We are doing a trial adoption of a girlfriend for Chester. Lola’s foster mom brought her down about 8:30 pm last night, and they seemed to get along just as well here as they did in her house. I stayed up late so that I could help take Lola out at “last call”, and with the hectic week we’d had, I was already exhausted.
Unfortunately, Lola wasn’t happy in her crate. She kept circling and whining. I eventually moved it nearer to our bed, but that didn’t help. She hadn’t pooped at all before bedtime. She eventually did settle down, although she remained somewhat restless throughout the night, and with Simba sleeping with me, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.
I let the boys out around 5 am, which is normal for them. I took Lola out shortly afterward, and she pee’d but didn’t poop, but she hadn’t had any accidents overnight. I put her in her crate in our living room, where she continued to circle and whine, while I sacked out on the couch. Eventually she settled down again.
Usually I eat a light breakfast around 5:30 am, but I was too tired. I took Chester out around 6 am, just a tad early for him, then put him in to snuggle with Daddy. Then I fed the boys and scooped litterboxes. Then it was time to get their meals ready. Then outside we all went.
I was hoping to maybe take them both for a walk, but they were far to interested in playing to walk together. I did a little bit of training, then took Lola in for Daddy to watch while I took Chester for his walk (we set up an exercise pen outside so I can put Lola in it while I walk Chester — until I can get them to walk nicely together).
When Chester was done we traded puppies, and I took Lola for a walk. She walks very nicely on a leash, possibly better than Chester –doesn’t have her nose constantly to the ground, trying to pick up everything she finds.
Lola still hadn’t done anything in the bathroom department, but it was back into the crates for them. More circling and whining. Whining really does get on your nerves — and Gizmo’s nerves, too.
And that was mostly how the day went — outside to potty & play, or not potty as the case may be (Lola finally completely emptied around 3 pm), back in to play, then some crate time.
Chester has been very good about mostly ignoring Lola when she whines in the crate. Considering he’s a bit of a whiner in there, too, I was pretty shocked. They both got bully sticks, and while Chester finally finished his this evening, Lola never did, although she clearly enjoyed it.
Lola was a whirling dervish for the majority of the day. Since she’s not trained — doesn’t know sit, down, stay, or stop — it’s been a little hard to control her at times. Finally, after dinner, she zonked out in her crate for a short while. After another potty break (where she pee’d again outside!), we decided to try them out in the large crate together.
Lola did have one very small accident. After she finally went outside this afternoon, we took them into the bedroom & let them play on the bed. Chester was on his harness, so he doesn’t jump down (he’s not quite done recuperating from his knee surgery); Lola was off leash, and jump off the bed to explore several times. It hadn’t even been an hour since she’d gone, and considering she held it for about 10 hours, I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t even see it, just saw the wet spot when we left the room.
Because Lola’s always on a leash in the house, unless we’ve got the bedroom door closed, she hasn’t had a huge amount of interaction with the boys. Gizmo has been a little hissy, but not too bad — he’s still coming to me for cuddles, and that’s all I can ask (that, and continued use of the litterbox).
This next week will be tough. At least Monday is a holiday, and Thursday I’ll have them in daycare. Friday, hopefully, God willing, Chester will get the go-ahead to resume normal activities, and I can let them both off leash outside & they can burn up the backyard. I can’t wait!
Lola is extremely responsive to praise, much more so than Chester. Chester’s always like “that’s nice, but where’s my treat?”. She gets very excited simply by being told she’s a good girl. She’s also bouncy — jumps a lot, which Chester doesn’t do — and also stands & dances on her hind legs a lot, which Chester doesn’t do (probably initially because of his bad knee).
All in all, a good start — but an exhausting day! I am hoping she will be more tired tonight and will settle down with a minimum of fuss.
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