I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I can.
Remus went to the vet yesterday because one of the vets who see Remus (there are three vets at the office) was just as concerned about Remus's funky leg as I was. The vet explained she doesn't have a lot of experience with these problems in dogs because they're rare, and more often seen in dogs like Pugs and Pekenese. That said she wanted to take some pictures and send them to some Ortho vets to see what they thought and then discuss the possibility of splinting Remus's leg. Long story short, after pictures with Remus's foot cockeyed like an over enthusiastic ballet dancer, we decided an attempt at splinting was at least worth a shot. The vet said he still walks fairly straight on it, and it's less noticible when he stands as well unless he's looking back over his R shoulder. Her educated guess is that either one side of the bone is growing faster than the other, or more likely it's ligament issues. Either way, the splint would provide extra support until it hopefully fixes itself.
Remus left the vet with a splint allowing two little toenails peeping out the bottom and wrapped all the way up to just below his shoulder. Also, he is supposed to wear the giant donut collar to keep from chewing on his splint. He wore the collar all yesterday and he looked so pathetic and miserable! It was cute and he was unintentionally amusing running into things with the collar on. To make matters worse, the vet explained the worst part of the splint is we had to keep it dry, so she gave me a few IV bags and told me to put it over his foot in wet wheather and tape it down. Well, the east coast is currently getting slammed with snow, ice, and freezing rain. This morning I dutifully taped on the IV bag with Army green duct tape like a ridiculous plastic bootie and then let Remus walk outside to do his business. He took one tentative step on the ramp and almost went sliding to the bottom. He stepped back hastily and stared at me with pathetic miserable puppy eyes. I put my shoes on and assisted my poor gimpy slipping puppy down the ice crunchy ramp to the ground below. Watching him walk with the stiff leg and extra slick bootie was much more amusing than it should've been. He would take one step with his normal leg, then a step with his wrapped up leg and slide so his nose was almost on the ground. I feel bad for him. Getting him back up onto the porch was a whole new challenge.
I finally gave in and took the collar off. I'm a sucker. I sprayed his leg thoroughly with icky stuff to deter him chewing on it and I stayed in the ktichen with him to make sure it was working. I've been checking on him every few minutes, but I'm going to have to put the collar back on if I want to stay in any other part of the house for longer than ten minutes at a time. Poor pathetic puppy. I'll post pictures as soon as I get some.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Wolfhound revelations..
So, it might've been slightly cruel of me to insist on Brian getting me Remus, I don't think he really knew what he was in for... He understood the concept of "pet" and even "puppy", and even though he was leery of any more pets after the peeing cat fiasco, he remembered with a certain fondness his childhood pet Mastiff and figured a dog would be infinitely better than a cat. Yes, well, but he hadn't actually researched the breed-like I have-or come to terms with the responsibilities of ownership-which I was eager to embrace-or even understood the scope of understandable wear and tear that comes with a large puppy-which I shrug off as easily as the clothing which I leave all over the house.
Some days I feel worse for Brian than others, perhaps recently it's because he was gone for a week, but several things he continues to insist that Remus shouldn't do even though it is inately Wolfhound Puppy TO do kinda make me go "awwww" in a "it'll be alright dear" sort of way. For example...
1. Brian goes to pet Remus, Remus enthusiastically licks Brian's hand. "Don't lick me dog!" ....right, but thats how dogs show affection.... it's a losing battle.
2. Brian walks into kitchen, Remus sniffs at everything he can reach, meaning cold wet nose against skin. "Stop sniffing stupid!" ...again, this is normal everyday dog behavior that isn't going to change anytime soon...
3. Remus barks, at the dark, at trash cans, at strangers, at funny looking bushes...Normal dog behavior...
4. Remus whines when he wants to be played with....normal dog behavior.
5. Remus jumps around when excited and inadvertantly lands on bare feet with puppy toenails....normal dog behavior compounded by wolfhound size.
6. Related, when we're in the kitchen Remus happily lays at our feet, almost knocking us over when his weight slides down the back of our legs unexpectedly and he stays entirely in the way (easy feat, he's almost half the size of the kitchen floor)....normal dog, especially family loyal -and large- wolfhound, behavior.
Basically, Brian doesn't like any dog behavior that is mildly inconvinient (though I think most of it is just cute, which doesnt help Brian...). He seems to expect Remus to understand this and thus not do said inconvinient dog behavior. But Remus, being a, well, dog, will continue to act as such.
Brian has not resigned himself to the chewed molding and window ledges, the stinky dog smell when it rains, the necessity for Remus to be let out regularly (even interrupting Xbox and movies), the fact that Remus wants very much for Brian to like him and will continue shoving his nose in uncomfortable places and lick barefeet, and that we are going to have said giant monster dog for hopefully 7 more years and not much is going to change...
Yes, it might've been cruel for me to insist on getting Remus, but it's also mildly entertaining.
Some days I feel worse for Brian than others, perhaps recently it's because he was gone for a week, but several things he continues to insist that Remus shouldn't do even though it is inately Wolfhound Puppy TO do kinda make me go "awwww" in a "it'll be alright dear" sort of way. For example...
1. Brian goes to pet Remus, Remus enthusiastically licks Brian's hand. "Don't lick me dog!" ....right, but thats how dogs show affection.... it's a losing battle.
2. Brian walks into kitchen, Remus sniffs at everything he can reach, meaning cold wet nose against skin. "Stop sniffing stupid!" ...again, this is normal everyday dog behavior that isn't going to change anytime soon...
3. Remus barks, at the dark, at trash cans, at strangers, at funny looking bushes...Normal dog behavior...
4. Remus whines when he wants to be played with....normal dog behavior.
5. Remus jumps around when excited and inadvertantly lands on bare feet with puppy toenails....normal dog behavior compounded by wolfhound size.
6. Related, when we're in the kitchen Remus happily lays at our feet, almost knocking us over when his weight slides down the back of our legs unexpectedly and he stays entirely in the way (easy feat, he's almost half the size of the kitchen floor)....normal dog, especially family loyal -and large- wolfhound, behavior.
Basically, Brian doesn't like any dog behavior that is mildly inconvinient (though I think most of it is just cute, which doesnt help Brian...). He seems to expect Remus to understand this and thus not do said inconvinient dog behavior. But Remus, being a, well, dog, will continue to act as such.
Brian has not resigned himself to the chewed molding and window ledges, the stinky dog smell when it rains, the necessity for Remus to be let out regularly (even interrupting Xbox and movies), the fact that Remus wants very much for Brian to like him and will continue shoving his nose in uncomfortable places and lick barefeet, and that we are going to have said giant monster dog for hopefully 7 more years and not much is going to change...
Yes, it might've been cruel for me to insist on getting Remus, but it's also mildly entertaining.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Hot air....
I'm very excited about being Emma's favorite Aunt (pronounced "Aunt" not "Ant") or at least, one of her favorites, so I was very eager to have a hand in painting her baby room. Rebecca opted for a hot air balloon theme complete with wall mural. That shouldn't be too bad for my first attempt at painting a wall mural right? A whole bunch of elongated circle type objects with basic geometric designs. Geometry, simple. Very basic color scheme too, predominately green and yellow with accents of purple and white. Nothing too complicated, I even managed to chalk in a pattern that looked reasonably promising and not too ambitious or overwhelming. We bought the paint with a heightened sense of anticipation, Rebecca seemed just as thrilled as I was. Our first foray into clouds was an unequivicable success. The "special" paint we got at Lowes was translucent white with a shimmery sheen to it, add an elephant ear sponge for swirly texture and our clouds came straight out of dream worlds. Feeling confident with the clouds and the chalk, I opened up the first can of paint and eagerly plunged in my brush.
Two paint sessions later I'm feeling remarkably disgruntled, although Rebecca still thinks it looks great. The problem is, I went into painting the walls wanting to reproduce THIS....
And instead, after struggling with getting enough paint to cover up the blue underneath, trying to make clean curved lines, wrestling with painting on an upright surface I can't spin around to make it easier on my wrist, and painting while on a rolling office chair to get the tops of the balloons, I produced something very similar to THIS.
Buh.
If I can step back enough to look at it objectively, it perhaps does look better than my computer Paint rendition, but because I was aiming for something else it stil makes me slightly grumpy. I think it'll turn out well, I'm pretty sure people will at least know what I was aiming for and parts of it are going to be entirely too much fun (two balloons have actual baskets coming out of the wall). Rebecca and Nick seem to like it which is the most important part.
I'm not fishing for compliments on artwork with this post, I'm halfway laughing at myself because I think this is why I don't paint as much as I want. I get these great ideas for pictures, but it never looks in paint like it does in my head. Some of my paintings I think actually turned out pretty decent, I'm rather fond of the wolf painting Brian has in his man cave for instance, but I still see all of the flaws and imperfections and things I missed or did wrong that makes me itch to take it out of the frame and try and fix it up.
In other actual wolfhound relavant news, Remus chews on the Vincent house, barks at everything, and whines like a two year old in a candy shop every time I bring him over. I got him home, he was very excited and wriggly tail wagging prancy, and he has yet to whine, has only chewed on his bone, and very obediently went to his crate to lie down. Oy. I wish he'd take his good behavior with him when we travel...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thanksgiving and beyond!
Remus met the puppy cousins for thanksgiving at Grandpa's farm. At first, Remus didn't seem to know what to do with all the people and the two excited Bosten Terrier puppies that were eager to make friends. After sniffing everyone curiously and then generously licking Nick's dress pants, the group broke up to throw a football back and forth between Zech, Aaron and Matthew and watch Pigsby and Buster chase after it like dogs three times their size. While Remus had no interest in the football, he cautiously began chasing the Bosten Terriers, his actions somewhere between excitement and confusion. Small dogs confuse him. Even at PetsMart and the dog park. I don't think he knows what they are, and this was the first time he spent any prolonged interaction with them. Every time Pigsby or Buster would turn around to confront him, Remus would tuck his tail and back off, not quite sure what to do.
After a fabulous meal (the "children" had now entirely taken over the "adult" table, forcing the adults to sit in the living room, oh yeah) we all trooped down to the creek to carve initials into a tree before pie.
Remus threw caution to the wind and entered full puppy mode. If not entirely convinced that Pigsby and Buster were indeed dogs, he at least determined that they were safe to play with. Unfortunately for Pigsby and Buster, Remus was roughly 4 times their size, his paws the size of their heads. Pigsby bore it the longest, bravely standing his ground and occasionally chasing this giant ghlumphing playmate, but I think after multiple buffets to the head by a wolfhound paw, even Pigsby was getting tired and rethinking the earlier part of the day when roles had been reversed and Remus had been running FROM them. Remus also managed to knock into Matthew's knees at full speed, almost sending him tumbling backwards (75lbs of puppy running into your legs is no joke).
