Happenings

Life around here is busy, but good.  Do you know how amazing it is to have a puppy who doesn't have to pee every five minutes?  Yeah, I have learned to appreciate even an 11 week old puppy's bladder control.  ;-)

 Moray got to meet my rabbit, Che Bella, for the first time this week.  He was enthralled with her, and very upset that I kept him confined.

Moray also took his first trip to our neighborhood swimming pool.  I was expecting him to be more interested, but he took it all in stride.  I apologize for the extreme poor quality of the photo as the only camera I had was on my (non-smart) phone.  It must have something to do with being my second puppy, but I have not taken near as many photos as when Dante was little.  I need to remedy this as he is growing up waaaaay too fast!

CCI puppy Young arrived last Thursday for a 10 day stay.  The boys are having lots of fun playing.  Yesterday, our friend and his German Shepherd, Izzy came over too.

Pretty much sums up my life right now

They play hard, but they also know how to be focused and work together:

 

47 days and counting down until my Golden boy's Turn In.  Treasuring even the mundane things we do.

This Cutie Pie.  Oh my!  He is a very sweet boy when he wants to be, but when he doesn't... let's just say, lucky for him he is so darn cute!  ;-)

Out and About

Because of Moray's unfortunate luck with sickness (here and here), the only time he has been out of the house was to go to the vet.  While we do not take baby puppies inside public places yet, it is good for them to get used to car rides, parking lots, greeting people, etc.

When Dante first came, I was getting him out at least 2-3 times a week.  I was beginning to feel like I am getting behind with Moray.  While I know for a fact that we're in no way "behind," it was time for us to get out of the house.

Moray is still not the biggest fan of car rides, so a 5-minute-away trip to Target was in order tonight.  

He did fantastic in the car, with no whining or barking.  I think that may have had something to do with the stuffed Kong in his kennel, but I'll take it.  ;-)  After we parked, we sat in the car with the back open, watching cars go by, and taking it all in.

I debated on whether or not to take him out into the parking lot, but when he started trying to jump out himself, I decided that he was indeed ready for it.  This boy does not lack in the confidence area!

I carried him up to the entrance of the store where we practiced Checking In when I call his name, and "sit."  This boy is a rock star and did everything I asked of him on the first time!

The people.  Oh, the people!  I forget how many people a puppy attracts.  I had Dante running errands with me most of the day.  When people see an older dog, it is mostly, "Look at the service dog!" "We can't pet him because he's working, can we?"  With Baby Moray it is "Oh my gosh, the puppy!"  "Isn't he the most adorable thing ever?!"  Hehe!  We sat here for about 10 minutes, and greeted around 20 people, and all but three or four people coming out of the store did not stop by.  Dante is very people-oriented, so the answer to petting is usually "no," so to be inviting people over so Moray can learn proper greetings felt a little funny at first.  He soaked up the attention, and did extremely well for this being our first time really focusing on sitting for petting.

Short, sweet, and to the point is the way to go!  We stayed long enough for Moray to get comfortable, and short enough for it to be stress-free and fun.  Not asking too much from him, but eye contact and eating treats from my hand as people pet him.  This boy is so much fun to work with, and I would say his first outing was a success!

Awkward Moments

I think that any puppy raiser, or dog person for that matter, has their moments of awkwardness.  While this list is not at all conclusive, I think it is a good start.

That Awkward Moment When...

•  ...You spend several minutes trying to convince a stranger that the Gentle Leader is not a muzzle, and that it doesn't bother your puppy at all, and on cue, your puppy starts rubbing his face up and down your leg before melting into a puddle of unhappy, face-rubbing puppy.
• ...A stranger waves his had in front of your face because he thinks you're blind.
• ...An employee yells from across the store, "Why do you have a rubber band on its face?"
• ...The man in front of you at the grocery store compliments your puppy's looks, then turns and says to his companion, "He's okay for a furry, shaggy one that is."
• ...You wave to your neighbor, forgetting about the freshly-filled poop bag in that same hand.
• While we're on the subject... You run into the store, and forget about the volume of your voice as you describe the consistency of your puppy's poop to your mom, and any unidentified objects in said substance.
• ...Your puppy is giving you The Eyes because he wants ice cubes from Starbucks, and the man sitting next to you says, "If my dogs were in here, they would actually be happy."
• ...A group of people gather around and start gushing over and talking about your puppy without saying anything to you.  Do I engage, or walk away???
• ...Your puppy has a UTI, and you have spent the last two days cleaning up messes every seven minutes.  You wake up the next morning and realize that your entire dream was cleaning pee off the kitchen floor.
• ...You're giving a presentation about Canine Companions at a school, demonstrating some of your puppy's commands.  You put out your hand like you're about to ask for a "shake," but instead say "speak" to show how we can test if they are really listening to us.  Your puppy instead shakes your hand.  Everyone laughs, so he does it again and again... and again for the attention.

