First Damage

Well, we have official received our first damage from Wrigley. At least it was just the plaster and not the molding. When I cannot watch Wrigley I put him in his x-pen but Husband is not as diligent as I am. He thinks that since Wrigley has done so well for the past month that it would be ok not to confine him when he left for work today. Boy did Wrigley prove him wrong!

I didn't even notice it at first but then I was sitting on the couch and Wrigley was hanging out in the corner that he likes. That's when I noticed the paint missing from the wall and then the metal hanging out.

We try to give him plenty of heavy duty chew toys since we know that he is teething and that puppies do chew. But the allure of the corner won over all the nice chew toys that I bought. Lesson learned, we need to keep our eyes on him more and to put him in his x-pen when we are not there to watch him.

Food Dispensing Toys

I love food dispensing toys!

More importantly Wrigley enjoys them. The first one that we gave him was the Everlasting Fun Ball. You can stick treats in it big or small and they have to roll the ball around to get them out. We usually put two bigger bones in the opening so he has to get those out first to get the rest. He does have a hard time getting the bigger treats out that I cram inside.

Then I tried the Bob-a-Lot. Its a great toy that he loves. You can put lots of dog food and/or treats in it. It has two openings and you can adjust the size of the openings. He does great at pushing it around and getting the treats out. It is so nice to have something that keeps him busy and entertained. I also have heard if your dog eats too quickly that it is a great product to help slow them down. It is a more expensive dog toy though around $20. Wrigley doesn't destroy many toys so I cant weigh in on how it holds up. This is my favorite!

Next up on my food dispensing toys trial was the Buster Cube. I like that there are different sizes since Wrigley is small. I only have used it once and he played with it but the thing I don't like about it is that the treats coming out are sporadic. With some of the others he can figure out how to actually get them to come out but with the Buster Cube he just has to roll it around until one finally comes out. In the long run that may kept him entertained more but I feel like if he doesn't know what to do to get them out then he will give up.

I also have given him the Premier Twist and Treat. This one is also good but the opening for the food to come out is bigger than most so bigger treats are needed so it is not pouring out at once. He's puppy food comes out so quickly but I do occasionally seal it with some peanut butter or cream cheese and he loves that. When I go to work I give him that and it is completely cleaned by the time I come home.

The last one I have is the Tug-a-Jug. I don't have much to say on it since he really hasn't got the hang of it. They do have different sizes but the one I have is still pretty big. He wasn't able to get treats out but he did drag it around and bark at it. So I'm hoping that as he grows he will be able to figure out it.

All in all I think that food/treat dispensing toys are a great thing to invest in. I always give him one when I go to work and I just make sure to cut his other food accordingly. Not only do they keep him busy but I feel it works his mind to try and figure out how to get the food out and it is a natural positive reinforcement since it dispenses the treats. You can also give them the toy without treats and just let them play with it. Anything to keep them busy!!

Sickness

A couple weeks into having Wrigley and he has already been on two medications for different things. I feel like a bad parent always having a sick puppy. The sicknesses are nothing too major but still I hate having to keep giving him medicine, which he hates and tries to get out of diligently.

The first started right away. We noticed him scratching his belly a lot. At first we just thought it was due to our grass being too long. We could barley see him when we took him out side so figured the grass was irritating him. But after we cut it short he still was itching. Then one night he started to whine when he was scratching and seemed in a little pain. We did notice that it was red and looked bumpy. Luckily we already had a vet appointment for his first round of shots. The Dr. did notice that it was inflamed so we were given a spray that had some antibiotics in it.

Trying to sneak a spray bottle to his belly is pretty tricky. The first time he didn't know what we were doing so it worked out fine, he was just surprised. Later on though he would see the bottle coming and get out of the way. We tried to play with him and get him on his back but somehow he would see that bottle or sense us being tricky and he quickly would flip over. The good news was that the medicine really worked and it cleared up right away.

Everything seemed good and he appeared healthy until I gave him his first heart worm medicine dose. The brand is Heartgard and the main ingredient is ivermectin. Nothing happened for 10 hours and so at first we didn't even realize he was sick. We just had gotten done with playing out in the backyard and he seemed tired which isn't unusually after playing around. The part that should have tipped us off was him wanting to sit with us on the couch and he let us cuddle with him like crazy. We just thought he was being so sweet and loving. As time went on I finally realized that he seems sick. Then he started to hide in corners and we knew something was wrong.