The other dog, a springer spaniel named Jackson, was high strung like most spaniels, barking almost the entire time and decidedly territorial. Remus was not allowed on the porch if no one else was there except Jackson, and during his puppy playing Remus gleefully turned to Jackson to join in the romp only to get snapped at. I wasn't overly concerned, Remus needs to learn doggy body language and Jackson was merely standing his ground against this oversized upstart. However, that did mean while the other puppies remained on the porch (the Boston Terriers were small enough to be placed in the screened in section seperate from Jackson) Remus slept behind the Prius on the ground damp from the earlier rain. He was very glad when we finally left so he could get into his nice fluffy bed and snooze the entire way home.
The next day included an intro to Finnegan who was staying at my parents house for the duration of the Thanksgiving holidays. Although Finnegan enjoyed twining his orange tabby body infront of the glass door, meowing and pawing amicably at Remus who was outside staring in, once leashes were applid to both pets and Finnegan taken outside for puppy-cat introductions, both showed reserve. In other words, Remus whined nervously and tried to hide behind my legs, and Finnegan fluffed up like a scared puffer fish and hissed. We decided not to push it. Later Remus started barking at the cat through the door, and Finnegan responded by swatting the glass. Can't we all just get along?
Back at the Keefer house, after a weekend playing with Remus Jimmy admitted he'd like to have a big dog. Rachel, Jimmy's wife, was ecstatic because her favorite breed is the St Bernard. Remus is winning hearts everywhere, awwww. Moving on. Remus no longer fit in Harley's kennel, so bedtime was make shift affair in the hall bathroom. Also, Brian, Mr. Keefer and I made an eventful trip to Lowes and returned with a toilet strapped on to the top of the Mazda van.
When we finally returned to Lillington, we added carpet to Remus's side of the kitchen in hopes of keeping him from damaging his foreleg bones from lack of traction. Remus was very excited, and spent the rest of the evening either "digging" at the new flooring or sprawled out across it.
Now, I'm home alone with the puppy for a week while Brian's in the field. Unfortunately I work nights so Remus will be sleeping outside :( Also hopefully making a trip to Charlotte to finish some of the baby room mural later on this week. Bringing "No Chew" spray so Remus stops eating the Vincent House.
After a fabulous meal (the "children" had now entirely taken over the "adult" table, forcing the adults to sit in the living room, oh yeah) we all trooped down to the creek to carve initials into a tree before pie.
Remus and Buster
The other dog, a springer spaniel named Jackson, was high strung like most spaniels, barking almost the entire time and decidedly territorial. Remus was not allowed on the porch if no one else was there except Jackson, and during his puppy playing Remus gleefully turned to Jackson to join in the romp only to get snapped at. I wasn't overly concerned, Remus needs to learn doggy body language and Jackson was merely standing his ground against this oversized upstart. However, that did mean while the other puppies remained on the porch (the Boston Terriers were small enough to be placed in the screened in section seperate from Jackson) Remus slept behind the Prius on the ground damp from the earlier rain. He was very glad when we finally left so he could get into his nice fluffy bed and snooze the entire way home.
Back at the Keefer house, after a weekend playing with Remus Jimmy admitted he'd like to have a big dog. Rachel, Jimmy's wife, was ecstatic because her favorite breed is the St Bernard. Remus is winning hearts everywhere, awwww. Moving on. Remus no longer fit in Harley's kennel, so bedtime was make shift affair in the hall bathroom. Also, Brian, Mr. Keefer and I made an eventful trip to Lowes and returned with a toilet strapped on to the top of the Mazda van.
When we finally returned to Lillington, we added carpet to Remus's side of the kitchen in hopes of keeping him from damaging his foreleg bones from lack of traction. Remus was very excited, and spent the rest of the evening either "digging" at the new flooring or sprawled out across it.
Now, I'm home alone with the puppy for a week while Brian's in the field. Unfortunately I work nights so Remus will be sleeping outside :( Also hopefully making a trip to Charlotte to finish some of the baby room mural later on this week. Bringing "No Chew" spray so Remus stops eating the Vincent House.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Who knew puppy grooming took over 4 hours?
Seriously, I'm investing in some grooming scissors so we don't have to take Remus to PetsMart again. What started as a very simple day of taking Remus to the groomers and back turned into a fiasco compounded by the fact I can't think clearly while high on Pseudoephedrine. First, I was invited to go to the Melting Pot in Raleigh to celebrate a girl from work (Leslie)'s Birthday. Cool. We planned it so I'd pick up Kasia (my crazy polish friend) and meet at Leslie's house at 330pm. I drop Remus off at PetSmart for his appointment at 11am and they tell me it will take them 4 hours to get him finished. (Rant about length of time for grooming to come later in post) I feel like crap, but only vaguely hazy crap because of the amount of meds running through my system (Mucinex, Advil, Pseudoephedrine). I wander around the various stores in the area trying to waste time until I pick up Remus. I drive to Home Depot to browse for any more possible Baby Room ideas, I drive back to foodlion and pick up some dinner rolls for lunch. (My stomach was rejecting any other idea of food I could come up with so I played it safe.) I park in front of a store two stores down from PetsMart, turn off my car, and proceed to waste the nexty forty minutes eating, texting Brian, and taking more meds. I decide to go back to PetsMart to wait for Remus inside the store, press power on my car to start it....and nothing happens. Weirder still, I can't get the key out of the ignition.
I end up having to get the car towed, Matthew came over to keep me company (thank goodness, I really didn't want to ride with the wrecker who got markedly more unfriendly the moment Matthew pulled up). Long story short, car was towed to Toyota, Matthew drove me back to PetSmart, Kasia came and picked ME up (and a very over stimulated tired Remus) dropped Remus off at Lillington, drove straight up to Raleigh (40minutes late), Toyota calls and says the car is fixed, Brian picks up Matthew and they take the Prius to Matthew's apartment (I pay the $107 over the phone from the restauraunt), I eat food without really tasting it, enjoying the company, but feeling exceedingly more miserable as my meds wear off, my period starts, and I start having upper abdominal cramping. We FINALLY leave Raleigh by 830, Kasia drops me off at Matthew's, I drive the Prius home.
What a fantastice mess of a day off.
In wolfhound related news, Remus was bathed, dried, and trimmed, and it took them 4 hrs and 15min. Really?!?! I can bathe him in 40 minutes or less, and thats including the time it takes to fill and drain the tub and towel dry him. Blow drying him takes longer, maybe an hour, and trimming his face, feet, and grinding his nails takes all of 15 minutes. (I know, because we watched the guy bring Remus out and do it). Why it took them 4hours to bathe and dry Remus I will never understand. Remus's face has been tidied up (his eyebrows are no longer encroaching his eyes from both above and below) and his feet look a lot better. Remus also had his "potty patch" trimmed. I almost laughed out right when the groomer asked me if I wanted that done. "Potty patch"? I wonder what she would've said if I had asked her to give Remus a full Brazilian. So Remus's butt has been shaved and tidied and his weiner hairs tamed into submission.
However, all did not go entirely smoothly. Remus behaved very well, but the groomer pointed out to me that he has two blisters on his front feet (now visable after the puppy pedicure) one in between his toes where they rub together on his L foot, and one on the inside of his R foot where the toe hits the ground. The groomer was unconcerned, he stated he thought that last one was because Remus's foot turned out a little bit below the knuckle. I, however, was rather upset at noticing my puppy's one splayed leg. That is the beginning of what could turn into a very serious problem requiring surgery or putting Remus down, at best he'll simply get arthritis in that leg first. SO, Brian is moving the ramp from the back to the front porch and we're walling off the deck so Remus can't have access to those stairs. No more stairs for him, no more dog park, very little running around at all (after Thanksgiving) until that leg corrects itself. Usually it does and the puppy grows to be a sound adult wolfhound, but it makes me very upset that it happened to Remus. I feel like I've let him down. I tried to discourage him from thundering down the front stairs, but I didn't take it as seriously as clearly I should've. Buh. Poor puppy, he is going to be extremely cranky without the exercise until that leg strengthens again.
On an entirely seperate train of thought, we let him out of the kitchen into the living room quite a bit now and in the morning he "helps" me get dressed for work. I dress in the living room on the weekends because Brian's still asleep. Remus will mouth and paw at my pants (I wear two pairs, it's cold out) as I try to pull them on so it turns into a tricky balancing act between me and my 71.5 lb puppy who is determined I shall not get dressed and leave him alone for another 12 hours. He barks when I put my EMS shirt on. It makes me laugh, I should probably protest but it's just funny. He hates when I leave for work and he is a wriggling mess of ecstasy when I get home. He likes his people in the house, he is not a fan of this whole "work" concept that leaves him outside for hours at a time.
End for now, I need more drugs.
P.S. Remus still really doesn't like Matthew and I have no clue why. Remus didn't like dad either and even after playing with him for awhile I'm pretty sure Remus will be back to being suspicious when he sees dad again. On the other hand, he had no problem with Kasia. I'm beginning to think Remus doesn't like men...
I end up having to get the car towed, Matthew came over to keep me company (thank goodness, I really didn't want to ride with the wrecker who got markedly more unfriendly the moment Matthew pulled up). Long story short, car was towed to Toyota, Matthew drove me back to PetSmart, Kasia came and picked ME up (and a very over stimulated tired Remus) dropped Remus off at Lillington, drove straight up to Raleigh (40minutes late), Toyota calls and says the car is fixed, Brian picks up Matthew and they take the Prius to Matthew's apartment (I pay the $107 over the phone from the restauraunt), I eat food without really tasting it, enjoying the company, but feeling exceedingly more miserable as my meds wear off, my period starts, and I start having upper abdominal cramping. We FINALLY leave Raleigh by 830, Kasia drops me off at Matthew's, I drive the Prius home.
What a fantastice mess of a day off.
In wolfhound related news, Remus was bathed, dried, and trimmed, and it took them 4 hrs and 15min. Really?!?! I can bathe him in 40 minutes or less, and thats including the time it takes to fill and drain the tub and towel dry him. Blow drying him takes longer, maybe an hour, and trimming his face, feet, and grinding his nails takes all of 15 minutes. (I know, because we watched the guy bring Remus out and do it). Why it took them 4hours to bathe and dry Remus I will never understand. Remus's face has been tidied up (his eyebrows are no longer encroaching his eyes from both above and below) and his feet look a lot better. Remus also had his "potty patch" trimmed. I almost laughed out right when the groomer asked me if I wanted that done. "Potty patch"? I wonder what she would've said if I had asked her to give Remus a full Brazilian. So Remus's butt has been shaved and tidied and his weiner hairs tamed into submission.