 What funny and/or awkward situations have you and your puppy been in lately?

Turbulence

Poor Moray has had a bit of a shaky start at our house.  Last Thursday, we ended up at the emergency vet with kennel cough.  

I can report happily that he has been cough-free for three days now, and Dante never contracted it.  Unfortunately, there is more.  On Wednesday night, I was at church and left Moray home with my mom.  Moray is only 9 1/2 weeks, so we still have some work to do on potty training, but he has been doing fairly well for his age.  When I got home, my mom reported that Moray had had about six accidents since I was gone.  

All day Thursday, it seemed that by the time we got one mess cleaned up, we would turn around only to find another one.  By that afternoon, I started logging every time he relieved.  He was having accidents every 7-10 minutes.  

We were a little unsure that it could be a Urinary Tract Infection because he just came off antibiotics for kennel cough.  We took him to the vet this morning (3rd time in two weeks).  Of course, he would have nothing to do with peeing while there, but we collected it when we got home, and sure enough poor Moray has a UTI.

In the sixteen months that I have had Dante, aside from eating a few things he was not supposed to, he has never been sick, so to get a double-whammy back to back is a little discouraging.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end in terms of sickness.  But just think, we have no where to go but Up!  ;-)

In a more positive light, I just love how smart and how fast Moray learns.  He is getting to be a pro at "sit" and whenever he wants anything, he thinks he can get it if he sits.  So cute!  The power of positive reinforcement is something to be reckoned with!

Randomness (And Sickness)

Walking my baby boy at the park.  Sorry for the poor quality of photos from the iPod.

Sometimes you just have to plop down in B&N and read kid books to your dog.  :-)

Birdwatching (NOT lunging or barking, mind you) on the pond

 

Every night, 30 minutes before dinner time, Dante camps out in front of the food bin.  Just to be sure he doesn't miss his second-favorite-time-of-the-day (breakfast is first).  This dog's stomach is the most accurate clock ever.

First time with his cape on!  (it tastes really good!)

Happenings this week in no particular order:

• Dante is growing to like Moray more this week.  He is initiating play, sometimes getting a little too rough for Moray's size, but overall doing really well.  He is learning a lot of patience, and is starting to show more maturity too.  I don't want to jinx it, but I think there is a light at the end of this tunnel  ;-)  Haha!
• Turn In is in nine weeks.  NINE.  WEEKS.
• Moray is consistently responding to his name from everyone in my family, and has almost mastered "Sit."  He is also learning to accept his cape and gentle leader, and has been introduced to "down."
• Moray HATES the heat.  The last few days it has been in the high 90's with feel-like temps of over 100 degrees.  Poor Moray refuses to walk outside, and I have had to carry him every "Hurry" break.  Once outside, he lunges at the end of his leash, whining to go back in.
• As a follow up on this post, Dante and I empty his toy box frequently and he has to bring all the toys back to me.  He is getting quite good :-)
• On the down side, last night Moray started coughing on and off for a few hours.  We thought he had something caught in his throat, so we took him to the emergency vet around 9:30pm (didn't get home till 1:00am).  They checked him, and didn't find anything (of course he wouldn't cough while with the doctor), so they were about to send us home, and told us to just keep an eye on him.  As we were checking out, he started up again.  We were really glad they heard it, and they took him back again for X-rays.  Turns out he has kennel cough.  :(  He is on antibiotics and cough suppressants, and while it is not extremely serious, his poor coughing sounds horrid.  
• While there, they weighed him again.  He gained TWO pounds in six days!  Makes me feel better, as he still is not eating but half of his food.
• I am REALLY hoping Dante doesn't catch kennel cough.  Unfortunately, it is too late to try to keep them separated.  
• And on that note, for precautionary reasons, Dante is also prohibited from outings for the next week just to make sure he does not spread it.  Pray I don't go insane ;-)

Adjustments

We have made it to day five already!  The last few days have been a bit of an adjustment for everyone.  

