That's not a Poodle... that's a Pony!

Zeus has definitely moved from the appearance of "puppy" to "dog"... even if he is still a puppy at heart (and attitude). He's becoming a BIG boy... just look at that progress from January through September!

Local Celebrity

Sherri and I were reminded today of just how striking Zeus is. We were at staples, buying some supplies, when the cashier looked at us and asked, "do you live..."

We replied that we did.

She perked up. "You have that beautiful dog!" She was a bus driver who went past our neighborhood every day during the school year and was used to slowing to allow the kids to oggle at the puppy as we walked at the same time as the bus route.

It is amazing just how striking he is to others. To us, he's our beautiful, bratty, boy... to others, he's a magnificent and striking dog that they are amazed by.

It is odd to be recognized by strangers because we are the owners of "that dog".

Next thing you know, there will be a reality tv show about such things!

Silence of the lamb-wooly puppy!

Zeus has become enamored with his own voice. He barks at the cats, at us, and at anyone or anything that passes by. He isn't a continual barker, but his bark is so percussive that it cuts up our peace instantly. We've obtained a "petsafe, antibark collar" and Zeus has worn it last night and today. It is not left on him when we aren't around, nor is it on him when outside. It provides a mild electrical shock to him when he barks. This appears to be working extremely well. He seldom goes beyond a single bark now; and as his barking usually accompanies unwanted excited behavior he receives a "correction" for both actions. He is still playful, happy, and comfortable... but his occassional barks are now short lived. I would prefer not to have to use such methods; but as my own nerves and comfort should be considered in addition to being humane to my pets, the collar is the best choice.

My dog is my copilot!

Well, not in "life", that's reserved for The Wife, but he does enjoy being my navigator when running errands. I generally take him about with me to the dump, the farmer's stand, and other quick stops where he can either get out with me or won't be in the car longer than a couple minutes.

Zeus rides in the car extremely well. He is behaved, calm, and happy. I am glad we have worked to take him as many places as possible in the car (not just the vet) so that it is a "normal" thing for him. He does get a bit "barky" if I get out of sight of him while at a location and he's left in the car, but that's to be expected.

He is also so very well behaved (usually) when we do get to the farm stand and such that most people truly enjoy having him show up!

Zeus and the Wet Stick

Five Months of Growth

Our Poodle Boy has grown a LOT since we got him in January

House Rules

Rule #1 -- Let the Tabby Win.

Cat vs Dog

Some version of this happens every day.




Pardon the low quality -- I just grabbed and hit record. It's a little easier to see in the enlarged version. After I learn to use my brand new camera better, I'll try to get another video of these two.

Glamour Pup

Zeus is having his first swimming lessons now. He also has a silly haircut (not our idea, but the groomer got a little froggy). He has learned 1) dogs cannot walk on water 2) Splashing is fun 3) He doesn't like water in his ears.

46lbs and climbing!



from www.bathroomscales4less.com

 Zeus is growing and growing and growing. Not fat at all. He's just becoming a small horse! A cute, fuzzy, slurping, panting, barking, playful, horse... but horse none the less!

All baby canines are gone, and his paws are still enlarging!

Too Many Teeth



from http://www.virginiaveterinarydentistry.com/

 Grandma Bev (the breeder) warned us that there was a history of long roots on baby teeth in Zeus's line. We hoped that because he had a larger jaw than most of his siblings that he wouldn't have tooth issues.

Unfortunately, this weekend we noticed that his upper canine adult teeth were errupting and that his baby canines had not yet come out. So, today he had his baby upper canines removed.

Poor puppy... but it's better to have a few days of sore/aching mouth than to have his bite damaged by canines that come in wrong.

The Dance of Puppy Poo

http://www.dogguide.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/3283254599_aebf49a858.jpg

Zeus has some unusual behaviors, but one of the most frustrating and funny is his "Dance of Puppy Poo." In this, he has two versions... the "must poo must poo must poo" dance, and the "I pood I pood I pood" dance.

