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Tugger Tails

October 2006

Tugger is now 1! He's grown into a very loving dog.

Totally house broken....and the crate has been taken down and put away now for 3 months. He sleeps at the foot of the bed---and is a long sleeper....going from 9PM until 4:30AM when we get up. On weekends...that changes to 6AM and he could still stay in bed until 7AM if we let him.

He's a total baby.....whines and cries when he doesn't get his way. You can tell he's an only child! LOL!

He's a bit "chubby", which we can't understand because he's not a big eater. He's still picky about his food....but eventually eats what is in his dish before 8PM. He's got a sensitive stomach.....so he's on half a tagament a day. Also, when he drinks water, especially a lot and fast.....he'll burp---and he'll throw up at times. Other times he just burbs. Cracks us up....

His favorite: "Wanna go for a ride in the car?" He's beside himself in excitement. Screeching and howling---he runs in circles until we get out to the garage. We got him a "doggie car seat"....and it belts him in and gives him a boost to look out the window. He's very well behaved when we get him in the car. He sits on his seat calmly while we buckle him in and he gets frustrated until the car moves. (This is also true at red lights!!! He's just likes to "go!!!!")

His favorite time of day.....is bedtime. He tells US when he wants to go to bed. At 8:45PM, he gets his sponge bob......and then starts to pace and whine. He sits patiently outside the bedroom door until he's allowed in the room and settle in very quicky to bedtime.

It's amazing how much he's turned into a creature of habit. Workdays...he is told "vitamin" and goes directly to his pillow in the kitchen so Richie can give him is tagament. (This started when he was watching us take our morning vitamins---we figured he'd know that it was his turn, too!) At 4:45 AM, once again, he gets his sponge bob and waits for Richie to come into the kitchen and Tugger sits and snuggles with his "Daddy" until Richie goes to work. Once Richie puts him down--he goes back to his pillow in the kitchen....Richie will give him a "be a good boy" treat.....and he's settled in until almost 8AM when I leave for work. I get home at noon to take him out....and I'm home at 4:30....but Tugger has separation anxiety and whines for 5 minutes---literally hugging us and kissing us when we return home. It's takes a few minutes to settle him down. He loves the backyard which is gated/fenced in.....and spends a lot of time out there running and "hunting" for things.

He knows the word "no" now....and listens very well--once he realizes we mean business.

All in all--it's been great to have a dog in our home. Such company for both of us (even when Richie does yardwork---Tugger is outside watching). He's not so much a lap dog...but he's a snuggler who likes to have some part of him touch at all times.

March 2006

Tugger is almost 6 months old! And I feel 60 years older!

I forgot how trying it was to care for and train a puppy! My goodness....it's WORK!

Tugger recovered very well from Giardia back in February.....and we're relieved to find out there is no damage to his liver function due to the meds he had to take. He's also lost most of his teeth....except for one eye tooth.....the bugger! The new ones are beautiful....and so white!!! It's funny to see him resting and his lower teeth sometimes show thru...almost like he has a slight underbite.

We also have Tugger neutered on his 5th month birthday. We wanted to get through this stage sooner than later....and he bounced back brilliantly! (He had it done by laser...so the healing was much easier!)

Now we just need to curb this puppy of his biting. He's brutal!!! He's awesome with children.....and strangers.....but with Richie and me...most especially me...he's still a nipper and a growler. He does it strictly for attention....but for the most part, he's very good.

We have a behaviorist coming to our home to train us how to work with the dog....give him more guidelines with which to live by....and help us curb the biting habit. Also, he's helping us give commands. On Sundays, we take Tugger to PetSmart for Puppy classes. We're thrilled to see him get along with and enjoy the other dogs...and at the same time learn a new "trick" or command.

I'll be happy once we get him to be more disaplined when it comes to potty training..... we finally put the pee-pads outside on the deck..hoping that he'll go to the door and try to get out to it. He's still not giving signals for pee....but still bites and tugs when he needs to do his duty.

Tugger also loves rides in the car, now. We got him a car seat to boost him up so he can see out the window. He's loving every minute of our drives. All we have to say is "Want to go for a ride" and he's at the garage door!

All in all, he's a well adjusted puppy.....90% of the time...he's the best dog! I just need to get through the last 10% of his puppy stage......give me patience!!!!

February 1, 2006

Well....much has happened to our Tugger in the last month. He started puppy school.....and was doing very well. He was one of the smallest dogs in the class, but not the youngest (at 12 weeks old) and he loved every minute of his time at class. We went on Saturday afternoons for one hour at PetSmart. His favorite part was seeing the other BIG dogs....sniffing, playing and just getting familiar with dogs in general. We started introducing him to rooms in the house that he's not been in before and when he abuses the "treat"....he's been given "time out" for 30 seconds. He's also still a biter....and does not like the word "no" at all (or -- let's just say, he refuses to listen to the command!). Through training, we're working on hand signals. Yet--the biting continues.

Last week, Tugger started to push away his treats. Giving us the nose-nudge. We thought this was strange...but then, his poop started to get weird.....much more loose. We had a scheduled appointment on Friday at the VET, so I didn't worry too much. However, before going on Friday, he had two terrible poops---one of which was the ickiest green, stinky and slimy. At the VET, they tested it and have found nothing in his system. The VET advised us to take him out of puppy training until he's 18 weeks old and to keep him only with us in the meantime. He's on meds to harden his poop/kill off any bacteria---and we added rice to his kibble (Puppy Chow) to see if it would harden his stools. By Saturday afternoon--he stopped eating completely. No treats, no kibble, no rice...nothing. He did drink water, though. Ironically--his personality is still the same. He's just a bit more tired/lethargic when getting up. And his stools are still "soft-serve".

By Sunday at Noon, we freaked and called the VET. Brought another sample of his stool and they still found nothing. They put him on Science Diet I/D for a week to see if things improved. All I can say is---he's eating. Nothing much else has improved (and it's now Wednesday). He's finiky....eating only one sort of dog treat--and when he finds the kibble mixed in with the I/D...he eats around it.

On a good note---he's practically house trained. He goes to the door and lets us know when he needs to go out. We are still crate training him.....but when we're home, he's out and about--so it's nice to see that although the pee-pads are on the floor, his choice first and foremost is to go outside.

He's a loving dog.....and wants to be with people all the time. He gets whiney and sad if we're home in another room while he's in the kitchen. Hence the introduction to other areas of the house.

Hopefully, we'll be adding much better news as the days go on. I'm thankful that they haven't found a terrible illness.....but as a new dog owner, I'm most concerned that he's digestive system is not working well.