___________VizslaLove___________

Oscar and I were both very tired, but I still appreciate our first almost family photo. Snowball is a bit in the background. We are missing the other two cats. May be a bit longer until we can get them all together.

This is his story:
October, 25, 2011: Chicago, Illinois - Oso was dropped off by his foster mother Michele Sideris at the O'Hare Airport at around 8:00am. He had been sleeping in his crate for four nights so far, but this would be the longest time he would spend in the crate. He wouldn't be landing at LAX until 3:00pm Illinois time, 1:08pm in Los Angeles.

His adopted parents had chosen Tuesday over a Friday delivery so that they could both be there to pick him up at the airport. Unfortunately, they didn't know they could not get him until possibly two hours after the plane landed and if Oscar (his new father came) he would be late for work. His new mom was so looking forward to the ride home with her husband and new puppy, but felt it worked out better this way in the end. Eager to see her puppy, Francine (me - adopted mom) got to the United Cargo section of LAX an hour early and was pleased to find that Oso was ready to come home.

She was shocked at his small size. He was so much cuter than the photos! Francine had brought a bag of dog food, treats, a plastic bag to pick up food and unscented dog wipes. She also brought her camera and a shirt that smelled like Oscar. What stood out most to Francine, other than the absolutely adorable little puppy that was part of her family was the incredible stench coming from the carrier. Poor Oso, of course, could not hold in his poop for so long and was forced to not only poop on himself, but stay in his own excrement. Despite this, Oso was happy and hungry.

Francine walked Oso out to the car, after signing a few papers, and stopped at the only semi grassy area in sight around the airport. At this point she attempted to take Oso out to use the bathroom, to clean him up with the wipes and give him food and water. Unfortunately, Francine had not accounted for the fact that there would be zip ties holding the carrier doors closed. She was at a loss; she couldn't get them open. She gave Oso water through the cage door and tossed the food in there as well, as Oso was yipping at the food and obviously hungry. She made the decision to drive to a store and get some scissors. The first place she saw was a gas station. She got some nail clippers, but they didn't work on the thick zip ties. While getting gas, trying to feed Oso and figure out what to do, she was "harassed" by people trying to get money at the station. At this point, she was also lost - which way was home? Neither the GPS or the iPhone was working. She pulled over at another gas station, trying to free the disgustingly smelly dog. No luck. However, at this point, the gps started working. After a long smelly ride home of Francine singing oldies to Oso and flinging dry dog food into the container, Oso finally fell asleep.

Francine had a plan for how she would introduce Oso to the house and cats, but because of his dirtyness, she had to change plans. It didn't seem like a good idea for him to get the whole house smelling like poop, so brought him straight through the kitties room to the bathroom. Oso wandered around while Francine stripped herselves of most of her clothes and cleaned the disgusting carrier. It took many simple green and paper towels - MANY!! Unfortunately Oso's wash cloth that smelled like his brothers and birth parents had to be trashed. While Francine cleaned out the carrier, Oso explored the puppy-proofed bathroom and chewed on his bully stick. He displayed a healthy curious and happy disposition. Snowball, one of Oso's feline brothers, meowed outside the bathroom the whole time. His other two feline brothers stared curiously. Francine kept popping her head out to reassure them. Oso then got a bath, was wrapped in a towel and then gone over head to toe with baby wipes. He then got to explore the home.

TO BE CONTINUED....

- Officially, it takes an hour or two after the plane lands to get to your little guy. I spoke with three people on the phone and everyone told me it would be pointless to get there before 2 hours. I got there an hour post flight just in case and Oso had been ready and waiting. I would have gone earlier had I known.

- Bring scissors! I was all ready to go with my baby wipes, leash, collar, treats, food, water, etc. However.... I couldn't get Oso out because I didn't have scissors or even a pocket knife to cut open the zip locks with. I didn't realize this until we were already away from the airport (so I couldn't borrow theirs). I stopped at a gas station and got nail clippers, but they didn't work on the bigger ones.

- If you get a towel with the mom and littermates scent on it, make sure the breeder tapes it on top of the carrier. Oso had pooped in his long journey to LAX and the scented towel went straight in the trash.

- A 4 hour flight can have little effect on a puppies personality. Oso was happy and curious and none worse for the wear after a very long traveling experience.

- His breeder got him used to the crate as a "home" several days before the flight. Oso definitely felt like it was his little home.

Looks like he's going through a big headed stage. Looking forward to getting this cutie home.

- Bell

- Notebook/Pencil or Pen

- Treats

- Nature's Miracle

Optional: Timer, Pooper Scooper

"Imagine this: You are an eight-year-old child. You reach to touch a doorknob (a completely normal thing to do in your world) and a family member runs up to you screaming. he takes your head and forces it toward the doorknob continuing to scold. He may smack you on your butt or give you a shake but at no time does he tell you what he wants from you.

Now since you have to touch a doorknob from time to time and you have no idea what the problem is, what do you start to do? How about wait for that person to be somewhere else before you touch the doorknob? Because clearly, he has a big problem with doorknob touching. So whenever he leaves the room, you use the doorknob. Now that person is probably calling you "sneaky," "stupid," "spiteful," and "stubborn." If they come into your room you may lower your head a bit or turn away. Now you'll be accused of "knowing what you did wrong."

This is a puppy's experience with housebreaking. If you yell at him, smack him, or rub his face in his mistake, it will teach him - that you are crazy around urine and feces. It will not teach your puppy to think: Gee, I need to go. I should probably ask the person to let me outside. It will teach your puppy to think, Gee, I need to go. Better get as far away as my person as possible. She has a weird aggression problem.

What can you do? Interrupt the behavior. If you catch your puppy in the act of squatting in the house, make one sudden, loud sound - slap a wall or table with the flat of your hand or make one loud clap - with the goal of startling him into stopping midstream. Then rush him outside, where he is praised for finishing the job. If you find a mistake after the fact? It's too late. Clean up and learn from it.

*This is an excerpt from My Smart Puppy: Fun, Effective and Easy Puppy Training by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson. We bought the kindle version on amazon and downloaded the free Kindle PC program so we can read it on our computer. The book comes with a DVD, an you don't get that on Kindle, but the kindle version only costs $3 and that's worth it for us.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just like with good parenting and teaching, we need to focus on what a child SHOULD do, not what he should NOT do. I would also add, that you should attempt (as best you can) to control your emotions while interrupting a pee, from what I read puppies are very aware of these. Cesar Millan recommends an assertive calm, i think that would be perfect for interruption and then praise good for outside.

I really liked Kilcommon and Wilson's personification and illustration of the effects punitive punishment can have.