Borador Puppy — Wow Grace has her own YouTube Channel! Check it out.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own puppy? You know, one of those innocent, cuddly, fluffy, playful little balls of fun and energy. Perhaps you’re considering the designer mix called Borador, or maybe you don’t know which breed of dog is perfect for you. Betsy, my wife, met and fell in love with one that sort of adopted us when we lived in Virginia. He died, and shortly thereafter we left Virginia. Recently we adopted a replacement.
Join us now as we share with you the joys and trials of adding a puppy into our household.
Puppy Love
It was a bright, pleasant Sunday afternoon. We drove a little more than hour south of here out in the country (Autryville, NC) to check out some Borador (Labrador / Border Collie mix) puppies. It turns out our Yankee Doodle Sweetheart was born on the Fourth of July. That made the puppies just under 10 weeks old. Since the dog was for my wife, she picked it out. She took the one that connected best with her and seemed the most calm. While at the breeder’s, we had a chance to meet the puppy’s mom and dad. The mom was a very sweet Labrador Retriever and the dad was a very athletic, well-mannered Border Collie. To learn more about the day from the puppy’s perspective and why she was named Grace click here.
That first night was a little rough. Grace had a bit of an upset stomach, which triggered mild diarrhea. That’s not the best scenario for the first day trying to house-train a young puppy. Betsy got up with Grace at midnight and 1 AM. By 3 AM, exasperation began to set in. Recalling midnight feedings with my now-adult son, I told her I’d handle it. I took Grace out again, removed her collar and comforted her to go to sleep. By 5:30 AM she was ready to go and our Monday adventure began.
I’ve lived with three other puppies in my life. The first two (Yorrkie and Sheltie) adapted easily. My son brought home the third one (American Bulldog) named Sam. He turned out to be unmanageable. After trying to work with him for a few months, he had to return the dog. Sam needed constant activity, knew no pain, was highly destructive, and was lacking in the mental department.
Grace appears to be the smartest puppy of the four. After just a few days, she has nearly house-trained herself, knew her name, walked up stairs, and was learning to sit and be led on a leash. Grace does have a fairly high need for activity though. She immediately understood the fetch game and enjoys playing it.
Settling In
Monday, Grace’s digestive tract was making loud gurgling sounds. We could hear them 15 feet away. Otherwise, she didn’t seem to be an any particular distress. Grace did wonderfully with house training, but of course we were very vigilant. As the day wore on, her digestive system seemed to settle down. Being a puppy, she tends to alternate a few hours very active time with a few hours down (nap) time.
Tuesday, I heard Grace whimpering around 5:15 AM. That’s about the time a train goes by. Perhaps that was what awakened her. She had gone through the night though without needing to go out and without relieving herself in her room. Of course, the first activity upon rising is to take puppy down to do her business. Thankfully, her diarrhea had resolved at this point.
Betsy made an appointment to meet with the vet late Tuesday morning. The appointment went very well. Betsy noticed a lot of mosquitoes where Grace was living and was concerned that she may have heart damage from heart worms. The test to detect them cannot verify infection until after six months. The vet assured us that in the event she were infected, the heart worm medicine would completely restore her. He also gave us a nice folder with instructions and brochures.
Behavioral Problems
Wednesday morning I awoke Grace at 5:45 AM. Again, all was clear in her room. After taking her out, I played with her using the various toys. At this point, she was starting to get rambunctious. She loves to bite just about anything—including bricks. Anything includes my fingers and arm, power cords, furniture, clothing, and laptop computers. On occasion, she would lunge at my face or my wife’s face with her mouth open ready to bite. I tried to patiently substitute acceptable toys and chews for unacceptable ones, but she would of course prefer the bad stuff.
All summer I had been swimming at the outdoor pool. Betsy noticed that when I would leave, Grace missed me. That day, she took Grace down to the pool for a while to watch me swim and say “Hi.” She then took Grace back upstairs to watch me from the balcony.
A neighbor Jack Russell Terrier mix lay perched and staked out on his second-floor balcony. The little monster would bark threateningly when any neighbor dogs passed by. Grace interpreted this as his claim of the local territory. That threw a big monkey wrench in our leash training. Suddenly, Grace feared being within about 100 feet of that stupid mutt. She would rush to the stairway and be generally nervous while walking on the leash. She also became defiant and unresponsive to our lead.
We’re living in the third floor of an apartment complex. This means we need to take Grace up and down two flights of stairs every time we take her out. Being a puppy, about the height of two steps, she’s afraid to go down the steps. So far, we’ve had to carry her down. However, by Tuesday, she was climbing the steps by herself. That’s pretty good progress.
Back On Track
I did some research on leash training to see if I could find some way to get Grace back on track. One author suggested using treats to encourage your dog to stay near you. The idea is that good things (treats) happen when the dog is at your side. Betsy purchased some, and I gave it a try. Not only did it work to pry her from her leash resistance, it also enabled me to coax her down stairs. That has to be pretty frightening for such a little one, but we started with one step above the bottom and then two.
Wednesday night we went to bed late (around midnight), so we did not get up Thursday until around 7 AM when I heard Grace rattling her dishes. The day went fairly well, but Grace was becoming a handful. She was very active, wanting to bite and jump on everything in sight. Power cords had become her latest obsession. We began to block them from her access by carefully moving furniture (puppy proofing).
Friday morning I heard Grace stirring about 6:30. We did our normal routine: going outside, playtime, followed by food. She had calmed down considerably and was generally well-behaved all day long. While I was out exercising, She lay at Betsy’s feet and napped. Grace went down four steps today without a treat to entice her. She’s doing better on the leash as well. I’m letting her explore rather than insisting on strict compliance with my desired route.
