Needless Worry for the Needle

[gf's log] Today is an eventful day for Bosco, he is 11 weeks old and received his second vaccination. I was quite nervous for Bosco the whole morning, not sure if he fed off this energy because he was particularly more nippy than usual for a morning. I tried to tire him out with a walk and playing "catch" (I say this half-heartedly because he's still more keen on keeping his slipper to himself rather than bringing it back after I throw it) so he wouldn't nippy and hyper at the vet.

Upon arrival at the vet's, he was quite happy to get out of the car and sniff the post-rain ground to the vet's door. Being his usual Bosco self he wagged his little bum at everyone and every dog in the office, almost lunging over the counter to greet the people behind the reception area. He hasn't quite picked up that not everyone or every dog wants to necessarily play or be near him when he sees them.

Case in point: Treinte, a 14-month old recently neutered dalmatian was quite annoyed with Bosco's eagerness to sniff around his absent balls. His owner, a very nice older gentleman tells me he's been ball-less for about a week and is not dealing well, he's been scratching the area around his stitches to the point of bleeding and biting just about everything and everyone. "Poor thing" I think as I pet the top part of his head--the only part of his head not covered by a muzzle or the cone :( ... I wonder if Bosco will have the same issues later if and when we neuter him? As I think this I look over at Bosco who is trying to worm his way out of my bf's mom's arms so he can a piece of action with Treinte.

We get called in and Bosco is put on the stainless steel table, licking away at it, not knowing the terror that is about to take place. He plays around with the vet and her assistant and almost falls the table before she buckles him down for a quick physical check up. He looks healthy and happy she says and begins feeding him tons of treats, Bosco's tail wags away, she pulls out the needle from behind, tail still wagging...licking, eating, sniffing...and in it went at the back of his neck. His tail stops wagging for two steamboats and begins again once it's all over.

*Sigh of relief* Thanks goodness he takes after the bf and is easily distracted by food. Vet trauma averted, he leaves still quite happy and ready to play some more with the other vet assistants and dogs waiting in the clinic.

10 Weeks 4 Days

So the night before having him sleep in the crate didn't quite work out. Apparently he woke up numerous times throughout his slumber to cry and whine. My dad let him out of the crate eventually to shut him up. He is now back in the crate for the night for a second attempt. We just have to stay firm with him do more fun things with him in the crate like feed him and play with him. Fingers stay crossed for tonight.

Earlier in the night Bosco went on another one of his late night rampages, barking and nipping at me to try to get him to play. In my efforts to grab him and tell him not to bite, he managed to playfully nip me and break the skin on my thumb. Frustrating, but I know he's still just a baby and means no harm to me.

Walks are getting a lot better now. We switched the little guy back to the harness as I was getting concerned with his total disregard for any pain/choking while attempting to pull me across the road so greet the disinterested old man.

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10 Weeks 2 Days

Tonight we're going to try to keep Bosco sleeping in his crate for the night so that he'll learn to love it like a personal space. It took me 15 minutes and 2 and a half puppy biscuit treats to try to get him to stay in his crate without crying just now. So far I think he's done alright although I wouldn't know since my dad is the one downstairs with him right now.

After weeks of wearing his collar, he's still scratching at it. I'm starting to see a light rash develop on his skin from all the scratching he's been doing so I think we'll just keep it off when he's at home.

He's been getting better and more consistent with not pulling away from the leash on walks although when it rains our there's fresh rain on the ground he either refuses to leave the porch or incessantly licks the ground. I hope that passes because I am not going to have this soon-to-be 90 pound dog pull me around licking the sidewalk on every rainy day.

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10 Weeks

Bosco turned 10 weeks old today.he's grown so big since we first got him. I'd say he's grown about 2 inches taller and 5 pounds heavier. I feel like every time he hiccups, he grows a little bit.

Today was my last day at work before a long stretch of days off. That means for the next six days I'll be able to stay at home and teach him some more tricks.

