Whiner

We have stayed true to having Wrigley sleep downstairs in his playpen. It has basically become the norm in our house. He sleeps completely through the night and when we get up around 7 for work he is ready to start his day.

Husband usually goes downstairs first since he supposed to leave before me. He lets Wrigley out of the playpen and plays with him for a second then gives him a cookie and takes off for work. This leaves me to hear him whining, in only a way a Shiba can, for me to come downstairs to entertain him. On my days that I have work I have some time to feed him, go outside and play with him before sticking him back into the playpen until I come home from work for lunch to free him.

On my days off or days I don't go into work until later I still hear my little Shiba cries right by the gate we have blocking the stairs. He sits by the stairs and whines his little head off. I try to wait until he is quite for a couple minutes since I don't want him to think that whining gets me to come running but somehow I think that we have created a routine of him whining and us coming down the stairs.

Its so hard to resist though, since he is not really a barker (only if he hears another dog or sees something different outside will he give a couple of alert barks to let us know) its not really annoying but sounds more pathetic. Like he really misses us and wants to see us soooo bad. Then I feel bad that I am laying in bed so I get up to see him and I get the best welcome from my wiggle monster. He runs to get a toy so we can begin playing right away.

Just recently my Husband told me that when he lets him out of the playpen instead of Wrigley's usually greeting to my Husband he runs to the stairs and wants to go upstairs. How sweet I think that he wants to see me! He loves me more, I win! Of course my Husband is sad that he doesn't care about him and wants to see me. But then the other day I came downstairs first and let him out of the playpen. What happens next is my little love bug runs right past me and to the stairs. Ouch, I was totally rejected!

We now have realized it is neither Husband or I that interests Wrigley, it is the upstairs. We have been dethroned by the chance of him getting to run around upstairs and go crazy underneath our bed. I guess I can see the draw for him. The underneath of our bed is like crack to him. He goes crazy scooting around down there.

I wouldn't mind too much but we have so much stuff crammed under the bed that I hate to have him start chewing on random things. Which he always seems to find that random paper or wrapper that has fallen under there. I have gotten into more trouble with Husband by having Wrigley pull out candy wrappers that he didn't know about! Wrigley also gets a little too protective when we try to look at him or get him out. He goes into devil dog mode that normally we don't see. So it looks like the gate and the whines are staying for awhile.

Bed Time

We started to get in a bad habit of having Wrigley sleep in our bed. This is something I thought I was going to stand strong on before we got him. I thought people were crazy who let their dogs take over their bed. I want my full bed and I didn't want his dog hair all over my sheets. Sounds like pretty good reasoning and that I wouldn't break right?

Well at first we would put him on the bed when we were just watching T.V. and then when we were ready to go to sleep move him to his crate. We also put him on the bed in the morning so that we could get more sleep time. My husband and I both enjoyed this since we got more time with him, he is always so cute snuggled up in the bed, and it was easy to move him to the crate in our room from the bed. But then Wrigley got used to being in a huge comfy bed, who can really blame him for that!

So once we put him in the crate he would stay there for a bit but then start to whine. We thought he had to go potty outside but instead he put his paws on our bed and we indulged him. Hey, it was 3am and it seemed way easier then listening to him whine. Wrigley curled right up next to us and went right to sleep. The slippery slope was in full slip.

Other problems that started was Husband wants him to sleep in the bed. So when I was gone one night the boys had a slumber party. Another time Husband and I fell asleep with Wrigley in the bed so he just stayed there through the night. I can see why Wrigley is confused when we do put him in the crate.

Somehow we (or I) have started to transition to having Wrigley sleep downstairs in his crate. He really does enjoy going to his play pen and sleeping in the bed that is in there. So if he is sleeping when we are ready to go upstairs I decided to just leave him. Of course Husband was sad about this decision since he wants him close to us. Other times he stays downstairs is if he is acting crazy upstairs and wont settle down. The play pen is a good way to contain him so I know he wont get into anything. Wrigley actually sleeps longer when he is downstairs which is a huge plus!

So hopefully we can stand strong on keeping him off the bed and in his own space. It is hard when he is so cute and we do enjoy him being with us but in the end I feel it is the right thing to do for us. Although I can see writing in a couple of months that he always sleeps with us now!

July 4th

We made it through 4th of July!

It was pretty uneventful. There were defiantly fireworks in our neighborhood and the city had some that we could hear but all in all Wrigley was not phased by them. It was so nice not to have him be upset by the loud booms.

