Yesterday Kit Kat went to his new home leaving Mia as the only pup left in the house.Naturally Fiona was all over her but you could tell that she was missing her litter mates.
Treasure, Abigail and Fiona play with her but it isn’t the same. Darlah and I played with her too.
Then bedtime arrives and our quandary.
The pups had all been sleeping in a large x-pen in an empty bedroom previously occupied by one of our now grown children. In the x-pen was their crate, nicely padded with the door always open in which I’d find all the pups each morning. There was also a pee pad in the opposite corner of the x-pen, a blanket and various toys scattered throughout.
When they were younger we also had food and water in the x-pen at night but we gradually weaned them off that extra meal.
But it didn’t seem to make sense to place Mia in the now empty x-pen without her litter mates. I tried it on for size in case she was comforted by the familiar surroundings but she was having none of it.
So I moved her to our bedroom and Plan B.
I had set up a smaller x-pen, suitable for a single puppy. In it I had placed her crate in one side, a pee pad in the other, a blanket beside the crate and various and sundry toys. This was set up right beside the bed. Within seconds she let us know that this too was totally unacceptable in her mind. She wanted to be on the bed with the guys don’tcha know.
Plan C, on the bed with all of us. Mia thought this was absolutely great! In fact, she was so excited that every few minutes she’d get up and try another position on the bed. There were two things wrong with this; first off, we were afraid she’d fall off the bed so every time she moved Darlah and I both flinched, sat up and watched. The other thing was the rest of the pack trying to sleep. Every time this bouncy smiling very happy little girl went to say “Hi, I’m here” (lick lick), to another dog the usual response was “grrrr, be quiet an go to sleep little one”. This went on and on and back and forth until about 1:30 when I decided enough was enough.
Plan D. I picked up Mia, Fiona quickly ran down the doggy steps to follow, and we retired to another bedroom to sleep the remainder of the night. With her options much reduced Mia was quick to go right to sleep. I was there. Her mother was there. The bed was comfortable. Done. But, she’d wake up every 5 or 10 minutes and try out a new position finally settling on sleeping with her head in my neck. This way she was sure she knew where I was and I could not escape or vanish like her litter mates did. We can’t know what they are really thinking but sometimes we can make an educated guess.
I think Plan D was the best plan for her although Plan E, in which all the rest of the dogs left the room and Darlah and I stayed on the bed with Fiona and Mia would probably be her overall first and best choice. Tonight will be a new adventure.
Nathan
Now Darlah's turn:
Life is always an adjustment when things changed. We heard KitKat slept all night her first night, Tiger Lily not, Penny did and dear old Mia thought it was a play session. Now in reality we needed to tucker her out before bedtime or put her in the x-pen and just deal.
Her new owners will have a much easier time as she will have made that adjustment to the bed when it is their turn.
Last night Mia thought this bed business was wonderful and thought hopping all over the place would be fun but the adult doggies said - it's bedtime. I figure tonight she will 'get' that.
Mia is playing with all the dogs now and they with her in a big way. She goes back into the open x-pen to go take a nap and I do believe she finds comfort in it. She loves the rain and outside. She is pouncing around full of life and is curious as all get out.
When you come into the room she pounces and jumps up all excited. Puppies are fun. Yes, they can be work too at first but gad they are absolute fun and snuggle monsters.
Teething is a biggie so we have been practicing OW!!!! She listens and looks as if to say, can't you play like those dawgies do?
More tomorrow...
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