Their Two Cents

By Mrs. Sanchez

Many people have been putting in their two cents about how to raise Oso. Believe it or not even people who see us walking on the street, feel the need to tell me what I am doing wrong.


It is frustrating.

1) We are trying.

2) We are doing the best we can.

3) We can't follow everyone's advice - It's conflicting

4) We feel ok with how it's going. I think he's going to be just fine.

We had an amazing day today. Post with pictures to follow!

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Pasanita Obedience Club

By Mrs. Sanchez

Oso's first night at Pasanita Obedience club - VERY helpful!


See my review, here

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Days at the Park

By Mrs. Sanchez

Oscar and I took Oso to the park today. We had each been separately, but it was fun to go together. We are working on Oso not pulling on the leash and that slowed us down quite a bit while on the sidewalk (and is not pleasant at all), but running on the grass with him is so fun. He is such a little cutie!





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The First Snuggle

By Mrs. Sanchez


Tipsy allowed Oso to snuggle with him for a few minutes. Definitely a start...



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First Day at Daycare

By Mrs. Sanchez




So, Oso had his first day at Doggy daycare yesterday. They say they have about 5 dogs a day and take him on two walks a day. "They" being the nice couple who runs the place. "They" also sent me pictures throughout the day.

Oscar and I had mixed emotions the whole day. The house felt so empty without little Oso running around in it, but we were able to get a lot done (at least for the hours we weren't working). Overall, I think it was nice.

We picked up the little boy and he was exhausted. And then, dun, dun ,dun we find that our precious baby who we try to take such good care of has a SPLINTER or a CACTUS PRICK (we aren't sure which). We do our best to get it out, it wasn't in the paw which is good, it was on his side. We got the tweezers and soap and cue tip and dug away into our poor baby. He was even bleeding, but was so tired after a couple initial little cries he fell asleep during the process. We then took him to In N Out, where he got to sit on my lap while he watched us eat. He almost got a lick of Oscar's burger, so we joked that it was all over now that he knows what human food tastes like. I'm not sure about that. We initially felt that we would never bring him back to that sweet little doggy daycare again. I'm looking into other options and there is a chance we'll go back. It seems better than a lot of its competitors. There is still another one which looks promising and I'd prefer we try that right now.

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Puppy Play Time

By Mrs. Sanchez

Puppy play time at our local Petco is a fun time of the week for both Oso and me. We've been 3 times now and Oso experienced a huge turn around in terms of his comfort level with other dogs. I feel so happy that our local Petco offers this. Bailey, the trainer, is just wonderful and I am able to bring Oso about 3x a week. I called around all our other Petco's and ours is the only one who offers it on a regular basis.

5 REASONS I LOVE PUPPY PLAYTIME

1) It gets Oso comfortable with other doggies.
2) It is just so cute to see all the little puppies playing with each other.
3) It is a lesson for both Oso and me as to how dog play looks versus dog fighting.
4) The same people are there day to day, week to week. It's socialization for me as well!
5) Oso gets to exert energy with his friends for 30 minutes to an hour. It is difficult to exercise him when you are scared about diseases everywhere. At puppy playtime, I sit back and watch the cuteness as Oso tire himself out.

My mother loves to watch videos of puppy playtime, so I have continued to take video footage.

Day1 - Shy Oso

Day 2 - Courageous Oso, Having fun!
*We saw a marked difference in Oso's interest in other dog's after Day 1. When he saw dog's on the street he would be so eager to go see them. With adult dogs he takes a submissive pose and wags his tail licking them all over. Most of the dogs love it, but some get annoyed. His energy level is amazingly high!


Day 3 - This video was taken specifically for my mom! Still fun for Oso.

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Oso's First Walk - To Charlie's Restaurant

By Mrs. Sanchez




Oscar and I took Oso on his first walk almost a week ago, on November 6, 2011.

We went to a local coffee shop and showed him off to the owner, the sweetest woman whose name I can never remember. She knows us though and we know her, it is a happy small business relationship.

At first Oso was pulling and biting at the leash, stopping to sniff, etc. I looked at Oscar and said, "What would Cesar Millan do?" We both realized at the same time - assertive calm. So, we focused on our assertive calm attitude and put off conversation through the walk. Our sweet boy caught on pretty quickly.

We all enjoyed our rainy day walk and thanks to Auto timer, I got my favorite shot of the three of us as of yet.






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Oso the Snuggler

By Mrs. Sanchez

One of the things that attracted us to this energetic and beautiful breed was their love of cuddling. Oso is no exception. He strives to get his face closest to yours, that second photo was not posed, the cutie snuggled up to me cheek-to-cheek. We will see how much we love this cuddling as he gets bigger. But, I imagine it will be no problem.




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Trip to Mike & Anne's

By Mrs. Sanchez

Oso went to his first restaurant yesterday.

It was a love/hate experience. He initially loved it and then hated it. Oscar wanted to bring him and with only a little trepidation, I agreed (it is 5 minutes from our home).

Mike & Anne's is one of our local South Pasadena joys. Oscar loves breakfast here and I enjoy the lunch. Their sweet potato fries are delicious.

Oso lasted for about 10 minutes and then I took him back to the house. He began our "meal" by keeping himself busy with sniffing the bushes, knocking over his water and getting his kong and bully stick as dirty as possible. He concluded his adventure by repeatedly walking through the cast iron gate onto the restaurant side of the patio, whining and then yelping loudly for attention.

