The Day After

It was a bittersweet day yesterday.  Happy and yet tears.  And this morning is the same.

Here we are, the day after puppies went to their new homes.  All three families have checked in and all seems to be going great.  The little boys, Chino (in Canada), Tangle (in Arlington, WA), and Mocha (in Lynnwood, WA) appear to be adapting very quickly to their new familes and invironments.  Their sister Retta, here with us, is not faring quite so well.  Seems she has been being somewhat spoiled by Keith, all with love and kindness, but now thinks she doesn't need to come to me when called.....and runs like a little streaking rabbit.

Nope....that won't fly.  Especially when she runs straight to him.....like...."Daddy!!!  Please protedt me!".  So..... sad as it is to have to do, "depravation" therapy begins this morning.  She will stay in her pen, or back here in the office with me, and not be allowed out in the house with Keith at all until she decides that it's ME who she has to mind, ME she has to come to when called, and even tho it's also ME who grooms, bathes, clips, trains, corrects, and unfortunately administers any meds. She  is going to have to learn that.....and quickly.   Sad thing, we had to do this with her daddy as well.  Keith had him to the point that everytime I went near him, he ran and tried to get Keith to protect him.  Macci adjusted super well, and very fast.
She's a stubborn one.....so this may take longer than the week it took Macci.  I put her food bowl in for her last evening and she promptly poked it and crawled into bed.  Even left her a few dry kibbles to maybe munch on during the night.  They were still there this morning.  Mixed up her normal breakfast and put it down for her.  Normally, she dives in.  She sniffed it and walked off.  The Siege Is On.  No treats, no toys, no goodies, and no freedom till she gives in.  Sigh......girl dogs can be a pain, eh?

It's going to have to get nipped in the bud VERY quickly.  Her three brothers are eating just like they did here, even this morning, according to  a report I got at 6am  from Tangle's mom.  Of course, they have totally different personalities than Retta.  They ALWAYS have come running when I called them, always are happy to follow along and explore.  They are doing the same in their new homes.  Everyone is happy. Except Retta.

Actually, if the truth be known, I don't know if Retta will be staying here with us or not.  Aside from this "I Don't WANT To" thing she does, she also has two floppy ears that don't seem to want to go up.  She has until she's 14-15 weeks old for them to go up [that's 4-5 weeks from NOW], or I will place her and call it a day.  Her ears sadly remind me of Ziva's.....and those are seriously UNNATRACTIVE and very ugly ears. Yuck.  A good share of the "breed type" for Toy Fox Terriers is the head.....and the ears, the way they carry them, and the ear set and attachment as well.  So far, I'm not impressed with Retta's.  I do hope things change, but if not, we'll just have to chalk it up and start again.

ONLY this time, it won't be Macci and Zoey.....I suspect it will be Jaz and Miley.  But we'll see.  If it is Jaz and Miley, we will most likely have an entire white/black/tan litter.....with drop dead awesome headpieces.

One other thing I find interesting as of this morning.  Each of the three new owners knows about the Litter (potty)  Box we have used with puppies......and how well they use it (even our other TFTs when they can't get outside).  Anyway, Chino's family ( in lieu of putting one together) purchased a Potty Patch setup on their way home yesterday and  told me last night that the puppy went right to it and is using it consistently. 

Tangle's mom put one together like ours, and she says he prefers to go outside.  We'll see how that goes on Monday when she has to go back to work. <grin>  I think her only problem so far is that I have them all up and ready to eat breakfast usually by 5:30 or 6am.  So she got woke up this morning.....early.  He'll adjust to her schedule.  (Or she'll adjust to his.......we'll see how that goes.....)  Haven't heard from Mocha's mom yet this morning, but it will be interesting to see how he's doing with his pottying.