u/Right_Reveal9022

Hendrix tolerates about 40 per day — he is a champ lol

I’ve had my puppy for 2 months and he’s now 4 months old. He’s a mini poodle and he’s incredibly smart.

I thought potty training was going really well, but now I’m questioning my approach and hoping you guys can offer some perspective.

He isn’t fully vaccinated yet, so he potties on a pee pad in the balcony. He normally rings a bell to go out, or sits by the balcony door and cries/barks if I don’t notice quickly enough. He’s been doing this successfully for weeks without an accident.

Yesterday we had people over, and he gets insanely excited when we have visitors. He signaled that he needed to pee, so I opened the balcony door. He went out, peed what felt like two drops, then immediately ran back inside with full zoomies. He sprinted upstairs to my husband, jumped on the bed, started playing with him, and 1 minute after being outside proceeded to empty what seemed like his entire bladder on the bed.

He had never peed on the bed or couch before.
Part of me thinks he was just too excited to finish peeing outside and then couldn’t hold it once he started playing. But I can’t help questioning my approach.

I am crate training him only so he’s comfortable being in one when necessary, but I don’t enforce naps or routinely keep him confined. I see so many people using crates and playpens heavily with puppies that I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been too relaxed.

How important is the crate for potty training? Have I been relying too much on him telling me when he needs to go? Should I be taking him out on a schedule instead so he learns to hold it better? Please help 🙏

For reference Hendrix will be 16 weeks tomorrow. He had his first groom about 3 weeks ago.

Both times it went well- groomer says he is a delight to work with (lucky him, with me he is a shark 😅), the only issue he reported is that when he turns around to grab something and gets slightly away from the table, then Hendrix starts crying 😅

No zoomies post groom, but he did landed a big pee & poo and stepped right into the pee 🙃

I’m a big fan of curls/ messy look prior to the groom, but he does look cute with the clean fluff!

Do you think he looks cuter before or after ?

This little lamb is my boy’s favorite toy, and I have to hide it every now and then so he engages with other toys. I’m thinking about buying a backup for when he destroys this one.

What’s your pup’s favorite toy and how do you keep it interesting for him/her. How often do you get new toys and what’s the acceptance rate ?

I was nervous because he hated brushing and was TERRIFIED of the blow dryer, but I followed your advice and exposed him little by little every day. It paid off! 🥹 The groomer said he did great, and he even cried when they walked away after giving him back to me 😂❤️
My only regret is forgetting to ask them to skip the perfume—I’m allergic to fragrances and it’s making me itchy 😭. Lesson learned!
So happy his first grooming was a positive experience! ❤️

Any tips on how to get puppy to accept blow dryer ? I put it on low heat, low vent. First he resisted , then he stayed sitting still but he was shaking so much it broke my heart, and when I turned off the dryer I could hear him cry. 💔

I got him 70% dry but I didn’t finish drying him, I rolled him on a towel and put him on my legs and he hasn’t moved since which is unlike him (it’s been about 20min).

He is a mini poodle and he is gonna be 12 weeks tomorrow.

I wanted to bathe him and dry him home in preparation for his first professional grooming later this week. But now I’m so scared for him. 🥺

Meet Hendrix Droodles! He’s a 2.5 month miniature poodle and he’s hella cute. He even looks like he’s smiling in his sleep 😍

I’m excited about how smart he seems to be, but he’s also quite sassy, and I was NOT ready 🤣

My last doggo was a Labrador who also learned very quickly, but he was much more eager to obey than this little fella. I’ve only had Hendrix for about a week, so I’m sure we’ll have fun figuring each other out, but I’d appreciate any tips from experienced poodle owners!

Looking forward to exploring this community ❤️

I’ve been struggling to let go of control in my watercolor journey, so I challenged myself to keep this one loose and limit details.

I actually like how it turned out, but every fiber of my being still wants to “fix” it 😅 Does this still read as loose watercolor or did my control freak tendencies sneak back in?

New to watercolor and I think I keep fighting the medium instead of working with it. I tend to overwork pieces trying to control everything, but they still end up feeling unfinished somehow.

Any advice on what this piece needs to feel complete? Also open to exercises/tips for loosening up and learning to trust the water more.