Last week Milt came home from daycare with a slight limp. Our goldendoodle was playing a little too rough with the big boys. After that, Milt tried to milk that injury for all it was worth. He thought it entitled him to additional rest in extra comfy spots, like:
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| The Couch Incident #1 |
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| The Couch Incident #2 |
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| Relaxing in the recliner |
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| Lounging on the bed |
The Milt freely climbs up onto our living furniture, averting his eyes throughout, while we are in the room or quietly sneaks off to hop on the bed, despite owning his very own dog bed. These repeat incidents (a solid four this weekend alone) are probably due to the fact that Momma laughs and runs for her camera, while Daddy drags the boy off with a firm, "No."
Why do we resist the Milt so much? At this point, I really don't know. I'd love to have him all snuggly next to me on the couch or in bed, but the amount of dirt that boy drags around is unbelievable. It is simply entrenched into his fur and soaked deep down into his paws. By week's end, his fur has gone from a pearly white to a light blonde and finally sinks into a dull brown color.
I think we fear Milton would ruin or break our "stuff," especially once his full weight is reached. Dog owners, if this is not the case, let me know because I now prefer sitting on the floor with my Milt, and it's not too comfortable.
A couple of options you and I may want to consider:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/giant-floor-pillow
http://www.wag.com/dog/p/kh-furniture-pet-cover-for-couch-mocha-432027
I think The Milt would look so handsome on that pillow AND there is enough room there for the both of you! We have four dog beds throughout the house in every room where we hang (living room, man cave, game room, and bedroom) but Stanlee would much prefer to be up on the furniture with me. He knows he isn't supposed to so right now he just drapes the top half of his body all over the couch or bed but he seems to be eeking further and further up there. We'll see how long I last, too.
That giant floor pillow is awesome! Perhaps that would make for a good Christmas present! All of the readers on Doodle Kisses though are pro dog on the furniture. I am beginning to sway...!
DeleteI think you had it with the dirt collection. While disheveled shed-free hair is great, doodle fur has its drawbacks and does collect an “amazing” amount of dirt.
ReplyDeleteI do like QB's floor pillow big enough for the doodle and owner.
At how many weeks did you get milton and how much does he weigh now? We can't wait to know how big our Zoey girl will get! She is 11 weeks and weighs just under 17 pounds!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica!
DeleteWe received Milton on June 1st at 8-weeks-old. At that point, he weighed only 7 lbs. Currently at almost 6 months, he is 41-lbs. He is expected to grow to about 70 lbs., but we have our doubts... Teething really seemed to slow down the process. It sounds like your puppy is going to be a big girl! I am jealous - post a picture!
Heidi,
DeleteHere is a picture of Zoey (just copy and paste this URL, maybe..not sure if this will work):
/Users/jessicakopnicky/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2012/Oct 2, 2012/photo.jpg
I am sure Milton will continue to grow for awhile! Even so, he looks like such a sweetie! Teething slows growth? Why is that? Have you had any problems with Milton biting? Despite this innocent picture, Zoey goes through a couple spurts everyday where she just lunges at our flesh! I know it is play but at the same time, I know it is not on accident like sometimes happens when she is chewing on a toy near our hands. I like to describe it as an alligator snap! She goes for our legs, hands, and arms. I have heard from our breeder and vet that goldendoodles tend to be pretty mouthy. If you have dealt with this, how have you managed it (maybe a post idea?!) =)
The picture did not show! We thought Milton stopped growing during teething because he hardly ate anything at all because his gums were in so much pain. He didn't increase his amount of chewing on things (we have not had any bad episodes of tables or couches being torn up), but he stayed firm at about 30 lbs. because we could only coax him into maybe one cup of food per day. We even brought him to the vet because we were so worried over his lack of appetite. He is thankfully gobbling down food again and is a solid 40 lbs finally!
DeleteAs for mouthing, Milt did a LOT of that too, and it hurts! It was just one of those things that pups outgrow, and he did it for about a solid month. We have heard that all retrievers tend to be mouthy because they have that instinct. We handled it in a couple of different ways. Sometimes we clamped his mouth shut and gave him a really firm "No" while looking him right in the eye. That was not terribly successfully, but it was somewhat effective. If he bit a few times in a row, we hauled him off right away to a time out in the bathroom. We would leave him there until he stopped crying which was probably about a minute tops. Doodles seem to have a good conscience and really want to please, so a time out makes them feel just awful. One of the best practices is to yelp really loudly when they bite you because that is a similar reaction that a sibling or mother might give. We had the most luck with that one. Don't worry; I promise it all will get better!
Keep the questions coming! We used to call the vet about once a week with the most idiotic inquiries. I love to be of any help because, believe me, we have been there!
For a good guestimation on your puppy's grown-up weight, double their weight at 16 wks and add 10 lbs. This would put our puppy at about 80-85lbs and he seems to be right on track. We have finally (we hope) curbed the mouthiness of our puppy. When we walk in the door and go to release him from his kennel we always have something for him to put in his mouth. This keeps him from putting us in his mouth instead. Sounds funny, but our puppy has not outgrown the "holding our hand" stage so we distract him with something else. He actually carries something around with him almost all of the time. He has outside toys and inside toys and crate toys as well. One of his favorite things to carry around? An old butter tub. RIGHT??? I spend a fortune on toys and he would prefer a butter dish or an empty water bottle.
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