Neuturing

Sorry that the picture is graphic of my dogs thing but I am trying to show what his neutering looked like after surgery.

We took him in to get the balls cut. Well I thought pleural but as it turned out one of Wrigley's balls did not drop so they said they have to make another incision in his abdomen to retrieve the other ball! Yikes, poor dog not only does he get one cut but a second one. Poor me, it costs more money to retrieve the missing ball. The condition is called Cryptorchidism, which just means one or both balls did not descend. Im glad we picked him since he would not have been a show dog for our breeder. We do have some fun new nicknames for him though, Unaballer and Numero Uno.

Overall the whole neutering thing went well. I didn't cry or anything when I dropped him off. I felt a little bad but nothing over dramatic. When we picked him up I thought he was going to be so out of it but he really seemed fine, just ready to leave. He practically ran out of the vets office. He was definitely tiered and bummed with us on the couch but he was running around like crazy the next day. He also did not have an issue with going potty.

We bought a cone for his head but he never was licking that much and whenever we would catch him he would stop right away. It was funny though he learned to go out in the back yard to do it since we don't watch him as much. Whenever we would look out the windows he would be licking away. I think it also helped that we had 4 days of being home with him to watch him.

Later in the week his abdomen incision looked a little red and opened. We called the vet and they saw us right away. They said it wasn't infected but he may be licking too much. So we had to stop letting him outside every time he wanted to go so we could keep an eye on him better.

As of a month later everything with the abdominal one is completely closed and fine. I cant believe that we never put a cone on his head. I'm a little sad that we never did get a silly picture of him with a cone. All and All it was a way easier experience than I thought it was going to be.

Puppy Abuse

I feel so guilty. I did it. I never thought I would but here I am writing this. I came downstairs this morning and there Wrigley was chewing one of our video game controllers. He saw me and jumped up to greet me. I walked over to go pick the controller up and Wrigley went back to go get it in his mouth. It was over at that point. I was angry and frustrated since we have to control so much of his free time that we cant even leave him alone for 15 minutes.

I popped him on the butt. I use popped since it doesn't sound as harsh but I hit my dog. That sounds so sad. I hit, spanked, swatted or popped him on the butt. Not all those times, just one little hand motion and I felt sick to my stomach. It wasn't that hard but still the look in his eyes was like what the heck. I use the excuse that it was to teach him a lesson but in reality does he really understand what that means. I also did it in part of my angry. I was mad when I did it. I have been frustrated with all the recent chewing and I over reacted.

I hate to watch Cesar since I think his techniques are mean. The jerking, swift kicks to bodies, alpha rolls and all the other harsh things I feel that he does. I cant stand him actually but yet I did what I thought I would never do. The good news is that Wrigley doesn't seem scared of me or my hands. Maybe in the end he wont go after the controllers anymore and I can count it as a win for the Cesar Millan lovers of the world.

Fustration!

OK, I have been annoyed with Wrigley before. When he was a puppy he did somethings that would get on my nerves. But he was a puppy so he got a pass at the things he did or at least he had a good excuse. Usually it was something that Husband or I did so I really couldn't be mad at Wrigley for that.

Today has started out hard. As usually he was taken out of his playpen when my husband got up and then left out when he went to work. I dont have work today so I was upstairs trying to sleep. Then I hear some noises coming from downstairs. It sounds like a ripping noise. I couldn't ignore that for long so I raced downstairs to see Wrigley with a long strand of string from my area rug in the living room hanging from his mouth. He looked the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp where he is eating the spaghetti and meatballs. Kinda cute but annoying also.

I picked him up and put him in his playpen and went straight back to bed. When I came back downstairs I inspected the damage. Not too bad, you cant tell by looking at it that he was pulling out strings. Alright I'm not too annoyed now.

Later I noticed that he has been quiet and missing for a little bit. Never a good thing in Shiba world. I go back to the living room to see him with the area rug pulled up and the under side in his mouth! What is going on here!! We have left him out for a while now and he has never had any love affair with the area rug. Since I caught him in the act I made a loud noise to startle him and he did move away. I replaced the rug back to the original look and went on my way.

About a minute later I heard some more noise from the living room. Oh no, he is not back at it again. Yes he is, the rug once again is all twisted and moved around even more that last time. So the loud noise is not doing the trick. What is a girl left to do, the baby gates are put back up.

We have been doing so well. I guess its the unexpected life with a Shiba, especially now that he is in the teenager stage. Now Wrigley is pouting outside pretending he doesn't know who I am. I think I will take him on a long walk now. He needs to get out some of that naughty energy! I personally think he is getting back at me for making his neutering appointment today. How he knows these things I will never know.

Morning Fun

So as I was saying before Wrigley has been whining in the morning by the baby gate we have up so he cant go upstairs. Well one morning I woke up and it was 8:30! Wow I thought he let me sleep in. My next thought is this could be trouble.

A quite Shiba is not necessarily a good Shiba. That means he is entertaining himself with who knows what. My chairs, the plants I have, the chair covers that I found out he likes to chew. So I got up quietly so that I could sneak down to see what has helped distract him.

Spotted right there in the living room, black batting ripped from underneath my chairs. Wrigley looking very proud of himself, running around with pieces in his mouth. He keeps throwing the pieces up and catching them. The good news was the chair was free and it didn't do any damage that is visible. I try to rip out the rest of the batting so he wont be able to play with it again. I also sprayed the Bitter Apple chew deterrent spray.

Day two of the quite Shiba. I woke up around 8 to a chewing sound. At first it took me a minute to realize what I was hearing but when it clicked I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. What has he gotten into now! In the living room he found a new treat, some paper that was under the sofa. But not just any paper, huge 12X20 sheets that came in picture frames (I am trying to do a wall collage).

Shredded paper lay all over the floor and once again Wrigley looked like the proudest Shiba ever. With paper sticking out of his mouth and running around like a fool. How does he find the paper that I crammed under the sofa? How did he even get it out? They are a tricky breed! I cant be mad at him since it is my fault that I had the paper under there.

So I have turned in the whining for mischief. So far it hasn't been anything that I have been sad about or really cared about so I don't mind being able to sleep in later. I wonder when he will just relax in the morning and enjoy the downstairs in a safe way?