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Monday, December 7, 2015

Weekending...Our First with Gracie


If you missed Friday's post, here's a recap. 


It's true. We adopted a puppy. Gracie Rae (homage to my Dad) was adopted on Thursday, December 3, 2015. They think she's about three months old, seemingly a lab-shepherd mix, and couldn't be cuter. 


Gracie was born in Puerto Rico and is part of the All Sato Rescue project. Sato is a Spanish slang term for mutt. This non-profit organization rescues and rehomes the sato dogs and pups. They have rescue partner shelters all over the United States. We were lucky to have one such shelter in a nearby town. 

The Señor and I had discussed having a dog for a long time. We both grew up with dogs and cats, but here, for one reason or another, we never had one of our own, until now. 

And she's wonderful company for us all, and especially my 83 year old mother-in-law, who lives with us and is home all day. When the Señor and I go away for a weekend, Gracie and my MIL have some one-on-one time, and when we travel to Spain, she will spend time with her dog-cousins. It takes a village, and ours is wonderful. 

Currently, we are in the midst of the house training and teething hell phase. We're reading up on the topic like it's our job. If you have any advice, please share in the comments. So far, we're taking her out as soon as she wakes up, after napping, after feeding, and after playing hard. She's doing what she needs to outside, but she's still having accidents inside. We're using a lot of Nature's Miracle, which works like a charm, by the way. 
We want her to go outside, which is why we haven't done puppy pads. 

She's only been with us since Thursday night and she's only 12 weeks old, and she's a rescue...who knows how she entered this world or how long she was with her mother. I told the Señor...she's like some of my students...it takes some of them more time, especially if they come in without a lot of background knowledge. She'll get there; however, I also appreciate best practices, so if you have any, please share. 

We have gotten her lots of toys for teething and she fetches like a pro. She loves to gnaw on me...no one else...just me. UGH! Any advice beyond distraction with a teething toy, a firm no and removing myself for a minute?

Luckily, we never had to worry about crate training. She voluntarily goes in to nap. We leave the door open all day and in she goes. She loves it; she feels safe. She sleeps all night and never whines. 

She has been to Petco for some socialization and a meeting with Santa, and she did great.  She waited patiently for her turn. 


And then, she had her chance to meet the man in red. 

She made it to the "nice" list. 

Everyone in the store, it seemed, came to meet Gracie, who charmed everyone with kisses and snuggles, and rolling onto her back to have her belly scratched. 

She even found a friend. 

But sadly for her, this one didn't return her sweet affections. 

She is a sweet girl. She is as loving as she is strong willed. Training a puppy is not for the faint of heart, but she is a lot of fun. 

I would like to say we had an exciting weekend jaunting here and there, but mostly, we stayed in and loved on our lovely new girl. 

How was your weekend? Please share any puppy parenting advice in the comments below. We'll take all the advice we can get. 



PS--Kudos to our nephew, whose team (and my high school alma mater) made it to the MIAA high school football state championship. The Señor, one of his brothers, and his other nephews went to cheer them on at Gillette Stadium, where our New England Patriots play. They fought like champions and took a heartbreaking loss with dignity. 

I stayed behind, took Gracie to Petco, and worked on my final assignments for the semester...only a few left. 







28 comments:

  1. How precious! Dogs are similar to babies in that it takes them a while to be physically capable of "holding it" until they know they can go. Hang in there :-)


    Alicia
    spashionista.com

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  2. OMGOSH. I wanna get our doodle a sidekick now.

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  3. I'm wanting to get a rescue dog for my husband for Christmas, but haven't been able to get out without him to look! I will be joining you in puppy teething hell pretty soon! She's gorgeous!

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  4. Gracie is just adorable! Bless you for adopting this rescue pup. I wish you many years of happy play together!
    Carol
    http://carolcassara.com/enough-gratitude/

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  5. Oh my gosh! She is a doll! I am so happy for your new addition of love and joy! Lots of exclamation marks sorry just excited for you. lol She is a cute as a button too. Keep us posted on her growth. She looks so happy to be a part of your loving family!

