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WhatsRight, I wasn't sure at first glance what you were referencing, but now I see! Just today, when we let Missy into the house after she and her Daddy came home from a truck ride to a neighboring farm, and I just let her have her usual run of the house, she walked right around the rooms and stuck her head - still in the damn cone - right up to Mink's crate.

What I loved was that neither of them made a noise! It was just "checking in on ya" and that's big progress, right?

Mink is a super smart puppy and it's ME that is messing up, I'm seeing. For example, my reaction time at my age isn't the greatest for handling both the leash and the 4 foot long dangling toy/tug thingy I find helpful keeping him (a) walking parallel with me instead of curling around my ankles, and (b) to quickly untangle leash from tug rope as he spins this way and that and back again! It's not his fault, really, I don't think. (I used to think this when Missy was a pup. Now I think it's ME!) I really need to memorize how to keep both lines in my left hand and quickly shorten one or the other, as needed. Reminds me of driving a team of mules....that I never did. :)

But we are seeing way less biting behavior on us, unless we run out of fun toys and then he seems to test us again, like "I know this was a bad thing yesterday; is it still a bad thing?" Oh yea, still bad thing, baby...

[This message edited by Superesse at 2:13 AM, Friday, June 9th]

A cute little thing…

My H got up today for a short push down the street. He is working on regaining some strength. So we are ready to head down the street, and Bella climbs up into his lap. So, off we go!

Bella jumped off his lap only once. They looked so cute headed down the road together!

Oh, and I did check out that AKC Good Citizen Test in regards to preparation for my dufus dog Maggie to possibly be a therapy dog. Except for the "Staying" thing, I think we wouldn’t have far to go to accomplish alll of the steps.

Tomorrow I’m going to check out possible facilities near me.

[This message edited by WhatsRight at 10:52 AM, Friday, June 9th]

How are all the puppies and dogs doing?

zebra, how is your little one doing? I've been wondering...

Mink is such a sweet landshark....I still am impressed with him and just need to be about 20 years younger so my reaction times would be quicker! It can be hard buckling the lead to the collar as he is squirming to get going out the door. He has been to the vet, weighed in at 31 pounds, got a needed toenail trim and a shot. Today, we took him to my bank to meet the ladies who had asked us to bring him in. Mink behaved as though he had truly learned to sit and also wait! (Of course, there were treats in my pocket.) But he has only had 1 lesson and then a bit of practice at home.

He actually loves to cuddle. Now to get us to cuddle, he employs his teeth! So if we sit with him at arm's distance, look out! We have to keep a chew toy ready to pop in his jaws, or he'll go right for an arm. But if we just hug his little wiggle-worm self, he relaxes and almost purrs! He loves having his big ears massaged! Groans and groans. Our older girl was never this affectionate as a puppy. But she also never went after us with her teeth like he does!

It was raining today, and after his walk I was towelling him off at the kitchen door. He loves to play tug with any fabric (breeder said her family played with him a lot, and pictures showed him with a cloth tug toy). So he was gnawing away at the towel for a bit, when he got sight of my jeans leg and suddenly he just CHOMPED down on my calf, and left a couple red lines that darn near bled, even through jeans! I hollered right in his face as I was still bent over, drying him. He looked at me, shocked. Our trainer advised that with certain dogs (like him) it's better if we do not try "clamping a hand over a muzzle" to stop puppy nipping, as it can amp up their fight drive. I have seen that when we're playing and it is likely genetic, according to the American breeder who first referred me to his European breeder. The trainer told us we must always be prepared with something else for him to bite! But my H has had some success damping down his nipping with just voice and hand restraints. He needs to learn bite inhibition in general, so he won't use full force on anybody.

We are also starting ball toss exercises with a 30 foot leash he drags around the puppy yard. He really didn't know what a ball is for, but he has learned if he brings it back to me, he gets a treat and/or a cuddle, and I notice he tires out after a dozen or so little sprints. I hope I'm not stressing his leg bones when he short-stops to get that ball! The smaller 9 by12 foot pen we put together with metal gates is okay for a few minutes of supervised play, but he soon starts looking for ways to bust out! The other day I was planting potted flowers nearby and he was watching me; I turned around and he was digging himself a hole, too! Imitating Mommy? 🙂

Missy the older GSD is still wearing her cone. I hope she can get out of it next week. It has prevented them from getting to play doggy games, and she still bares her teeth at him a little when he tries to jump up and paw her or even take a nip, as I think I saw yesterday during our pack walk. We will have muzzles on both dogs when that play date finally happens! It worked with her and our old dog to prevent injury from the big dog to the pup....

