Momo and Gyoza Day 5
Momo!
Gyoza!
These two foster puppies are available via City Dog Rescue. Momo’s page is here. And, Gyoza’s page is here.
I can not believe that today is the 5th day the puppies have been here! Time flies!
They are DEFINITELY more comfortable and rambunctious. They have tons of energy and love to zoom around both indoors and out.
I also think they’re bigger already! We’re going to the vet today, so we’ll see!
The two of them are very much puppies and will get into anything and everything, so I’ve had to make several adjustments to our outdoor space to make sure it’s safe.
I added matting around their kuranda bed, since they love to tackle each other off the edge. They also love to launch off of it and take off running.
I’ve also had to secure the edges of the play pens we are using outside because they are still small enough that they could get through the edges of our normal fence.
Momo perching on top of a wood pile I’m using to keep them safely penned in. Isn’t he handsome?!
And, I’ve experimented with different toys because it seems, no matter what toys I bring out, Momo loves to pull wood chips from our neighbor’s yard and crunch them/play keep away from Gyoza. I’m still working on a solution for this one! So far, I have this huge alligator that squeaks and can sometimes distract him!
One of their favorite places to hang out outdoors is a low beach chair. The day they figured out how to climb into it was a huge achievement for them, and they’ve been climbing up ever since!
The queen of the mountain!
Gyoza, in particular, loves the chair, even more if a human is in it to snuggle with! She will often play “queen of the mountain” and sit in the chair fending off Momo from her position of power.
Gyoza and Momo hanging out with the kids. Per usual, Gyoza secured her spot on the beach chair :)
Momo, on the other hand, often prefers to play under the Kuranda bed. Not sure what this game is called? Maybe troll under the bridge 😆? He waits for Gyoza to run by and then tries to grab her.
Gyoza will usually not go under by herself, but she will definitely dive under if Momo’s in there.
In addition to their outdoor antics, they’ve been making progress indoors too. Both puppies can now climb up and down the stairs leading to outside (there are about 4 of them). This is a huge improvement for me because they are surprisingly heavy little pups, and carrying them in and out was always a bit chaotic. Now, they just go in and out all by themselves! I don’t have any pictures of this yet though because I’m usually too busy watching them like a hawk to make sure they go up and down safely!
If I take them out after meals, they will usually pee and poop outside. Though they are still definitely using the pads inside, I haven’t found any more pees inside the crate!
I’m also not having to potty pad the entire play pen area. I usually just put one or two pads on the end furthest from the bed/crate, and they will make it to the pad to potty.
Separate crating is still progressing. Now, I can almost always get them into their crates ahead of time, then they wait in their crates while I make their meal. I usually sprinkle a few kibbles in to distract them, though Gyoza will definitely bark at me if things are taking too long.
Meals consist of .5+ cup of dry kibble with wet food 3x per day. I put the wet food in KONGs to slow them down a bit and give them more time in their crates.
Average meal time setup for the puppies!
Momo will quietly stay in his crate working on the KONG.
Gyoza is still working on it! She seems a bit more passionate in general and makes it really clear that she does not like to be shut in the crate. It is good news that she will eat at least some of her meal this way though, and over time, we should continue to see good progress on independence building!