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- 1. Puppy Raising: Hormones Are a Bitch - Part 1 It isnot uncommonforpuppiestochange as theymature intofull-growndogs.Pennyrecentlyturned one and she has changeda lotmentallyandphysicallyoverthe lastfew months.Withthese changes, bothshe and I have beenfacedwithdifferentchallenges.Lifehasbeenabitof a rollercoaster,butthat isa verycommonpart of the puppyraisingadventure. Penny’schangesandchallengesbeganwithherfirstheatcycle inDecember.We noticedsome radical behavioral changeswithherfromthe hormone increase.She hadpreviouslybeenalittle timidaround strangersat times.Some peopleshe tooktorightaway,othersshe wouldback awayfromand be hesitanttomeet.A fewdaysbefore she startedherheatcycle, I noticedherbeingevenmore timid, evenlettingoutquietgrowlsunderherbreath.The nightbefore she startedhercycle Ihad herat work withme.She growledandbackedawayfroma few of my coworkers. For more detailson our products and services, please feel free tovisitus at: service doglaw, service dog etiquette, service dogpuppy raiser, guide dog, puppy in training. For more details,please visitus at: https://growingupguidepup.org/ At one pointI washelpingtogeta patientintoemergencysurgeryandrealizedthatithadbeensome time since Pennyhada chance to potty.I knew thatI wouldbe tiedupfor a bit and the receptioniston that nightofferedtotake herout forme.A few minuteslatershe came tome sayingthat there was somethingwrongwithPenny.Pennywasterrifiedof herandrefusingtowalk.IcalledPennyovertome and she came,but thentriedtohide underone of the desks.Theyhad nevermade itoutside topotty. Pennywasshakingandnot herself atall.Pennyhadmetthispersonmanytimesandhadnevershown
- 2. any fearof her before.Laterthateveningshe barkedatthe surgeonwhenhe walkedbyherkennel. These were all never-before-seenbehaviorsandverysurprising.Butwhenshe startedhercycle the next day,it made sense. Duringher heatcycle,Pennywasveryclingywithme andgot veryupsetwhenshe wasleftalone.She alsogot a little moodywithotherdogswhentheywere greetingme.Nothingmajor,butwe didseparate herwhenI greetedourfriend’sdog,whostayedwithusoverthe holidays.We keptherinsideformost of the durationof hercycle,no walks,nopublicoutings.We didsetupsome playdateswithone of her bestfriendsintheirenclosedbackyard.Duringthattime we alsofosteredayoungpuppythatPenny grewveryattachedto and it washard on herwhenthat puppywasadoptedbya family.Thispuppywas nice to have aroundto keepherdistractedwhenshe couldn’tbe outandabout. Pennylookingveryupsetafterrefusingtoeatand dumpingherfood. Once her cycle wasoverat the endof December,Pennymostlyreturnedtoherself.She waspulling more whenwe were outwalking,butthe fearof strangersdecreasedalot.She seemedveryexcitedto be out and aboutin publicagain.All wasgoingwell. In earlyFebruary,we noticedsome behavioralchangesinheragain.She startedlookingoverher shoulderatpeople whenoutinpublic.She wouldgetnervousonneighborhoodwalkswhenwe passed people workingoutin theirfrontyards.Andshe startedbeingscaredof a few coworkersagain.AtfirstI thoughtthat she wasgoingintoanotherheat cycle.Itisn’tthe usual course for a dog to go intoa heat cycle so soonafterfinishingone,butnotcompletelyunheardof. But as more time passed,Inoticedevenmore changeswithPenny.She starteddiggingandnesting behaviorswiththe dogbedding.Iwouldfindhertakingtoysandgoingintokennelsotherthanherown, evensome thatwere toosmall forher. She haddifficultygettingcomfortable,andshe wouldpace and evenstartinghavingbarkingoutburstsrandomly.There were physical changesaswell — her mammariesbecame swollenandenlarged.She alsostartedtorefuse toeat.Pennyhadalwaysbeena goodeater,pickyabouttreats inpublicsometimes,butalwaysfinishedherfood.Iwouldputherfood bowl downandshe wouldlookat itand walkaway.She wouldeventipherdishanddumpher foodout. She became veryneedyandclingyagain,butthenwouldalsooutrightrefuse tofollow cues.Iwouldtry to do small trainingsessionswithherandshe wouldwalkawayfromme andlay downinanotherpart of the house.She gotfrustratedeasilyandprotestedwhenshe couldn’tgetwhatshe wantedwhenshe wantedit.She wouldbe frustrated,grumpy,andrefuse todowhatyou askedof herone minute and thenask forhugs and snugglesthe next.Anygirl whoremembersgoingthroughpubertycanprobably relate tothese typesof moodswings.She reallydidn’tunderstandwhatwashappeningtoherandwhy. She evengotprotective of a youngpuppythatwe were babysittingforafriend.All veryunlike her. All of these newbehaviorsandsignspointedtoPennygoingthroughafalse pregnancy.Thiswasvery hard on her.Once again,we stoppedtakingheroutin publicandworkingher.She wasveryunsettled and seemedstressedwhenItookherplaces.Evengoingforwalkswasdifficult.She refusedtowalkwith a loose leashalot of the time.She wouldwhine andbarkif our otherdogswalked infrontof her.She
- 3. wouldpull tosniff everythingandhadsomuch energythatshe wouldtryto run and circle aroundme. Everythingwasmentallystimulatingtoher.Forthe firsttime inherlife she startedshowinginterestin thingslike squirrels,thingsblowinginthe wind,andbirds.Anotherchallenge,walkingaverylarge easily distractedpuppy.All of asuddenournormallycool andcollectedpuppyhadmajorADD.She couldn’t focuson me for more than a secondbefore gettingdistracted. It was very difficulttofigure outhowtoletPennygether mental andphysical energyoutinaproductive manner.I didn’twantherto learnthat pullingonthe leashwhenwalkingwasacceptable sowe only walkedheronthe days that she wasable to focus.It wasalso difficulttodotrainingexerciseswithher. She was eithernotintoitor too easilydistracted.She wasrefusingtreatsalotof the time aswell.We justwere notmakingany forwardprogresswithher.Itbecame apparentthat we justneededtogive her a breakfrom training.We didour bestto keepherentertainedwithtoysandcompanywiththe occasional walkandplaydate. In late Januarywe were giventhe go-aheadbyBrigadoontogetherspayed.Butbefore we couldgetthe surgeryarrangedI noticed the behavioral changesandthatgotput on holdtoo.Ideallyitisbesttowait until a dogis fullyoveraheatcycle to spay them.Afterdiscussingthe false pregnancywiththe veterinariansatmyworktheyfeltthatit wasbestto waituntil she wasoverthisas well. It tooka fewweeksforPenny’sphysicalsymptomstoresolveandonce theydid,itwastime to arrange for Pennytobe spayed.Since Pennywasstill actinguncomfortablewithstrangersIfeltthatitwouldbe bestto have the surgerydone at my work,where Icouldbe withher the entire time.One of the veterinariansthatIworkwithwasverygraciousand donatedhertime to dothe surgery.There wasonly one issue withdoingthe procedure atmywork,and that wasthat since the clinicisan emergencyclinic, there wasno wayto set upan exacttime forsurgery. For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: service doglaw, service dog etiquette, service dogpuppy raiser, guide dog, puppy in training.