However, all did not go entirely smoothly. Remus behaved very well, but the groomer pointed out to me that he has two blisters on his front feet (now visable after the puppy pedicure) one in between his toes where they rub together on his L foot, and one on the inside of his R foot where the toe hits the ground. The groomer was unconcerned, he stated he thought that last one was because Remus's foot turned out a little bit below the knuckle. I, however, was rather upset at noticing my puppy's one splayed leg. That is the beginning of what could turn into a very serious problem requiring surgery or putting Remus down, at best he'll simply get arthritis in that leg first. SO, Brian is moving the ramp from the back to the front porch and we're walling off the deck so Remus can't have access to those stairs. No more stairs for him, no more dog park, very little running around at all (after Thanksgiving) until that leg corrects itself. Usually it does and the puppy grows to be a sound adult wolfhound, but it makes me very upset that it happened to Remus. I feel like I've let him down. I tried to discourage him from thundering down the front stairs, but I didn't take it as seriously as clearly I should've. Buh. Poor puppy, he is going to be extremely cranky without the exercise until that leg strengthens again.
On an entirely seperate train of thought, we let him out of the kitchen into the living room quite a bit now and in the morning he "helps" me get dressed for work. I dress in the living room on the weekends because Brian's still asleep. Remus will mouth and paw at my pants (I wear two pairs, it's cold out) as I try to pull them on so it turns into a tricky balancing act between me and my 71.5 lb puppy who is determined I shall not get dressed and leave him alone for another 12 hours. He barks when I put my EMS shirt on. It makes me laugh, I should probably protest but it's just funny. He hates when I leave for work and he is a wriggling mess of ecstasy when I get home. He likes his people in the house, he is not a fan of this whole "work" concept that leaves him outside for hours at a time.
End for now, I need more drugs.
P.S. Remus still really doesn't like Matthew and I have no clue why. Remus didn't like dad either and even after playing with him for awhile I'm pretty sure Remus will be back to being suspicious when he sees dad again. On the other hand, he had no problem with Kasia. I'm beginning to think Remus doesn't like men...
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Dog Park and Drool
After getting Remus weighed at the vet yesterday (a solid 68.7lbs) I took him to the dog park, again hoping the weekday trip would be less crowded. This time there was never more than four dogs in the enclosure at a time, including Remus. The biggest was a beautiful white with black spots Great Dane. Dane's usually have pretty blocky heads, but this one was marvelously proportioned and only weighed 130lbs. We went to say hello, Remus surprised me by being far more eager to great other dogs, although still fairly timid. The Dane, as lovely as he was, had big ropy drool hanging from his floppy lips, I managed to avoid getting beslimed anymore than a tiny part of my t-shirt, but it firmly reminded me why I don't want a Dane, or Mastiff, or Saint Bernard. When a boxer came to the park a little later, she also has the drooly jowls-though being smaller it was far less copious-but after the Great Dane went over to greet her, she had Dane slobber all over her. Gross! I hurridly checked Remus and was happy to note he had managed to avoid being drool baptized, and petted the Dane with cautious respect for his flapping lips.
The Dane owner said she was considering rescuing a wolfhound. She had had several Danes and stated that Danes were originally the result of mixing Mastiff and Wolfhound. Makes sense, Danes got the height and longer bodies, slender legs and arched back from the wolfhound, and enherited the short hair, blocky heads, slightly more muscled frame and drooly lips from the Mastiff. I'll take a Wolfhound any day...
I will say the Dane didn't seem all that big to me, the other dogs just seemed small. I see no reason why a dog shouldn't be that size. I can't wait till Remus gets to be that large :)
The Dane owner said she was considering rescuing a wolfhound. She had had several Danes and stated that Danes were originally the result of mixing Mastiff and Wolfhound. Makes sense, Danes got the height and longer bodies, slender legs and arched back from the wolfhound, and enherited the short hair, blocky heads, slightly more muscled frame and drooly lips from the Mastiff. I'll take a Wolfhound any day...
I will say the Dane didn't seem all that big to me, the other dogs just seemed small. I see no reason why a dog shouldn't be that size. I can't wait till Remus gets to be that large :)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Overcoming fear...
From one extreme to the other. Working on Remus getting other dog friendly has been a priority, especially with Thanksgiving coming up where he'll meet the Bosten Terrier puppy cousins. SO I dutifully loaded him into the Prius and took him on an adventure to the dog park a few days ago. Remus was terrified. At first it went ok, he met and sniffed a fellow puppy, a german short hair pointer who was only 5months old and the only other dog at the park. THEN everyone decided to bring every single dog they owned and we were swamped with two pit bulls, two lab-shepard mixes, a pug, a pomeranian, an 8mnth old husky, a rottweiler, a medium sized terrier mutt, and I know I'm missing a few... Remus was scared and overwhelmed and kept trying to shove between my legs. The other dogs were rowdy and playful, but all sweet, no aggressive behavior, just good natured fun. The Rott kept picking up one of the frisbees laying about and dropping it at the feet of every owner except his own expecting someone to throw it for him. I kept stepping away from Remus, allowing him to get sniffed and sniff in return, staying calm and greeting all the other dogs myself so he'd know they were ok. He got chased once or twice for short distances, but he was taller than all the other dogs, though the rott and the husky might have outweighed him by a few pounds, and since he was leaving them alone, they mostly left him alone. I stayed for an hour, the other dogs left in a bug bunch, till it was just me and the girl who owned the german short hair puppy. Remus relaxed visably as the other dogs left, and made tentative friends with the puppy before we called it a day. I thought we might have made some progress, but I was not aware of how much.
After a weekend at Rebecca's trying in vain to keep Remus from chewing on their house, Brian and I went couch shopping once we returned to Fayetteville, leaving Remus on the front porch with his fence turned on as usual. We come home to discover a stray the neighbors say they had seen before and they think belongs to a person a few streets from our subdivision. They inform me Remus dutifully barked at the stray pittbull mix and the mutt stayed away from our house. That is, until Brian and I pulled into the driveway. I walked over to the neighbor as she was telling me this and the pittbull comes trotting up, tail wagging and tongue lolling out of his mouth. I give him an appreciative pat on the head, he's a cute enough looking dog, and then Remus decides thats his cue to make instant dog friends. So they tear off around the house chasing each other, all in good natured fun. I was thrilled that Remus was finally playing with a dog like normal, but much less thrilled when the pitt climbed the porch steps and attempted to eat Remus's food. We unpacked the car, put Remus's food and water inside, and Remus and the pitt were still running around the yard. We finally get Remus inside, Remus apparently became magically deaf the instant the pitt showed up, and I'm feeling less and less thrilled and increasingly more annoyed. The pitt then decides to sleep on our front porch. I waited till Brian took Remus out the back a few hours later to pee (the pitt ran around the house to join the party) and I swiped the blanket we had on the porch that the pitt had been sleeping on. It worked, the pitt decided cold concrete was not a comfortable sleeping option and he disappeared into the night.
Well, guess who was back this morning as I put Remus's blanket back outside on the porch and put out his water dish...Yup, the stray pitt. I kept Remus's food inside, hopefully when the pitt realizes it isn't getting fed it'll go elsewhere. Remus is going to be awful hungry when Brian finally gets home, but that's Remus's problem for encouraging his new friend. Sheesh. It is a cute stray, but I have no idea how old it is, what its temperment is, whose it is, anything. And it's smelly. It's a reddish brown and what looks like a pitt-boxer mix. I'm hoping he allows Remus to sleep some, Remus is still a rather fragile puppy for all of his size. Buh. next place we move needs to have a leash law.
After a weekend at Rebecca's trying in vain to keep Remus from chewing on their house, Brian and I went couch shopping once we returned to Fayetteville, leaving Remus on the front porch with his fence turned on as usual. We come home to discover a stray the neighbors say they had seen before and they think belongs to a person a few streets from our subdivision. They inform me Remus dutifully barked at the stray pittbull mix and the mutt stayed away from our house. That is, until Brian and I pulled into the driveway. I walked over to the neighbor as she was telling me this and the pittbull comes trotting up, tail wagging and tongue lolling out of his mouth. I give him an appreciative pat on the head, he's a cute enough looking dog, and then Remus decides thats his cue to make instant dog friends. So they tear off around the house chasing each other, all in good natured fun. I was thrilled that Remus was finally playing with a dog like normal, but much less thrilled when the pitt climbed the porch steps and attempted to eat Remus's food. We unpacked the car, put Remus's food and water inside, and Remus and the pitt were still running around the yard. We finally get Remus inside, Remus apparently became magically deaf the instant the pitt showed up, and I'm feeling less and less thrilled and increasingly more annoyed. The pitt then decides to sleep on our front porch. I waited till Brian took Remus out the back a few hours later to pee (the pitt ran around the house to join the party) and I swiped the blanket we had on the porch that the pitt had been sleeping on. It worked, the pitt decided cold concrete was not a comfortable sleeping option and he disappeared into the night.
Well, guess who was back this morning as I put Remus's blanket back outside on the porch and put out his water dish...Yup, the stray pitt. I kept Remus's food inside, hopefully when the pitt realizes it isn't getting fed it'll go elsewhere. Remus is going to be awful hungry when Brian finally gets home, but that's Remus's problem for encouraging his new friend. Sheesh. It is a cute stray, but I have no idea how old it is, what its temperment is, whose it is, anything. And it's smelly. It's a reddish brown and what looks like a pitt-boxer mix. I'm hoping he allows Remus to sleep some, Remus is still a rather fragile puppy for all of his size. Buh. next place we move needs to have a leash law.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Only very vaguely wolfhound related....
