Hi All, So I've posted a few times and the feedback I have gotten has been great! Being a new mom to a labrador (my first dog ever), I'm of course totally worried all the time! Lol. Is she bored, am I loving her enough, does she hate me, am I being mean to her, etc. I know a lot of it is completely ridiculous, but I can't help it! Hahah. And this post is long so I apologize right now! So this is the schedule I have Cleo on right now in terms of feeding and at home training and was just wondering if I should tweak it in any way. She has a lick granuloma that she had when I got her. It was starting to heal at that point but looked a little red again yesterday. Not oozy like she was really going to town on it, but still more red than it was. My concern is that she is not stimulated enough, especially when I'm at work or at night since she is crated both times. I'm crating her for the first month I have her. She's not a chewer and is very well behaved, but she needs to learn the rules of the house and my breeder suggested crating her like you would a puppy in the new environment for a full month (I have had her for one week now - longest and shortest week of my life!). Anyways, here is the schedule that I want to implement this coming week (and I'm feeding her a total of 2 cups of Taste of the Wild every day plus or minus about a quarter of a cup for my stash of kibble for training Between 6:30 - 7:00 AM - wake up and go outside for the bathroom 7:15 AM (ish) - fed about 3/4 cups of dry kibble out of a Kong Wobbler 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM - morning walk around the neighborhood (although this is not happening right now since she's in heat) 8:00 - 8:15 AM - 5 minutes of clicker training and cuddle time 8:45 AM - give her a frozen peanut butter Kong bone when I leave for work (she's closed in her crate at this point) 12:30 PM (ish) - come home from work to let her out to go to the bathroom and a 5-10 minute walk (we were doing 20 before she was in heat), do 5 minutes of clicker training and some cuddling 1:30 (ish) - put her back in her crate with a frozen Kong with 1/2 cup of soaked kibble and a little water to make it more like a popsicle 4:45 - come home from work and take her outside for a lap around my group of townhouses for a bathroom break, then 5 minutes of clicker training 5:30 - fed another 3/4 cup of dry kibble from the Kong Wobbler 7:15 - 8:00 PM - 45 minute walk around the neighborhood (again this is not happening right now since she's in heat) Between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM - fit in another 2 or 3 5-minute training sessions 10:30 PM - one last bathroom break before bed then in the crate for bedtime It's a struggle now with her being in heat...she's much more tired (she slept on and off from 4 PM - 11 PM yesterday and then went to bed at 11 in her crate and I didn't even hear her moving around) and I can't take her for long walks because my neighborhood has a ton of dogs. I've always seen them on leads, but I'm scared to death one will overpower their owner to get to her or she'll take off...especially next week. She only started spotting yesterday but who knows if she swells first and only bleeds toward the end of the first stage (I will be calling the vet tomorrow morning to tell him she's in heat and see what he says and if he wants to see her)! So instead of those longer walks we are going out almost every 90 minutes for just short 5-10 minute walks and not very far from our house. I'm also paranoid about her choking. I don't want to give her rawhide or bully sticks because she definitely inhales her food. I know I can supervise, but if I turn my back and she gets too much in her mouth I'm so scared she'll choke or inhale enough to create blockage. I'm thinking the soaked kibble in the Kong with water around it should be ok with me not there since she can chew up an ice cube and the Kong opening is so small. I am giving her one today while I'm here to see how she does with it before giving her one in her crate when I'm gone. And the Kong bone will only have peanut butter so I'm not concerned about that one. Am I being ridiculously overprotective here? I just want to make sure that while she's crated she has something to chew on since she's not interested in toys just yet! I hate seeing that lock granuloma get worse. Anyways...that's a lot of stuff...so any feedback is appreciated! Being a new doggy mom is hard...but she's such a sweetheart so I just want to make sure she's happy and stimulated enough! I want her life with me to be better than it was!
