Hi puppy fam
This update is a little late bc of personal stuff, but! Baby girl is 11 months and Merlin is 17, so another update is long overdue.
Month 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/murLKU7Jbt
Month 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/6UzDM4H6R7
Month 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/MmjWbZWaUs
Month 4: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/tSIVRBsgGo
Month 5: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/lpyZh3ejlU
Month 6: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/UkPqVBzDyW
Month 7: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/ak6vDYwNdx
Month 8: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/bBTU8ai0XC
Month 9: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/RNIpyqA6fR
Month 10: https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/Siut01TVQ5
Puppy tax: https://www.reddit.com/r/dogpictures/s/Omoz3T0Fsj
It's so crazy how fast Merlin's behavior changes. Throughout the first half of October, he was a nightmare. Couldn't relax, pulled on walks, whined all day and also started whining at night. We still assume it was bc his best friend was in heat, but it got so bad that we had to give him some of his seperation anxiety medication during the night so he (and we) could get some sleep.
But then around the 15th of October, it was over. He stopped whining and pulling and slept like normal.
Adolescence is a TRIP y'all.
Our daugther is a lot more mobile now and is showing more interest in Merlin, so she goes for him often and tries to grab him. He tells her off in the perfect way, growling and giving a small bark to let her and us know that he needs his space. It's good and we make sure to praise him bc we would rather him giving an audible warning than immediately snapping at her. But it is a bit scary and we are more aware of keeping our daugther out of his way. For both their sakes.
On a very positive note, we have made MASSIVE improvements in Merlin's seperation anxiety. We had slowly been reducing his dosage, but now we are completely off the medication! We also don't have to make huge preparations before leaving, but can just roll down the curtains and turn on the radio and then leave.
It's so freeing!
We say the same phrase everytime: "Take care of the home, Merlin. We love you. We'll soon be back" and that also seems to help him relax.
That's it for now, see you next month when baby girl has had her first birthday.
submitted by /u/nanna_spins
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