Anybody got tips on how to stop this fireball from chasing and nipping his tail in his crate when he gets frustrated? I know he needs either more exercise or less food, but we want to feed him what his body needs. He is getting lanky and taller, and almost has outgrown his baby collar.

My terrier mix is finally better. After the vomiting and diarrhea he went five days without pooping. He finally went this morning. The vet's office called to check on him and let out a big YAY when I told them.

My DD's tripod is doing great!! His incision is healed and he is walking, running and doing a couple of stairs. He has a return appointment with the oncologist tomorrow so we are hoping for a good report.

I hope Missy can lose the cone soon.

Mink sounds like a sweetheart and very smart!!!

My Boston Terrier was very mouthy when he was a puppy. His teeth were razor sharp. We were able to teach him "go get a toy" anytime he put his teeth on us or anything that wasn't a toy. He learned very quickly to stop what he was doing and go get one of his toys. His reward was playtime.

I can't believe mink weighs 31 pounds! How much will he weigh full grown?

Mink was imitating you digging.

Glad your dog is doing better Zeb. Sup - your pup sounds pretty normal w/ the puppy stuff, hopefully when he can play w/ his big sister, he will settle and be less bitey.
My pup leaves in 2 weeks to go to the trainer. He is doing great w/ all the basic commands, and is getting the basics of fetching down, with these dogs you have to make them sit and wait to get whatever the fetch item is, and should be sitting right next to you as when you are hunting you cannot have a dog run when people are shooting. He already understands it.
Going to miss him like crazy when he leaves, and his big brother definitely is going to miss him, they are bonded, and lay next to each other, and play all the time.

Tushnurse, I wish I had your basic training skills, to make Mink sit and wait. Your pup boy is doing so good and it totally makes sense a gun dog needs to learn this. The only time we see Mink sit like that, ironically, is when we are out in public with people he doesn't know well! Then he is so cool. Family is for climbing on, maybe biting....

Today was a drizzly rainy day and I had a lot of town errands, so he rode in the truck crate and napped for a long time, getting pee breaks, lunch on the road, and then his Daddy surprised him by showing up to play with him at the chiropractor's office and meet the doc before I had my adjustment (we book monthly appointments back to back, no pun intended! Keeps me functioning...)

After lunch, we made time to play a game of outdoor fetch with both of us tossing him 3 balls....he pretty quickly flopped down and played the baby on his back, holding the ball between his paws like a squirrel gnawing it, tummy in the air! He said he was "done." So back into the truck and off to the library for a bit.

I was not surprised when Mink got all wound up this evening, I guessed he was complaining that he hadn't had enought FUN! Either that, or he is going into teething at 14 weeks...but I think he is just expanding his universe day bu day, and life with us isn't quite keeping up, perhaps. We do want him to "settle" but henwas sooo good all day, then got almost belligerent with barking at me this evening. WHAT?!?

I asked my H to come back downstairs after dinner instead of sitting there watching some rental DVD, so he could help Mink feel less abandoned to his crate room by my bed, since I was in the kitchen around the corner cleaning up after dinner. H did what my trainer had suggested, and had Mink sit with him, using a short leash he stepped on while letting him chew several toys on the floor below. Well, that seemed effective for about 10 minutes, and then he got really antsy! We guessed he needed to go out again, to do his business. We had to gate off the room to keep Missy from coming over and winding him up even further.

And thus ended another day in Mink's young life. I kinda feel bad for the little guy, he so wants to take on the world!! And Missy, too. She sees the vet tomorrow, but I have a feeling it will just be a repeat, keep up the eye drops, the cone....her upper half of one eye is red and the lower half is milky. Looks horrible, but it may be healing as they said these corneal ulcers take time, UGH.

I do believe we gave Mink the opportunity to run and wear himself out this afternoon, but noticed he really didn't go after the balls we threw too long. Hard to tell how much exercise to give him....

Y’all are all doing such great jobs with your new babies. Putting me to shame.

Our little Bella is mostly happy to snuggle with her Daddy in the bed. Sleeps under the covers (of course) and when she hears me come in, I can see the covers moving around with her trying to come out and see me. 😊

The potty training is not much of a success. She does go pee on the pad, but I need her to go outside. I take her outside off and on all day long. Sometimes staying out there for 30 minutes when she first wakes up. Then I give up and literally 30 seconds after we come in, she poops in the floor. 😡

She also knows when I am upset at her. She is quick as a hiccup, and FAST for such a tiny thing. And it is all I can do to get out of the bedroom and close the door before she runs down the stairs to the bed, across the floor, and out the door before I close it. Of course, it may also be because I am old and don’t move as fast as I’d like to think!