I've been considering teaching him right from wrong with the aid of a clicker but the girlfriend seems to oppose it. I just can't wait till this little beast gets his shots so he can start obedience classes.

He was another little nightmare on his post-dinner walk, and when I tried to run with him to tire him out, he got really interested in my pant legs, nearly causing me to step on him numerous times.

Very sleepy after work today so I'm gonna have to tap out and continue Bosco's log another time.

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Perfect 10

[gf's log] So Bosco will be 10 weeks old tomorrow*tear* Our little pup has come a long way from the shy and innocent little thing he was the first day we met him. His routine has become more steady and has learned to pee on the pee pad as well as just outside the front lawn. Hurrah! Pooing is starting to take form as well (literally and physically), less runny and more like string beans. It usually turtles its way out after a meal, and a few hours later he'll eliminate the other half.

I noticed he's starting to sleep a lot more now too (a God-sent for someone like me who often works from home.) His naps are usually 2-3 hours now, compared to the 15-20 min power naps he used to take, I suppose it may be due his comfort level with us and the new home now as well.

Today we left Bosco alone in the house for about 40 minutes, we were pleased to find him sitting quietly in his crate waiting, no crying and pee in the crate! Success! He still hasn't quite taken a liking to sleep in the crate though, I have a feeling it is synonymous with us leaving him since we usually let him roam around the house with us or nap by our feet when we're home. I mentioned to the boyfriend we should restart putting him back into the crate when we are home and happy so he won't fear or hate the crate. I noticed he likes to nap or relax under chairs though, so he does enjoy that sheltered/enclosed personal space.

After about a good 5 minutes of kisses and tail wagging after letting him, I continued my second session of "lie down" with him, which he's picked up quite naturally and quickly. I ask him to "sit" first and with a treat inside my fist, I put my fist down on the floor. I picked this up from Ninten dogs for DS, which was our first simulated taste of owning a dog. Needless to say, our cyber pets have now gone to doggy heaven, fortunately for us, we have Bosco to fill the void :)

9 Weeks 4 Days

Bosco had the opportunity to hang out with Noodle again last night and once again it was non-stop rough-housing. Noodle eventually lost interest in playing and lay down to play with a toy while Bosco still hadn't had enough.

We also had people over, but Bosco was still pretty bitey. I know he's a baby still but it's embarassing when he's nipping at the guests. I don't want people to start thinking he's an aggressive case.

After all was said and done Bosco fell asleep quite soundly on the couch and went back to being a sweetheart. We thought it was funny how every 5 minutes he'll change sleeping positions and in the process stretch his legs out and fall asleep before gravity brings his legs back down.

9 Weeks 3 Days

Woke up at 4 am coughing and hacking up a lung this morning. Continued to sleep and further woke up with a headache. Had to call in sick for work because of it and I'm 99% sure it's due to allergies to Bosco, but I still love him and would never give him up. It's so bad that I get armpit hives. Who gets armpit hives? I never even knew it was possible, but it is and it's horrible. I've been dealing with these allergies since first set foot in the breeder's home and I knew full well that I would be allergic, but I've been hoping that my body would get used to it after a few weeks. It's week 2 now and I'd like to think that my condition has improved slightly since then. We'll see how things are in a few more weeks.

Seeing as how I was under the weather, I slept for most of the day while I left my mom and girlfriend to take care of the little guy. I was pleasantly surprised when she brought Bosco up to my room and threw him onto the bed, as he snuggled up onto my belly.

For most of the day he was quite a little sweetheart, probably because I didn't have to deal with most of his usual bitey-puppy bullshit. We managed to predict his potty schedule pretty accurately for the whole day with no accidents!

Back on the topic crate training and his sleeping habits-- we had a discussion last night about whether or not it was appropriate to lock him up in a crate through the night given his age and the fact that he's only been in the house for two weeks. I think we tentatively decided that we can let him out to sleep with us while somebody is on the couch with him for at least the first month before we start locking him up. I still think that we should put him in the crate every once in a while at least to get him used to the idea of being in there so that it won't be a huge shock to him the one night he does finally get put in there to go to bed.

