Diary of an adventurer

An emergency trip to the vet

So it's almost 6:30pm and I was sitting on mums lap on a chair haing some cuddle time. Shandi got a little jealous and came over and of course I wanted to play with her so I jumped over mums arms and tried to go over the arm of the chair. Well my plan failed and my leg got caught in the arm of the chair and twisted. The screaming that came out of my mouth was like nothing had ever heard before. Shandi rushed to my side trying to see what was wrong but I didnt want to be touched. I held my leg up hobbling around screaming and screaming and mum was crying seeing me like that. Mum's mum kept asking her why she was crying and mum said "Because he's my baby, you'd cry to if I was screaming in pain like that."

So mum imediatly said I was going to the vet, she didnt care if it was just twisted or sprained she was taking me. So she called the vet which was just about to close and they said to bring him in. I was still limping but not crying anymore. The only vet there happened to be the one that mum extremely dislikes and usually asks not to see but she had no choice. So after being checked over it was determine that I had torn some muscle, injured a tendon and have a little bit of nerve damage but mum was so thankful it wasnt broken.

So I got an anti-inflamitory shot and I've been put on rest for the next few days.

As soon as I got back from the vet Shandi gave me a once over to make sure everything was ok and then she gave me lots of kisses.

Right now I'm asleep inside on my mat just relaxing.

My first session with the trainer

Today was my first session with my new trainer. Mum didnt exactly have high expectations considering how aggressive I was to her last time.

So the trainer comes and first thing she does is have a sit down with mum and just explain her methods, the equipment that they use, correction scale etc. Mum was also taught the magic word which is Ahh. A loud clap and Ahh sound mean hey, stop what your doing. We started with the scratching on the door and charging through. Mum was shown to open the door a little and if I tried to run through to close it fast and say Ahh. after about 3 times I sat patiently on the other side and mum came out without any problems.

Next thing was jumping, again another loud ahh. I only jumped once, mum ahhed at me and I didnt jump again for the whole session.

Mum was shown some really good recall exercises and then we moved onto the big issue. The food aggression.

Mum was taught 4 different ways to deal with it and she got to choose one that she felt most comfortable using. Can you believe that on the first try she got me to walk away from my food bowl and let her pick it up without showing any sign of aggression. She was completely shocked and so proud of me. The trainer also said that usually it takes dogs a while to catch on but she was so impressed at how smart I was.

The whole session I was relaxed and super calm. Mum has never ever seen me this way, I was a completely different dog.

My next session is in two weeks and mum has alot of homework to do between now and then but she's not giving up and she's going to try her hardest. She knows I can do it now, she needs to gain back leadership.

A new friend and a trainer..

Well mums friend got a new puppy today called Ruby. She's a 9 week old Standard Poodle and she's just as big as me, I'm 14 weeks :O She's going to be huge when she's fully grown. Tomorrow mum is going over for a photoshoot and I get to play with her again.

Mum found a trainer last week to work with me on my food aggression issues. Tomorrow is our first session, she's coming over for 1-2 hours. Hopefully everything goes ok and mum doesnt become emotional if I show signs of aggression. Lets just hope all goes well and I'm on the way to being a better behaved dog.

I'm sorry mum....

I'm sorry for what happened tonight but I was just protecting my food. Please dont think I dont love you mum, you know I do. Food is just so important to me and I want no one taking it away from me or even coming close to me.

Banjo's mum here;

Tonight Banjo tried to attack me multiple times, I am extremely distraught to say the least. I've been working with Banjo's food aggression for weeks now. I've tried different methods such as hand feeding and dropping food in his bowl. Tonight I walked past to drop food into his bowl and it was like Banjo was a different dog. He growled and tried to lunge at me. Following the advice of someone I tried scruff Banjo to show him that behaviour is not on and that was when it went from bad to worse. He kept coming at me over and over, growling and lunging.

I completely broke down. Starting bawling and hyperventilating, I couldnt breath and I started to get dizzy. This lasted about 20 minutes until I was finally able to calm myself down and now my head is pounding. I am just so hurt that my own dog would do this and I know it's not his fault but it just makes me feel horrible.

No matter what I do nothing is working. Not only is it not improving but it's getting worse. I dont know what to do anymore. I dont want to give up but I am so worn out.

A trip to the vet

Well I went for my second round of vaccinations today at the vet. I was little nervous of all the big things and not really being to a vet before but I was happy to see any person and I was gladly giving them all kisses. The receptionist just loved me, I got to go behind the counter to get some cuddles from her. So I went into to get my shot and it made me really itchy. I didnt like it at all and I was whining but then the vet came back in with some treats and I was relaxed after that. The nice ladies at the vet made up a puppy pack which mum got, it also had a free worming tablet in there so now mum doesnt have to go buy that.

I have to go back in another 4 weeks to get my third and final round of shots. The girls all said they cant wait to see how big I'm going to grow. They'll be seeing a fair bit of me around there, more shots in 4 weeks and then about three weeks after that I am going back to get neutered.

Mum is devistated

She's always been nervous about having food agressive dogs after seeing her fathers dog. She knows that sometimes people get hurt and bitten in those situations so she's been patting me everytime she feeds me to let me know she's not going to take my food and that it's alright. Usually she would just pat my back and sides and I never stiffened or anything. Just now she fed me and pat my head and I tried to bite her. She got a ruler because she didnt want to stick her hand in there, she put the ruler next to me and I had a go at it. Mum is just devistated because she's so afraid that the aggression will increase and become dangerous. She has never had a food aggressive dog before, with her experince with her dads food aggressive dog she's actually scared of them. He lunged at her multiple times, move an inch while he was eating and he would try and bite you. Mum is so scared that I will get to that point. She's going to be taking action straight away to try and get rid of this aggression.

