Man raising a puppy is tough. These last 3 weeks have gone by super fast and painfully slow at the same time. I'd like to document her growth and what's new with her every few weeks. Here's what's new with Giada now:
STATS:
Age: 10 weeks old (born on August 16th, we picked her up on October 4th)
Weight: 12lbs (she gained 4lbs in 10 days!)
Food: 1/2 cup three times a day
Favorite thing to do: Wrestle with Rocco
Latest nickname: Giada Frittata (Jim came up with that one, since frittatas are an Italian dish and Giada is an Italian name)
UPDATES:
-She's been to the vet twice for vaccine boosters, she loves it because she gets lots of kisses and treats while she's there.
-The first 2 weeks we kept her in a crate next to our bed at night and let her outside to go to the bathroom usually twice a night. She never really got used to her crate and seemed to really not like being in it, so this week we've been letting her sleep in her playpen at night.
-She seems to enjoy sleeping in her playpen a lot more. She has a puppy pee pad in there to use and she can sleep on her blanket or on the cool concrete floor. A major plus of this is...
-We no longer have to get up to let her outside during the night! Wahoo. Until she can hold her bladder through the night (she'll probably be about 6 months old when this happens), she can use the pee pad.
-Her face is slowly starting to get more black spotting and her nose is almost all black now. She's started to get some black around her eyes too.
-She currently has a little skin infection on her tummy that we're treating with medicated shampoo, and also has an ear infection that we're treating with ear drops. These issues are unfortunately common for bulldogs, and are something we'll have to keep an eye on her entire life.
-She is teething big time right now. She loves to chew on your hand, ankle, face, whatever she can get to. Her evil alter ego name is needle teeth.
-She loves to wrestle with Rocco. He will be sound asleep, and she'll get a running start and jump on his face. He's been really good about being gentle with her, but sometimes he retreats into his bed for peace and quiet.
Future Goals:
-We are continuously working on potty training with her, which she is doing well with. Hopefully she'll keep getting better and better until she is fully potty trained before the end of the year.
-We are teaching her the word 'no', so she knows not to chew on cords or Jim's guitar.
-We were taking her on nightly walks, but she broke a nail so the vet told us to hold off on walks until she is a little bit bigger. We're excited to try again soon!
Lexi
