March 1, 2005

His name is "Marty" and he is 7 weeks old, black, wavy, very silky hair, and a tiny white goatee. He is half Shih Tzu and half Yorkie, and all adorable. He is also studying for the opera, by the sound of things.

April 2, 2005

Marty is definitely part of the family. He is certainly very vocal, and although he looked very meek and mild in his home setting, he has decided he deserves 24/7 attention here. He's really cute, but not photogenic. He's pretty much all black, so not even his eyes come out in a photo.

April 7, 2005

And when I got home, I found that he had pooped in his litter box. We held a mini-party!

April 9, 2005

He has his ups and downs as far as house-breaking goes. The funniest thing was yesterday, when he got scolded for an accident. We're trying to teach him to use a litter box, right? So I go to the other room for a few minutes after the scolding, only to return to find the litter box with the puppy "diaper" turned upside down. He is VERY expressive.

April 13, 2005

To a friend:

I have a new baby at home. His name is Marty. His picture is attached. I'm in love.

We took Marty for a nice walk this morning. It's beautiful out. He protected us from a big white monster (cat) today, and was quite proud of himself. "Protecting" us consisted of stopping where he was and going no further, in spite of our encouragement.

April 14. 2005

Marty went on a looooong walk (for him) along Dallas Road (beach) with us today. He met several other dogs from a distance, as well as many dog lovers. We had a great time. Everyone loved Marty.

We went to Baja Grill afterwards. Charmaine gave Marty water in the car. We left him there, in his cage, with the window open a crack, and Tony checked on him after a bit. He was fine. When we got back to the car, I took him out on the leash, and I think he peed....

He was a good boy. But he did have a little accident: he threw up in his cage on the way home. Poor baby.

The neighborhood sleeps more soundly, knowing he is there to protect us.

April 15. 2005

Marty has had no accidents today. I did catch him sniffing and closed him in his nursery (the kitchen), and he immediately went to the litter box. He was well-rewarded. Now I'm trying to teach him not to nip and chew.

April 17, 2005

To a friend: I have a new puppy!! His name is Marty (otherwise it would have been "Bob"). He is a 9 1/2 week-old Shih Tzu/Yorkie, and he's mostly black, with a few strategically placed white spots, like his goatee, his vest, a couple of toes, and under his tail (as reported by the vet, who wanted to call him "Skunk") He is already ruling the house.

I've decided he has cat-blood in him, and am training him to use the litter box, much to Allan's dismay. ("He's a DOG!!") It's working, and much better than having those ugly newspapers all over the floor.

He went to have his first grooming yesterday. Of course, I had already bathed him 3 times. He smells like DAWG. Still. But he sure is cute.

April 19, 2005

We (no puppy yet) went to Puppy Training last night. We're way ahead of schedule in a lot of things, usually, but suddenly he's getting stubborn. Sometimes he's just great, and understands what is expected of him, and usually obeys Come, Fetch, Sit, and is learning Down, Watch Me, Stay. I guess he'll get it, but now he's starting to balk at walking with us, and just stands there. Arghhh!! ("I want to go out with my buddies, not my PARENTS!!")

Marty is here on my lap ehlping me type.

To a friend: I just had my son and his family here for a few days, to visit our new puppy. His name is Marty, and he's a 10 week old Shih Tzu/Yorkie, and is absolutely adorable. I'm a cat person, and Marty is my first dog. I'm not voting yet.... but he's sure fun. He was just what I was looking for. :) I can pretty much get him to spend all his energy playing "fetch", or he has this thing he does with the broom. He chases it, hangs on, dances with it.... it's his favorite toy, if I'm on the other end.

April 21, 2005

Looks like we're going to Vancouver after all, but tomorrow morning, 7 AM ferry, if all goes as planned. We're taking Marty with us. Should be interesting....