Took me about 20 minutes of me keeping Bosco company outside his crate before he finally gave up his whimpering and gave me just enough time to take a shower and come back down to let him out. I can't wait till he gets past this phase and can chill in his crate on his own.

9 Weeks 2 Days

Came home from work today to a nippy Bosco. Received reports from the girlfriend regarding his uncooperative walk today. He's still trying to sniff and eat everything and choking himself out with the leash in an attempt to play with EVERYBODY he sees.

I got some ear cleaning fluid from Walmart today and tried to clean the wax out of his floppy ears. I didn't think he'd be cooperative at all but he actually turned out to be half decent when I distracted him with a towel to chew on. After 15 minutes I eventually managed to get about half of the wax cleaned out.

Then I figured that I was in such a grooming groove, that I'd try to brush his teeth for the first time ever. Turned out to be less annoying than I expected. Given that Bosco has been so bitey, it makes sense that he stayed still for it. I used those little finger brushes to ease him into it, although the little monster did try to eat me while I was reaching for his molars.

Near the end of night just before dinner I tried to stimulate the young child's mind by doing since obedience training. After calling his name a couple of times with my back turned and not seeing him come, I turned around to see what piece of air had detracted his attention this time, only to find him peeing on the carpet. Diving towards him, I thrust my cupped hand into the line of fire, trying to salvage as much carpet as I could. Meanwhile Bosco stared directly into my eyes as he nonchalantly finished his business, then trotted off to go steal a sock.

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Bosco the All-Bitey

[gf's log] Greetings readers! (If infact, there are even any of you out there besides my bf and myself.) I'm taking the few minutes to fill in my two cents before our baby ball of terror wakes up (I'm kidding of course--sort of.)

He's currently curled between my legs, I'm not sure if this is a puppy thing or if he'll grow out of it, I secretly hope he doesn't...even if he will be 4ft long and 80lbs. It saddens me a bit he's growing so quickly and already gained 3lbs in a week! From 11 to 14 lbs, his stomach and chest are fuller and broader, growing into that infamous boxer frame, and I swear he's an inch taller... I wonder if it is the Orijen food that is amping his tiny frame up?

So he's mastered the "sit" command with him, I started doing the "sit" as early as about 3-4 days of having him and he's pretty good with it so far. Getting him to respond to his name, stay off of stuff and not biting have the been bigger the challenges...the latter being the greatest.

He's beginning to use his mouth for everything, especially when he's playful or excited. We've been doing the "no biting" or "ouch" for teeth/skin contact, followed by walking away when the biting continues. We try to deflect his attention to his chew toys as well. The no-biting training has been semi-successful thus far, Iuess a part of it is that he is still a puppy.

Bosco's beginning to stir under my legs... ah, I see, or rather I smell... our flatulent puppy has risen to the sweet smell of his fart. Until next time, friends!

Bosco trying to decipher odd noises

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9 Weeks 1 Day

First day back at work after being privileged enough to be at home with Bosco for six days in a row. When I woke up this morning he was sitting politely in his crate with the door closed (!!) and my dad sleeping on the couch adjacent.

On my way home I decided that I'd get him one of these famed Kong toys for those lonely hours in his crate. Also wanted to get him something after dropping him on the floor by accident last night. Yes.. I dropped him. In all the excitement of trying to handle Noodle and Bosco at the same time, I picked Bosco up with one hand (maybe a little over-confidently) to try to control him. Well, being the top-heavy, big pawed monster that he's growing into, he squirmed out of my grip, flipped backwards, and landed right onto the hardwood floor on his back. He yelped and so did I. I'm just glad he made it out okay. The guilt was overwhelming.

But I digress. Got him the Kong classic and he spent a solid 15 minutes on it. Plenty time for me to snap some great photos of the little guy munching away under the single strip of sun peeking through the window.

