First Month Reflections

Oh my, it's been a bit since I've had a new post.

Saturday marked our first full month with Lila. When we got her, she was almost two months old, and weighed about three and a half pounds. Her fur was soft, and her tail was nothing more than a stub. She couldn't hold her bladder more than an hour or so, and didn't know how to walk on a leash.

The progress she's had in just a month is amazing. She now weighs almost eleven pounds (she had a bacteria buildup and a parasite, which I will focus on later), and her hair is becoming more wiry and her tail is growing longer. She can now go about three to four hours without having to go outside, and is walking very nicely on a leash now. She now settles down into her kennel almost immediately. Some days there is crying, others there is none at all. She's not making it entirely through the night yet. Accidents are becoming less and less in the house.

However, despite the progress, we've had a small down side. My father bought her food while he was out one day. It was from the same food company, but the kibbles were different. He told me the food was the same, and I never checked to see if he was right. Because of that, we had to switch her food rather suddenly, which caused a bacteria build up in her intestines. After a few days, she wasn't getting any better, so we took her to the vet. They also found a parasite, which was probably why she was a tad skinny. She's now on medication for both, which is almost out now.

As far as socialization goes, we've been walking around the neighborhood a little bit more now that the weather is warming up. She's met several dogs and some of our friends and acquaintances in the neighborhood. And the distance of our walks is increasing quite a bit too. She's been to a couple horse barns around town - Twin Oaks Farm and the Louisville Equestrian Center, and has been to the houses of some of our family members.

I've not been focusing on teaching her commands just yet. She knows sit, come, off, and drop, but those were taught through everyday things (every time she would sit on her own, I'd say "sit"), and that's how I'll be "teaching" commands until her attention span increases some.

I'm starting to doubt that I will ever be disappointed by how Lila progresses. She learns so quickly and preforms her known commands very well for a two month old puppy, so I can only imagine how she'll be when she "grows up" some.

-Kaylyn