The pre-poo dance is one where he dashes back and forth like a ping pong ball between two irratic players until he's worked himself into a poo-frenzy. At that point, he's built up enough internal inertia to expel his waste products with gusto.

Once he has freed himself of the weight and discomfort of poo, Zeus must run about in circles in exaultation. Apparently the great relief and sense of accomplishment is more than his poodle-self can contain and he must run in random directions at full speed and intensity to dispel the excess energy.

Frankly, I could do with less dynamic pooing... just go out, walk around for a bit, squat, then step away to allow "Dad" to clean up. That's what I want.... not some modern dance version of "freak out"!

29 lbs of fuzzy luv!

picture from http://www.firehow.com/

Zeus made it through another vet visit being admired, fauned over, and generally pampered. He was very well behaved and has a clean bill of health!

At 16 weeks he's 29lbs... that's 10 lbs of weight gain in one month! EEEP!

Our little boy is growing up so fast!

What a difference 4 weeks make!

Nothing shows off how much someone has grown by photos and marking on the bathroom door frame. As the whole doorframe thing is passe for dogs, we decided to do photos on the same park bench, about once a month, to show Zeus' growth.

That is a lot more than just "foofie hair" in size difference :)

Loose Leash Training



image from http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/fuuYTY0DTOk-dog-training-how-to-loose.aspx

Last night the new training we were given for the week was "Loose Leash Training". This involves walking with a large quantity of tiny treats, your hand down so that your puppy is nibbling at your fingers while walking beside you. If you can keep his attention on the reward, he doesn't bound about. Eventually, you can use fewer and fewer incentives until just walking with you calmly is incentive enough.

I tried it today on our morning walk. Zeus was fairly receptive to this technique (he is very food motivated). 80% of the walk went very well, though did make the tips of my fingers sore (those baby teeth are sharp). That last 20% (as it was mostly at the end) was not so successful, but for 8/10ths of a mile the boy was very well behaved and pulled very infrequently.

I am encouraged!

Rooting for the Relatives!

We will be recording the Westminster Dog Show this Monday and Tuesday to see Zeus's sire, London (MBIS, BISS Ch. Jaset's Satisfaction), compete for best in breed, best in "non-sporting" category, and possibly Best in Show!

Sitting Pretty

There is no denying it... we have a BEAUTIFUL poodle. He is truly growing up fast and becoming a stunningly striking dog. We have people calling from across the street with we're out with him to tell us we have a beautiful dog.

15 weeks old, just from the groomer

My vanity is a bit bruised by the fact that the dog is far more striking and beautiful to the general public than myself. Playing 2nd fiddle to a dog is not something I'm used to.

He is learning "the walk", though he can't seem to manage it more than 5 minutes at a time, and he is still a bit obtuse about acknowledging his name. Still, he's improving... and too damn smart... and completely convinced of his own right to be catered too (trying to break him of that).

All in all, I'm quite enamored with our little black sheep... and I know he won't be "little" that much longer!

Walkies!

Zeus is finally learning the subtle secrets of "the walk" -- that is, he gets a lot farther if he isn't spinning, pulling, darting off, turning around, crossing in front of me, lagging behind me, and in general not acting like a wild animal. The secret? Clicker and a pocket full of tiny treats. Oh, the difference a treat makes!

He is still a crazy dog going in and out of the house. Yesterday he half-pulled me down the stairs, much to the detriment of my knee, but we are beginning to work on that. We've had two long walks now that went fairly well, so he's catching on. In a month or so, I think he will be a pleasure to walk. We have to try it in different areas -- we have one local neighborhood that we are using which provides about a mile of walking (about all I can currently stand, and just about enough for the beast). Dogs being dogs, however, it takes them a while to connect the dots that rules for walking in one place are rules for walking in ALL places.

Bigger and Fuzzier, but no less puppy

Zeus is growing fast... and I do mean FAST. We will need to get another picture of him tomorrow on the park bench so we can have a record of his growth... WEED! He's Part WEED!

