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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
15 Comments:
Diann,
I feel your pain. We got a puppy about a year ago and things weren't going all that well. We decided he was lonely and my cousin's dog had puppies who needed homes so we took one of hers. They do both live outside though.
My point is, I understand acting with your heart instead of your brain. LOL
I am no expert but we signed up for some puppy classes for the first one and learned a ton. We also got a book they recommended but I can't get the title now because the kids are in bed. :)
Dogs thrive on routine and you're teaching her habits right now. I think she needs to be taken out every two hours for potty training. They sleep 18 hours a day at first so it is actually good to put her in the crate A LOT!! It isn't cruel. She's hyper and exhausted, I'm guessing.
You don't put food or water in the crate and it should be a size not too big so she won't "go" in there.
Maybe you know all this? I hope it helps!
Cathy
I forget as my dog is over a year old and I lost one last year that was 7 years old. But it does pass. When it does, you will be wanting the puppy fun loving stage back. I have a cat who is bad about sitting on my keyboard. I also have to dig the fur out between the keys. So it could be another sit of problems.
God Bless you special today.
Diann, I can so relate to what you're going through! We took in Daisy, an abandoned puppy, back in November and immediately fell in love with the sweet little thing. About a week later, she dropped the whole "sweet" persona, and we were left wondering what on earth we'd gotten ourselves into.
The questions that kept me awake in the wee hours of the morning were pretty much the same ones you listed, focusing on the whole teething and toilet thing. Here's what we found out:
1. The puppy teeth ceased to be a problem around 5-6 months of age. My hands are healing nicely, and we no longer have to restock Band-Aids on a regular basis.
2. Since the teething issue is over with, she no longer gnaws on the table legs or piano bench. I've decided to look at the grooves her teeth left in them as distress marks. Maybe I can convince someone we actually own valuable antique furniture. Okay, probably not, but try to work with me.
3. The toilet issue is likewise a thing of the past--unless I forget and turn on the vacuum when Daisy is inside the house. Definitely not a good thing to do...something about all that noise, I guess?
Daisy is now 8 months old, and we're seeing signs that she's actually settling down. So hang in there, girlfriend--there is hope!
Thanks for the info, Cathy. I guess we do most of that, but I never thought of taking a puppy class. She just flew into my arms while I was typing this to you! LOL I'm guessing this dog needs attention. *g*
Squiresj, fur on the keyboard? Too funny!
Carol, I cracked up through your post! You DO feel my pain, don't you? Thanks for the encouragement--and the laughs!
Just take care with your shoes. We'd had our puppy a few months when I bought several pairs of sandals. That puppy managed to chew up ONE shoe of each PAIR!
The chewing phase lasts until they're about a year old.
I won't say I told you so, BUT. LOL
My mom says for you to get good treats she likes and ONLY give them to her when she potties outside. And get her some hard chewies to dull her teeth and also some toys to distract her. LOL
They love those pig ears from the pet store. : ) But you have to crate her more, and keep her away from you when you write until she understands. You're spoiling her Di, and you will pay for it. Trust me on this. Did I not tell you not to sleep with her? Um, I do believe I did. LOL
Get a can and fill it halfway with pennies. They hate that noise, and say no when she does something unpleasant, but reward her when she's good. And get your voice really high and happy. One word for potty and then say good potty, good doggie. But you can't let her play when you're writing. You'll never get anything done, and don't fall for those precious eyes. THey're vicious. LOL
LOL, Kristin! I'll try that pennies in the can thing. That sounds good. You're right. I probably should crate her or something so she knows I have to work.
I don't let her sleep with me. I simply put her crate beside my bed. *g* She's very good at nighttime. Goes right to sleep and stays that way till morning. She even potties outside every time we take her out--but she also potties inside if she gets the urge. Sigh.
I'm thinking she's training us!
Boy... now I'm kind of scared about the thought of getting a puppy - lol
I know my brother and sister-in-law crated their puppy quite a bit in her first year. In fact, she'd have "afternoon nap" time every day ;-) She really didn't seem to mind either.
Good luck with that! Think I'll need to do me some heavy duty praying before I convince hubby we need a dog ;-)
My Bingley is going on 2 and spoiled. He still loves to play and chew, though he is good to chew only toys now. Try some of that Bitter Apple spray on things like shoes and table legs. Works well.
So you love her a latte?!
LOL - Di just be glad she isn't the size Shadrach was!
But the puppy teeth will go soon enough and she'll learn her manners. Get her plenty of teething toys.
Shad's favorite teething place was our windowsills. We've had to replace nearly all the ones in the main part of the house. That and the corners of the drywall.
I'm so glad that part is over!
Good luck!
Okay I need to know the answer to those questions as well. We've had Jake, our long haired mini dacshund since Feb and he's still well there.LOL But he went from DH's dog, to the kids' dog to now mine and he hates for me to leave him. He tries his best to beat me to the car and get in, so we have to crate him. But you just gotta love him too.
hugs,
WendyK
Sorry to scare you, Sue, with my puppy concerns. Little Latte has a lot of good qualities, too. I just can't think of them right now. *g*
Thanks for the Bitter Apple info, Becky! I haven't heard of that before! We'll have to get some!
Yes, Linda, we love her a latte! ;-)
Oh, no, Wendy, Jake is still there? Sigh. Hopefully, we'll enter the adult years before long!
Oh my goodness, Ane--windowsills?!!!! YIKES!!! I think I'd rather Latte bite my toes! :-)
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