I learnt something new today

Mum has been so busy lately she's been slacking on my training which she feels really bad about. So this afternoon she decided she was going to teach me how to drop. So she gets out her training bag and of course I sit because I think thats what I have to do to get a treat. Mum starts trying to lure me to lay on the ground but I kept standing up and trying to get the treat. Mum helped me out by putting her hand on my bum, not pushing it down but just putting it there to remind me to stay sitting. It took a few goes but when I did lay down mum made such a big deal about and started saying "Good boy!"

We repeated it a few times about after a few minutes I was laying down perfectly. Mum got Shandi outside then because she had put her inside she so could work with me alone. She made us drop together and I did it so well she said. I cant wait to see what she teaches me next!

Oh no, wormies

Mum freaked out today when she found a worm on my tail. She's never had an animal with worms before so it was a little gross to her. What she doesnt understand is 2 weeks ago I was wormed with Panacur, then a week ago I was wormed with Baycox. How can I have worms? This worm treatment will be another $30, then my shots are due in 3 weeks so there is another $60 plus I start obedience in a week which is another $110. Mum just wished should could have at least one healthy dog. Shandi cost so much medical wise. Mum has had me 10 days and already I've been treated for blood in my poo and now worms. Could they be linked?

So many big dogs

Yesterday Cherry and Rusty came over for a play with Shandi and I got to meet them too. I was a little scared of them because they were so big and running around like crazy dogs. I stayed to myself really or followed mum around for a bit.

Mum thinks Shandi has been so patient with me since I am constantly biting her with my sharp puppy teeth. This morning Shandi was trying to sleep and I just wouldnt leave her alone so she gave me a little warning snap. Mum knows she would never ever hurt me but it did scare me a little bit. Mum decided Shandi needed a little break so she put her outside and I went to sleep inside. It will be a while until we're left alone together but we'll work on it.

I'll learn what lines I cant cross with Shandi and that she needs space at times. Mum thinks it will be getting when I'm bigger so instead of just biting we can actually run around and play rough.

The Beach - September 26th

It was my first trip to the beach today. I wasnt really sure about the ocean, it seemed a little scary. I think Shandi was a little jealous because I was off the leash the whole time. I know mum is secretly happy she has a dog that she can actually let off the leash. I met another really big dog and I tried to give him kisses but he was too tall. Then we ran up and down the beach and mum kept sticking this thing in my face, it kept making clicking noises. She says she was documenting my first time at the beach. She tried to take pictures but I was just too fast zooming around.

Oh it was so much fun! I hope I can go back again soon.

Health Update

I seem to be doing fine, very lively and energtic. I played around for hours last night. Out of the 3 poos I did yesterday and last night none had blood in them and only one was runny. Luckily they think I'm going to be fine and I'm sure not acting sick.

Medication already - September 25th

Well mum took me in today and luckily they dont think it's parvo causing the blood in my poo because I was taken home alot while I was at the shelter. I got a mouthful of baycox to make sure I have no parasites. If I still have blood in my poo tomorrow I have to go back and then I have to go on tablets for 5 days.

On a lighter note I am still just the average puppy, goofy and cheeky. Today was the first day I really played with Shandi properly. Let me tell you I taught that girl a lesson jumping all over her and trying to pin her down. Of course I'm not exactly strong enough. Shandi knows now that she has to lay down so that we can play. Mum added a picture of my jumping on Shandi's head to my profile so you can check that out.

Mum called up the obedience trainer that she uses and signed me up for puppy pre school which starts in about 3 weeks. Mum introduced me to the clicker today and I did really well even though I got a little distracted. I am almost understand sit and mum is really proud of me.

I also get to go into work with mum this weekend because she doesnt want to leave me at home by myself for 10 hours.

Right now both Shandi and I are sleeping at mums feet.

My new home - September 24th

This morning was like any other, I was sitting in my kennel playing with my brothers and sister. Then this nice lady came to look at me and I really liked her. She played with me for a little and then she left. Later on that day she came back again and this time she put a collar around my neck. I knew that I was going home with her.

The car ride home was a very exciting one, I kept climbing all over mum to try and look out the windows since I'm too short to look out myself. I loved the feel of the wind in my face and all those colours flashing past. It was only a short drive though.

Then when we arrived home I saw a MASSIVE dog waiting at the fence. I had been with big dogs but nothing of this size. We went out the back to meet each other, mum said the other dog was called Shandi and that she was my new sister. Mum put Shandi on a leash while her mum held me in her arms. I was so scared of her at first because she was just so big and kept swatting me with her paws. After a little bit of running around with mum holding Shandi I fell asleep and so did Shandi. We slept almost the whole afternoon.

I did not like being in that bathroom all by myself so I cried all night, eventually mum ended up making a bed in the hallway and just sleeping there. usually she wouldnt have but we live in a very suburban area and we dont want anyone to complain about the noise. Mum is a little worried about me though because in the middle of the night I did a very runny poo and it had blood in it. Mum is going to call the shelter about that and see what they suggest. Parvo isnt very common here but it has been starting to increase which has mum worried. I am acting like a very happy and energetic puppy but I do seem to sleep alot.