The work week has started and Fitz is doing great so far. Sunday night was rough, he slept from 7-10 pm and then didnt’ sleep a wink all night, which kept us up as he paced around the bedroom, licked himself and shook himself (collar jingles). He whined a few times, we walked him (just in case) but he was just awake.
So Monday we changed it up as best we could. I got a few hints from friends and here is what we learned about Fitzwilliam:
- – Chicken broth (just a little) mixed with his dog food means he’ll eat it when we feed him instead of hours later – yeah – he’s eating on a schedule now!
- – Plain chicken cut up is tempting enough to work on training with him- we’re working on ‘come’ and he’s definitely learning
- – He does play with his toys now – he will throw around his rope bone and a stuffed animal I gave him for 20 minutes straight if he’s in the mood. He’s not into the tennis ball and only chewed the kong once for a minute. He won’t ‘fetch’ but he’ll run and get something I throw and go chew it happily. If I go to take it he instantly leaves it for me, he’s very submissive. Tonight i will buy him a few more toys to see what he likes.
- – A piece of cheese in the kennel and he goes in no problem, he seems to be okay in there for 8 hours straight, just sleeping probably. And he was just fine when i got home. So we’ll keep this up for the week and then look into a dog walker for after our vacation when his kennel stays will be closer to 10 hours (I have to leave work at 2 in order to keep it down to 8 hours)!
- – If we work on keeping him more awake in the evening (when he wants to sleep) he will sleep from 10-12 or so (which allows us to at least fall asleep).
- – If we open up the rest of the upstairs for him to wander in at night and take his collar off he doesn’t whine and he just wanders which is quiet enough to let us sleep.
- – He can definitely go all day and all night without having to go out, he was in no rush at 6am to even go. He doesn’t like the wet ground as much and it’s a rainy week 🙂
So we are learning and he’s being such a good boy. He’s definitely got a lot more personality now and is testing his boundaries, trying to get into things etc. I finally had to dog proof some of the rooms he has free range in and he seems happy. He gets lots of praise and petting and still loves to follow us around. He’s not happy when we’re in different rooms or on different floors, he has to check on both of us constantly 🙂
And two benefits:
- – The exercise! I am going to get in great shape with this routine! We do some sprints every morning (I like to get him exercised a bit before a day in the kennel). And walks in the evening. If the weather is nice we do long walks (3 walks this past weekend alone).
- – The extra time in the day! Contrary to previous habits, I actually enjoy getting up at 6am (if I can get to bed by 10:30 and actually sleep at night). My day is so much longer and I get so much more done. I’m also a morning person so I’m more productive when I get in to work at 8 rather than 10 🙂