she’s quick to return to the door asking to come back inside with us. Other comparisons beg to be made. Our Charlie was a grazer, eating small amounts throughout the day. Ziva does a near flip in the air as you bring her morning breakfast and evening dinner.

She is teething, however, and the girls have lost several flip flops and I have a tear in my leather sandals. She loves to rip out the stuffing of a felt stuffed animal we gave her and she’s been known to tear up paper left on the floor or under my bed. Who knew that such a tiny thing could even tear apart a phone book!? It just might be time for me to find a new spot for my old love letters, previously kept safe in cardboard boxes there. We’re learning to puppy proof the house. The chewing stage is always the worst part of puppyhood but so far, we’ve lost fewer items than we did with Charlie. I’m quite sure that is only because we’ve grown smarter about supervision and giving the puppy proper chewing toys.

Ziva has been exposed to water but has yet to show us her swimming skills. We’re coaxing her to go in but she doesn’t seem to be very brave. In trying to take her for a walk, she is quick to sit down, wanting only to return home. She is getting better about jumping into the van to go for a ride but she’s happier if someone lets her sit on a lap. Even at home, she wants most to snuggle up to us as we sit watching tv.

She can sometimes get a little zany at night when she is overtired. She runs up and down the stairs and has a hard time settling down until we tell her it’s “TIME FOR BED” and we put her in her crate. The second she goes in there, she is quick to put herself to bed. She rarely barks or yelps when we tell her it’s bedtime. Even Boo the cat is starting to return to the main floor during the daytime, although he is still not fond of the dog, preferring to wait until Ziva is in her crate for the night. It is my hope they’ll soon become friendlier with one another. I know Ziva would love having Boo as a buddy, but in the meantime, she’s nuzzling up to each human member of the family.

Oh yes, the weeks of the summer are flying by. I see time passing quickly each time I move our pup’s little collar to a new notch, loosening it yet again. However, whether it be summer, fall, winter, or spring, chewed flip-flops or leather sandals, it is SO good to have a dog in the house again.