Oso fell asleep on the way back to the car and settled in nicely to the crate before I returned to finish my meal with Oscar. He isn't ready for dining with us yet. I think he could do it if in my lap, but then who would allow that? Did I mention that I took him to Bank of America, shoe shopping and to a clothing store that morning? Poor Oso... we really need to go on a walk with him. I'm sure he's looking forward to finishing his vaccinations so I can put him down on the ground in more dog-heavy spots.

Here is a couple photos from our venture. I forgot my phone, but Oscar let me use his phone to get a couple shots.



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Being a Tree

By Mrs. Sanchez


I am going to do my best to practice this today. Aside from Oso's incredible cuteness, he goes through random periods of jumping on us and tearing our clothes. The ENTIRE day will be dedicated to this.

I'm ready to wear some clothes that are able to get ripped. Actually, I"m preparing to wear shorts.

Here's a picture for the day: "Oso's Crazy Face" - he was much milder a week ago, but still had the crazy face!


UPDATE:

No need for shorts. Just another reminder, this is all about the parenting. Oso did great today. I simply yelled "ouch" VERY very loudly when he bit my shoes or clothes and he stopped and looked at me completely shocked. Every time I was a tree, he simply stopped jumping. We are using the clicker now and he is responding extremely well.

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Oso the Service Dog

By Mrs. Sanchez

Oso met my grandmother on Saturday. I was unsure as to whether I should bring him, but am so glad that I did.

I brought him primarily for my Grandma. I knew she would want to meet him, but I did not realize how much fun it would be for him. He raced through the rooms, saw himself for the first time in a full length mirror, barked at his reflection, growled, played with it and then fell asleep with my 94 year old grandma. He cuddled with her for almost 45 minutes. She was SO very happy!



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Oso Got His Second Set of Vaccinations

By Mrs. Sanchez

I brought toys and treats and had each vet tech he met feed him the good stuff (freeze dried liver). He did really great! He cried when they put the vaccination in, but he immediately got good stuff later. He saw some big dogs while we were leaving and wanted to go play. He fought going back in the car. It was a good experience overall. :)

*He got Parvo, Distemper and dewormed and is officially 10 weeks old as of today and he weighs 9 pounds.

**Photos are blurry as I used the iphone (I didn't expect to take photos!!)





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Picking up the Poop

By Mrs. Sanchez



I write with you about this subject with a certain degree of shock. Am I really writing concerning picking up the poop?

Well, this was an epiphany for me when it came to living respectfully with a dog in an apartment complex.

Oso has not fulfilled his vaccination schedule yet and therefore needs to poop in the courtyard, versus outside the courtyard, a very dog busy zone. Since Oso is a puppy, the quality of his poop varies from dry to wet (sometimes in the course of a single day). At first, I was very concerned that poop residue was being left on the grass and would make our courtyard less enjoyable for the other residents. I brought water out every time after he went poop and flushed the area.

I then found, da da da daaaaa, the paper towel!! When Oso squats to go poop, I simply lay down the paper towel under his back legs and walah! I fold up the towel, toss it in the trash. No trying to get it all, no grabbing it, no flushing it with water!

The grosses of my posts (I hope), yet a wonderful epiphany I had in my experience at raising Oso.

That being said, Oso hasn't pooped inside since Day1. And he rings his bell regularly!

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Toys and Staying Sane

By Mrs. Sanchez

The first two days that Oso joined our family were rough. My husband and I thought he was very cute, but were astounded at how exhausted we were. Oso was only waking up once during then night and not crying at all to go to sleep (naps were different). We were exhausted from the constant high energy required to hold Oso's interest and keep him out of trouble.


We started with only a few chew toys. My mother came to visit over the weekend and immediately said he needed more toys. To my surprise, after we came back he entertained himself for quite a while with the new toys.

This had NEVER happened for such an extended period. My husband and I had to be on him 100% of the time when he was awake - training him, making up games for him and playing with him. Toys kept him out of trouble and kept us sane.

We could actually check the email with new toys or cook dinner. This is something I was not aware of as a new puppy parent.

While I do not advocate letting your puppy play solely with toys (as this would prevent important training and bonding time with his people), I feel independent play is vital to the health of the family.

Here is Oso with his new toy after my mom visited:


I just came back with new loot from Petsmart. It is like magic. :)

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Bedtime Story

By Mrs. Sanchez

I was surprised to find myself telling an Oso a bedtime story to go to sleep last night.


Oso typically wakes up in the middle of the night to go potty. After that, we let him snuggle in our bed a bit before putting him to bed in his crate. Well, night before last he was digging and keeping everyone awake, trying to play, etc.

I decided it may be not be the best decision to keep him in bed and last night we should just put him back in the crate. I threw a bunch of food in there (as his kong was soiled from a mid-day bm in crate disaster) and he kept himself busy for a few seconds before realizing what had happened.

Then came the whining. Although we do NOT like to hear the whining (it's a minor form of torture), my fear came from the next step after the whining - the yelp. It is so loud that he would possibly wake up neighbors on all side of us (we are apartment dwellers).

As I was telling my husband this concern, Oso stopped whining. "Your voice," my husband says. "He stops crying when he hears your voice." So off I go in a low tone talking about a pink magic dragon the size of a housefly.

I strangely enjoyed telling this story. Not only did I talk Oso to sleep, but myself as well. When did the story end? I'm not sure.

I never expected to be telling Oso a bedtime story - BUT, it worked like magic.

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