Tonight we are back in the hospital. I am staying the night, so my sister stayed with the puppy for a while. Then when she went home to her own dog, she gave the puppy to my oldest son to sleep with him. I know she is so upset not to be with her Daddy!

I can’t imagine life without a dog! 😊

WR I'm very sorry about your H's medical crisis again; and that Bella is having to cope, just like you are. I'm really hoping your H's tummy twinges are due to the exercising he has recently been doing! (Isn't that just the way life works?) Or maybe he has an adhesion? Tushnurse told me about that years ago...apparently it is one of those things that happens in the abdominal cavity...I had something like that after my first surgical colon procedure, freaked me out, but the sensation never came back. Fingers crossed for you guys!!!

Mink's day today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday: he was great all day and met folks at church in the morning, acted the gentleman, chilled out all day on truck rides in his airy crate (still drizzling rain which we desperately needed, and it's so much cooler). Then back home, when I took him straight to the "puppy yard" for free-form ball tosses, he lasted about 7 runs, catches and returns, before he was panting hard, laying upside down with ball in his paws, just loving the outdoors and my company (he's such a sweetie!) but seemed really pooped out, as we used to say. I guess all his energy is going into growing. Weighed him at the vet today and he has gained a whopping 5 POUNDS since last Friday!! Mink just went from 30 to 35 pounds, ladies! The vet ran her hands down his sides and said "he's just perfect."

Missy, on the other hand, is still teetering on the edge of losing an eye, if we don't keep her in the cone; the vet warned us not to allow the puppy to romp around with her without that damned cone on her head. You know what? I am getting pretty tired of this Every Friday Bad Report along with another $100 -$200 dollars more for medications, for something we suspect they screwed up with poor surgical technique! (H said the stitch on her eyelid was poking down when they removed it. It wasn't even a dis-solvable suture.) I don't know what to think, but after hearing this from the vet for the 3rd week in a row, I'm researching where to get our girl a tactical dog helmet complete with big ole sun goggles, hard cased cheek/nose bridge just so she won't have it accidentally pushed off by playing with this rowdy puppy. Or we could get by with big dog goggles with chin and head straps. Failing that, I'm thinking about using VetWrap with cotton wadding over her eyeball, and wrapping her head and left eye long enough to let the poor girl play with her baby brother!

Tonight we actually had Mink's puppy zoomies timed to about 30 minutes after his dinner...I gave him a large plastic bottle stripped of label and plastic ring and he hammered away at it for maybe 20 minutes. I think he gets very bored, and we need to have an arsenal of different chewy toys...oy.

I just LOVE reading these puppy dog stories!

Little Bella is missing her daddy away at the hospital. But we are bonding a bit more. She really loves me already, but I do adore sleeping with her.

She has this cool thing that she does that just warms my heart! When I’m lying on the couch, which is where I sleep, she lies between the pillow and the back of the couch… On her back… With her little legs, all curled up over her. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life! I’ve taken several pictures but have no idea how to send them to you all.

So, like so many of you, I have several considerable worries in my life. My husband’s poor health and decline, my kids’ struggles, my sons incarceration, etc. etc. etc. I’m also concerned for my ability to hold on to my health, which has been, uneventful, thankfully. But this morning, I woke up early and was watching TV, and all of a sudden I have these flashing lights in one eye, and ringing in my ears. I guess just a preview of things to come in my 70s! Ha ha

But what I wanted to say is this… If I have said it before, I apologize for the repeat… But it is worth repeating.

The other day I was sitting in my sunroom with my jewelry making supplies in front of me… a new hobby in the last couple of years that I absolutely enjoy. And I was worried about every tiny little thing happening in my life, and all the things happening in all of your lives, and in IRL friends’ lives… Then…

I looked around me. I am "making jewelry", watching a how to video of making jewelry on my TV, it’s a beautiful day, and I look around me, and there are five dogs curled up lying around me on the floor. I can’t even tell you what it did to me. it was like a pause in the struggles of life, and a feeling of complete calm and appreciation for those precious creatures. I can’t imagine living without a dog.

Aren’t we so very lucky?

We are so blessed by our dogs, indeed.