She loves shoes and slippers. Up to this point, we had made them off-limits. I finally relented and let her work on my thongs. They’re fairly old, and I’m not sure she can do any damage to them anyway.
Friday night I fell asleep on the couch as Betsy put Grace to bed. At 4:15 AM I was awakened by what seemed to be movement of Grace. I looked around, but she wasn’t there. I noticed the door to her room was open and called her. She came to me from behind the sofa. At that point, Betsy came out and explained that Grace had lodged herself behind the sofa. She could not put her in her room because she could not get her without awakening me, so she decided to leave her there. That was fairly dangerous, because a puppy left unsupervised can be a very destructive animal. It worked out fine though either because I was nearby or because a sleeping puppy does not cause any damage.
I took Grace outside to relieve herself and brought her back in. Betsy for some reason felt she needed to turn the lights on when we returned. I promptly turned them off to prevent further awakening Grace. We put her in her room with the door shut, but Grace just whined. When she stopped for a brief time, I went into her room and lay down on the floor. After she settled down, I very carefully tried to ease out of her room. I did pretty well, but when Betsy heard me, she flashed on the lights (then off) and disturbed Grace. I continued leaving anyway and after a brief whining session, Grace went back to sleep. She stirred again at 6:30, and at that time we started our day.
Extended Time Alone
My nephew, Ben, was getting married at 3 PM, so we had to plan our day carefully. We tried to limit Grace’s nap time and exercised her like crazy. I was out running when I saw Betsy with Grace. I knew Grace was not ready to run with me using a standard leash, so I didn’t attempt it. However, with Betsy there, she could take the leash and see if Grace would follow me. Grace did remarkably well, running with me in spurts of up to 25 yards. Betsy took Grace to the Assisted Living facility where Mom is staying. Grace did fine there navigating the new environment and interacting with many new faces.
We left for the wedding at 2:15 and returned about four hours later. Betsy was very concerned that Grace would not be able to stay alone in her room that long without getting anxious and bothering the neighbors. She asked the next-door neighbor to call us in case Grace caused a disturbance. A few minutes after we left the apartment, we remembered we had forgotten to take the directions with us. I went back in, and there was no noise from Grace—so far, so good.
We checked the phone repeatedly while we were gone, but there were no calls. When we returned, Betsy rushed up the stairs. There were no sounds. She went to Grace’s room and found her peacefully asleep. As always, there were no accidents on the floor. A training crate (cage) that we ordered had been delivered a few days ago, but felt we should stick with her room since that was what she was familiar with, and she was doing pretty well. Grace passed that test with flying colors.
Of course, when we returned, our little bundle of energy was ready and rarin’ to go. After feeding her, Betsy took her for an extended walk. I tried to take some pictures since Betsy was dressed up. The camera shutter delay makes pictures of Grace problematic. Thankfully, these days bad pictures cost nothing because I had to take a bunch to get a few good ones.
When we returned inside, Grace responded to “sit” for me to remove her collar. She then proceeded to want to play. Games she likes to do are: tug, chew and bite, run and chase, retrieve, shred paper, and wrestle (with lots of nipping). We did all of these things until about 7:45. By then darkness was setting in, and she was finally content to just work on a rawhide chew-stick.
One Step at a Time
On the way to the wedding, I mentioned to Betsy that Grace should be walking down the two flights of stairs to the ground within the next week or two. When we went outside for a walk that night I tried to get Grace to go down the stairs from the top. She was a bit tentative. When you think about it, it would be pretty intimidating looking down a decline ten times greater than your height. I moved directly in front of her and down a few steps. Grace carefully, deliberately placed one paw down the step and then the next. Her pace quickened as she moved to the next, and then the next. I praised her for each step, and before long she made it to the first landing. She had just gone down one half flight of stairs!
She likes to stop there and peer through the railing out at the grounds. When she was ready we proceeded to the next half-flight. Again, carefully, but with greater confidence and a quickened pace, Grace moved down the stairs to the second floor without a pause. Then, to my surprise she climbed back up the half-flight to get another view from her perch. Before long she walked down that set of stairs a second time.
Next came the long full-flight run to the ground. She started down. My excitement built as her confidence grew and she proceeded ever downward. Praising her with each step she descended, we were down to four steps to go. Her confidence increased as this was now familiar territory. She finished the flight easily. I was ready to stop and praise her, but she took it all in stride. That big world before her became her new focus. Descending stairs was now old hat.
Call It a Day
We knew that living outside her entire life, Grace was accustomed to God’s timetable with regard to sleeping and waking. By 9 PM it was dark and we decided to go to bed. Understanding that Grace had been confined and sleeping for four hours while we went to the wedding, we were a bit concerned to what extent she could make it to bed and through the night. Again, Grace amazed us. While she was reluctant to go to bed, after a little whining, she settled down for sleep. She didn’t stir until 6 AM! That was over eight hours in her room alone. As always, there were no accidents.
Immediately, I took Grace out to relieve herself. Of course, we needed to descend the stairs to do that. Would she remember that she could do it? Would she revert to being spooked by the height? She was tentative as we approached the first flight. With encouragement though, she descended carefully, but quickly. There was the usual stop at the mid-flight landing to survey the grounds below. After a few minutes, she tackled the second half-flight easily and proceeded to the long full-flight to the ground. By this time, even this was nearly routine for her. Before we knew it, we were on the ground and ready again to explore.