My little Gracie

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Gracie's mom

Gracie (formerly Cayenne) has now lived with Lexus (a 13 ½ year old Cocker Spaniel) and me for just over a month, and has taken her place as part of our family. This puppy is a 3 ½ month old Yorkie mix, and I think the mix is rabbit. She hops and pounces, and can jump waist high on me, although we certainly are trying to curb that! The dogs get along well together until Gracie suddenly pounces on poor Lexus and nips, but Lexus has started to stand her ground.

Personality wise, Gracie is the devil incarnate. She’s all teeth, chews on people, grabs clothing, steals everything that isn’t nailed down, jumps up and nips anyone and everyone to get attention. We are working on it, but it’s not coming very fast, and when she refuses to obey, she spends time in her crate. I think she is beginning to think her name is, “no!”

I had forgotten how much work a puppy can be. Training is going very slowly. Gracie knows why she is outside, and will do a pee and a pooh, then come in the house and pooh again. I am back to having her on a leash all day, and at least I am trained! I’ve read that terriers can be hard to train, and for sure, she has read the book!

Gracie races around the back yard as if she is wired, and might keep running back and forth as fast as she can for as long as two or three minutes without stopping. Unfortunately, she does stop long enough to eat pooh (I wish I know how to stop that!) or dig up plants!

Like a naughty child, Gracie is really lucky that she is cute or we’d have thrown her out with the bath water by now. All this said, she is adorable, super cuddly when not biting, loves her toys and chew bones, and creates a parade of children wherever we go. She is crazy about my grandchildren (crazy is the right word here—they all get pretty hyper, and then she gets put in her crate again! Too bad I can’t put them in there, too…)

Gracie has wormed her way into my heart, and is very much a mama baby. I can see that (eventually) she is going to be a fabulous pet. In the meantime, she’s either going to keep me young or make me really old, really fast.

I’m so glad Animatch found Gracie for me. One day I’ll thank them. Just not yet…

Members Comments

- Lily
- posted on September 30, 2011
Hi Gracie’s Mom: You have described to a ” T ” our Belle when she was a puppy, she is now 12 years old and cranky as heck. You are quite the writer - I laughed thru it all. The only comfort I can give you is that she will <eventually> grow out of it. As for poop eating, there is a little trick it’s called garlic… I used it with our Mill Mum and it worked for her; each furbaby is different but it’s worth a shot. Just purchase powder garlic or use real stuff add it to her meal until this phase is over with. I also know Vets do have a product but our family is not into things like that - we prefer natural methods. Just like our own children, they grow out of some of their bad habits but then teenage years comes along and we wish they were babies again Good Luck Lily
- Kat & Maeggi
- posted on September 30, 2011
Hi Gracie’s Mom, LOL Oh how I remember those days too with my own little Tasmanian devil, who had some of the same bad habits so I truly sympathise. Lexus deserves a steak for putting up with little Gracie, poor girl. We lived in a condo so whenever Maeggi was outside, it was with me, walking and on a leash so it was much easier to prevent her from eating poop. The walking ate up alot of her energy too so try to do it at least twice a day - she’s tiny so it won’t take miles for her to calm down, maybe just 20-30 minutes of brisk walking should help. Try to schedule them around the time she usually poops, like waking time or after eating so you get all that pee and poop out of her, none left for your floors! LOL As for the biting, I kept lots of tiny rawhide sticks and toys so as soon as she opened her mouth to bite, I shoved a stick in there for her to chew on or threw her favorite toy. She eventually was just happy chewing the stick or running after her toy and forgot all about chewing my hands. My Maeggi calmed down exactly on her 2nd birthday so don’t get discouraged, you might have another 21 months to go! Good luck and keep us posted!
- Heather B
- posted on October 01, 2011
LOL!

Well, Gracie sure has found the right home! Bless you for hanging in there and not giving up on this adorable little devil! (a lot of people would have…) Good luck! (maybe you could start writing a column!)
- Debbie
- posted on October 02, 2011
Gracie, what an adorable face! What a precious pup! Hang in there Gracie’s Mom~Your fantastic sense of humour will help you through these trying times! As the expression goes, “Been there, done that!” The ONLY thing that worked for our PYRAHNA PUP, (after she was up to date with vaccinations), was the dog park. That is where she REALLY learned bite inhibition. Other doggies became the “targets” and we were spared! Hehehe! Seriously, it was our saving grace! I know dog parks are not for everyone…(and actually, we don’t go anymore!)... Anyway, BON COURAGE, and just keep remembering…THIS TOO SHALL PASS!!

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