We have become less attached to the "no accidents in the house" as he ages.. of course, we are also not having as many... and a missed "half hour" no longer results in an automatic puddle. Zeus is also becoming more communicative about needing to go out.

One negative is that he's becoming a "nipper"... we're going to have to figure out how to stop that behavior before it becomes ingrained!

He is learning how to cuddle on the couch... I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Zeus Has His First "Bad Boy" Moment

It's partly my fault, this incident, but I was still surprised. I gave Zeus his lunch without standing over him -- I went about 8 feet away to do a little work while he inhaled his food. Just as he finished eating, our two male cats wandered by and -- zoom! -- Zeus was bounding around trying to play with them. Ben took off and got away, but Cal was trapped in a corner near the pet gate. I went after Zeus, and in the split second the puppy's attention was turned, Cal took off down stairs. I wasn't within grabbing range when Zeus took off after him. The stairs USED to be an impediment so I didn't think to close the pet gate.

So, I get to chase one excited puppy down the stairs and into the kitchen. Once there, I clapped my hands together sharply and said "Bad Boy!" Amazingly enough, Zeus took off back UP the stairs. I emphasized with some more claps (remember, puppy attention spans are all of 10 seconds long), but he was no longer impressed by the time I caught up with him and began scouting all over the upstairs room. I finally grabbed him and put him in his crate (stairs are no easy feat for me!) so I could recover.

I know these weeks will be full of tests, but I like to think the loud clap and "Bad Boy" might make some sort of impression our our pig headed poodle.

18 Pounds of Puppy Perfection

 

image from http://www.bestbullysticks.com/

 Zeus is officially 18 lbs at 12 weeks of age. The vet is quite pleased with his growth, weight, features, etc. He is, to all observation, in perfect health.

This is very good news, and as he's had his 2nd booster shots and his kennel cough vaccination he will soon be able to meet with other healthy dogs without as much concern!

Of course, I look forward to not havi monthly vet visits... is a lot of $$$ on a very small budget.

Maybe I've been doing the walk wrong!

image from http://www.training-puppies.net/

Over the last couple weeks I've been walking Zeus, he's become more and more resistant to "the walk", especially since the snow when we can't give him easy roaming. We've also had to be very cautious on our walks not to let him sniff or nose areas other dogs have used, especially pooped, because his immune system is not yet up to snuff. This has led me to make our walks more "marches" than "fun explorations" together, and Zeus is beginning to resist having any tension on his leash out of habit. (he may want to go out and pee, but if I pull on the leash he will automatically plant his paws and resist)

So, what to do? I want walks to be fun and enjoyable for both of us while still enforcing that I am the pack leader. Today I decided to bring a crumbled dog treat with me and every time Zeus dug in his heels, I turned his attention to doing tricks (sit, down, up, etc.) and rewarded him with a treat for doing them. This distracted him from "resisting the walk" and we'd get another 50-100 feet before he remembered "no, I don't WANT to go where you want to go!" We repeated this pattern, going way past where we normally got without any need to drag him.

I did end up dragging him the last 50 feet or so because the end of the road had two houses with barking dogs that kept Zeus from focusing... but beyond that, the whole walk went without a "drag". YAY!

Paper means Pee!

Zeus is doing fairly well. He still gets whiny when one of us (mostly Jay) leaves him in his crate or pen, even if the other (mostly me) is still in the room. If we are both there, all is peace. However, Jay has to go back to work and that means I'm on puppy duty.

Today, we went for a quick potty run out front, he squatted and then got interested in ice and a dog down the street. I needed to work upstairs, so upstairs we went. Our washer and dryer are upstairs just after the stair landing, and a paper towel had drifted there quite innocently. Well, Zeus was raised to piddle on shredded paper, so he sauntered over to the paper towel and -- produced more pee! I corrected him (without shouting or kicking or being mean) and out we went again, where he -- yes -- PEED again.

Our puppy is made of pee, curls, and dog biscuits.