I've noticed a pattern with his activity levels though. During the day he's moderately active, but once 9 pm rolls around, he starts to get real squirrely, nippy, and ornery. I'm glad that he's finally starting to respond to my ubiquitous commands of "NO" and "OFF", although he's not so cooperative during the witching hour. Given his outburst of energy, my dad took him out for a light jog to tire him out. Came home 15 minutes later and he was still being a little jerk, so he took him out for another jog.

Finally came home and the mofo was put to bed for the night. We're gonna sloooowly close the crate door when he's half asleep. I don't wanna shock him too much with the crate times. He's had two crying sessions already today from being in the crate with nobody around (purposely).

I'm just glad that I didn't get a slab of poop on my fingers again today.

9 Weeks

Today was quite an eventful day for both Bosco and his owners [read: faithful slaves].

Halfway through a ridiculous walk that entailed defiant pulling, feigned deafness, and unrelenting pebble-eating, the girlfriend and I decided that the only way to beat this kid was to fight fire with fire. So we ran like no dog walkers had run before.

After all the wheezing and dripping sweat stopped, the little monster came home, drank a gallon of water, and plopped his little bum onto the cold floor to sleep (about 400 metres away from the crate where we actually wanted him). Of course we had to carry his drowsy ass into the crate shortly after.
We had a bbq to prepare for so we decided that it would be a good time for Bosco to get some practice being home alone and locked in a crate. For the 40 minutes we were away, about 39 of that was spent whining. The remaining one minute was spent realizing that we had actually left him alone.

Fortunately for Bosco, we had to sit our neighbor's westie-poo Noodle for the night. And boy, you haven't seen dogs play until you see Bosco and Noodle go at it. These guys played their little hearts out, even as we made an attempt to entertain guests for the bbq.

About an hour into the rough and tumble, as Noodle began to tire of Bosco's pushy attitude, the girlfriend had an amazing idea to put the two together in the same crate. Bosco, finally having Noodle in a confined space, jumped at the opportunity and mounted his jailbait, teaching Noodle a little lesson in soap retention. Things were all groovy following Bosco's cigarette, and the two coexisted peacefully for the rest of the night.

The rest of the bbq went great as Bosco was let outside to poo and was so excited to start playing with Noodle again, that he walked back towards the door mid-squat, resulting in a solid poo-stomping. While the girlfriend battled with Bosco to wash his shit-stained foot, I was seconded to the poo-cleaning relief squad outside on the porch where Bosco had missed the 5'x5' newspaper square entirely. Fumbling in the rain with no shoes on, I attempted to use the newspaper to hastily clean up the mess. Unfortunately in my haste, I managed to get a bare thumb and forefinger full of soft Bosco excrement.

Oh the joys of being a puppy owner...

8 Weeks 6 Days

It's been 11 days since we've had Bosco now. I think he's warmed up to his surroundings and is becoming more and more brazen with his antics.

I was trying to convince myself that the full moon has had some effect on his behavior, but I don't think that's the case. He was being quite the little asshole last night. I noticed that he was really hyperactive and wanted to bite everybody.

Decided to take him out for a walk to tire him out for the night and usually he's pretty good with sitting in front of me and letting me put his harness on, but he kept biting the damn thing everyone it got close to his face. Then he pretty much went in every possible direction except forward on the walk.
Needless to say I was frustrated. My dad slept downstairs with him again for the night (because of the separation anxiety). Don't know if he ever made it to the crate at all. I hope we can get him in there tonight because eventually he's gonna need to be home alone in the crate.

Intro

I decided to start this blog to document the trials and tribulations of raising my first puppy Bosco.

A little background info:
Bosco is a purebred boxer born July 14th 2011 and was brought home September 3rd 2011.
He lives at home with me and my parents in a little suburb on the outskirts of the city. My wonderful girlfriend comes over to take care of and train him.

I hope this blog will both entertain you and educate you and maybe fellow boxer owners can relate to the joys and pains of owning a boxer.