I HATE people. I hate them. People are so disgustingly horrible to each other. I had a call from a certain nursing home facility, and the pt in question was dying...DYING...in her bed. We were called, we got there to find this poor, exhausted, barely alive individual without ANY adequate remedies being started for her situation and not a freakin' nurse to be found!!! We never got report, we had to get the pt to the stretcher and down the hall to the charge desk and then YELL for someone to give us the pt's paperwork and we left. The pt did not get into the condition she was in in less than several hours. HOURS. This pt had been neglected for HOURS. And once they noticed, I think the only reason they called 911 was because the pt hadn't died yet and visiting hours were approaching. I'm pretty sure they would've just let her die and called us for "unresponsive" so we could confirm DOA if they could've. The pt had a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) which is completely understandable (at that age I don't want CPR started if I slip away either) but just because they aren't a full code doesn't mean NEGLECT is ok! The pt stank like amonia, which meant the pt had been sitting in urine for several days. It was so pathetic. Truly pathetic. I hate that particular facility and the staff are evil and souless. I hate this culture that allows and even oks the shutting up of elderly people with medical problems as if they're a blight to the community. I hate the hypocrites that only visit at Christmas and then yell at you if you don't start bagging an obviously dead pt. I hate the freakin insitutions that charge an arm and a leg from people who are really trying to do the right thing for their family members and then the institution lets the family member decay in silent unprotested neglect, except for during visitation hours. The whole thing stinks. I hate people.
And thats why I love animals. Simple, basic needs and instincts, no strings attached. Dogs aren't cruel to be cruel, they don't bite because they enjoy seeing someone elses pain. And they are loyal to a fault. At least my adorable, long tailed, scruffy faced wolfhound is. I love my puppy. I hate people.
And thats why I love animals. Simple, basic needs and instincts, no strings attached. Dogs aren't cruel to be cruel, they don't bite because they enjoy seeing someone elses pain. And they are loyal to a fault. At least my adorable, long tailed, scruffy faced wolfhound is. I love my puppy. I hate people.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Been awhile
What with work and Brian and the daily duties of puppy ownership, this blog has been sorely neglected. Remus is coming along slowly in some aspects, and rather quickly in others. I don't like babying dogs like they're, well, babies, but at the same I spoil my puppy rotten. I'll make two lists to illustrate what I mean.
Remus gets spoiled by:
1. I greet him every morning and fuss over him every time I get home from work.
2. Every once in awhile I feed him tiny bits of cheese as a treat instead of just doggie biscuits.
3. I feed him doggie biscuits way more than is probably good for him.
4. I wheedle with Brian to allow Remus out into the living room with us as often as is feasible.
5. I give belly rubs to Remus whenever he demands them. I'm a push-over.
6. After I scold him for doing something bad, I leave the room like I'm supposed to to make the lesson stick, but I usually can't manage to stay away for longer than 5 minutes.
7. I play with him as much as I can during my days off instead of doing anything else constructive. He's too cute to resist!
Remus does NOT get away with:
1. Chewing on the blinds, molding, or cabinets. It's a smack on the nose mid chew and some outside alone time if he does. He mostly doesn't anymore.
2. Remus is not allowed to nip, even friendly playful nips. It's a firm NO and a smack and me leaving the room if he does. He only forgets and nips when he gets excited.
3. Remus walks next to or behind Brian and I, not in front, there will be no leash wars.
4. Whining. He whines, especially if Brian and I are watching TV/movie, we check to see that he has food and water, and if he does, it's outside he goes for a good thirty minutes. We'll let him in and if he starts whining again it's right back outside. I think he's slowly getting the jist that being quiet lets him stay in the house.
5. Being dirty. He gets bathed, rinsed, or wiped down regularily. Plus the FURminator at least once a month, and I wipe the inside of his ears clean of wax.
Right now he's asleep (I was playing with him outside and wore him out). He's much bigger, a solid 52lbs when I had him weighed on Tuesday, so he's probably closer to 55lbs now. He gained 8lbs in 9 days. Finally he's put on enough weight so his ribs don't show beneath his coat- he was pretty darn skinny when we got him. I can still feel his ribs and he's definitely not fat by any stretch, but he looks a lot healthier. I think it's safe to say he'll be at least 70lbs by Thanksgiving. He's going through some sort of growth spurt while he's teething, he's eating between 6-7.5 cups of food a day. I'm going to have to take him to PetsMart again pretty soon to keep up with the socialization aspect. I'd love to take a puppy class, but Brian and I's schedule is just too irregular to make it to even half of the scheduled classes. He's bark is now a lot deeper, he sounds three feet taller than he is when he woofs. And he's woofing at things now when we leave him outside with the electric fence. He is also finally exploring the yard on his own. Puppy steps...
Training is ok. He does well when he pays attention to me, though I guess he is still young. He sits fairly regularily and down and stay. I think he knows what I'm saying, but some times he's just being stubborn. Still working on spin, dance, right paw, focus and freeze. Spin is the best out of all of them, focus and freeze he reacts to pretty much the same way, R paw is challenging, and he hasn't figured out how to jump up on me when I say dance. I don't practice that command much either, because I don't want him thinking he can do it any old time.
If we get into an environment where he's distracted or scared, I might as well be speaking cat, he definitely won't listen to me. Ah well, I keep trying...
Walks are tough, his stride is long, it's turning into more of a jog for me. He handles on the leash better for me than Brian, but he's getting better at that too. I think thats all for now :)
Remus gets spoiled by:
1. I greet him every morning and fuss over him every time I get home from work.
2. Every once in awhile I feed him tiny bits of cheese as a treat instead of just doggie biscuits.
3. I feed him doggie biscuits way more than is probably good for him.
4. I wheedle with Brian to allow Remus out into the living room with us as often as is feasible.
5. I give belly rubs to Remus whenever he demands them. I'm a push-over.
6. After I scold him for doing something bad, I leave the room like I'm supposed to to make the lesson stick, but I usually can't manage to stay away for longer than 5 minutes.
7. I play with him as much as I can during my days off instead of doing anything else constructive. He's too cute to resist!
Remus does NOT get away with:
1. Chewing on the blinds, molding, or cabinets. It's a smack on the nose mid chew and some outside alone time if he does. He mostly doesn't anymore.
2. Remus is not allowed to nip, even friendly playful nips. It's a firm NO and a smack and me leaving the room if he does. He only forgets and nips when he gets excited.
3. Remus walks next to or behind Brian and I, not in front, there will be no leash wars.
4. Whining. He whines, especially if Brian and I are watching TV/movie, we check to see that he has food and water, and if he does, it's outside he goes for a good thirty minutes. We'll let him in and if he starts whining again it's right back outside. I think he's slowly getting the jist that being quiet lets him stay in the house.
5. Being dirty. He gets bathed, rinsed, or wiped down regularily. Plus the FURminator at least once a month, and I wipe the inside of his ears clean of wax.
Right now he's asleep (I was playing with him outside and wore him out). He's much bigger, a solid 52lbs when I had him weighed on Tuesday, so he's probably closer to 55lbs now. He gained 8lbs in 9 days. Finally he's put on enough weight so his ribs don't show beneath his coat- he was pretty darn skinny when we got him. I can still feel his ribs and he's definitely not fat by any stretch, but he looks a lot healthier. I think it's safe to say he'll be at least 70lbs by Thanksgiving. He's going through some sort of growth spurt while he's teething, he's eating between 6-7.5 cups of food a day. I'm going to have to take him to PetsMart again pretty soon to keep up with the socialization aspect. I'd love to take a puppy class, but Brian and I's schedule is just too irregular to make it to even half of the scheduled classes. He's bark is now a lot deeper, he sounds three feet taller than he is when he woofs. And he's woofing at things now when we leave him outside with the electric fence. He is also finally exploring the yard on his own. Puppy steps...
Training is ok. He does well when he pays attention to me, though I guess he is still young. He sits fairly regularily and down and stay. I think he knows what I'm saying, but some times he's just being stubborn. Still working on spin, dance, right paw, focus and freeze. Spin is the best out of all of them, focus and freeze he reacts to pretty much the same way, R paw is challenging, and he hasn't figured out how to jump up on me when I say dance. I don't practice that command much either, because I don't want him thinking he can do it any old time.
If we get into an environment where he's distracted or scared, I might as well be speaking cat, he definitely won't listen to me. Ah well, I keep trying...
Walks are tough, his stride is long, it's turning into more of a jog for me. He handles on the leash better for me than Brian, but he's getting better at that too. I think thats all for now :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Coincidence?
Ok, so the more I look at these growth charts, Remus isn't just runty, he's TINY. He's exactly a month behind where he should be. If he were a month younger he'd be right in the middle, average. Not big or small, but exactly where he needs to be. Now, if I look back at his heights and weights back to when we first got him and the next couple of vet trips and subtract a month he is always right on track, and I mean dead on how heavy and tall he should be IF he were a month younger. If he were a month YOUNGER it would explain why it took longer to potty train him (took longer for him to get old enough to hold it) why he's teething so LATE (almost four months and he just lost a tooth? usually teething starts around 2-3 months...) and why it took him so long to eat solid food. I thought he just didn't like it at first, he took the smallest bites and took forever to chew.
I think the breeder may have screwed us over. I know some puppies can be taken from their dams at 6 weeks, but if I count backwards, we would've had Remus at FIVE weeks. Some breeders won't let wolfhound puppies leave until they're at least ELEVEN weeks old. it would explain a heck of a lot. I'm trying to keep an open mind, maybe Remus is just small, he'll be the smallest wolfhound in history, practically a toy breed in comparison. I'm trying not to get angry, more research is necessary. Maybe he's just a late bloomer...somehow I think my hunch is right. That would make Remus 11.5 weeks old today.
I think the breeder may have screwed us over. I know some puppies can be taken from their dams at 6 weeks, but if I count backwards, we would've had Remus at FIVE weeks. Some breeders won't let wolfhound puppies leave until they're at least ELEVEN weeks old. it would explain a heck of a lot. I'm trying to keep an open mind, maybe Remus is just small, he'll be the smallest wolfhound in history, practically a toy breed in comparison. I'm trying not to get angry, more research is necessary. Maybe he's just a late bloomer...somehow I think my hunch is right. That would make Remus 11.5 weeks old today.
Runt or Giant?
Remus is 37.5lbs and 21-22 inches at the shoulders. He's exactly 16 weeks old today. According to some growth charts I've found online, this puts Remus at the short end of the stick as far as size goes. According to other articles, wolfhound puppies tend to be bizarre in growth, some of the smallest puppies waiting to have their last growth spurt much later in their first 18 months and usually ending up huge, and others reaching full height potential in as little as 9 months. Usually puppies of any one breed follow the same pattern of growth, but trust me to find the one breed that's wildly unpredictable. So either I have a runty adorable wolfhound puppy who might only make it to 30 inches at the shoulder and 120lbs, or I have a late blooming adorable monster that might top the charts.
Either way, he's still cute.
Newsflash, we have mastered the stairs! Now, I just need to get him to come when I call but when he CAN'T see me. He'll come the second I'm in view, but until then he is a whiney confused upset puppy.