Puppy in Snow!

But of course we'd have 5-6 inches of snow within the first week of our bringing Zeus... still not having "the walk" down, nor house training completed, we must suddenly face weather that confuses and beguiles the puppy. Yay, Universe! Thy sense of humor is most sadistic!

Actually, Zeus has done fairly well... the hardest part of the snow walking and pottying is that the kids playing outside are screaming and distracting and the people driving are scary as hell (very few people in South Carolina can manage intelligent driving on snow and ice). We cleared an area to the left of the driveway where he normally pees per the suggestion of our friend Lori, and Zeus has used that spot all day.

Walks are somewhat out of the question... it was never over 29 degrees F today, and the poor little guy ended up shivvering any time we went for a walk. (it is a very wet snow, and been sleeting all day)

Poodle Parent Paranoia Ping Pong

On Tuesday, Sherri had her poodle parent freakout -- fearing she won't love the puppy and she will not have the patience to deal with him. She moved past that. Wednesday I had my poodle parent freakout when the puppy decided to start doing dominance play with me.

Three days and he's decided I'm not Alpha?!? What have I done wrong? Why am I considered weak? Fret. Worry. Panick.

Naturally, I've also moved past that... and I've spent my day analyzing how I walk with the puppy, how I play with the puppy, etc. and have made adjustments to my behavior. It seems to be working.

To make certain nothing happens to the Zeus due to our fears and concerns and moments of frustration or fear, Sherri and I have agreed we will alternate whom is freaking out so that one of us is stable at all times :D
I am happy to report that he doesn't appear to have "separation anxiety". We seem to be doing all the right things to prevent that :)

Measure everything by success

photo from
http://thedogshamanblog.wordpress.com

I'm amazed at how "let down" I felt this evening when Zeus peed in the house this evening. I'm not sure whether I was more disappointed in us for breaking the "every 30 minute" routine because everything had gone so well today, or whether I was upset that Zeus didn't seem to give the "I must pee" signals.

I must remember that house training takes 2-3 weeks (on average) with diligent effort. We've only just finished 3 full days with Zeus in the household. As such, I try to look at the positive... we managed 40 hours without an accident! That's pretty good for a 10 week old puppy!

Test of the Poodle

So far, in 3 1/2 days, I've loved, hated, worried about, regretted, adored, fawned over and despaired over our new puppy. Apparently this is all quite normal, analogous to having a new baby, in that suddenly there are a lot of demands being made by a small, cute, inarticulate but VERY vocal small creature that requires I obey its demands or it will shit and pee on all I own.

This makes for a complicated emotional mix.

So far, I have neither flung myself from a rooftop or made cute little black fur slippers. This bodes well for all concerned. However, I'd forgotten just how testing a new puppy can be, as it has been several years since I had an actual baby dog and the ones I had were outdoor-only (by parental decree). So, housebreaking is a bit new to me.

Also, we have stairs and the puppy's sleeping and eating spot are on the second floor. Zeus, with his demitasse cup sized bladder, must go outside about every 1/2 hour (while he's awake and active, at least). I am very tired, but I look forward to FABULOUS glutes in a few weeks.

Evaluating Puppy Poo

graphic from http://www.bluebuffalo.com/

We love Blue Buffalo pet food, which we attribute to our eldest kitty's incredible decrease of dependence on insulin. She has, unfortunately, had very fluid bowel movements over the last couple months (nearly since we started using BB). We thought it was her change in insulin, as she swapped to the new brand about the same time, but Zeus started having identical liquid poo the day after he started on BB. Some quick research online, not certain if it was his food, stress, or change that caused this, we found that some dogs and cats have responded to the dry BB foods with very loose stools. Reading several reviews and hitting a few discussion groups, we found out that some people solved the issue by mixing the dry & wet BB foods at meals.

picture from http://www.pawshpal.com/

We tried, and his stools have progressively returned through each session to solid... not hard, but well formed. I NEVER thought I would be evaluating puppy and be happy to find soft-yet-solid feces. As this appears to have worked for the puppy, we are following up with Ophelia by feeding her more of the wet food through the day... the initial results seem positive.

