We have had Savannah for one entire month now... her adoption day was September 12th. Except for a few sleepless nights, she's been an exceptionally good puppy who is not only smart but is teaching me that patience is a puppy-momma's virtue (and at times, an impossibility).
Our plan to not give in to Savannah's night-time barking was somewhat of a success. We put Savannah into her crate last night at 10:45 and we went upstairs. Prior to that, Savannah had been playing with her toys, sitting on the sofa next to my husband, and had been taken outside to the grass for the last visit of the day. With the help of a little beef treat, Savannah went into her crate and curled up at the back of it without making a fuss. I turned off the light, told her goodnight, and off I went upstairs. Not a peep out of her while I was on the stairs.
However, the second that my feet got on the hallway of the second floor, Savannah's barking mechanism kicked into gear. And she barked... softly at first, then louder and louder, and louder still until it she got the bark-level to her signature roar. My husband was working at his computer... I was getting ready for bed... and we both ignored her.
Half an hour later, Gary was still at his computer and I was reading in bed, and Savannah had stopped barking. Peace and quiet. Ten minutes later, she started up again... and kept barking for another twenty minutes. I didn't even get out of bed, didn't acknowledge the barking at all... and just kept reading.
At 11:45, one hour after Savannah had been put into her crate for the night, she stopped her barking once and for all. Instead of me being at the end of my rope, I was at the end of the book I was reading... and I turned off my light. Next thing I knew, it was six o'clock this morning and I was just waking up from a solid night's sleep. When I came downstairs, Savannah was in her crate, sound asleep, and she opened her eyes when I unlatched the door to her crate and gave me the biggest puppy yawn I've ever seen.
So ignoring her night-time barking is now the way to go here. No more up and down the stairs for me, no more getting frustrated with Savannah. She's still a puppy and she's going to bark until she gets used to every blessed thing and every blessed noise here, and that's just that. We don't know if she's barking at the trains and the coyotes during the night, or if she's barking because she has gotten quite used to spending all of her time with us and doesn't want to be separated at night. We don't think Savannah can navigate the un-carpeted stairs, and she hasn't even tried them on her own. We're not encouraging her to climb those stairs because we'd rather have her sleeping on the first floor of the house rather than sprawling her big puppy self all over our bed, which is what I think she'd want to do once she got up there. Savannah's favorite spot in the TV room now is right next to my husband on the sofa. I've been relegated to an adjacent chair, which is fine with me--- the light is better there for reading.
Savannah's favorite toy continues to be the little blue monkey. Surprisingly, there isn't a pulled thread on that monkey's fabric, which is a heavy corduroy. There's a squeaker inside the tummy of the monkey, which is still working just fine considering how many times Savannah has squeaked that poor thing. She also carries her pillow from one room to the next, with a separate trip made to retrieve her blue and white blanket. She uses the pillow to rest her chin at times, and the blanket gets pride-of-place underneath her toys, for some reason. Savannah has her own puppy priorities, comfort being the most important.
I've been combing Savannah's fur just about every day... and being that she ran away from the comb on the first day but now literally melts at my feet when I start combing her fur, that act alone is worth the knowledge that puppies will trust you to do just about anything to them as long as they come to the realization that you have their best interests at heart.
I was out in the backyard this morning picking pecans from the trees which are just filled with them now and Savannah was right there with me. I kept her on the leash because I don't trust her not to run off into the pastures, and our entire property isn't completely fenced in. When she learns to come back to us when we call her each and every time, then she can spend part of her time out there without a leash.
When my husband and I were out driving yesterday, we went to a local dog park which is set up with all kinds of equipment you would find in a dog show or on an obstacle course. There are actually two separate fenced-in enclosures there-- one for small dogs, one for medium and large dogs. After Savannah gets spayed this week and has recovered from the procedure, we will take her to the dog park and let her run and play with the other dogs. It will be interesting to see if we can teach her to run the obstacle course. I think she'll be very good at it as long as she's having fun, and as long as I remember to bring treats.
Sweet Pea is getting much more comfortable around Savannah, not staying in his room so much now, preferring to be out in the kitchen and breakfast room whenever possible. That cat will walk past Savannah, drink from her big water bowl as needed, and will studiously watch everything that Savannah does, as if he's taking notes. I'm grateful that we didn't mess up Sweet Pea's peaceful little cat life by bringing Savannah into our home.
On Wednesday morning, I will have to take Savannah to the vet's for spaying. Which means getting her into my car again (the blue monkey will help with that procedure, as it did last time). And I will have to leave Savannah there at the vet's from 7:30am till nearly 6:30 that night. That's going to be difficult.... and I'm wondering if Savannah will be nervous and anxious just because nothing there will be familiar to her. I certainly can't bring her pillow and blanket there, and I wouldn't leave the blue monkey there with her either because it will come back with a medicinal smell. Of course I'm hoping that she doesn't think she's been abandoned or given away. With all the positive strides this puppy has made these past four weeks, I don't want all of that to be undone with her having to be away from here for an entire day.
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