Daisy: Day 3 Begins

Daisy slept through the night. She woke up at 5am, whining to go potty. I got her out, and she did double “doody”: she peed twice and had a couple of decent poops. Her poop was a bit on the soft side [a result of the sudden food change], but fine otherwise.

We went into the office, where I keep her food and water bowls. I put her water down for her, she had a good long drink…. and a minute later, she vomited. There was a little bit of digested food and a couple of undigested kibble pieces from last night’s supper, but otherwise, it was mostly just the water. Her owner had already informed me that when Daisy eats or drinks too fast, she will vomit a little. So, at this time, I am not concerned. However, I will be monitoring her, and I’ll cut her breakfast back a little bit while she adjusts to the new kibble.

NOTE: When changing a dog’s food, it’s important to slowly transition them out of their existing food and onto the new food so that things like this don’t happen. Abrupt food changes can throw the digestive system for a loop, causing things like diarrhea and/or vomiting to occur. Daisy hadn’t eaten more than a couple of very small mouthfuls since her arrival, and it was important to find a solution as quickly as possible. She really liked the kibble, and because I was so relieved that she was finally eating, I let her eat her fill – which I should not have done. After not eating for a couple of days, and then an abrupt food change, it was a bit too much for her digestive system to handle. Daisy will be fine; I just need to change the way I feed her so that her body has time to adjust.

Violet the cat tried to start a rumble with Daisy when we were heading for the door to potty. She growled, hissed, and swore at her – and to all of our surprise, little Daisy gave attitude right back to Violet. 😀 Of course, Violet was given a reprimand [we don’t tolerate that behavior and she knows it] and Daisy was redirected to the door. But, I was glad to see that Daisy was able to stand up for herself.

So far, Daisy is actually a very well-behaved girl. Linda, her owner, has done a wonderful job of training her. Daisy does bark and growl when my husband comes to talk to me wherever we are [outside or inside], and Linda told me she’s been struggling with this for a long time. So, I started working on that when Daisy arrived. I’m happy to report that she is slowly but steadily learning that when I acknowledge her alerts [“Thanks, Daisy. I’m on it.”], that means her job is done and she can relax.

Day 3 has started out a little bit rough, but as the day progresses, I’ll be doing some structured trust-building work with Daisy. She still doesn’t trust me, and honestly, I’m more than a little puzzled by that. I haven’t encountered this before with any board-and-train dog, so it’s as much a learning curve for me as it is for Daisy. Anyway, have a great day, remember to stay calm and lead on, and stay tuned for more updates.