Oh, and I think I'd like to breed him, but I don't think I'm going to show him, which means I'm going to trim him how I see fit. His face whiskers will be duly tamed and managed, even if that type of grooming "insults the dignity of the wolfhound" according to one article. At least his underfuzz has grown out from his buzzing (I'm sure that was quite the dignity insult) and his adult coat shouldn't grow out until he's at least 6 months. Less shedding, and much less dirt drug in the house. He got rinsed off in the tub again today, dirty Remus.
Matthew came over last night for spaghetti and xbox night. Remus still doesn't like Matthew. He warmed up to him a little by the end of the night, but at first he seemed terrified and pressed his scared body against my legs whether I was walking or still. His bark is getting deeper, I noticed as he grumbled and barked at Matthew. by the end of the night they played tug of war, but I'm thinking Remus still isn't quite sold. We're working on it, if ever a cowardly lion needed courage it would be Remus...
Either way, he's still cute.
Newsflash, we have mastered the stairs! Now, I just need to get him to come when I call but when he CAN'T see me. He'll come the second I'm in view, but until then he is a whiney confused upset puppy.
Oh, and I think I'd like to breed him, but I don't think I'm going to show him, which means I'm going to trim him how I see fit. His face whiskers will be duly tamed and managed, even if that type of grooming "insults the dignity of the wolfhound" according to one article. At least his underfuzz has grown out from his buzzing (I'm sure that was quite the dignity insult) and his adult coat shouldn't grow out until he's at least 6 months. Less shedding, and much less dirt drug in the house. He got rinsed off in the tub again today, dirty Remus.
Matthew came over last night for spaghetti and xbox night. Remus still doesn't like Matthew. He warmed up to him a little by the end of the night, but at first he seemed terrified and pressed his scared body against my legs whether I was walking or still. His bark is getting deeper, I noticed as he grumbled and barked at Matthew. by the end of the night they played tug of war, but I'm thinking Remus still isn't quite sold. We're working on it, if ever a cowardly lion needed courage it would be Remus...
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Laws of Physics..
Physics and wolfhound puppies apparently do no agree. What goes up, must come down, for everyone except Remus apparently.
I put him outside with his wireless collar on after I got home from work so I could sleep before my next shift. He had the usual spoiled puppy assortment of toys, and his bed, water, and food out on the deck. I played with him a little before leaving him to entertain himself while I took my nap. Yeah, so, when I got up seven hours later and walk out on the deck, no Remus is to be found. I call his name, not panicking yet, he sometimes roams under the deck. No Remus. I call again. Panic! Maybe he's in the front. So I walk back inside, open up the front door and lo and behold, there is my stupid puppy doing the "I gotta pee really bad" dance on the front porch. Sigh. Judging on how long it took for him to completely empty his bladder, Remus had been stuck on the porch for at least four hours.
I let him walk through the house to the back so he could run down the ramp and pee, but we really needed to tackle the stairs issue. As I've written previously, wolfhounds and stairs on a regular basis aren't a good idea, especially while they're growing. On the other hand, waiting to teach a wolfhound how to master stairs until he's full grown is also a problem. Remus has managed to figure out how to get up the four brick stairs to the porch, but no amount of coersion can convince him that it's safe to come down.
I told Brian when he got home, and he dutifully got the leash and tried multiple methods of getting the puppy down the stairs to no avail. If anything, Remus is now even MORE terrified of them. We tried gentle tugging, physically lifting him and setting him down on each step, luring with treats, nothing worked. Remus has a mental block, and it's only with the first two stairs. Once we get him on the third step he trots down without a trace of angst. We figure if we keep working at this Remus will either master the stairs, or develop a fear of the entire porch. Oy.
I put him outside with his wireless collar on after I got home from work so I could sleep before my next shift. He had the usual spoiled puppy assortment of toys, and his bed, water, and food out on the deck. I played with him a little before leaving him to entertain himself while I took my nap. Yeah, so, when I got up seven hours later and walk out on the deck, no Remus is to be found. I call his name, not panicking yet, he sometimes roams under the deck. No Remus. I call again. Panic! Maybe he's in the front. So I walk back inside, open up the front door and lo and behold, there is my stupid puppy doing the "I gotta pee really bad" dance on the front porch. Sigh. Judging on how long it took for him to completely empty his bladder, Remus had been stuck on the porch for at least four hours.
I let him walk through the house to the back so he could run down the ramp and pee, but we really needed to tackle the stairs issue. As I've written previously, wolfhounds and stairs on a regular basis aren't a good idea, especially while they're growing. On the other hand, waiting to teach a wolfhound how to master stairs until he's full grown is also a problem. Remus has managed to figure out how to get up the four brick stairs to the porch, but no amount of coersion can convince him that it's safe to come down.
I told Brian when he got home, and he dutifully got the leash and tried multiple methods of getting the puppy down the stairs to no avail. If anything, Remus is now even MORE terrified of them. We tried gentle tugging, physically lifting him and setting him down on each step, luring with treats, nothing worked. Remus has a mental block, and it's only with the first two stairs. Once we get him on the third step he trots down without a trace of angst. We figure if we keep working at this Remus will either master the stairs, or develop a fear of the entire porch. Oy.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Dancing and fencing....
I think Remus has pretty much gotten over the dog attack incident, he's a little skittish on nighttime walks but he's a lot less so and still improving. Like most kids, he's mildly afraid of what lurks in the dark. We've also continued our, if slightly haphazard at least frequent, training. Remus has finally mastered down, sit, and sometimes stand. We're doing puppy pushups running through the three commands in random order to see how well he remembers and reacts. He seems to like the game, though too many treats give him diarrhea. I'm also attempting to teach him "spin". He's still dependent on the lure for that one, but I'll keep working him. I'm also teaching him "up" to where he stands on his hind legs and puts his paws in my hands. The command is actually "dance" since he will soon be tall enough to be my dance partner if I need one :P I just gotta be careful lowering him down since I don't want to damage the growth plates in his forelegs.
Speaking of growth plates, half the material I read on wolfhounds seem to be pretty adamant about discouraging a puppy from rearing up on his hind legs and then dropping...but Remus thinks this is the most fun since he discovered chasing his tail. It's one of the reasons I haven't started really working on the "dance" command, since I don't want to hurt his legs, but the durn fool goes bouncing along like it's an aerobics excercise. None of the stuff I've read says HOW to discourage him either, it just says I SHOULD. Big help.
They also say not to do forced walks until he's sixth months, but at the same time I should lead train him really early. Well, lead training involves very short forced walks. I try to let Remus have a break, not walk him every day, and the walks are rarely even ten minutes long with copious amounts of relaxed sniffing. And he seems a heck of a lot happier when I take him on them, he's like a cranky baby without his pacifier if I don't.
In other news, he's still cute. He's eating close to five cups of food a day, sometimes more-sometimes less. Brian had to buy another fifty dollars worth of dog food. We're trying not to think about how fast he's going to be breezing through these giant bags of food, as he gets bigger, and as the weather gets cooler.
Right now he's outside on the deck, and I should be sleeping getting ready for night shift. We bought the wireless fencing system and he's wearing his little red collar. Not like he wanders anyway, he's sensitive and smart and likes to stick close to home for the moment. It only took a few tingles for him to avoid the white flags. He'll most likely stay on the deck for most of the day. I put plenty of toys out there since he's teething (he's got a little gap in the front teeth of his bottom jaw, it's funny) so he should be happy. I just hope it's not too cold for him since it's in the high 50's outside. Brrr! Too cold for me!
They also say not to do forced walks until he's sixth months, but at the same time I should lead train him really early. Well, lead training involves very short forced walks. I try to let Remus have a break, not walk him every day, and the walks are rarely even ten minutes long with copious amounts of relaxed sniffing. And he seems a heck of a lot happier when I take him on them, he's like a cranky baby without his pacifier if I don't.
In other news, he's still cute. He's eating close to five cups of food a day, sometimes more-sometimes less. Brian had to buy another fifty dollars worth of dog food. We're trying not to think about how fast he's going to be breezing through these giant bags of food, as he gets bigger, and as the weather gets cooler.
Right now he's outside on the deck, and I should be sleeping getting ready for night shift. We bought the wireless fencing system and he's wearing his little red collar. Not like he wanders anyway, he's sensitive and smart and likes to stick close to home for the moment. It only took a few tingles for him to avoid the white flags. He'll most likely stay on the deck for most of the day. I put plenty of toys out there since he's teething (he's got a little gap in the front teeth of his bottom jaw, it's funny) so he should be happy. I just hope it's not too cold for him since it's in the high 50's outside. Brrr! Too cold for me!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Irresponsible Dog owners
So, we've recently begun training Remus to heel on a leash. He had previously been too young to go on a forced walk at all (too much strain on extremely fagile growth plates), but finally we began short walks. Unlike the blackwater creek hike with dad, these walks are always short enough that he still has energy at the end... I took him out this morning for a walk, he was doing very very well. He had had diarrhea the night before and still had it, so I figured I'd mention it to the vet at his appointment. On our way back, only three yards away from our own, a large akita looking like dog comes charging from the back yard of the houses that back up to the ones on our street and freaking attacks Remus. I was BEYOND angry. I tried desperately to keep myself between Remus and the other dog, and I yanked/punched/kicked at the other dog repetitively to get him to back off. i finally had to scoop up Remus and kick the other dog to get him to leave. Meanwhile, the owner is like "Bad boy, haha, oh I'm sorry, he's never done that before. C'mere, C'mere ____" I yelled at her that her freaking dog needed to be on a leash, Remus was a puppy, and she simply responded with "let me know if he (her dog) hurt him (my dog)" Fat white trash idiot.
The other dog did manage to bite Remus on the back leg, the punctures bled a little, but he seems to have full use of it. I'm more worried about psychological damage. I feel like I let him down, not getting that other dog off him fast enough. Not to mention he's at such an impressionable puppy age, here I am socializing him, teaching him that walks are OK, other dogs and people are OK, and some dumpy idiot who can't control her dog allows him to get attacked. Believe it or not, I'm not made at the dog. he was real pretty, and really out of control. He didn't try to bite me at all, even when I was hitting him, his focus was entirely on Remus. ANY big dog should be on a leash or behind a fence when there are small dogs around. Many big dogs are hunters or very territorial, usually very Alpha breeds, and smaller dogs are easy targets. Same applies to Remus (which would be why we're leash training him). He will always be on a leash, unless at a dog park playing with other big dogs...preferably ones I know, and ones he's met on the leash first. NEVER will he be unrestrained in a neighborhood with small children, cats, and/or small dogs. Wolfhounds are sight hounds. If a chihuahua streaks in front of him like a tasty squirrel, it's my fault if he catches and kills it, not his. I know his temperment and what he's been bred for, I should have him controlled at all times.
