Grayson Loves Bella

Grayson really has taken a liking to Bella and smiles every time he sees her.  Bella does not have the same feelings for Grayson, but she is definitely interested in him, but gets very nervous when he moves around.  I tell myself they bonded while he was in my belly, but not sure how that works.  Bella handles him much better than any other child she has been around so I think she at least understands he is here to stay so she better to used to him.  It's so cute how excited Grayson gets when he sees her so hopefully Bella will return the love someday.

)

Doggy Day Care

Bella started doggy day care today at a place right down the street. She was very nervous and spent a lot of time laying in the worker's lap, but then she finally warmed up and made some new friends. She is totally pooped! She is going to go one to two days a week and the other days we have a dog walker.

We are very happy with the results of the dog trainer. She is now potty trained to go outside instead of going on puppy pads (she thought everything shaped like a pad was one like rugs). She goes to the backdoor and cries or barks when she wants to go out. Her licking is much better, but we are still working on her barking. She only barks when someone rings the door bell or sometimes at other dogs. If Robin the dog trainer was here Bella would never do that, but I'm not as scary as Robin. Hopefully we will figure this one out. Too funny...the doorbell just rang on the tv and she started to jump off the couch, but I caught her in time and told her no and she didn't bark.

Update on Bella

Here is the latest from the trainer:

Fri, March 20

I brought Bella to a networking meeting and I put her in the bag. I hoped everyone thought I just got into a new Large Purse Craze. Well, at first, that is exactly what everyone thought and then one lady said, "Do you have a dog in there?"

Usually I bring my big dogs and they sit under the table quietly and everyone is shocked that they are so good.

So, I opened the little hatch and out pops Bella's head. Everyone "awed" and even this lady who doesn't like dogs went on and on about Bella and decided she wants a yorkie. I got such a kick out of that and so did the other ladies. I put her on the floor in the bag and she was quiet the whole meeting. After the meeting, she got to meet everyone else.

We are going to work on "stay" today. We are getting closer to her pottying on command.

What I have been doing is walking her in the morning and night and putting paper in the bathroom in the afternoon. I check on her and when she potties, she gets to come out.

Or, I put her in an open kennel and tell her "go potty" "go pee" and she waits until I turn my back and goes.

She is going quicker each day and more comfortable with me seeing her go on the paper. She has no problem having me stand right there outside.

Sun, Mar 21

Today was an interesting day. I was hoping to get Bella to go really far in her training today. She didn't want to stay on the paper to pee, but peed next to the toilet and pood on the other side. It was not the best day so far, but I think I have to remember to have lots of small steps to get to our goal. So, I am thinking that maybe we could cut those papers in half and put one half on one side of the toilet and the other piece on the other side.

Bella slept with me and my daughter for some hours the night before. After I dreamt that she moved over a foot and peed on the bed, I woke up and put her in the kennel. She sure was happy to sleep on my shoulder and head. Later today, she got to be held by a bunch of people when I had a party for Grandpa's birthday.

This picture was taken while Bella was in my son's lap. There is no coffee in the cup, but we wanted to send it to Starbucks and hope they could use it as a commercial.

Update on Bella at training

Above: Craig cuddling and taking a nap with Bella. This was taken 11/2008.

Above: She loves her daddy. She always lays on his chest like this...too cute!

Here are two updates from the trainer:

Sunday:

Bella is doing better at getting her nails clipped. Also, getting better at lying down. Sometimes, she wants to get very close to me before lying down. I just want her to lie down. She even did sits and downs in the rainwater late yesterday. At first, she didn't want to.

Right now, the schedule with water that I am on is that after Bella pees (either on paper or
outside) she gets a little water. She was good today.

She doesn't over lick me, has learned "off" and I am trying to say "off" before she goes on any throw rugs or small carpets.

Tonight, when I said "Stay here", she looked at me as if to say, "but, I will go this way, what will you do if I do that? Probably nothing, so I go "Ha", she got dragged back to me when I picked up the line I told her stay here and she did. Good girl.

She is sitting before we exit doors and enter. I want to control her impulses. If she thinks a lot, she might think "hmm, better not do this or that or the human will not be happy." So we want her thinking.

Tuesday:

Bella is good. She is so pretty.

Yesterday, I sat for two hours plus with her on potty pads. She didn't want to go on the pads unless they were inside her crate. I did finally get her to go poo on the paper and with me right there, but I was so tired that I finally walked her outside to pee and went to bed.

It has only been a week plus a day, and looking over the week, I am very impressed with Bella's progress overall. She does like to go back to her old ways as that is so comfortable, so we have to renegotiate and then she does it. This is pretty normal.

One example that is very common is that once the dogs get used to the "down" command, they sit and go straight into a down when I ask for a "sit". What I always have to do then is go back to "sit, sit, sit, sit, and on and on until that is good again.

Bella's Training Update

Above: Bella cuddling with her new pals at the trainer's house (the trainer has 3 dogs and a cat)

Above: She probably forgot all about me...:(

I have been getting updates every day and she is doing well. She is learning a lot, but still has a long way to go. Hopefully she will figure it out in the next 3 weeks. It's been very tough without her here. We miss her like crazy!

Day 2 of Bella's training

Above: Bella when she was about 8 weeks old (5/12/2005)

Below: Her first bath

Robin the trainer said... Just to let you know Bella is doing very well. She did a perfect "come to me and sit" yesterday. That doesn't mean we are done with that as she will likely try different things, but she is learning.

She is learning NOT to bust out of the crates. That is a huge problem. Right there, she has called all the shots. She is learning to respect all doors inside and out. Now she has started to look at me before attempting to run lol, But again, she is learning. More tomorrow.

I asked her how she is doing with sleeping because Bella normally sleeps with us and now she is in a crate next to Robin's bed. Here's what she said...She did well sleeping. A couple times, she made little bird sounds, but cuddled up and slept.

Craig & Bella

Whenever I get ready in the morning Bella & Craig cuddle. This is how I found them today...

Bella's new haircut

Bella got a haircut...

Bella goes "Bye Bye"

Bella loves to cuddle

Bella loves her Daddy! She loves to cuddle with Craig.