But WhatsRight, you shouldn't minimize something that hit your eye and ear like that, especially if your BP tends to run high (and whose doesn't, among many of us?) I'm concerned for you because I have a brother who landed in ICU this month with multiple strokes, and I was told two were behind his eyes. When I did a search on 'stroke behind eye,' what popped up was not what I was actually trying to learn (what area of the brain was affected) but descriptions with symptoms of "eye stroke" that sound somewhat like what you experienced, especially the flashes of light. Very scary! Please get that checked out, okay? You need to be there for everybody else and us, too!

Meantime, Mink has already outgrown his puppy collar! I almost got tears in my eyes after unbuckling it for the last time and putting it up in Missy's puppy toy box that we have kept with the mementos of her babyhood. Sob!! How can it be that my new baby is already too big for his baby collar?

My H shook his head and said "Well, he isn't a teenager, yet, anyway." He does look dapper in his wider, silvery white collar against his silky black coat, though. And with my arthritic farmer thumbs and fingers, I find the new, larger ring stands up much easier to let me latch the leash onto, even when he squirms. I picked the white color primarily so I can see it better in the wee hours when he needs to go potty. He is sleeping until dawn, now. But Mommy doesn't wake up all that fast..... 🙂

Today is going to be our 2nd Lesson with the trainer. I hope we do well. We have practiced Sit, and his name, and he now returns the ball straight towards me, even if I throw it farther away. Now, getting him to release it is another story. Several balls and a tug toy have to be part of the mix. But he is making such good eye contact that this is rewarding for me, too. Missy didn't focus on us too much, just the ball! He already is figuring out that I make the move to make the ball fly. ❤️

Oh and we found a cute "soft cone" for her at the pet store. It is a lot smaller, softer fabric and doesn't rigidly stick out so far, so she can reach her toys and not scrape my leg with the plastic cone, while still keeping her from rubbing her eye on the ground because it still itches.

Oh, thanks for the concern, but I’m pretty sure it was due to stress, not much rest, and the whole vomiting / shi##ing my brains out the other day. I’ve eaten 2 bananas since Friday, so I’m just weak.

I did go to the mirror and smile, and say the alphabet, and recite "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" a couple of times. And lifted both arms. All was ok. Also, took my BP and it was like 128/76. So I’m going to up the fluids and try to eat something today.

Tush, has your pup left for sleep away training camp?

Super, I am just horrified to think your baby may lose an eye. 😢😢😢

Reading puppy dog stories is so NICE after hard day (and night's) work! Keep it up.

I'm taking MY Bella for a haircut. She's a long-hair Chihuahua and her hair is thick. I have no clue what type of haircut to get her but she definitely has too much hair for the hot summer. Maybe the groomer will have some ideas. My Chiweenie is slick-hair and so easy to bathe so all he needs is baths often and his toenails trimmed. Their nails grow so fast!

For those who asked (maybe Whatsright), the lady who had her car stolen with her Husky in the car STILL has not found her dog. It's heart-breaking! Doggie is 7 and never been away from them. The car was stolen on May 20th and still no sighting of her OR the vehicle. People are heartless. I cannot imagine the confusion of that dog.

I so hate to hear that.

Fingers crossed that they just let the dog out of the car once they saw it was back there, and the dog found a new home, where some loving people have taken him in. But still so sad!

So many people are looking for this dog. She is beautiful so I'm almost sure the thieves probably sold her to someone. She is listed on several lost pet sites, even national sites. Anyone who would steal a vehicle with a dog in it, in broad daylight - are capable of doing anything. I just hope she's safe wherever she is. Since this happened I have been very cautious about taking my dogs with me and they LOVE car rides.

Well, it is midnight and I just took Mink out for a little pp...so he can rest easier through the night and not wake me up so darned early! So now he is now making sounds at me like he wants me to play with him, sommore! Maybe I shoulda let a quiet dog lie. He was awake, watching me, and didn't expect to go out, but then he got fired up after we did go outside!

As these pups grow, I see they get smarter and smarter, grow more brain cells, have more connections day after day...Mink did pretty well at our 2nd lesson, but I'm realizing that I need to make changes in how I relate to him, walk with him and just how I signal him! The trainer said too many words can confuse the dog (I said 'Good, Baby!' and she corrected me: just say "Good!" Be consistent!) And apparently my hand movements putting treats down aren't helpful...trainer said flinging a treat like I did can judt heighten his prey drive.

I like that she is thinking ahead in his development, because we don't know this path - and we know we didn't do a bang-up job training Missy! Mostly I find I need to S.L.O.W. D.O.W.N. and be more deliberate...pretty much makes me feel like I had ADHD and didn't know it! (Human expectations do not equal doggo performance!) I need to THINK not just ACT. (Thought I was!)

