Nice to Meet You!

I decided to go pick her up instead of waiting for her to come by plane. 6 Hours each way to Garrett/Somerset Pennsylvania!

JinX! and i are spending our first evening together at a Days Inn by Garrett PA, or the nearest town - which is Somerset PA. I picked her up from the breeder and shortly after placing her in her crate, she began whining! And of course during the drive to the hotel - she pooped. Not just any poop, it was massive! How did that much poop come from a little puppy like that? OK enuff about poop and um i did NOT take pics of that.

Well, since we're heading into town and there happens to be a WALMART supercenter- i decide to drop by to get her some yummy treats and maybe a toy or two. Of course, as i'm walking back toward the car - i can hear her whining from a mile away. I made this my shortest WalMart excursion ever!

So we walk into the DAYS INN hotel room, and i let her out. She sniffs around for almost an hour while i do my first poop cleaning of her travel crate.

Next i offer her food, the food from Mary Alice (of Ravenwood Kennels) - the breeder- but she seems disinterested. She does drink some water. I break out this packet of wet puppy food - lamb and liver - YUM!


She starts to gooble it up! But she does things strangely She refuses to eat out of the bowl. She drags the food on the hotel room carpet (so glad we're not home yet), and eats everything there.


I offered her a choice of 5 different treats, and clearly she had no idea what they were. I don't think the breeder gave her anything yummy but dry kibble. I gave her a wonderful smelling Nathan's Hot Dog bite - it looked like a 2 week old hotdog that was laying out on the counter- but she had no idea how to eat it. So i bust out some Turkey treats and after about 5 mins she figures out finally how to eat it and she is LOVIN it.

I give her this Harley Davidson plush toy i found, when you press it- it sounds like a harley revving its engine lol. Of course she doesn't care about that- she bites onto the little tag that is attached and swings the toy around wildly.



Then as i set up my laptop...i turn around and guess what. TWO beautiful mounds of hot doggy poop for me to clean up! YAY! Of course i don't yell at her. She wouldn't know why, it was my fault for not watching her. So i distract her to the other side of the room and clean up the mess without her seeing (another training trick i picked up from forums - never let them see you clean up their mess or they will take advantage - as in USE YOU LIKE A HOUSEKEEPER).

Well i think she understands the meaning of NO. Because whenever i say it, she lays flat on the ground! WOW amazing!

So i start the crate training. 15mins inside - whining, screaming, crying bloody murder. I call the concierge and kindly inquire...where can i find a drugstore? She asks me what exactly i'm looking for. I laugh and state "a nice set of earplugs". She chuckles and suggests the gas station across the street.

So i go back to JinX!, while she is inside the crate. I look straight at her, and she makes eye contact with me. I firmly state "JinX! QUIET". She stops whining instantly, then looks at me...puts her head down and stares at me with her sad blue eyes, and i slowly open the cage door. I have repeated this at 30min intervals already 4 times.

After the fourth time, she comes out and finally realizes how to play with a set of teething rings i gave her, it lasts for about 5mins and then lays herself flat on the carpet


I try to coerce her into the crate - this time i put a very comfy cushion that i got her along with tossing treats inside...she goes in for a few minutes and then marches back out with the treats in her mouth and eats them far away from the crate. She looks at me as if to say "nice try you homo- I'm smarter than that", and she trots away from me.




So then we played a game. I would put my hand left hand on her paw...and she would jump back and then pounce on my hand as i slapped the ground. Then i put the left hand behind my back and used my right hand to slap the ground, she jumps back and then pounces on my right hand as i slap the ground. WOW- what a smartie pants- our first game together!

Now its after midnight, all the goofing around we've done has started to wear her out! So i repeatedly say JinX CRATE! and point to the crate. Guess what! She walks in! She slowly marches inside the crate headfirst, then turns around and sighs heavily and plops her head down...but keeps her paws at the edge of the opening- perhaps to make sure i can't close the door? Anyway, she does this and i lay in front of the cage. She looks at me for a while, gets up and starts to slowly walk out. I use my head to push her back inside slowly, and she backs up and lies down again. This repeats about 5 times, until she starts resting her head on my hand, and then out of nowhere she starts licking my nose! So now she comes out sniffing, and i know what she needs to do. She walks over to the wee wee pad and does her business! Wow...what a good start, let's hope tommorrow she doesn't wipe all this from her memory.









It's 12:30am now and she finally passed out but she has her head completely hanging out the crate, so there's no way i can close the door. I guess it makes her feel better - MAYBE we'll leave the door open for the first night, but tommorrow- THAT DOOR CLOSES!



She's not completely asleep though, b/c as i type once in a while she'll look up at me as if to ask, wth are you still doing up?





I tried to remember to use her name followed by a command every time but it's hard to be consistent. After all, i haven't had to speak DOG before.

I think she is starting to recognize that i'm Alpha, b/c anytime i don't approve she lays down flat on the ground.