July/ September 2002
It has been a quick summer and rather a hard one. Duchess has been a handful and there were times that I felt like giving up.
She has done everything to excess, meaning that when she eats she keeps going until there is nothing left - on anyone's plate. Her goal has been to wolf down her food and then wait by old Gizmo until he is done and then she will finish his dinner as soon as he steps away. The same goes for drinking - she drinks so much that she cannot hold it for long and ends up urinating in the house.
This has lead to a messy time and I have never had a dog that will relieve itself in the cage - but Duchess has, it has been quite frustrating.
She is also very active and will chase anything that passes our house, Carrie cleared the weeds from the front and it looks very pretty. The downside is that joggers, cyclists, walkers and other dogs are clearly visible and all likely to be attacked (in a friendly way) by the Duchess. Duke then follows and all hell breaks loose.
The 2 of them have also taken to wondering to the back of our property and visiting the townhouses there. The people have not been too impressed and called animal control. This has lead to some changes in our routine and the dogs are not allowed out by them selves unless they are on the 20 ft chains until they learn not to wonder off our 3 acres.
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Duchess 6 months Old
The kids are now back at school and Duchess is behaving better, I try to restrict her drinking and eating so that the "Piles and Puddles" are kept to a minimum. She knows when she has been bad and she will volunteer to go to her cage. Most nights she can be found on the bed with me where she sneaks up after I have gone to sleep!. She is doing well and the cute little puppy is still cute