You gotta love the Internet since we found some information on sickness after giving the heart worm medication. He didn't have any seizes or vomiting so it said the main thing to do is to make him comfortable and wait it out. So we made him a fort on the couch with pillows and a blanket were he remained until he poked his head out when he felt better. After that he gradually returned to his normal self and I felt a crisis had been adverted. I was going to call the vet the next day though to tell them what happened and how I wanted to give him a different medication.

Husband went to take Wrigley out in the morning with our same routine. Later Husband told me that I was going to have to get up soon since Wrigley did not go pee when he took him out. Seems odd, what puppy after a long night doesn't want to go pee right away. I got up a couple of hours later and knew that I needed to get him out right away since he was probably going to explode. There he sat in the grass just looking around when I took him out. OK, now that is really not normal not to want to go after that long of time.

Finally he went and he headed back inside. I had to wipe his paws off since it had rained and he likes to get into the mud. That's when I noticed a yellow, thick substance on his penis. Oh lord, something else is going wrong. I work in a hospital lab so I am pretty familiar with infections which looked to me like one. I thought maybe it was a fluke but when I took him out later he tried to go but it looked like nothing came out and he started to lick down there and I notice the same stuff going on.

So it was time for another trip to the vet. I was nervous about dealing with stuff coming out of his penis since I was the one who wanted a girl. I had to call Husband to give him a hard time about wanting a boy and now things are oozing!

I really like my vet. He does a great job of spending time with us and answering all my questions. So we needed to get a urine sample. this seemed like an impossible task to me. I deal with getting pee from babies and how hard that is so how in the world are we getting the pee from a dog. My first thought was something was going to be stuck up there or he was going to have to be "milked" to get it out! YIKES!!! Thank goodness those thoughts went bye-bye when the vet said they will follow him around until he pees then sick something under there to collect it. OK, I can deal with that but good luck having him go.

Not too long later he returned and said there was success! The vet said he cooperated and went pee right away. After being tested he said that he does have an infection. There was lots of white blood cells and a few bacteria. So here we go again, more medicine to give. This one didn't seem so bad when he explained it. We just put some in the dropper, put it in his mouth and let him lick it then squirt it in. Sounds tasty, Wrigley loves to eat stuff, no problem right!?

First attempt at medicine was hard. I had my mom hold him while I put the dropper to his mouth. He didn't want to lick it. It was like he was clenching his mouth closed. On to prying it open, he wasn't having that. But I did get it in so I gave a quick squirt of the medicine and it sprayed out into his mouth. He gagged and sprayed some of the medicine back out to me and my mom. Gross.

Later that night is was time for round two. This time Wrigley had wised up and was putting up MUCH more of a fight. He was scratching the heck out of us trying to get away as we tried to put the dropper in his mouth. He was also doing the Shiba scream, which is the worse sound. It literally sounded like we were trying to kill him! I knew we weren't hurting him but man that is a great defense tactic! Finally success, but at the cost of Wrigley coming near us. He ran away and tired to stay as far away from us, even when lured with treats. Now we put the medicine in his food and he eats it right up and we don't have scratch marks all over our bodies.

All in all he has been sick three times so far. We are averaging once a week here. Not good! I'm hoping that once his UTI has cleared up we can go awhile without having to give him medicine or any other non vaccine vet visit. At least we are being proactive with his health and noticing what is going on with him but I do feel like if I show up to the vet again they may call dog protective services on me.

Socilization

When you talk with Shiba owners the biggest thing they say to do with your new puppy is to socialize them like crazy. That does not mean just with people it means other experiences that you could encounter throughout the life of your dog. I have started to socialize with people since its easy to get them to come and visit a new puppy!

So far Wrigley has done really well. We had Husbands mother, sister and brother-in-law over first. I did make little treat bags for each person with some cheese and normal treats. I wanted to make sure he has a positive association with people. I didn't even need the treats he just went to everyone and was totally comfortable.

