Hiccup Saturday

It's so funny how puppy training moves forward so quickly, then the dreaded hiccup occurs!

Zuzu was getting so much better with the biting before Saturday. She still wanted something to chew on about 90% of her awake time, but she was getting better with understanding that approved chewable items were not my clothes, the furniture, or people parts. Now I'm not saying that she stopped trying daily to chew those things, but she was starting to have an understanding that we didn't like it. And, considering the fact that my living room and bedroom and backyard now have more toys strewn about than the home of any first time parent, we had plenty of handy distractions for her.

Then came Saturday.

Jim decided to take the girls snowboarding, so they were out the door by 3:30 am and Zu and I had the day to ourselves.  The morning went really well. We slept, we played, we walked, and we went to the park to play with and sniff the other dogs.

In the afternoon, about the time the girls would normally be getting home from school if it was a weekday, Zuzu woke up with a little demon in her!  If there was something she wasn't allowed to chew, she was on it. If I said, 'uh uh', it meant chew harder and faster. If I tried to distract her with a toy or rawhide, she would take the distraction, throw it out of her way, and chew some more on the forbidden item.

Then she decided that I was what she wanted to chew. Ouch! Puppy teeth are so sharp! I yelped like a pup and she would stop, look up at me, and nip again, just not as hard. That would have worked if she didn't have a mouth full of tiny needles!

When I would try to move away, she would bite and hold onto my pant leg. When I pried her teeth off, she would chase me down, wagging her tail and growling, like I was something she was trying to herd. Once when I turned away, which 'always' works...haha...she jumped up and nipped me squarely on the ass!  Really, dog?!!

We then went for a short walk, where she still didn't listen, but at least wasn't nipping, then she went in her crate & I took myself out for Chinese, just so I could breath for a bit.

The rest of the evening was better, but not perfect.  Daddy and the girls got home about 10pm, and she greeted all of them happily, though trying to chew fingers.

On Sunday she woke up, we were all there, and she had a fantastic day. She even laid on the floor and cuddled with Tressa while Jim and I were out for a bit last night. This morning, when she crawled on my lap, she actually had a chew toy and didn't try to nip me once.  It was so sweet!

Dang hiccups!