Also, it is so helpful that we get feedback as we are doing things with the dogs - because H felt he had to bring Missy along for the ride today again, so she wouldn't be all alone at home, yet she is inevitably a barking distraction when she sees us or him....I told the trainer it distracts both me and the pup. As I was using my lesson instruction today to walk Mink back out to the truck without pulling, I was told to drop my computer bag, drop his sack of feed and treats, drop my purse, and just work with the pulling puppy! Meanwhile, H had Missy walking around so I could load the puppy in his truck crate - and as usual, she was barking! It gets me and I believe Mink agitated, yet both H and Trainer said Mink was not looking at her. Duh, he heard her, that couldn't have helped matters! (Could this trainer serve as a de facto MC? Nothing else has worked!)

One tip she gave us you all probably knew, but I didn't: play recall games with your puppy when they are young, because after a few months when they mature, they win't have such a strong instinct to come back to you. Makes sense! She also warned us not to do many throw-the-ball-and-retrieve sessions, which was my planned exercise routine, darn it! (She thinks it can cause injuries.) Tushnurse, I'm interested in your take on this.

[This message edited by Superesse at 5:44 AM, Tuesday, June 27th]

Tush, has your pup left for sleep away training camp?

Not quite yet. He goes one week from this Friday. This week he gets to go on one last family camping trip, we are going to see the best band in the world for 2 nights.

He is doing great w/ his basics. He is a hoot. We feed all the dogs in the crates, for the past 6 weeks in prep for when he is at camp. He is so funny w/ this. I have a routine, so when it's time to feed I get the old ladies food out of the fridge, and toss it in the microwave. He runs as fast and as hard as he can to his crate, and lets out a single super loud Sharp Bark. If I don't put him immediately in it, he repeats it until I put him in the crate. Then when he is done eating he does the same he lets out a single loud bark. If I don't get him out w/in a minute he will bark again until I let him out, and since we are building good habits, sometimes he needs to stay in for a few minutes, until I know I am free to take him out to potty. He is also making it through the night now w/ the potty breaks. Through the night means until 5 or 5:30. He got me up at 5 today, peed, and then was willing to go back to sleep, and allowed me to sleep until 5:50. Woot Woot!!!!

Sup - glad you got a trainer to help you those GSD's are great dogs but have a drive and intelligence that if not managed at the puppy stage makes them dangerous as adults.

Well, I am very impressed, and I am definitely "shown up" with both of your training success.

With me being at the hospital most of the day every day, the puppy’s potty training is mostly nonexistent. My sister comes a couple of times a day and spends an hour or two with all of the dogs and lets them in and out.

But this stubborn dachshund has it in her head that she is supposed to pee inside and that is what she does. When she goes outside, no matter how long you stay out there, she holds it till she comes inside, and then pees immediately.

Hopefully my husband will get to come home in a couple of days and I will be here all day long and I can pick a cool day to just stay outside with her and absolutely not let her back in the house until she goes.

I’m sure that doing something involving a crate might be helpful, but I’m not sure there’s a crate with the bars close enough together that she couldn’t squeeze out! Ha ha

But seriously, I know you ladies would never do anything unkind to your dogs, but I have always had a hard time with putting a dog in a crate.

Obviously have some stuff to learn.

Any lab results about the dog’s leg???

🙏🙏🙏

WR, crate training is the best thing I've done with my dogs and it really is not mean at all. In addition to helping with potty training the crate is for safety. When we aren't home we crate them. We don't have to worry about them getting into anything or hurting themselves jumping on or off the furniture. My BT had his knee pop out when he jumped off the couch. Fortunately we were home to pop it back in place. That would have been awful for him if we weren't home. I also think it is safer if there would be a fire. The dogs are near the door and can't run upstairs and hide so there is a better chance they could be rescued. They both put themselves in their crates when we are getting ready to go out. They also sometimes choose to nap in there and my rescue has a crate in my bedroom that he chooses to sleep in at night.

When I potty trained my rescue, I took him out with my other dog. I encouraged him to smell where my other dog peed. He would pee after sniffing my other dog's pee. I gave him a big celebration and took him back inside. I don't know if that would work for a puppy but I thought it was worth a mention.

DD's tripod is continuing with his oral chemo. I'm not sure how they will know if it worked or if they just monitor for lumps.

I hope Missy improves!! I bet she is happier with the soft cone.

So sad about the husky in the stolen car.

Love all the puppy updates!!!