That woman clearly does not know what she's doing. Tomorrow morning I'm getting her information and reporting the incident to animal control. It sucks that if it happens again it will be taken out on the dog, she's the one who should be caged and/or euthanized. It's her poor handling that allowed the incident to happen in the first place.
I tried to get the information today, but she didn't answer when I knocked/rang the doorbell. I don't know if she was home or not, but I'm trying again tomorrow. I'm also finding a weighted stick/baton/maglight to carry when I take Remus for his next walk.
The other dog did manage to bite Remus on the back leg, the punctures bled a little, but he seems to have full use of it. I'm more worried about psychological damage. I feel like I let him down, not getting that other dog off him fast enough. Not to mention he's at such an impressionable puppy age, here I am socializing him, teaching him that walks are OK, other dogs and people are OK, and some dumpy idiot who can't control her dog allows him to get attacked. Believe it or not, I'm not made at the dog. he was real pretty, and really out of control. He didn't try to bite me at all, even when I was hitting him, his focus was entirely on Remus. ANY big dog should be on a leash or behind a fence when there are small dogs around. Many big dogs are hunters or very territorial, usually very Alpha breeds, and smaller dogs are easy targets. Same applies to Remus (which would be why we're leash training him). He will always be on a leash, unless at a dog park playing with other big dogs...preferably ones I know, and ones he's met on the leash first. NEVER will he be unrestrained in a neighborhood with small children, cats, and/or small dogs. Wolfhounds are sight hounds. If a chihuahua streaks in front of him like a tasty squirrel, it's my fault if he catches and kills it, not his. I know his temperment and what he's been bred for, I should have him controlled at all times.
That woman clearly does not know what she's doing. Tomorrow morning I'm getting her information and reporting the incident to animal control. It sucks that if it happens again it will be taken out on the dog, she's the one who should be caged and/or euthanized. It's her poor handling that allowed the incident to happen in the first place.
I tried to get the information today, but she didn't answer when I knocked/rang the doorbell. I don't know if she was home or not, but I'm trying again tomorrow. I'm also finding a weighted stick/baton/maglight to carry when I take Remus for his next walk.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Weekend trip :)
First long road trip with Remus went very well. We went up to Lynchburg this past weekend to visit the fam and get my eyes examined. Remus came a long to meet my mother-in-law and my dad, both absentees from the previous Labor Day Picnic, and thus new to the Remus experience. Also, we didn't want to pay to kennel him. He whined and barked and howled on the way up at first, until I decided after being awake for over 24 hours I was going to at least attempt to lay my seat down and doze. We had secured Remus in his doggie seatbelt harness behind my seat, but laying down my seat didn't touch him, because he'd stretched out into the middle seat. Once I laid back and closed my eyes, Remus hushed and passed out himself. After that, whenever I would start talking to Brian he'd whine and fuss, but as soon as I closed my eyes and laid still he'd go back to sleep. I didn't get much real sleep, but it was nice and quiet.
We kept him on the porch at my in-laws for the most part since they have a big deck and Remus is still not completely housebroken, but he came inside to play whenever we were around, and I still tried to take him outside every hour and a half so he wouldn't make a mess on the deck if it could at all be avoided. He even slept outside in a kennel from Brian's childhood pet, a french mastiff named Harley.
On Friday I took Remus to PetSmart, which was thankfully not too busy, and he sniffed around, made a few canine and human friends, and peed in the median. A successful trip. I also discovered that he loves to chew ice after buying him an ice water from McDonalds. After he drank his fill I fed him ice chips like candy to a baby.
On Saturday I drove Remus over to my parents house and Dad and I took him to the Blackwater Creek Trails for a walk. Yeah, we over estimated Remus's stamina and ended up carrying him for some of the way there and a considerable amount of the way back. He made a lot of friends along the way, and I get reminded again and again of how big he is for his age. He still looks little to me, his shoulder is up to my knee, but he's such a floppy big footed cute fuzz face that I can't see him as being big. After meeting an 8year old mutt that outweighed Remus but was on level with him, it reminds me that Remus really is big for a puppy. After the walk, which tuckered Remus out, he passed out in the back seat of Dad's PT cruiser and slept like the dead the whole way home
On Sunday, while Brian packed the car, we decided we'd try the whole "walk him so he sleeps" method again, and I took Remus on a walk around the neighborhood-or so I thought. Maybe it was pent up energy since we had had to leave him on the porch while we were at church and out to lunch, but after walking him down the road a considerable distance, he wanted to run on the way back. SO run we did, and he's got quite the lope, keeping up with me easily as I flip-flopped along (I was definitely not in appropriate running footwear) and occasionally attempting to sprint in front of me. We ran almost the entire way back. I'm hoping we haven't strained his developing puppy muscles or bones, but he seemed to love it. AND our method worked, he slept the way back with nary a whine (except for when he needed to pee).
I vote the weekend a success :) And I think Remus is finally getting used to riding in the car, YAY. Vet appt tomorrow!
Keeping me company when I passed out after being awake for over 36 hours.
We kept him on the porch at my in-laws for the most part since they have a big deck and Remus is still not completely housebroken, but he came inside to play whenever we were around, and I still tried to take him outside every hour and a half so he wouldn't make a mess on the deck if it could at all be avoided. He even slept outside in a kennel from Brian's childhood pet, a french mastiff named Harley.
On Friday I took Remus to PetSmart, which was thankfully not too busy, and he sniffed around, made a few canine and human friends, and peed in the median. A successful trip. I also discovered that he loves to chew ice after buying him an ice water from McDonalds. After he drank his fill I fed him ice chips like candy to a baby.
On Saturday I drove Remus over to my parents house and Dad and I took him to the Blackwater Creek Trails for a walk. Yeah, we over estimated Remus's stamina and ended up carrying him for some of the way there and a considerable amount of the way back. He made a lot of friends along the way, and I get reminded again and again of how big he is for his age. He still looks little to me, his shoulder is up to my knee, but he's such a floppy big footed cute fuzz face that I can't see him as being big. After meeting an 8year old mutt that outweighed Remus but was on level with him, it reminds me that Remus really is big for a puppy. After the walk, which tuckered Remus out, he passed out in the back seat of Dad's PT cruiser and slept like the dead the whole way home
On Sunday, while Brian packed the car, we decided we'd try the whole "walk him so he sleeps" method again, and I took Remus on a walk around the neighborhood-or so I thought. Maybe it was pent up energy since we had had to leave him on the porch while we were at church and out to lunch, but after walking him down the road a considerable distance, he wanted to run on the way back. SO run we did, and he's got quite the lope, keeping up with me easily as I flip-flopped along (I was definitely not in appropriate running footwear) and occasionally attempting to sprint in front of me. We ran almost the entire way back. I'm hoping we haven't strained his developing puppy muscles or bones, but he seemed to love it. AND our method worked, he slept the way back with nary a whine (except for when he needed to pee).
I vote the weekend a success :) And I think Remus is finally getting used to riding in the car, YAY. Vet appt tomorrow!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wolf vs. Hound
With his long legs, dark grey scruffy coat, narrow snout and huge feet, Remus resembled a little wolf puppy more than he didn't. After a thorough shaving, that is patchy at best, down through his extremely dense white blond underfluff that leaves his lanky frame entirely exposed, his sleek silhoute emphasizes his huge floppy ears and whip like tail. As a new "short hair" dog, Remus looks entirely like a hound. I'm working on getting a good picture, one hopefully with his ear cocked upright. His ears are floppy and when he's just sitting around, they perk forward when he's interested like any normal floppy eared dog. However, if he's running, playing, or otherwise shaking his head, he often gets the right ear to flop upright across his forhead, making it stick up almost vertical. It gives him an adorable but entirely lopsided appearance. He'll prowl around the yard with his one ear perked forward and the other one half cocked standing sentinal over his eyebrows.
He is completely blond now, with a really dark tail and a dark mask on his face. He looks kinda like a German Shepard puppy with his coloring, except no saddle markings, and he's definitely all legs. His ears make his face entirely hound. He looks rather ridiculous, but doesn't seem to mind now that the torture of the actual buzzing process is over. I think he's cute regardless, but next time I don't think I'll shave him quite so close...
He is completely blond now, with a really dark tail and a dark mask on his face. He looks kinda like a German Shepard puppy with his coloring, except no saddle markings, and he's definitely all legs. His ears make his face entirely hound. He looks rather ridiculous, but doesn't seem to mind now that the torture of the actual buzzing process is over. I think he's cute regardless, but next time I don't think I'll shave him quite so close...
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Terrible Two's and Grooming adventures...
Remus has gone nuts. He is no longer content to sleep away most of the day. He wants play time and a lot of it. He is spastic hyper, running around the kitchen with his toys, and even a few laps around the house aren't enough to blow off some steam. Yesterday I took him for a short walk right before I left for work to try and work out some energy. It seemed to help a little, but not much. When we're in the kitchen he's incorrigable, barking and prancing under our feet, chasing his tail and attacking his toys at random. He's not content to play with his toys on his own, he drags them over to us and barks. We're thinking this is the puppy equivalent to the terrible twos...
Today after I got off work (yes, I've been up for almost 24 hours now) I went to pet smart to get some nail clippers and a pet harness for the car. With good intentions I sat Remus down in my lap to clip his nails. It definitely turned out to be a two person job. It's not that he was scared of the clippers, it was more he just has a hard time sitting still for very long. I held and Brian clipped, and we got the front ones done at least. I then took him outside and tied him on the deck for his intro to the hair buzzers. He was not a fan, but the buzzing continued anyway. With practice I hope this gets easier for both of us. He is now definitely blond, his dark top coat buzzed away and leaving the soft light underfluff exposed. It actually wasn't that bad shaving his face and head, but his legs are a different matter all together. I think he'll have to go back outside for touch ups when Brian gets home. He doesn't like being on a leash at all, but we're working on that too.
Now, I think a quick nap is in order. It's been a long night and day for me.
