___________VizslaLove___________

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.

Via this post here, http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/93181-tree.html

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.

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!

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!!)

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!

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. :)

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.