Puppy Favorites + 5 Month Update

Our little Gravy isn’t so little anymore! She’s a BIG dog now. I’m not sure how much she weighs, because at this point, she's not been to a vet in a little while. She finished up with her vaccines back in the middle of June, and she was 26 pounds then, but she’s definitely more now! We’ll know next month when she heads back in.

Changes

Since our last update, Gravy has had a few minor health problems. She’s getting into more things, so she is more likely to get stomach upsets. She also got pink eye last month…which I didn’t know dogs could get. She bounced back quickly, but didn’t love the medicine she had to take.

She is getting more adventurous and less timid, which is amazing. We’ve taken her to the dog park a few times after she was vaccinated and it’s been so fun seeing her interact with other dogs. She loves kids and other dogs, so it’s been nice to get her out. We also struggled a lot with socialization, but she goes to daycare now two days a week and has become much better with other dogs. The biggest change is that we have also started going to (socially distanced) dog obedience class. We had been training at home, but she is getting used to listening to me, even with distraction now. To help practice, we’ve also been trotting her around town. She eats on patios with us, goes for walks downtown, and happily comes anywhere I go (within reason we’re not crazy please don’t dm me).

Gravy’s Favorites

I went ahead and linked a bunch of the things that Gravy loves in the bottom of this post for easy access, but I want to talk about them too! I also linked the food and water bowls we use and her harness, as well as a couple of other things that have made the puppy stage a little easier.

Treats

People food: She still loves popcorn, but we also give her fish pretty often. Like, I’ll cook a side of trout, cut two big pieces for me and Charles, and then Gravy gets a little of the end. On that note, the Cod Skins from Icelandic+ (we have them on Autoship through Chewy) are pretty much her favorite and keep her busy for a while. Also totally shocking to me is anything that Buddy Biscuits make. I don’t know if they sprinkle crack in them or what, but she goes nuts for a crunchy dog biscuit. They also make some super tasty jerky snacks that she loves. These are super affordable (less than $4 usually) at Target, so I just add them to orders when we’re already going. For training treats, pretty much the only thing we use is the Zuke’s Minis. You can get these pretty much anywhere. She loves the rabbit ones the best. We just buy a giant bag and I keep them in little ziplocs for things like puppy school or trips out into the big world.

Toys

The best toy we have is the Kong Wobbler. Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down! You put some food in this, and the puppo smacks it and the treats come out of the tiny hole in the side. This is fantastic when I know I can’t walk the dog right away in the morning, so she can work for her breakfast a little. I can also tell when she’s hungry when she smacks on the Wobble, hoping her food will come pouring out the side. Her two favorite soft toys are both from seemingly indestructible brands. We love the Frisco Squakosaurus. It’s good for tug and has barely shown any signs of wear. Same thing for the Tuffy Sheep. She plays with it hard, and it’s barely got any damage. Both of these also wash up really easily. We also take the easy way out and her a Barkbox every month too…just for spoiling the little miss.

Problems

There aren’t any. God. I feel nervous just saying that. We have so few problems with our precious perfect puppy. Gravy still hates being alone. We’re still dealing with a lot of separation anxiety in our house. It seems that she does better when not confined to the crate. We have been experimenting with keeping her out while we’re gone, and also taking her to doggie daycare when it’s appropriate so that she can get a little more independent and confident in herself when we aren’t around. Also drugs. When we know we’re going to be gone a long time (4-7 hours) and we know we’re pushing it with her, we can give her a low dose of anti-anxiety medication. We’re using it so rarely now, and are really just working on what a routine for back-to-school will look like in two months, but so far, she’s just been a champ.

Successes

I almost didn’t include a “problems” section at all because we honestly have no problems. I feel like we need to seriously knock on wood. She is biting less (puppy biting, not the real deal of course). She listens, almost always. She’ll sit on command. Stay. Lie down. Doesn’t steal food. She can do novelty tricks like standing or shake. You can tell her no and she stops. We’re going to dog obedience training that’s not just my clumsy at-home lessons, and she’s taken to it so well. We also have transitioned our daily walks off of a harness. She only uses her collar and leash now. We use the harness when she’s going to be on a tie out, like when we aren’t going to be in a fenced area and want to give her some more freedom. She still gets impatient and tugs, but I’m so excited for her to be a better loose leash walker. I will be honest, people have asked for advice on how we trained her so well and I have no fucking clue. It’s not something that I did on purpose, I can tell you that. We just happened to get a deeply obedient and relaxed dog.

That’s our Gravy. She’s delightful. She’s also pretty easy, and I’m so grateful for that!

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