Remember “Mission Accomplished”? Feeling like I declared victory too soon on some puppy milestones. Like housetraining. I keep thinking we’re all set…and then we’ll find pee in the hallway. And maybe again several times in a day!! Argh! Usually don’t catch one in the act so hard to discourage. We already are letting them outside ALL THE TIME. As Rob described it once, they prefer to pee outside but are OK with just peeing wherever they happen to be.
Next time we catch one peeing in the house, rather than picking him up and carrying him outside, we plan to pick him up and put him in the laundry room for a time-out. Being alone in there for a bit might be a discouragement! Similarly, I uncovered some of those “pop-its” (throw at ground and they snap like a mini-firecracker) and I’m going to use those when pups are in the flowerbeds. We have flowerbeds fenced off but they’re penetrable. Already did this once but the soil isn’t hard enough for most pop-its to actually pop.
And nighttimes are unpredictable. Best nights the pups are in bed by 8:15 or 8:30 and don’t get up until 4:30. But 2 nights ago they also were up at 12:30, 1:20, 3:00. And it’s hard to get them to go back to bed at all after 4:30. I’m an early morning person but 4:30 is not OK!
Meanwhile, Matt Patricia has been broody. We started to notice she was spending all her time sitting in the roost! So we started to pick her up a few times a day and move her to the yard. After a few days of this, we believe she has finally become normal again which would be a big relief. Some people resort to far more extreme measures to stop the broodiness. Reminder: she has the prettiest cooing sound you’ll ever hear. Rob heard it and remarked that it doesn’t sound at all like a chicken!
Egg production has been down. Not sure if Matt’s constant presence in the roost was messing up the whole rhythm of the flock or what? And there have been other factors to consider…
One afternoon when it was time to collect the eggs, I had the impulse to ask Rob to join me. I had not ever done that before. So we arrived at the coop together, which I was thankful for, because we saw going up the ramp to the roosts the back-end of a SNAKE!! And remember that Matt, being broody, was sitting inside!
We opened the door and Rob used the rake to get the snake out which kind of worked but then it went into the run and underneath the floor of the roosts (not accessible to us). The snake was VERY long but VERY skinny. Later we concluded it was maybe a coachwhip and was probably chasing a rodent (non-venomous). We were like, Wow, how crazy that the ONE time I ask Rob to join me there was a snake! Anyway, that kind of snake is not really a threat to eggs or chickens. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed we remain so lucky.
Speaking of snakes.
This morning I was out front with the puppies pretty early in the morning. I decided to go inside while they were playing but there was a SNAKE laying all along the threshold of the front door! Very small snake, but still. I didn’t want to have to step over it to get inside. AND, more importantly, I didn’t want the pups to get into a tussle with it. My very-early-morning-brain struggled to find a solution:
no other doors were unlocked so that was only way inside
I could go to back of house, knock on window to wake up Rob for assistance
I could temporarily try to get pups into backyard instead of frontyard but we kind of have gates blockaded.
And on and on. I was trying to think quickly because if the pups returned to me they’d quickly discover the snake. I wrapped the temporary fencing we have around the flowerbeds across the front walk. Then I grabbed a soft dog toy that was laying nearby and threw it at the snake. Then I threw another. It budged a bit. I just stood there wondering what to do and then it started to move.
It started to move back out along the edge of the front walk! Very good! So then I stepped into flowerbed to keep clear of snake and up to front door which was now clear. Got inside. Got my phone, took a picture, and by then it slithered back into the grass and was 100% invisible. The pups were still playing and missed THE WHOLE THING. Checkered garter snake. Harmless.
I cut Rob’s hair today which was even more fun than cutting my hair! We’ll see how it looks after washing and stuff, but it seems at least good enough!
Had the pups out back a bit more and while incredibly interested in the chickens, they mostly just watch without pursuing. One time Mrs. Joe Burrough ran off and flew up in the air which definitely freaked them out. I’m hoping there’s mutual respect growing.
Stony sometimes has these mega sneezing fits where he will sneeze over and over again maybe 20 times. Then have another round after a few minutes….and this may happen for 15 or 20 minutes! Poor guy. Vet said could be allergies with pollen so if it gets really bad we could give him Benadryl.
I got some puppy doorbells which are just some jingly bells you hang on doorknob that puppy can sound when wants to go out. Stony seemed to get it right away while Woody, who does seem more startled by loud noises, barks wildly at it.
Interesting that the pups both weigh about 20 pounds according to the vet today, even though Woody appears to be larger. Just very different body types! When we got them they were something like 11 or 12 pounds (4 weeks ago).
For this whole 4 weeks, I was not appreciating what Rob meant when he referred to “the octagon” when the puppies barked and played boisterously under the dining room table. In my mind I thought the name must be referring to the shape created inside the chairs, but no, lol, I learned when we had the TV on that it refers to a fight match on some mixed martial arts show or whatever. Classic.
One large improvement in my quality of life started yesterday when I introduced Jenny, the longboard, to the driveway. Turns out our driveway is on a slight tilt. I’m terrible at riding Jenny and I can’t remember how to push off the ground and get on (without possibly falling and getting hurt), BUT I found that after I get the mail out at the road, I can hop on Jenny and she glides, not terribly fast, all the way back to the house! All the excitement I could want!