Sophie: 44 Weeks

Sophie is still in heat. It has been 2 weeks now. She isn't bleeding as much, so maybe only a few days left.

This experience has actually been good for us. Sophie was getting pretty spoiled and hated going into her crate at all.
I stopped putting her in her crate at night so she could hang out in the kitchen. Sounds like a good plan. But I didn't realize that she would never go back inside. Well, we can't have a spoiled dog because sometimes she really needs to be in there. (being unruly, guests with small children, after a bath, etc) It got to the point that when I put her in her crate, she would whine, yelp, cry, and pant heavily so that slobber was dripping everywhere.

Since she has been in heat, she has been kept outside in her large kennel. I bring her from there into a smaller crate around 9pm at night and will let her back out by 6:15am the following morning. At first she hated the crate. She whined and cried. But after a few nights she has adjusted. Now she is fine. (she still reluctantly goes in after I coax her a couple times.) So, this has been good to reintroduce her to the crate.

The snow is nearly gone and spring is around the corner.

yee haw

Sophie: 43 Weeks

Howdy.

Well, Sophie is in HEAT. I really wasn't expecting this for another 2 months and to be honest, it caught me a little off guard. I had done some research and knew what to expect, although I have never dealt with a non-spayed female before. This is a very new experience for us all.

I went and bought doggie diapers....but they don't fit. Arghh. They are even Xtra large. I have kept her outside in her kennel during the day, and have her put in an inside kennel at night. She isn't adjusting very well. I feel so bad for her because she loves being around the family. And this has really messed up our routine. Normally she will lounge around in our kitchen and hang out near a warm vent. We all feel safe with her in the house....But since she is bleeding, I have had to keep her outside.

It hasn't been easy on any of us. Hopefully, we only have another week or so to go.

Sophie:41 and 42 weeks

I better get my groove back on.
I am getting behind in posting again.

Sophie has decided that she needs to chew the corner roof of her doghouse. Man, that is frustrating...especially after making it so nice for her. arghhhhh.
I have heard that bitter apple spray works to keep dogs from chewing....not sure but I'll check into it.

Sophie changed a lot in the past couple of weeks. I have noticed that her diet has changed. She won't eat her 3 cups in the morning and will normally eat it at night. Then when she is finished, I will give her 3-4 cups more and sometimes she will eat, but sometimes not. It has also affected her bathroom habits. She will go # 1 for me at night and in the mornings, but won't go #2 unless it is in the middle of the day. Oh well. As long as I know she is eating.

She has also become more alert. She will bark if someone is outside the back door, and she will bark at things we have no idea of why she is barking. This is new to us because she has been so quiet.

We have taught her lots of new tricks such as jump, lay down, sit, stay, come, up, and my kids taught that when they say bang, she falls to the ground like she is dead. Really. I didn't believe it til I saw it. Its really comical.

Sophie sheds a lot. My wife doesn't like that part of having a dog too much.

She loves the snow and will play for hours in the cold. Sometimes she acts like she doesn't want to come into the house.

I will get some more pics posted.

yee haw