Hannah and Ivy

The first week with these two adorable babies left us with full hearts and insomnia. Who knew dogs could screech? Who knew they could communicate through doors and walls? We now have no need to re-watch Jurassic Park because, believe it or not folks, our sweet and lovable puppies do an amazing impression of a stressed pterodactyl.

Let me back up and tell you the story from the beginning.

Whenever we get a new dog, we immediately start the process of crate training and potty training. Thankfully, this goes hand-in-hand. We did not take into account the absolute mayhem of twins. Prior to living with us, they lived outside and they never slept through the whole night because there were coyotes in the area. For their protection, they had to sleep glued to the hip.

We did not know this.

The first night, they were shown their new home, fed wonderful food, and given lots of love. They were absolute angels. Then the sun went down.

They were taken into their new rooms to their new, individual, pretty crates to go to sleep. That is how we learned that Hannah could sound like a feral cat during mating season. Ivy turned into a screech owl. They decided to keep up this wonderful serenade through the night. They would screech for each other until one fell asleep. We would have about an hour of blissful quiet until one would bellow for their fellow sister. This cycle continued through the night.

It could have been first night jitters, so we tried again. The next night, Hannah embraced her inner feral cat, but added the additional decibel level that you would expect if you threw said cat out of a plane. Ivy turned from one screech owl to two that decided to fight to the death. They called each other relentlessly. There was no calming them down until they were back together.

By night 5, the humans started showing signs of psychosis. Try as we might, we could not get them used to being separate without sacrificing sanity. So, we called the trainer and discussed how to wean them apart gradually to reduce their stress and ours. It was decided to let them sleep in the same crate for a period of time. Miraculously, everyone woke up the next day well rested.

We were able to focus on potty training and bonding instead of randomly falling asleep in a chair in the middle of the day. Once the little ones were more comfortable in the house, we decided to put two crates side by side in the living room and start the separation process much more slowly. By the end of the second week, the crates were on separate ends of the living room with each handler by their side. Now, we are back to where we were originally started with the pups in their assigned room. This time, without the screaming, screeching and howling.

Sometimes, Plan A just doesn’t work. When that happens, we break it down into smaller pieces, taking it slower, and celebrating each tiny step towards victory.

Written by: Tracie Jaramillo