Great Expectations

Poor Zeus. He has such demanding parents.

Actually, we are a bit over demanding in some areas for a 9 week old puppy. It has been so many years since we had a puppy to traing, we'd forgotten all the challenges of House Training.

Oh boy.

Also, we have very long flight of stairs between floors -- which an adult dog could be expected to climb regularly, but a nine week old of a breed with the danger of hip issues?!? Not so much. We've decided to have Zeus climb the stairs only 3 times per day for now -- for each meal. His potty runs (every 30 minutes... ugh) will be a carry fest *groan*. When get gets over 20 lbs that's going to be a challenge. Of course, when he gets to 25 lbs he should be big and old enough to do the stairs without concern.

Puppy Saves Neighborhood from Fire!

from http://www.electricianin.com/

Sunday evening, Zeus, our new puppy, prevented what might have been a disaster at our neighborhood. Apparently there was a short at the top of one of the power poles that was arcing into the wood and started a small fire at the top of the pole. It couldn't be seen easily as it was very small (but growing). Because I walked the puppy under the power pole, the puppy was immediately attracted to the interesting charred, glowing embers on the ground. At first I thought it was a lit cigarette someone had thrown out the car window, so I stamped it out before the little boy could get his mouth on it... but it didn't "feel" like a cigarette -- so I looked up and thought, "There shouldn't be a soft red, flickering glow at the top of that power pole."


I called the power company and they are out there now repairing the pole... had to shut off power to the neighborhood so they could safely work on the pole... and now the fire is much larger than it had been when I first walked the dog there.

So our puppy is a bonified hero (sorta)! :)

PS. if you're wondering how I can be posting this while the power is off in our neighborhood... we have a UPS on our router and cable modem... so we have about an hour of connectivity before we lose our "wired" connnection to the internet (the cell phones can still get one regardless)

PPS. discovered the fire was started by an unfortunate squirl who unwittingly became the "ground" for from the power wire to the pole -- poor squirl!

Welcome Zeus!

January 02, 2011, Zeus, our standard poodle puppy, came home with us. He was the result of a most unusual combination of nature and nurture. Our breeder, Bev, of Calisun Starndard Poodles, mated her dam Sunny with Aris sire London to produce a litter of 11 puppies. All black, all beautiful, and way too much for one dam to produce milk for. Bev's younger dam, Lilly, was mated at nearly the same time and had her litter the same weekend as Sunny, but had only four surviving puppies. Two of the puppies from Sunny's litter were transfered to Lilly for rearing. Our Zeus, known as "Big Green Boy" at the time, was one of the Sunny/London puppies raised by Lilly.

Bev has been a loving, dedicated, professional, (if possibly over cautious) breeder and I believe our puppy could not have been welped and reared by a better one. She worked hard to match the temperament of the puppy to our lifestyle.

We are determined to do our best to raise the perfect, balanced dog. As such, we have prepared his space near our bedroom, made sure the cats have their spaces preserved, and have plenty of time available to us for the next few weeks to make it through these beginning days of puppy needs.

Thus far we have learned that he does try to tell us he needs to go out... and if we don't listen we get a piddle. We only understand his warnings half the time. Still, for a 9 week old poodle puppy to already be working to tell us "I need potty now" is quite amazing to me.

In the past 24 hours he's had 4 accidents which we could have prevented had we paid attention. His first night was fairly successful... we tired him out with walks and play before going to bed, and took up his water about 2 hours before bed. This allowed him to make it through the night for 7 hours before needing to go potty.

His primary challenge is the stairs. Our staircase is very steep and long. I took him several trips partially carried up the stairs before he was confident enough to climb them himself. He is willing to go down short flights of stairs, but the full staircase is too intimidating at present.

All in all, he's been a calm, attentive, curious puppy with no inclination to chase the cats. This bodes well!