Today after I got off work (yes, I've been up for almost 24 hours now) I went to pet smart to get some nail clippers and a pet harness for the car. With good intentions I sat Remus down in my lap to clip his nails. It definitely turned out to be a two person job. It's not that he was scared of the clippers, it was more he just has a hard time sitting still for very long. I held and Brian clipped, and we got the front ones done at least. I then took him outside and tied him on the deck for his intro to the hair buzzers. He was not a fan, but the buzzing continued anyway. With practice I hope this gets easier for both of us. He is now definitely blond, his dark top coat buzzed away and leaving the soft light underfluff exposed. It actually wasn't that bad shaving his face and head, but his legs are a different matter all together. I think he'll have to go back outside for touch ups when Brian gets home. He doesn't like being on a leash at all, but we're working on that too.
Now, I think a quick nap is in order. It's been a long night and day for me.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Picnic
My mom, Matthew, Rebecca and Nick, my father in-law, my sister in law Jessica, my sister in-law Rachel, and her husband (my brother in law once removed?) all came to my house Sat for a picnic :) Mom and I cooked (mom mostly) and everybody brought card tables and chairs and we set up in the living room to eat. It was so great seeing everyone! Mom bought Remus several treats and a hard rubber ball, and Rebecca had bought him a stuffed spider chew toy. Remus was initially shy and unnerved by all the people crowding around him, but Rachel especially was not to be daunted and pet him wether he wanted it or not. He warmed up to everybody by the end of the day, except Matthew who he barked at everytime Matthew had the spider.
After everyone had left Remus was practically hyper with pent up energy. It must of been hard work being so timid for everyone, he was quite the clown as the house got quieter.
Sunday Brian and I had a "date" in Raleigh. Not really a date, just getting to finally spend some time with each other. We left Remus in his outdoor pen as we explored the REI, Best Buy, and Target in Raleigh. It was wonderful :) We bought a bunch of movies, and when we came back Remus was sleeping with his butt in the hole he had dug in the middle of his pen. We had to rinse of his legs with the hose and he didn't seem to mind so much, he squirmed a little-but not much, and nary a whimper did he utter. I'm hoping this means progress towards his fear of water/bathing. Watching a movie in the living room later, we let Remus out-my hopes being he'd fall asleep next to us. No such luck, even though it was past his bed time he was bent on playing and mouthing and barking. So I put him in his cage and like a wound up kid who doesn't want to go to bed, as soon as he stretched out he was asleep. Yeah, I knew it was bedtime for him.
Brian and I finished up the movie in peace and went to bed ourselves. As cute as Remus is, I'll be happy when he grows out of his puppyness. At least we haven't had any accident indoors for awhile...
Remus and Mr. Keefer :)
Remus and Rachel, my sis-in-law :)
After everyone had left Remus was practically hyper with pent up energy. It must of been hard work being so timid for everyone, he was quite the clown as the house got quieter.
Sunday Brian and I had a "date" in Raleigh. Not really a date, just getting to finally spend some time with each other. We left Remus in his outdoor pen as we explored the REI, Best Buy, and Target in Raleigh. It was wonderful :) We bought a bunch of movies, and when we came back Remus was sleeping with his butt in the hole he had dug in the middle of his pen. We had to rinse of his legs with the hose and he didn't seem to mind so much, he squirmed a little-but not much, and nary a whimper did he utter. I'm hoping this means progress towards his fear of water/bathing. Watching a movie in the living room later, we let Remus out-my hopes being he'd fall asleep next to us. No such luck, even though it was past his bed time he was bent on playing and mouthing and barking. So I put him in his cage and like a wound up kid who doesn't want to go to bed, as soon as he stretched out he was asleep. Yeah, I knew it was bedtime for him.
Brian and I finished up the movie in peace and went to bed ourselves. As cute as Remus is, I'll be happy when he grows out of his puppyness. At least we haven't had any accident indoors for awhile...
The spider toy Rebecca bought him
He's a big boy :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Visiting the vet :)
Among the growing list of things Remus doesn't like is car rides. In an attempt to get him used to them and the inevitability of vet visits, I drove him to the vet today "just for fun" and to get him weighed. He whined and scrabbled and left scratch marks all over me, but we made it. He got cookies and treats and actually made a doggie friend with a chihuahua-doxen mix. We coaxed him on the scale and I was surprised when it stopped at 15.1 lbs. We'd weighed him 6days ago and he was 11.75 lbs. I had been hoping for what I thought a reasonable 13lbs. 15? He's averaging gaining half a pound in body weight per day. I decided to measure him then too, and he's between 16-17inches tall. He was between 12-14 when we got him 10 days ago. Sheesh! I knew wolfhounds grew fast, but thats pretty ridiculous. My puppy isn't going to fit on my lap for very much longer. I'm so proud :)
Now to get him potty trained, buh. We have great days and we have not so great days. I don't want to leave him on the linoleum any longer than I have to, because even with the soft bed he still manages to bang his elbows and ankles on the floor repetitively. Not being able to walk without tripping might have something to do with it...
Ah well, car rides, vet visits, bath time, grooming, all things Remus is getting exposed to and will eventually-hopefully-at least be able to tolerate.
Now to get him potty trained, buh. We have great days and we have not so great days. I don't want to leave him on the linoleum any longer than I have to, because even with the soft bed he still manages to bang his elbows and ankles on the floor repetitively. Not being able to walk without tripping might have something to do with it...
Ah well, car rides, vet visits, bath time, grooming, all things Remus is getting exposed to and will eventually-hopefully-at least be able to tolerate.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Bath time!
Remus's first bath was the day we brought him home, a flea dip outside to get rid of fleas. We used the hose and he hated it. He squirmed and whimpered and tried to run away, but we managed to get him wet, lathered, and rinsed. He forgave us afterwards.
Well, it's been a week since his last bath and in typically puppy fashion, Remus has been playing outside in everything he can. He has definitely developed a doggy like oder, it was time to wash him again-this time with a non flea killing shampoo. I don't know if it's SOP for wolfhounds to hate getting wet, but Remus definitely does. He doesn't like going outside early or late because of the dew, he also hates mid afternoon because it's too hot, he's a finicky puppy--but we don't really cater to his finickyness. He goes outside every few hours, regardless of weather or ground condition, and he doesn't go back in until he finishes his business. And he is going to get regular baths.
SO first attempt at bathing, I should've listened to my gut and taking Remus outside before putting him in the tub. He'd peed about an hour earlier, but he hadn't pooped for over two. I'm in shorts and an old bikini top, the water in lukewarm stillness until Remus's four flapping feet hit it-he freaks. I try slowly pouring water over him with a cup and he completely spazzes out whining and jumping and clawing in a frantic attempt to escape the water. He's already 12 lbs, he's not easy to hold on to, and nothing is calming him down I can feel his heart thudding through his ribcage. In a terrific attempt to get out, he simultaneously craps in the water. Great, I knew he needed to go. Brian's in hysterics he's laughing so hard, which isn't helping the poor frenzied Remus as Brian's laughter ricochets off the tile floor, so I pick him up-half wet-and put him outside on the deck while I clean the tub. He howls and whines at the door with miserable puppy eyes, but I'm not having any of it. I'm already thinking of how to make this work.
Brian suggests we just wait until he gets back from class and we hose him down outside again. Remembering last time we hosed him off and how panicked Remus got, all I can think of is wrestling a 180lb dog who is still scared of water to get a bath. Hmm. Not really a good idea to train him in habits we don't want him to keep. I wave my husband out the door, ignore the pitiful bedragled look of my puppy, and head back to the bathroom. I refill the now clean tub with lukewarm water, I get a tupperware dish as opposed to a glass for the water pouring (the glass had already been cracked amidst the excitement of round 1), make sure treats and shampoo are within easy reach, put on my bikini bottoms and steel myself for round two.
I pick up Remus, giving him a treat as I carry him down the hall and into the bathroom. Instead of setting him in the tub, I step in and squat down on my heels, holding Remus between my knees. Predictably, like he does every time he's scared of something, he backs up into me as close as he can get and sits down. At least he's not freaking out, and he's succesfully soaking his rump. I offer him a treat, he's not interested-a sign he really is scared of this whole proceeding. I drop the tupperware into the water, let him see it as I swirl it around and praise him constantly as I slowly dribble the water down his front. He whines, but no spastic clawing. It's hard to soak a wolfhound, their undercoat is fluffy and soft and apparently resistant to water. It takes awhile to get him thoroughly wet, but I manage. The shampooing goes relatively uneventfully and the rinsing is over quickly. He tries to make an escape a few times, but it's more just a stand on his back legs and rest his front paws on my knee to get out of the water as much as possible. I use that to my advantage and scrub his belly. He's whining, he's shaking a little, I can still feel his heart racing away as I support his chest with my hand, but he's not being frantic and I'm not having to use a lot of force to keep him put. Progress.
I carry him outside to towel him off since our AC keeps the house cold and I don't want him to catch a chill. The sun is warm and the deck is dry as I towel him down. He revives a little and stops shaking. He dries quickly, at least his underfluff does. His long top coat sticks together like eyelashes with too much mascara on. He looks like a punkrocker. I take him down the ramp to pee in the yard, and then back inside I offer him a special treat for his courage.
He doesn't hold grudges. He was a little whiny and clingy after bath time. So much so that I sat down on the linoleum and he crawled into my lap to sleep. Usually he wants to play or get a belly rub when he clambers over my legs. This time he gave me a few weary licks, curled up his still slightly damp body, and passed out. He slept like the dead. In a few minutes I transferred him to his bed because my leg was falling asleep and he didn't even wake up.
It was more of an adventure then I anticipated, but I think we're on the right track. I'm going to be putting him in bath tubs full of water frequently, even if he doesn't get a full bath, just so he gets used to the idea. It's a bit of a challenge modifying training with an eye for the future. Sure, he's easy to control now, but he's not always going to be this small. I don't want to enforce bad habits, but some days it feels like there are just too many habits to try to establish or change. One day at a time.
Well, it's been a week since his last bath and in typically puppy fashion, Remus has been playing outside in everything he can. He has definitely developed a doggy like oder, it was time to wash him again-this time with a non flea killing shampoo. I don't know if it's SOP for wolfhounds to hate getting wet, but Remus definitely does. He doesn't like going outside early or late because of the dew, he also hates mid afternoon because it's too hot, he's a finicky puppy--but we don't really cater to his finickyness. He goes outside every few hours, regardless of weather or ground condition, and he doesn't go back in until he finishes his business. And he is going to get regular baths.
