Tug's finally had that last round of shots and was also weighed. When we got him the last week of August he was 4 lbs and now he's a whooping 9 lbs! Of course, he's twice the size he was when we got him...
Tug's finally discovered he can stare out of the living room windows. The come down to about 6 inches above the floor so he's found a whole new view. He's also seen me coming up the walk and had a "fit" trying to get out to greet me. When I brought home groceries Mama had to put the dreaded leash on him and let him come down the stairs to greet me. She took the food up and I took Tug to my car since I had to pull it around the building to park. He's only been in a vehicle in his carrier but when I put him on my lap he propped his front paws on top of the steering wheel and "drove" us around the block. He was quite pleased with himself. About the time I needed to pull into the parking space he decided to flop onto his back- still in my lap- for a tummy rub. It's not real easy to park with a
Boston squirming under the steering wheel. When we got out I told him we were going for 'water' so he pulled me around the building and up the stairs to our door. It's a trick Mama taught him. I just wonder if he thinks that 'water' means door or air conditioning or what...
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Sunday, August 14, 2005
In bad taste
Our Boston Terrier Okay, this is NOT the kind of story Mama wants to see but every dog owner has one like this: Tug was asleep in my lap and "broke wind." (Hey, we all do it!!!) Of course, it woke him up and he sat up so fast to look at his hind end he almost fell off my lap. He just didn't understand what had happened...
He eats a nice kibble for his meals and we hand feed it to him as his "treats." It's our way of keeping track of how much food he's getting. Anyway, we'd always heard that dog trainers use liver so we bought some "natural" type treats with less additives than most. Of course, he does love them but no one (absolutely not one rat fink) warned us about the increased potency of emissions these treats induce. I never imagined a little puppy who wasn't even 6 lbs. could stink that badly. It was horrible! Worse yet was when he had to do his "business." Lord have mercy!! He was immediately taken off those treats. I don't care how much he liked them- it simply was not worth it. (It also took a full day to get out of his little system.)
He eats a nice kibble for his meals and we hand feed it to him as his "treats." It's our way of keeping track of how much food he's getting. Anyway, we'd always heard that dog trainers use liver so we bought some "natural" type treats with less additives than most. Of course, he does love them but no one (absolutely not one rat fink) warned us about the increased potency of emissions these treats induce. I never imagined a little puppy who wasn't even 6 lbs. could stink that badly. It was horrible! Worse yet was when he had to do his "business." Lord have mercy!! He was immediately taken off those treats. I don't care how much he liked them- it simply was not worth it. (It also took a full day to get out of his little system.)
Sunday, August 07, 2005
First Play Date
Our Boston Terrier Tug still isn't out meeting and greeting in public yet since the vet suggested he needed his last shots first. So, he still rides in the cart at the pet store but doesn't mind since EVERYONE who sees him asks if they can pet him.
Yesterday, a neighbor's daughter came to visit and brought her 4 1/2 month old Boston Terrier for Tug's first play date! Now, Tug is one of the smaller sized Bostons which means he probably won't be bigger than his 15 lb. daddy. The visitor, however, is one of the bigger sized and so is about twice Tug's size. We put the dreaded leash on Tug just to be able to control him since our fear was that he'd be aggressive. Foolishness. Tug was petrified. He kept hiding behind Mama's legs. I sat on the floor with the friendly visitor and petted him. As long as he didn't look at Tug then Tug wasn't scared. Tug even came within three feet of the visitor while sitting on my lap but when looked at he retreated back to Mama's feet. We definitely need to socialize him better and plan to meet up with the visitor and his older brother at a local paw park (the brother is a year and about 30 lbs which is pretty big considering Tug isn't even 10 lbs yet). Poor Tug, he just felt overwhelmed and the poor visitor just couldn't understand why they weren't playing together. He was very confused. (sigh)
Hopefully, we can start him on obedience classes after his next shots so we can socialize him and get a better grasp on how to train him. Right now, he trains us as much as we train him!
Yesterday, a neighbor's daughter came to visit and brought her 4 1/2 month old Boston Terrier for Tug's first play date! Now, Tug is one of the smaller sized Bostons which means he probably won't be bigger than his 15 lb. daddy. The visitor, however, is one of the bigger sized and so is about twice Tug's size. We put the dreaded leash on Tug just to be able to control him since our fear was that he'd be aggressive. Foolishness. Tug was petrified. He kept hiding behind Mama's legs. I sat on the floor with the friendly visitor and petted him. As long as he didn't look at Tug then Tug wasn't scared. Tug even came within three feet of the visitor while sitting on my lap but when looked at he retreated back to Mama's feet. We definitely need to socialize him better and plan to meet up with the visitor and his older brother at a local paw park (the brother is a year and about 30 lbs which is pretty big considering Tug isn't even 10 lbs yet). Poor Tug, he just felt overwhelmed and the poor visitor just couldn't understand why they weren't playing together. He was very confused. (sigh)
Hopefully, we can start him on obedience classes after his next shots so we can socialize him and get a better grasp on how to train him. Right now, he trains us as much as we train him!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
toys
Our Boston TerrierBeing first-time dog owners we've asked lots of people advice on playtime and toys. The best one was the idea to give him the cardboard roll from the paper towels when they run out. You'd think you'd just given him a key to Fort Knox. He runs around with it in his mouth and chews the ends. If you can get it away from him and throw it he will run it down and pounce on it. Then he proudly trots back like a hunter returning with his kill. We keep an eye on him while he has it. We've watched the Emergency Vet show for so many years we don't want that cardboard in his stomach so we cut the ends off as he chews them to shreds. He doesn't even seem to notice the diminished size.
He totally loves his plush toys- even when the squeakers break- and his Booda bone is getting very frayed at the knots. One of his favorite things to chew is the plastic basket my sister picked up at a dollar store. We use it as his toy box and he loves to grab his toys out of it. Originally, it had handles but he chewed them to bits so we cut them off. Nostalgic moment: when we first got Tug he fit inside the little basket. Now, he's so big he can step into it where it was once taller than he was. He's too big to lie in it now. (sniff) Our baby's growing up!
He totally loves his plush toys- even when the squeakers break- and his Booda bone is getting very frayed at the knots. One of his favorite things to chew is the plastic basket my sister picked up at a dollar store. We use it as his toy box and he loves to grab his toys out of it. Originally, it had handles but he chewed them to bits so we cut them off. Nostalgic moment: when we first got Tug he fit inside the little basket. Now, he's so big he can step into it where it was once taller than he was. He's too big to lie in it now. (sniff) Our baby's growing up!
