Monster

I finally saw her monster! Puppies are WORK. Gasp!

It all began with the living room. She did NOT want to stay in the living room yesterday afternoon. She didn't want to be outside, and I didn't want to crate her since she had gone potty, so we were in the living room. She's been there before, but decided that she didn't want to be confined. So, she started to nip at me and my shirt, and my pants. I didn't like it, so I pulled away and even yelped. What great fun that was! I could not figure out how to make it stop, even when I tried to talk calmly and settle her down. She said 'No Way! Game on!' She did eventually calm down, but for the rest of the evening if I settled down near her, she immediately started to play nip, then she started to do it to Jim too. What had I done?

I was quite upset, so when she was resting, I went back to my books. I discovered a few things...

One - I tend to overanalyze everything (okay - I actually already knew that about myself.)

Two - Just because she's as big as a full size Snickers doesn't mean she understands as much.  She really is just a tiny baby and everything is sleep eat potty play.

Three - She wants attention and any attention is fun. If I'm trying hard not to get nipped, she'll try harder to nip.

Today, we tried something different. When I went to pet her and she jumped up and nipped, instead of staying down and trying to calm her, I stopped petting immediately and stood up and looked away. So, she bit my jammies. I walked away. Later, the same thing. This went on most of the morning until one time I sat on the patio next to her in the shade (why do dogs prefer shade over sun?) and started petting her. She started to put her teeth on my finger, I relaxed to stand up, she stopped and rested her head in the crook of my arm and curled up around me.  So sweet! She even came to join me in the sun when I moved because I got too cold.

I know it's not fixed yet, but one small success made me feel so good! We will keep working on it.

Now, if only I knew what to do about the rose bush that she ripped out of the ground and carried away like a trophy! :)