He gave kisses and licked their hands. Then he went to normal Shiba mode and went off doing his own thing. Occasionally he would come over to people and investigate. Of course they would try to play with him and he would allow it for a couple of minutes and then was done.

The biggest issue he has is with people picking him up. At first he may be OK with being held but if you try to have him sit in your lap he will become a wiggle monster and tries his best to get out of your grasp. He may even resort to biting anything he can get a hold of. If you are standing you have a better chance of him relaxing.

Next was a bunch of my friends and their boyfriends over for a Memorial Day party. I was a little nervous since it was so many people, around 14. I played with him a lot before people came so that he would be sleepy.

The first people arrived and he just lay there sleeping. They went over to Wrigley and he just let them pet him. I did have the bags of treats so they gave some to him which I was glad because even if he doesn't mind people now I still really want to treat him so he has the best experience to carry him through his adult life.

People trickled in over the hour and he was pretty much the same throughout. He didn't move when the door bell rang and he also let people pet him. Some of my girlfriends even picked him up and held him and he just hung out acting like the model puppy.

The party turned to food and drinks and Wrigley just slept through all the noise. It was great!! Everyone was commenting on how he was the best puppy. I was just thinking I hope it stays this way. He woke up and played more with people seeming to enjoy it.

Finally we had my parents and sister over for my Birthday. Once again I tried to play with him a lot before people came over so he wouldn't be as rambunctious. This time it wasn't as successful. He actually reacted when the doorbell rang. When I went to get the door he was jumping up on the gate.

My mom went to put something in the dinning room which is also gated off and he went running over to the gate and jumped on it trying to greet her. They both sat on the floor with Wrigley and he was all over them. He was biting at my dads hands and shirt and was so excited. I was trying to correct with "ah-ah" and redirecting his attention to a toy. But he was all about my dad so I finally gave the toy to him and that seemed to help.

My sister made it and he tried to bite her clothes too. Finally he calmed down and went off playing with his toys. We were all sitting on the couch and brought him up. I told them he is not a fan of sitting on the couch and that he always tries to get down. He actually liked climbing over everyone on the couch.

He went to everyone on the couch kissing them but wouldn't really stay still. My sister told me she made her dog into a lap dog and so she would do that with Wrigley. He sat on her lap while she pet him and he did not make an attempt to escape (I still do not have the same success).
Dinner was served and he stayed in the other room just chewing on his bully stick. Which is so nice to have him doing his own thing and not begging for food at the table.

All in all he has done pretty good meeting all the weird people we have thrown at him. Every time he meets someone he is never aggressive which is the main goal I have for him. My next step is to make sure he doesn't play bite people.

That is hard though since people have a tendency to want to play with him with their hands. Doing that makes him especially snippy but he just thinks he is playing with them and then they are like "he likes to bite". Well if you put your hands on him and push him around of course he is going to do that! So maybe my next goal is to teach my guest the appropriate way to play with a puppy.

First Days Home

We went to pick the puppy up on Thursday. The breeder had brought all the puppies so we could see them. My husband and I thought they were smaller than what we thought they were going to be. My husband and I got to play with the boy and girl separately to see which one we liked.

The boy was first and he was very into both of us. He was coming over to us and licking our hands. Then he would try to get to our faces and he gave my husband kisses. So of course my husband was sold. I still wanted to see the girl though.

She was fine when the other puppies were with her but when she was by herself she wouldn't even touch us. She would jump back and forth and try to come to our hands but in the end she didn't. I knew I would never be able to talk my husband into the girl when she wouldn't even come to us.

So we picked the boy!!

We were off, Wrigley in the back of the car in his crate. Our family just grew and my husband and I became responsible for another living thing. He started whining right away but the breeder had given us a chew bone so once we gave him that he pretty much quieted down. It was a two hour car trip home and by the end I was ready to take him out and hold him. Wrigley was fine, sleeping in his crate but I wanted to cuddle with him. My husband was actually the responsible one saying not to disturb him since he was being good.

We stopped to get gas and then I took him out of his crate. He was so cute just crawling all over me and looking around. We found out then that he loves to give kisses! We made it home shortly after that and I took him straight out to the backyard to go potty. Which he did promptly but the grass was so tall I could barley see him and it was super dark.

