Willie Escapes!

Willie was on the run this evening after slipping his collar on our nice and peaceful walk with Pam and her dog Jojo. I tried everything from running the other way, to bribing him with treats, but Willie only had one thing on his mind..... running wild, and free. Thankfully this story does have a happy ending I was able to grab onto the other end of the toy he was carrying, and he followed me home. I realized that Willie's recall skills out on walks are lacking, and he has a lot of training in his future. My form of punishment when we got home was telling him he was a bad boy, and ignoring him till he fell asleep. I was so disappointed with myself, but at the same time I have to remind myself that Willie is still young, and that one day he will come to me when called! Until then I have made a mental note to make sure that his collar is tightly secure around his neck before we leave the house, and this is a good reminder for all of you puppy owners to make sure your pups collars are secure as well. I think this adventure has given me a few new gray hairs :)

The Top Ten Things Willie Barks At!

The top ten things Willie barks at:

10. Plastic Bags - Willie likes to bark at plastic bags that are blowing around outside. I think that he must think they are Aliens. He first starts to bark at it, and then starts to growl if it comes to close!

9. Signs (Real estate, Little kids stop signs...etc.) - When the real estate sign was first put up across the street Willie apparently noticed it that night, and started to bark at it, so I took him across to smell it. After smelling it, and walking around it he barked at it one more time, and walked away! The sign must have barked back!

8. Big Diesel Trucks - There is this guy on our street that has a big black diesel truck, and when he drives it down the street he feels it necessary to rev his engine, and squeal his tires. So to this day Willie still barks at it when he drives by....JERK!

7. People/Things that go by the house at night - My favorite thing that Willie does is barking at objects that are in the yard at night. The other night Willie started to bark at something that was outside the window so I went and took a look, and what did we have sitting on our front lawn.....a small branch! It must have been very intimidating!

6. The Paper Boy at 4AM - This is not every morning, but some mornings I am awoken by Willie barking at the Paper Boy who is delivering the paper to our Neighbor. I keep trying to tell Willie that the Paper Boy is next door....he doesn't seem to understand!

5. Our Cat Grey when he is throwing up a hair ball - Gross I know, but not something that one would bark at. I think Willie thinks Grey is barking at him when this is going on, but I'm just not sure....and yes he has to bark every time this happens

4. The mean little Chi's that moved in next door - Now that the new dog's next door have tried to attack , Willie now has to bark at them anytime they come outside. I know that he just feels threatened because...well they tried to bite him, but it's quite annoying. We have had other dogs live next door, and Willie never barked at them. And actually there is a little Wiener Dog that lives on the other side of us that is constantly barking at Willie, and he has not once barked back! Hopefully with time Willie will forget about the incident, and stop barking!

3. Blow up lawn ornaments - The blow-up Santa, and Easter Bunny are Willie's Arch Nemesis, and to make matters worse one evening as we were walking by an elaborate blow-up ornament display a big wind came along and blew Santa and his Train across the persons yard towards us as we were walking. Willie started to growl, and was in attack mode. There were no amount of treats to calm him from this incident!

2. Vacuum Cleaner (And any parts/attachments) - Willie really has gotten better with this one, but he still will let out a small whimper whenever I bring the Vacuum Cleaner out. The hysterical part is he will bark at the attachments even when they are not attached to the Vacuum. I just don't know!

1. Motorcycles - This is the tough one. Willie literally freaks out when a motorcycle goes by on our walks, and even when Kevin starts up our's in the driveway. I have tried everything from letting him sniff at it while it is off, and treating him when he touches it with his nose, but as soon as it is turned on he starts barking, growling, and grabbing onto his leash. I know that this means he is deathly afraid of it, so we turn off the motor, and try the process again. I really feel bad about this one, because I know that it is loud and scary to him.

This list is pretty long, but the barking definitely does not occur on a daily basis....well except for when the little buggers are let out next door. I just think that Willie barks at the funniest things, and it makes me laugh!

Puppy Play Time!

Willie is now 5 months old (as of today!), and he is still full of energy, and spunk. I quickly learned that Willie needs at least 3 walks per day! Now I'm sure every puppy is different, but Willie is far from being an A+ walker. Somedays are better than others! First thing to do is get that pesky leash on! Willie still fights me when I try to put on the leash, and the only thing that works is giving him a treat first, and then putting on the leash. I don't know when this will change, but I'm sure in due time :) On this mornings walk we left the house at 6:30. I make sure to always walk the same route otherwise I have a feeling we will be gone for hours, and unfortunately I do have to get to work! The walk started out great, Willie picked up his stick (he will carry it for most of the walk!), and off we went. Now our route isn't very long...If I were to walk it by myself it would probably take 8 minutes or so with Willie it can take up to 1/2 hour! We got about halfway, and Willie started the sniffin....he lost all interest in the stick he had been carrying, and began to sniff almost every leaf that was laying on the sidewalk. This lasted the rest of our walk. We finally got back home at 7:09, and that was only because there was a thunderstorm coming. I personally do not know how to change this behavior. A treat will work temporarily, but I do not just want to give him 10 treats to get him to walk around the block! I try to act excited, and say "Come On Boy!", throwing the stick works, but it only gets Willie to where the stick lands, and then he's back to sniffing the leaves. I will admit that I have let him just sniff around on the weekends, hoping this will curb his interest a little, and that short walk took us 1 hour. I am not sure what else to do, and switching up the route has not helped at all! I'm sure this will change with age, but for now I am just trying to be patient!