This is the first time that my family has had two puppies living in our house.  Sure, we have puppy sat before, but even Dante knows it is different this time.  It has taken a few days, but I think we are settling into a routine.  

Dante was not quite sure what to make of Moray.  Somehow, he knew that Moray was here to stay.  Maybe it was because I brought him home, instead of like when Young was here, his people brought him.  Dante has been doing very well overall.  The first three days or so, he played a very little bit with Moray, but for the most part avoided him.  When they did interact, Dante was not sure what to do with the little ankle-biter.  He would give me the most confused look, and then gently nose Moray's belly, making him somersault.  

"Why did you do this to me, Mom?"

Pushing Moray over. 

Dante has been fantastic about sharing, and even leaves Moray's baby toys alone.  He has shown a little jealousy, like on Saturday, I was sitting on the floor with Moray, and called Dante "Here" from another room.  Dante came bounding around the corner, fully intending to comply until he spotted Moray in my lap, and then he turned and walked away.  Over the last couple days, he has been realizing that life continues on, he still gets his one-on-one training, cuddle, and public outing time with me, and he has been doing much better in that aspect.  

On Friday night Young's raisers invited Dante and I to attend a horse show with them.  Not only were all the distractions of people, horses, and pet dogs great for him, but it was his first time working alongside another Puppy in Training in public.  Both of them did fantastic!

 

Watching the warm up ring.  Unfortunately, the only picture I took.

Moray is your typical 8 week old puppy.  He is settling in pretty well.  He has been having a few accidents every day, but that has mostly been my fault.  But I can't say I'm not looking forward to when he can hold his bladder for more that 45 minutes!  ;-)  

On Friday, we took him to the vet just to weigh him (he doesn't weigh enough to activate our bathroom scale), and even though he had his first round of vaccines before he left CCI, they wanted to do an initial check up.

Moray is a very independent and feisty little guy!  He is learning not to throw a fit when he is confined to his X-pen, and not bark and whine when his leash prevents him from getting where he wants.  ;-)  He is getting very good at making eye contact when I call his name, has a good concept of "Hurry," and is learning "Sit."

He is obsessed with Dante's bone.

Introducing...

WARNING!  There are many, MANY extremely cute photos to follow.  Continue at your own risk.

Moray arrived this morning!  I woke up at 6am, an hour before my alarm was to go off.  Really? I thought, I really did want to sleep as long as I could.  I check my email, etc., before checking Moray's flight status from Atlanta.  On time!  Okay, maybe I check it several times and watch it change from "on time," to "boarding," and finally "in transit."

My mom, sister and I arrived  a few minutes after the plane landed, so we had about a ten minute wait for them to bring him over. 

The first thing I said was "He is so tiny!"  You forget how little they are because they grow so darn fast!

Moray with my mom

After a few cuddles, it was time to go outside and try to Hurry.  Moray decided that there is allotta world out there he has got to see first, and chose to explore the parking lot and chew his leash a little first.  ;-)

He finally did Hurry.  It surprised me that he went right on the concrete AND with a toy in his mouth!

Maybe this is TMI, but this is a dog blog for crying out loud ;-)

 Moray is so fearless and independent.  When Dante came he was so "lost" for a week or so before he settled in, so to see Moray's spunk coming out already is a lot of fun.

On our way home

Once home, it was time to introduce him to Dante.  Dante did really well with him and the two played for a little while.

Bath time, food, a few minutes of play, and Moray was out for a while.

This toy is becoming somewhat of a tradition.  It was Dante's favorite when he was little so we had to get one for Moray as well.

Moray woke up after about an hour, we had a little more play time outside, and he is currently serenading me from his kennel.  He will settle down just fine soon enough.  

Welcome home, little buddy!  We have quite the adventure ahead of us!