SO first attempt at bathing, I should've listened to my gut and taking Remus outside before putting him in the tub. He'd peed about an hour earlier, but he hadn't pooped for over two. I'm in shorts and an old bikini top, the water in lukewarm stillness until Remus's four flapping feet hit it-he freaks. I try slowly pouring water over him with a cup and he completely spazzes out whining and jumping and clawing in a frantic attempt to escape the water. He's already 12 lbs, he's not easy to hold on to, and nothing is calming him down I can feel his heart thudding through his ribcage. In a terrific attempt to get out, he simultaneously craps in the water. Great, I knew he needed to go. Brian's in hysterics he's laughing so hard, which isn't helping the poor frenzied Remus as Brian's laughter ricochets off the tile floor, so I pick him up-half wet-and put him outside on the deck while I clean the tub. He howls and whines at the door with miserable puppy eyes, but I'm not having any of it. I'm already thinking of how to make this work.
Brian suggests we just wait until he gets back from class and we hose him down outside again. Remembering last time we hosed him off and how panicked Remus got, all I can think of is wrestling a 180lb dog who is still scared of water to get a bath. Hmm. Not really a good idea to train him in habits we don't want him to keep. I wave my husband out the door, ignore the pitiful bedragled look of my puppy, and head back to the bathroom. I refill the now clean tub with lukewarm water, I get a tupperware dish as opposed to a glass for the water pouring (the glass had already been cracked amidst the excitement of round 1), make sure treats and shampoo are within easy reach, put on my bikini bottoms and steel myself for round two.
Round 1...Remus was NOT happy...
I pick up Remus, giving him a treat as I carry him down the hall and into the bathroom. Instead of setting him in the tub, I step in and squat down on my heels, holding Remus between my knees. Predictably, like he does every time he's scared of something, he backs up into me as close as he can get and sits down. At least he's not freaking out, and he's succesfully soaking his rump. I offer him a treat, he's not interested-a sign he really is scared of this whole proceeding. I drop the tupperware into the water, let him see it as I swirl it around and praise him constantly as I slowly dribble the water down his front. He whines, but no spastic clawing. It's hard to soak a wolfhound, their undercoat is fluffy and soft and apparently resistant to water. It takes awhile to get him thoroughly wet, but I manage. The shampooing goes relatively uneventfully and the rinsing is over quickly. He tries to make an escape a few times, but it's more just a stand on his back legs and rest his front paws on my knee to get out of the water as much as possible. I use that to my advantage and scrub his belly. He's whining, he's shaking a little, I can still feel his heart racing away as I support his chest with my hand, but he's not being frantic and I'm not having to use a lot of force to keep him put. Progress.
I carry him outside to towel him off since our AC keeps the house cold and I don't want him to catch a chill. The sun is warm and the deck is dry as I towel him down. He revives a little and stops shaking. He dries quickly, at least his underfluff does. His long top coat sticks together like eyelashes with too much mascara on. He looks like a punkrocker. I take him down the ramp to pee in the yard, and then back inside I offer him a special treat for his courage.
He doesn't hold grudges. He was a little whiny and clingy after bath time. So much so that I sat down on the linoleum and he crawled into my lap to sleep. Usually he wants to play or get a belly rub when he clambers over my legs. This time he gave me a few weary licks, curled up his still slightly damp body, and passed out. He slept like the dead. In a few minutes I transferred him to his bed because my leg was falling asleep and he didn't even wake up.
It was more of an adventure then I anticipated, but I think we're on the right track. I'm going to be putting him in bath tubs full of water frequently, even if he doesn't get a full bath, just so he gets used to the idea. It's a bit of a challenge modifying training with an eye for the future. Sure, he's easy to control now, but he's not always going to be this small. I don't want to enforce bad habits, but some days it feels like there are just too many habits to try to establish or change. One day at a time.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
First week :)
Remus was 8wks and 2 days old when we picked him up from the breeder. He seemed a little skinny and he had fleas, but he won my heart by heaving his tufted leggy body into my lap and passing out on the drive home. He whined a little when he woke up, consented to a belly rub, and then promptly fell back asleep. He was already over a foot tall at the shoulder and had no concept of where all his limbs were at any given time. I saved him from sliding head first off the backseat onto the floor multiple times. The breeder said he thought he'd be a wheaten, that is a red-blond, when he grew up. For now, his baby underfluff was a pale gold but the thin straggling overcoat was dark grey. He had a pale sploth on his chest and a dark mask over his nose and eyes. His ears were (and still are) huge. They lay flat against the back of his neck when he's relaxed and they flop forward when he's interested or excited. He was a skinny, fuzzy, awkward lump of cuteness, dwarfed by the giant kennel when we first brought him home.
We brought him home Saturday, gave him a flea bath before we took him inside and applied Advantix. I took him to the vet that Wed. When I had called the vet, the receptionist practically squealed in delight when I told her I had a wolfhound puppy. They had one other adult wolfhound in the practice, but no one had ever seen or worked with a puppy. An adult wolfhound was more than any of the other practices I had checked into could boast, and the enthusiasm of the staff on our arrival reassured me that I had chosen the best place. Remus was given cookies, toted around by the vet techs, and had his picture taken multiple times. Still a puppy at heart, the excitement wore him out by the time the exam was over and I had to fill out paperwork. After whining that he couldn't get back on the padded bench in the lobby by himself, I picked him up and plopped him down where he stretched out in true limb splaying wolfhound fashion and passed out. I was nearly as tired as he was, having had to go to a training event at work early that morning and rushing home to get him to the vet on time. I finished the paperwork and woke up my sleepy puppy for the ride home.
He had the luxury of going straight back to sleep in his kennel, I tried to pick up the house a little and organize all his puppy papers.
Remus spends most of his days now sleeping, when he's not sleeping he's hyper, and then he goes back to sleeping. He sleeps 8-10hours a day, plus whatever he sleeps at night. The vet weighed him in at 11lbs 12ounces. In the past few days his eating amounts has increased by a quarter cup and his skinny body is finally filling out some. He's always going to be lanky, but right now he's all knees and elbows with floppy ears and a whiplike tail he chases until he falls over.
Falling is something Remus does constantly. With big paws and long legs, balance is something he hasn't quite mastered. Whenever he's playing, or even just running around, he invariably trips over something or knocks himself off balance side ways and lands with a thunk on the ground. He rolled head over heels down the small embankment behind our house chewing on his toy just the other day, much to the neighbors' delight.
We're trying to socialize Remus to the neighborhood kids, and when at the vet we let him sniff other dogs. Since he's so young he hasn't had his last round of Parvo shots or his rabies shot yet so we stay away from parks and PetsMart. He's intimidated by pretty much everything, even though he's already three times the size of the chihuahua who lives two doors down and half the size of the other dog. That's one of the reasons I like wolfhounds though, they are the opposite of aggression (unless hunting), vastly preferring to take the path of least resistance. He's as laid back as they come.
Except when he's playing. His baby teeth are sharp and he thinks hands and feet are chew toys that move. We're working on getting him to stop nipping us, offering a toy in place of our extremeties and letting him chew on that. His teeth don't hurt all that bad now, but he's getting bigger. He also loves to jump up on me when I sit down and lick my face. Thats ok when he's still barely 12lbs, but if and when he hits 180, I can't exactly have him jumping up on people-he'll weigh 60lbs more than me.
Most important on our list of training is the infamous housebreaking. He's doing ok, most of his accidents a result of us not realizing he can't hold it anymore. He goes outside with enthusiasm and I'm pretty sure he's realized that going inside is a no-no. He'll sniff around and whine in between playing with his toys now and then I know it's time he gets outside. I try to always take him outside after he wakes up because he usually needs to pee. We have a ramp on our backdeck steps because wolfhounds shouldn't do stairs, especially when they're young, because it puts too much strain on their forelegs and can cause joint problems and eventually arthritis. He's mastered running up the ramp, but he tends to just slide down it because he can't get traction on the wood. Brian's getting traction strips to put on it. It's cute to see Remus go sliding down till he tumbles off the bottom, but I doubt it's really helping his joints.
Posts will get shorter after this one, and I hopefully will be including pictures soon. Remus has been with us for a week now, and is 9wks 3days old today, he'll be 10wks on thursday. He's growing so fast!
He slept most of the way home
After his flea bath
He had the luxury of going straight back to sleep in his kennel, I tried to pick up the house a little and organize all his puppy papers.
Remus spends most of his days now sleeping, when he's not sleeping he's hyper, and then he goes back to sleeping. He sleeps 8-10hours a day, plus whatever he sleeps at night. The vet weighed him in at 11lbs 12ounces. In the past few days his eating amounts has increased by a quarter cup and his skinny body is finally filling out some. He's always going to be lanky, but right now he's all knees and elbows with floppy ears and a whiplike tail he chases until he falls over.
Falling is something Remus does constantly. With big paws and long legs, balance is something he hasn't quite mastered. Whenever he's playing, or even just running around, he invariably trips over something or knocks himself off balance side ways and lands with a thunk on the ground. He rolled head over heels down the small embankment behind our house chewing on his toy just the other day, much to the neighbors' delight.
We're trying to socialize Remus to the neighborhood kids, and when at the vet we let him sniff other dogs. Since he's so young he hasn't had his last round of Parvo shots or his rabies shot yet so we stay away from parks and PetsMart. He's intimidated by pretty much everything, even though he's already three times the size of the chihuahua who lives two doors down and half the size of the other dog. That's one of the reasons I like wolfhounds though, they are the opposite of aggression (unless hunting), vastly preferring to take the path of least resistance. He's as laid back as they come.
Except when he's playing. His baby teeth are sharp and he thinks hands and feet are chew toys that move. We're working on getting him to stop nipping us, offering a toy in place of our extremeties and letting him chew on that. His teeth don't hurt all that bad now, but he's getting bigger. He also loves to jump up on me when I sit down and lick my face. Thats ok when he's still barely 12lbs, but if and when he hits 180, I can't exactly have him jumping up on people-he'll weigh 60lbs more than me.
Most important on our list of training is the infamous housebreaking. He's doing ok, most of his accidents a result of us not realizing he can't hold it anymore. He goes outside with enthusiasm and I'm pretty sure he's realized that going inside is a no-no. He'll sniff around and whine in between playing with his toys now and then I know it's time he gets outside. I try to always take him outside after he wakes up because he usually needs to pee. We have a ramp on our backdeck steps because wolfhounds shouldn't do stairs, especially when they're young, because it puts too much strain on their forelegs and can cause joint problems and eventually arthritis. He's mastered running up the ramp, but he tends to just slide down it because he can't get traction on the wood. Brian's getting traction strips to put on it. It's cute to see Remus go sliding down till he tumbles off the bottom, but I doubt it's really helping his joints.
Posts will get shorter after this one, and I hopefully will be including pictures soon. Remus has been with us for a week now, and is 9wks 3days old today, he'll be 10wks on thursday. He's growing so fast!
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