Well we are back from the shore. What a washout of a weekend. It rained, no it poured (more like a monsoon) for two days straight. It was really hard to take Maggie out in the rain every two hours. Hard enough because of the rain but harder because of a stubborn dog. When she doesn't want to do something she just sits down and looks at you as if to say "what are you going to do about it?" You can't help but love her. She is really cute and her personality is emerging and there is definetely a stubborn streak about her. Wonder which side of the family it comes from!?
We sat out with her on our covered front porch and she made a lot of friends. People actually had to talk to us because Maggie is so cute. Who would have thought a conversation could be started based on looks. I thought you weren't suppose to judge a book by its cover!!!
Anyway, we decided Maggie is just too young (or we are too weary) to try to attempt another trip to the shore this season. We have resigned ourselves to staying at home with our fenced in back yard.

I didn't realize there is a whole other world out there. It is the dog world. When walking Maggie I get stopped constantly to ask what kind of dog she is and to ask her age. When talking with other people who are dog owners, you become engrossed into the "dog world" Nothing else seems as important as comparing notes about your dog, her habits, her traits etc. The rest of the world just disappears! I didn't realize what I had been missing all these years.
We took Maggie down to the shore. I realized that this might not be a good idea because she has just acclimated to her new home, but the summer is almost over so we took advantage of the beautiful weather. So after she peed and pooped in the house I am having second thoughts. This is a lot of work and it might just be easier to have stayed at home.
Tomorrow we will introduce her to the beach. I am curious to see if she will like the sand.

While doing research for the golden doodle breed I came across an article that said these dogs can be trained to ring a bell on the door which notifies it's owners it needs to go outside to take care of business. Well yesterday I was in this upscale dogie store and this worker asked me my dog's breed. When I told him she was a golden doodle he brought me over to the bells to hang on the door. So of course I bought one. I brought it home and hung it on my back door. The object of these bells is to ring it say the word "outside" to condition your dog to associate the ringing of the bells to the word outside to actually go outside to pee. Well when I rang the bell and said "outside" Maggie just looked at me. Okay, I thought this may take a little while to sink in. So all afternoon I rang the bell said "outside" and took Maggie outside. Well she did pee and occasionally poop, but she views this as a toy rather then a training method. By this morning she was chewing on them (of course).
Well this should be interesting. I do hope she gets it or we will be going out a lot for no reason!

Our first attempt at bathing Maggie was successful. Although it took three family members to bathe the pup, she is now clean and smelling like a baby courtesy of baby shampoo. We bathed her in the laundry tub so needless to say our laundry room looked like a disaster zone filled with water and many towels not to mention how we looked! Although I doubt Maggie will stay clean for long it is a good feeling to be able to say we accomplished this one feat.

We spent our first significant amount of time away from Maggie (not to worry she was in the capable hands of another family member). I found myself thinking about her and wondering if she was looking for me. Or maybe she is too young to really miss someone and just focuses on who is present in her life at that particular moment. Well distance does make the heart grow fonder. I really missed her and even though by the time we got home it was late I wanted to play with her and connect with her!
She did better overnight. We left her in her crate and when I woke at three in the morning I took her out. She peed. I put her right back in the crate and she lasted till six am.
I'm hoping this is the beginning of a routine being established.

Well the weekend is here and we had a lot of family and friends come meet Maggie. The house was pretty full at times and Maggie certainly got a lot of attention. She has definitely acclimated to her surroundings and loves to play fetch with many of her new toys. Her favorite spot is on the front porch first thing in the morning listening to all the new sounds and smelling the dew on the leaves.
The art of training a dog to pee and poop outside is tiring. We try to take her out every two hours and immediately when she wakes from a nap. But of course there is the trial and error phase and a few accidents in the house are expected. Although every dog is different I would love to know what time period we are talking about. If I could just put it in my head that is will take ? weeks or months it would make my life easier. But then again if I wanted my life to be easier I would not have adopted a dog right?!?

Our first full 24 hours with Maggie. As she settles into our home her personality is emerging. She has a playful side and will chase a toy if we throw it. She does not like the collar and we are only putting it on when we take her for a walk. She also does not like to walk. We managed to walk her a total of four house lengths. Hope this will improve as she grows.
We are learning to praise her when she pees and poops outside and learning to reprimand her when she manages to mark the house (she seems to love the kitchen floor!!) But overall we are adjusting to our new life as she adjusts to hers! Her love and devotion can be seen when she looks you in the eye. You can just melt. She is soooo cute!!