The Adolescent Times

It's funny how time fly's when you're having fun. Especially since I've almost had Daisy for a year. It's so funny to look back at the pictures of when Daisy was a puppy. It seriously feels like it was only a couple of weeks ago. A whole year, I can't believe it!

As I have said many times before, Daisy is super smart. Not only does she do lots of tricks, but now I feel that she understands me more than ever. As if I can almost talk to her. I can say certain words, like "outside" or "potty" and Daisy instantly knows what I'm talking about. The coolest thing is that Daisy knows the names of all the other pets I have. She knows Lil Dude's calling name. All I have to say is "Heyyyy Dude!" and instantly Daisy's ears perk up and she starts looking around for Lil Dude, as if we're hunting for a rabbit, or something. Same thing with Yogi, I simply say "Yooooog!" and Daisy begins to search for Yogi. It doesn't matter where we are, she knows what I said and she is ready to play with whatever friend is around. 

Beagles need exercise, so what Daisy and I like to do is play fetch with her tennis ball. I'll throw it ALL the way in the back yard and she'll take off, top speed, and bring it back to me. I tell her "Put it down.", and she drops the ball at my feet. I say, "Sit", then she sits and then I throw the ball again. Let me tell you, it's great that Daisy will sit and wait for you to throw the ball. It really helps when guests are over and they are playing ball with her, because Daisy will retrieve it, then simply sit and drop the ball. It makes it easy on the guest. That's good manners.

Another really cool thing Daisy does is responds to pointing. Sometimes when I throw the ball, it will get lost in a bush or somewhere Daisy can't find it. So I like to give Daisy a good 5-10 minutes to sniff it out. If she can't find it, I will then call her name and she'll look at me. When she looks at me, I will point in the direction where the ball is, and she will head off in that direction I pointed in. With her nose to the ground, she'll search it out. She's so cute because if she still can't find it, even after I pointed to where it was, she will again look at me and then I will point again. She will head off again in pursuit of her favorite ball until she finds it.

Potty/House training definitely paid off! I haven't had an accident in the house in about 6 months. Well, except for the time she pee'd on my Girlfriends dad's brand new carpet. That wasn't Daisy's fault though! She was scared of this big loud toy that my girlfriend's little brother was playing with, so Daisy was sort of hiding in the corner of the living room and I think she had to pee, but she didn't want to leave the corner because she was scared. So, she pee'd. Luckily the carpet was scotch guarded and the pee didn't soak in. It cleaned up easily. Other than that, it's been great. To this day (knock on wood), Daisy has never pooped on the carpet in the house. EVER. Yes, she did poop on the laundry room linoleum when I'd leave her home during the day, but that's normal. I occasionally receive e-mails from people asking how I got Daisy potty trained. I always reply with the word CONSISTENCY. I tell them that when you take your puppy out to go potty, make sure he goes poop, or pee. Don't assume that just because he didn't go in the 20 minutes you stood outside on the grass with him, that he doesn't have to go. I used to sit outside with Daisy at 3 in the morning and I would wait until she pee'd or pooped. Call me crazy, but I can easily say, it paid off in the end. I didn't want to have to clean up a mess and I knew that if Daisy started peeing or pooping in the house, then it was going to suck trying to get her to stop. So like I said, it paid off. For those of you potty training, don't give up! It takes time. It doesn't happen over night. Plan on many nights of taking your puppy out a few times during the middle of the night. Now I know when Daisy has to go outside to do her thing. She will get in my face about it. She will climb up on me and lick my face like crazy. That's when I say, "C'mon, let's go outside". Then she grabs one of her Kong toys and heads for the back door.

One thing that Daisy and I need to improve with is the mail man. Daisy HATES the mail man, LOL. Everyday, the same time, the mail man trots his way to our front door and as soon as Daisy hears the mail box open up, Daisy loses her mind and starts "AROOOOOO"ing!!!! It's so loud and it echoes when we are inside. I have to tell Daisy, "Quiet!". It sucks because she is out of control when the mail man is there. As soon as the mail man leaves, I open the front door and let her look out to show her that he is gone, so she'll calm down. I think eventually she'll learn to tolerate the mail man.

Another thing we need to improve on is her habit to run out of the back yard gate and chase Lil Dude in the front yard and sometimes into the neighbors yard. It sucks because she is hard to catch once she is out. I instantly have to become a meanie and say "DAISY!!" in a low tone of voice so she will stop. She stops because she hears that my voice is in a low tone and she can tell I don't approve of what she's doing. She stops in her tracks and let's me pick her up. Daisy is a nut sometimes. This definitely has to stop because there is a busy street only one house away. So I definitely have to be careful.

All in all, it's a ton of fun. Hard work, but a lot of fun. As I'm typing this, I'm looking down at Daisy sleeping on her bed. I can tell she's having a dream because her nose and paws are twitching. I hate when that happens, especially when she squeals in her sleep. Now, THAT's scary stuff.

Anyways, I will stop typing now. Til next time... 

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