I think he has become desensitized to loud noises from Husband playing video games. Husband likes his surround sound going and plays lots of shooter games with loud bangs and gun firing. Annoying for me but perfect for Wrigley to get used to so he wont even pay attention to a wide range of noises.

I highly recommend playing loud annoying noises from an early age. It makes everything easier. Wrigley doesn't really notice thunderstorms, garbage trucks, and other weird noises that he may hear. Which ironically makes our life much more peaceful.

Walk=First Bath

Today I went to take Wrigley on a walk around the block. I am trying to go on at least one a day for right now when he is still young. I know I will need to increase the walks and length when he gets older and has way more energy. Its also good practice walking with his harness and leash on.

So all was going well and we were almost home. Then two big dogs came running full speed out of their backyard WITHOUT leashes on! I freaked out since I didn't know if they were going to hurt Wrigley or me. He had his tail between his legs and was trying to get away. I wanted to pick him up so that he would be semi safe in my arms. Wrigley started to do his classic Shiba scream and I finally got him in my arms as the dogs reached us.

I cant even recall what happened then. I started to walk away slowly and the dogs appeared not to want to harm us. They started to sniff where Wrigley was standing. In all this commotion the owners never appeared from their house. I then smelled something stinky and realized Wrigley had peed or something on himself and me.

Time for a bath. I have never given him a bath but have been trying to desensitize him to the tub. I put him in it with peanut butter on the side of the tub and let him lick it while I run the water slowly. Now it was time for the big show. No more trial runs, he was going to go all the way in.

I had peanut butter on the tub again but once I started the water at full force to get it warm he was clawing to get out. I kept trying to show him the peanut butter but he wasn't having it. The water was finally warm enough and I got him under the faucet. He froze. OK, I can live with that. He just stood there under the water. I was able to soap him up and rinse him off with out major injury. He wasn't even screaming. He only tired once more to get out.

Finally I was done and he looked like a drowned rat. Once the water was off he went to licking the peanut butter. Soon after he wanted out of the tub and I needed to dry him off. He hates the towels normally when we try to just dry his paws off so his whole body was hard to do. I put some treats on the ground and while he snarfed those down I dried as best as I could.

He dried pretty quickly and by then he was pawing at the door to get out so I gave a finally treat and let him out of the torture chamber. I thought he was going to be pissed at me but he was fine and defiantly hyper. He went running around downstairs and trying to kill his stuffed toy. As I write this he is tuckered out and taking a nap.

I am so mad that the owners of the dogs just let them run around with out any leash on. Also that they didn't even notice what was going on and didn't come out to get the dogs or at least to say that they are not going to rip my dog apart! I want Wrigley to be comfortable with dogs so I would have put him down to meet them if I knew that it would be OK.

Now I feel that he is traumatized by dogs and by going on walks. These early months are so important for socialization and getting them acquainted to different things. I feel like all our positive work that we have done could be set back. I am hoping that this doesn't change his attitude to other dogs.

I'm also pissed at Husband since when I told him the story he was like did you let him meet them. I was like no, I was trying to make sure he wasn't going to be eaten or that I wasn't going to be mauled. He thought I should have just left him on the ground and waited to see what was going to happen! How faustrating, I really enjoy our walks and now I don't want to go on them.

3am Wake Up Call

For the past 3 days Wrigley has been getting up at 3am. Not cool. Since we got him he has slept through the night getting up around 5am. So this change in ability to sleep until morning has really started to bug me.

I wouldn't mind so much if he started out not sleeping through the night but to reverse in what we have is hard. I also need to figure out what is going on with him.

He sleeps in a crate in our bedroom. So maybe we need to change locations and put him in his x-pen downstairs. When I take him out the first thing he does is go get a drink of water. So I was thinking we could put a little water in his x-pen and that would solve the thirsty problem. But that does add on to the need to go potty outside which is his next step in his 3am fun time.

After he goes potty I put him in his x-pen and go back to bed. I don't hear him make a peep when I leave him down stairs. That kinda helps me rule out that he doesn't needs more exercise during the day and he is getting up out of boredom. I still would like to start walking him more though just because I think he needs to get out.

My last concern is that his urinary infection he had a couple of weeks ago is either back or not cleared up. He didn't change his sleep habits when he had it but I still feel like he may be having some issue. I'm going to try to experiment with different things and hopefully we can go back to our regular sleep habits.

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!!