When we aren't walking Willie is in constant play, and i've tried the time out in the pen hoping he may fall asleep; which he never does, but the pen has come in handy, and Willie doesn't make a fuss when we put him in it! The pen is actually an excersise pen that Kevin and I picked up at Pet Supplies Plus for like $30. It's approx 4x6, and can be folded down to any size that you want. It has been perfect for when Willie starts to Nip hard we can give him a quick time out..(no longer than 5-10 minutes), and it does stop the nipping for about an hour, but I am sure in time it will help stop the nipping all together! Willie has also put himself in there for timeout! hehe! The pen can also be used as a gate! It was just a great buy! I would recommed every puppy owner have one :)

When it's nice out I love to let Willie play outside....the down fall was our backyard is not fenced, so the next best thing is a tie-out! Kevin actually made one out of rope, and some clips! One end ties around a tree and the other end clips onto Willies harness, and voila...Willie loves it! He loves to run after the frisbee, roll around on the ball, and chew on sticks, and the greatest thing is that I am not constantly holding onto his leash! And unlike going on a walk Willie seems to get more tuckered out and is usually ready to come back in after about 15 minutes or so! We haven't had any temper tantrums after playing outside on the tie-out, but we have had many temper tantrums when it's time to go back inside after a walk!

Just keep in mind that a puppy requires lots of attention and play time....I'm sure you know this, but be sure to have chewies, bones, and lots of toys to keep your puppy pre-occupied! Most of your free time is spent walking, playing, and training! You will have me time when your puppy takes a 20 minute nap! Don't just stick your puppy in his crate because you want some time to yourself! Kevin has been awesome we do take turns taking Willie out, and he will even play with him in the evenings when I have to get the coffee ready, and the dishes done! But if you are single then you will have to work out a schedule! Just know what time each day your pup naps, and be ready to get those everyday tasks done while the pup is napping! Willie tends to nap (based on Sat. and Sun), at 10:30, 1:30, 4:00, and then again at 7, and he will then go to sleep around 11pm. The naps last anywhere from a 1/2 hour to 2 hours! And on the weekends that is the time to get cleaning done, and catch up on our shows that we DVR'd! Puppies will not be puppies forever, and I can already tell that I will probably miss these puppy days, but I know that I still have quite some time left to enjoy it! :)

Puppy Woes...Never Trust The Shop Owner

As I had mentioned in my previous Blog never trust the shop owner...

The day we picked Willie up the shop owner assured us that Willie was as healthy as can be. I even mentioned that we had two cats at home, so I wanted to be sure that we could just go ahead and let Willie wander around for a little bit when we got home.....again the shop owner (Best in Pets, Elyria) said Willie was really healthy. The next day after Willie had fallen asleep for a nap I noticed something on his belly; which to my horror happened to be a flea. I then took Willie out into the kitchen to assess the situation, and found fleas (live ones) all over we immediately gave Willie a bath (He hated it), after his bath Kevin ran out to get some Frontline, and I began defleaing the house....ugh. After all the commotion Willie was really tuckered out, and layed down for a nap. After his nap he ate, and then went #2, and that was when I saw the worms in his poo. Big long worms in his poo. Fully grown round worms! It was obvious that he had never been dewormed. Thankfully his vet appt was set for Saturday.

Off to the vet we go...(Petmed Clinic, Lorain. A Nightmare!)

We found on the way to the Vet that Willie loves car rides!! He kept trying to get up and stick his head out the window...eventually he just layed down and took a nap!

The vet had Willie come in almost immediately, and he said that it was obvious Willie had roundworms...other than that he was healthy (3lbs), and sent us on our way with meds.

The Saturday after his vet visit Willie woke up, and wouldn't eat, would not even take a treat, and seemed very lathargic, and off balance. I decided to wait a couple of hours to see if his condition would change (he was peeing and pooing, so I wasn't too concerned), but a few hours later he still wouldn't take any food, or water, and he still seemed sluggish, so I called the vet and they said bring him on in. It turned out Willie had become dehydrated. Why you may ask? They didn't know (The Parvo test came out Negative...*sigh*), so they put him on fluids to re-hydrate him, and sent us on our way.

*I had mentioned to the Woman Vet that Willie still seemed to have live worms coming out in his stool, and he had started the Meds over a week ago, and she said "That's normal."

Willie's condition did seem to get better, but he still had the worms. Finally I said we really need to get him back in, and I was able to speak to the vet that we had saw the first time we went, and he said bring him in on Saturday. The Vet immediately apologized, and said "We never gave him the medicine for the Round Worms, we had only given you the meds for the Coccidia." (thanks for telling us about the Coccidia) No wonder why Willie had not been feeling well...he had a belly full of worms for at least 3 weeks! So the Vet admitted that he had made a mistake, and gave us a credit for the amount that we had spent on re-hydrating our little pup. Thankfully we have finally blown through the credit at the Clinic, and will now be taking Willie to the same Vet that we take the Kitties too!

Since then Willie has fully recovered, and at his last vet visit he weighed in at a whopping 10.2lbs :)

In our case not only did the shop owner make a mistake, but the Vet also made a mistake, and thankfully Willie came out unscathed, but he did have a few miserable weeks with worm belly. Today Willie is healthy and full of spunk. Hopefully our new vet will turn out to be more thorough when conducting her exams with Willie.

I guess the lesson we learned was ask the Vet if there is anything of concern...not once, but twice, and be firm about it!

Note: Please don't think that every pup you get from a Pet Shop will be ill, but there is a good chance that they will have some sort of ailment. Pet Shop puppies need homes too. Just remember before you go in and adopt that Pet Shop puppy in the window you may come across some minor, or even major illnesses. Thankfully Willie had a warranty with him, and the ShopOwner did cover the costs for the de-worming.