Boxer_21
Boxer Insane
Long story short, as of this past Friday (10/19) we have a new puppy at our house. She's a semi/flashy brindle female named Abby and she's 4.5 months old. She came from a great breeder who shows, does health testing, etc. She was the last puppy from her litter and nobody seemed to want her for some reason. My father fell in love with her picture and the rest is history. She's supposed to be my dad's puppy, but she's claimed me as her person. She's very shy around my dad and is also shy with my mom, although not as bad as she is with my dad.
Abby hit it off with Logan instantaneously. They love each other and are having a blast playing together. Even Mason has pretty much accepted her already which was a relief considering how long it took for him and Logan to click. I think getting her at an older age (4.5 months vs 8 weeks) helped with Mason.
The problem I have is that she has chosen me to be her human. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but it is a problem because of the extent of it. Inside, she's constantly by my side or will always be walking beneath my feet (HUGE pet peeve of mine). Outside she is much better and will explore much more on her own or with the other two.
Like I said, she's supposed to be my dad's, but she seems shy/scared when she sees him. I feel so badly for him because he really wanted a daddy's little girl, but it's not looking good. It's only been 3 full days so far so I'm HOPING that she just needs more time to adjust. I'm just looking for advice on how to get her to bond with him and my mother. So far the steps we've taken are having dad give her treats, they're going to start rotating who feeds her at night (I'll do breakfast because my dad's already on his way out the door when we wake up), I'm going to leave her upstairs alone with them for about an hour or so everynight so she'll have no choice but to "go on" without me. She does sleep in my room with me because neither of my parents will hear her if she gets up in the middle of the night. I'm a very light sleeper so I offered to take her. I'm sure that's strengthening her bond to me even more, but it is what it is for now. When she's old enough she'll be able to choose where she sleeps.
Before she came home the breeder told me that she's very food oriented and that she loves to play with toys. Here, she's not eating as well as I'd like. In the morning she'll eat about half of what I give her and in the evening she'll eat 3/4 - all of it. As for toys, she'll play briefly with them, but not to much. If we're in my room she'll play. Upstairs not really yet. Outside she'll chase balls, but will not pick them up or bring them back. She just chases and that's it.
I know she's young at 4.5 months old and that we're still new to her, but I've never seen a boxer puppy so shy or unsettled like she is. Of course, all of my others came home at 8 weeks so I don't know if that has something to do with it. Any advice on how to help her settle in, to eat, to play, and to bond with my parents would be appreciated! I'll try to post pics later. I only have them uploaded to my FBook account which I can't post here.
Abby hit it off with Logan instantaneously. They love each other and are having a blast playing together. Even Mason has pretty much accepted her already which was a relief considering how long it took for him and Logan to click. I think getting her at an older age (4.5 months vs 8 weeks) helped with Mason.
The problem I have is that she has chosen me to be her human. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but it is a problem because of the extent of it. Inside, she's constantly by my side or will always be walking beneath my feet (HUGE pet peeve of mine). Outside she is much better and will explore much more on her own or with the other two.
Like I said, she's supposed to be my dad's, but she seems shy/scared when she sees him. I feel so badly for him because he really wanted a daddy's little girl, but it's not looking good. It's only been 3 full days so far so I'm HOPING that she just needs more time to adjust. I'm just looking for advice on how to get her to bond with him and my mother. So far the steps we've taken are having dad give her treats, they're going to start rotating who feeds her at night (I'll do breakfast because my dad's already on his way out the door when we wake up), I'm going to leave her upstairs alone with them for about an hour or so everynight so she'll have no choice but to "go on" without me. She does sleep in my room with me because neither of my parents will hear her if she gets up in the middle of the night. I'm a very light sleeper so I offered to take her. I'm sure that's strengthening her bond to me even more, but it is what it is for now. When she's old enough she'll be able to choose where she sleeps.
Before she came home the breeder told me that she's very food oriented and that she loves to play with toys. Here, she's not eating as well as I'd like. In the morning she'll eat about half of what I give her and in the evening she'll eat 3/4 - all of it. As for toys, she'll play briefly with them, but not to much. If we're in my room she'll play. Upstairs not really yet. Outside she'll chase balls, but will not pick them up or bring them back. She just chases and that's it.
I know she's young at 4.5 months old and that we're still new to her, but I've never seen a boxer puppy so shy or unsettled like she is. Of course, all of my others came home at 8 weeks so I don't know if that has something to do with it. Any advice on how to help her settle in, to eat, to play, and to bond with my parents would be appreciated! I'll try to post pics later. I only have them uploaded to my FBook account which I can't post here.
I got caught up in reading and looking at all the pics 
