One month ago, we picked up this pretty pittie.<\/p>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nStola Malarkey Marton.<\/p>\n
If this tells you anything about life with a 7-month-old puppy: I\u2019ve been trying to write this post since Monday. It is now Thursday<\/s> Friday<\/s> one week later, and it\u2019s still not finished!<\/p>\n
She is seriously cute. She looks like she\u2019s always worried with her wrinkly forehead and big, brown eyes. She isn\u2019t a worrier, though. Instead, I think she\u2019s always plotting something\u2026<\/p>\n
One thing about adolescent puppy dogs that I forgot: the boundless energy that is seemingly inexhaustible, and when I do manage to exhaust it, I am completely wiped out, too! <\/p>\n
And the chewing. I totally forgot about the chewing.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, I looked back at blog posts from when Cooper was this age, and in this post<\/a>, I wrote: <\/p>\n Cooper: If you stop chewing up our furniture, rugs, baseboards, clothes, sheets, and anything else that\u2019s ours and not yours, I will take you to the pet store and let you pick out your own toys. Seriously. For the love, please stop. Oh, and don\u2019t eat grass or mulch. You know how your stomach gets upset every couple of days? You\u2019re doing it to yourself, buddy. Knock it off.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So, you know. At least Stola\u2019s typical. <\/p>\n Beyond the chewing\u2013two seatbelts in my minivan (girlie only rides crated now), Barbies, a library book, and so on\u2013she\u2019s an aggressively sweet pup. She will dive bomb into your lap, flip over, and look up into your face as she snuggles in deeply. She pushes her way under the covers and onto my legs when I\u2019m reading in bed at night. She tries to use Astrid as a pillow, though Astrid\u2019s not having it. I think she\u2019s holding a grudge over the Barbies. <\/p>\n She\u2019s a super smarty pants, learning new things so quickly that I can tell it\u2019s going to be a fun challenge for me to keep her challenged!<\/p>\n We\u2019re currently in the Beginner Obedience class at a local dog training facility, and Stola is sailing right through. I look forward to moving up to a more difficult class with her and am thinking about looking into some intro level dog sports because she is SO smart with SO much energy! <\/p>\n She loves to walk and to go on hikes. Unfortunately, she arrived to us with some bad timing weather-wise. In the past month, we\u2019ve had a snowstorm, a polar vortex, and whatever the heck is going on right now where the highs have been around 15 (F) for several days in a row. It\u2019s simply not safe to be out much right now, which is tough for a rambunctious pup. And for me. I miss the sun. <\/p>\n We are having a few struggles. <\/p>\n One is brand new and so annoying, so if anyone has advice, I\u2019m all ears! Stola has started chewing shoes. Typical puppy business\u2026 except she only wants to chew shoes when they\u2019re on someone\u2019s feet.<\/em> It\u2019s turned the morning scramble to get ready for school into a bit of a nightmare unless we put Stola in her crate. Same thing with putting on or taking off or changing your shoes. The second you sit down, she launches up and starts biting your shod foot. Then it turns into a fun game for her as you try to yank your foot away. <\/p>\n The second is with the cats, and it\u2019s a little bit their problem and a little bit hers. She is far more interested in them than they prefer, but we can redirect Stola pretty easily or she settles herself\u2026 unless they run. Then she thinks it\u2019s time to chase. We can\u2019t very well teach the cats not to run when they\u2019re scared, so we\u2019re focusing our efforts on lots of short sessions where they stay calm around each other with lots of cheese. (Check out this reel<\/a>.) We\u2019ve also added more gates in strategic spots so when the cats do run, Stola can\u2019t chase them very far, just through one room before they have a gate to get behind. <\/p>\n The third is a Penny issue. If we\u2019re connected on Instagram, or if you\u2019ve read her adoption posts, you\u2019ll know this already but a quick backstory: Penny hoards her things. She stuffs toys into the edges of her bolster bed. She hides bones and chews and treats in couch cushions and behind my pillow. She collects cat toys from their basket and moves them under a blanket on the bean bag chair in the living room. She has always done this. Well, turns out, she also guards her hoard.<\/em> So, we\u2019ve had to make sure we remove everything from every nook and cranny and cushion\u2013while she witnesses it happening\u2013or else she guards these stashes from Stola with growls and snaps. This one\u2019s on us to be vigilant until Penny feels secure. <\/p>\n BTW, I am absolutely open to advice and ideas on any of the above! Please leave a comment with your suggestions!<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s only been a month. Stola isn\u2019t fully settled in yet. (Remember the 3-3-3 rule<\/a>?)<\/p>\n I\u2019m adjusting to having a herd that isn\u2019t <\/em>adjusted to each other yet. After nearly 20 years of a settled \u201cpack,\u201d this is like we pressed a giant reset button. <\/p>\n Overall, things are going very well. Stola is settling in nicely. Sure, there are kinks. But\u2026 when in life aren\u2019t there?!<\/p>\n I\u2019m working on a post right now with our \u201cpuppy survival kit\u201d so that\u2019ll be coming soon. In the meantime, hope you and yours are doing well! I leave you with this sweet pic. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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<\/figure>\nRead More<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n