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  6. Oh my gosh I would seriously have not been able to stop cuddling her!! xo, Biana - BlovedBoston

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  7. AWW!! Gracie is adorable!
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  8. She is adorable. Congratulations! Puppyhood, lots of teething and chew toys.

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  9. Gracie is very sweet. Friends of mine just adopted a 2 yo dog Friday as well. Her name is Stella. How great to have another member of the family. Enjoy the holidays with your new, cute puppy.

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  10. Oh my gosh! TOO ADORABLE!

    xx
    Lauren Elizabeth
    Petite in Pearls

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  11. Jasmine @makingrestorationsDecember 7, 2015 at 12:44 PM

    Congrats on the new addition, it sounds like you adopted through a wonderful organization. Love the Santa photo! Our pup only went in the house just once and then we spent just 3 days straight potty training him. Aside from taking him out every morning and night before bed, we took him out every couple of hours because puppies bladders aren't as well controlled as an adult dog that can wait several hours. We also kept water away from him initially because giving him the ability to drink whatever he liked all day as asking for trouble. Basically, puppy would play in the house for about an hour. Then I would give him access to water. After he was done drinking, we went outside and we didn't come back in until he did his business. And whenever he did go, we promptly handed him a much prized treat! By day 3, he had figured it out. After the third day, we felt that he understood enough that we could leave his water dish out 24/7. We continued to reinforce his good behavior with a treat every time. By the second week, he would go sit beside the door whenever he had to go. I just took a long weekend to potty train him. hopefully this helps.
    http://makingrestorations.blogspot.com

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  12. Stephanie_The_Recipe_RenovatorDecember 7, 2015 at 1:02 PM

    Oh, she is so sweet and cute. Our dog Daisy May is now 3-1/2. Those first few weeks with her as a puppy were HARD. I nearly took her back once, I was so exhausted, with the biting and the early morning hours. My best advice is keep using the crate, it seems to speed up potty training by weeks. And, find a neighbor who also has a puppy and do play dates every day if you can. They really need that play time with another dog their age. Have fun!

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  13. Congrats. A puppy is the greatest love you can receive. Potty training is never easy but we used to take our pups every hour. It is hard if you don't have someone to do it but it seems your MIL might be a big help. Socializing is so important, Seamus struggles with that a lot.

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  14. She is soooo cute! I will email you a few tips. I think you just need a bit of tweaking. Patience is the biggest thing with house training. It may be 6 months before she is fully potty trained. Bises! Kimberly

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  15. Thank you, Kimberly. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. Besitos.

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  16. Thank you, Kerry. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. My MIL helps out a lot...it's good for both of them. They're never alone. :-)

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  17. Thank you, Stephanie. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. We're hoping to take her to our local Petco for their afternoon socialization play date. She's a love.

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  18. Thank you so much, Jasmine! This is very helpful. We're following a similar protocol. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. Thank you, again!

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  19. Thank you so much! And congrats to Stella and her new family! Pets bring such a different loving energy to a home. We just love her.

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  20. Thank you, Haralee. She has lot of chew toys. I try and rotate them in and out, so she doesn't get bored.

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  21. She is a cuddler, Biana. We love her! She's such a sweet girl.

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  22. Thank you, Carolann. She's such a love. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. Pets bring such a different loving energy to a home. We just love her.

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  23. Thank you, Carol. We're the blessed ones. She's a love.

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  24. Hooray for you and your family. Please keep me posted.

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  25. It's so worth it, Carla. I'm sure your doodle will love a friend. And if you're looking for a specific breed, there are breed-specific rescue organizations all over as well.

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  26. Thank you, Alicia. She's such a love. We have a trainer coming to the house this morning. Her potty training has gotten much better; now it's the puppy biting that we're working on. Pets bring such a different loving energy to a home. We just love her.

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