Adjusting

Lola is adjusting well here. I started out trying to house train her the traditional way, which was very stressful considering our living arrangements. We live in a three story townhouse with no yard of our own, no fence, etc. The girls were here to help out so it wasn't too bad. However, trying to race down all the stairs and get her outside at the first sign of an attempt to mess in the house while Christopher stood at the top of the stairs crying for me to come back inside and not to leave him alone was not working. I'd have to leave the front door wide open so that I could hear him crying and wait for her to potty. Meanwhile bugs and God only knows what else could crawl inside my house.

So, I took a trip to PetsMart and bought a book "Puppies For Dummies". Then Christopher wasn't feeling well and refused to do anything and insisted that I sit on the sofa with him all day long. I used that time to read my book. I had purchased some puppy training pads when I bought the book. I learned that it is perfectly acceptable to paper train and traditional train. She will learn that when the training pads are down she has permission to use them, but when they are not down, she must hold it. These pads are suggested for use during times of inclement weather (hmm. hurricane season maybe) or if you live in an apartment, condo, etc.

She is doing extremely well using these pads. I am following the advice of my dog trainer/author and it is working perfectly. She uses the pads for her #1's about 98% of the time. We are working on the #2's though. I did have her first check up with the vet and he suggested what I have been contemplating...putting a little bit of her #2 on the pad as well. We'll see.

Patrick is coming down this weekend with Colin's mom. They will be here for a week. We will be going to Orlando for a couple of days, so the Vet told me that it would be good to put her in the kennel there at his hospital. She is a good dog though. She is very smart and how could you not love that face!

The girls are doing well. Britany and Taylor's cheering squad just won a competition in Vermont last weekend and "states" is this coming weekend.

Hope is still certain that she wants to move back with me. She wants to move back now, but the schools down here finish up in May so she would be working overtime to get caught up to where they are and I don't think it is wise for her to be the new kid with only a couple of months left. I explained to her that because of school choice here, the kids are always moving around and trying out other schools, so in the Fall, she will not be the only new kid and will not stick out like a sore thumb. She is going to try and stick it out.