Once back inside we let him explore but he really liked to sit by us and play with his new toys. He found his reflection in our entertainment center and went crazy barking and "playing" with it. All of a sudden he froze and peed. Well I guess it is better to have him potty in the house b/c he was scared of his reflection then just b/c he doesn't know any better, right?

I was ready for bed at this point so we took him upstairs to our bedroom where we keep another crate for him. In he went and he whined a little bit but settled down pretty quickly. I woke up at 3am and could hear him moving around and chewing on a toy. I didn't know if I should take him out but then he stopped making noise and I fell back to sleep.

I woke up at 5:45 and I could hear him whimpering so it was time to get up. I dont know the last time I was up that early but I made it outside with him. He went potty right away but then wanted to play. He was running all around the backyard and I was trying to keep up with him in my sleepy state. Time for breakfast.

He eats Eukanuba for puppies, which I think is a crappy dog food and I will be transitioning him to something better. I sat by him the whole time petting him, putting my hand in the bowl, and hand feeding. I want him to get used to people around him when he eats so he will not guard his food. He really didn't eat that much and hasn't since we have had him home but I do give him tiny treats throughout the day to give positive reinforcement for good things he does.

Somehow with the little amount of food that he eats he still went poop 5 times! I have no idea where all that came from but it just keep coming!! Hes doing great with potty outside. I have heard Shibas are picky pottiers but so far he is good about going in the backyard. I give lots a praise and a treat each time he does it though. I also try to play with him after he goes poo so that he doesnt feel that he goes and then I bring him back inside.

After a long play session outside I took him to meet some people from work. He did great! Just hang out while they held him. They even held him like a baby and he just stayed there eating it up. It was wonderful, he seemed like such a good puppy.

The next day went pretty much the same. He slept until 6am and he finally ate more at dinner. The grass was long in the backyard so he started itching his belly a lot and had some red bumps on it. Of course we feel horrible that we have already injured him :( Now the grass is cut short but he still is itchy so when I go to the vet I will bring that up.

I have got him to sit and lay down but I am having a hard time with leave it and drop it. He goes crazy when I try to get him to leave a treat so I need to work on that when he is more relaxed. I can shove a treat in his mouth when has a toy and he will drop it but I dont know how long it will take to make the connection.

I have noticed that he is getting a lot more rambunctious since the firsts days he was here. Wrigley is defiantly getting braver and has the Shiba attitude of not paying attention to us when he is engrossed in something. He is such a doll and we both love him already. He has made us laugh and shake our heads at the random stuff that he does. I think he has made the transition to our home pretty well and I hope he stays this sweet.

Wrigley is home!!!

Boy Vs. Girl

We are getting close to picking up our puppy. This Thursday is the day that we go to pick him/her up! We are so excited and have been running around trying to make sure everything is in place for when the puppy gets home. The breeder choose the lighter red male to keep so that leaves the dark boy and the girl. I have always wanted a girl and Husband wants a boy.

What is the real difference between a boy and a girl besides the obvious one? I don't know why both of us want the same sex as we are. Is that a normal thing to be drawn to your own sex? I know breeds may have standard characteristics for boys and girls but we are getting whatever we have fixed, so I heard it may not even matter at that point.

The main reason I want a girl is that I don't like the boys "thing", as childish as that sounds. I also am not the biggest fan of humping and the boy marking on everything it sees. I also have stereotypical thoughts that boys would be more aggressive and not as cuddly.

The main reason Husband wants a boy is that he wants a "buddy". I don't know why he thinks a girl cant be his buddy but in his own male mind I guess it doesn't work that way. He also thinks Wrigley is a boys name. He has some sound reasoning for wanting a boy (lots of sarcasm here).

The breeder has said that both of their personalities are similar. Not dominant but not submissive. They both are outgoing and love people. She took some videos of them separately and she dropped something or threw a toy so that we could see how they reacted. She also held them like a baby and touched them in the mouth and on the paws. They both handled the tests beautifully.

So we are stuck. It all comes down to meeting them in person and seeing which one we like the best and that likes us the best. It is interesting if people pick their dog by what sex they want or if they go straight off personality. Since in the end I really think that it comes down to the personality.

3 days from now we will know if personality or sex or both wins out in our puppy decision.