Pearl has settled in

Since Day 1 Pearl has been very good about pottying. I put pee pads in her xpen and there is also a dog door when she is loose in the house. For the first 3 days I took her out and down the stairs to the yard. I showed her the dog door once on the second day. By the third day I was whooped from going up and down stairs all the time - I have a bad leg. I finally told my 4 year old male greyhound JD to take her out and down the stairs and he did - to my surprise. That was the end of my participation. Pearl is loose all the time except when I am not home.

By Day 3 Pearl had taught herself to go in and out the dog door after JD - she now goes in and out all the time by herself - with or without him. She may use her pee pads once a day but that is it. I have had to clean up "mistakes" only twice since Pearl came and that was on the tile and not the carpet. WHAT A GOOD GIRL.

When Pearl first came home I put her in a 400 crate at night. By night 6 she was in my bed. I have a very high 4 Poster bed so I keep a leash on Pearl so that she does not fall off by accident. She is now putting her feet up on the bed to be boosted up instead of me having to bodily pick her up. She cuddles under my arm all night or just outside my arm. Right efore she falls asleep I give her a few treats and we play with the elephant toy that her litter mates played with when I was in CA. She does not really move all night. She may wake up around 4:30 - 6:30 to potty and when she stirs a little or whimpers - I wake up and we go to the dog door. She goes outside by herself and potties and comes back in. I either bring her back to bed or leave her in the kitchen with JD and Bug (my IG).

I have never had such an oral dog. Pearl loves her toys - and she has a lot of them. She is always carrying them around and playing with them and carrying them from room to room. She also seems to need a lot of rawhide chews or bully sticks.