Hello COVID-19 Warriors! Day #197. Happy Birthday BUSTER! 3 months today! And he just got a bunch of presents for his birthday! First one is the Snuggle Puppy. It has an electronic heart beat. Not sure he will need it, but we’ve only been together for 15 days, so who knows what’s in store!
I also got a bag of Bully Sticks. I gave him the smallest one which was about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide and he has been chewing on it for 1/2 hour and has not lost interest yet. OMG – what a reprieve! I think I may need to take it away from him at some point, but right now I have Metaxa on my lap and I’m blogging without a puppy biting at my toes!!!!!!!!!!!! Subsequently read on line that 10 minutes at a time is best for the bully stick. It could upset his belly, but fortunately it did not.
The other thing I got for his birthday and for ME is this:
I love it because it matches the back gate and has a door in it. I was afraid Buster was going to jump over the shorter wooden one because he was really trying to do that. This one is very versatile. It can be reconfigured to use as an inside play pen. I think the size of the kitchen works for that, but you never know what will be needed in the future, plus this one is very light weight – 31 pounds and the little screw tops are easy to use to tighten and untighten to move it around. He’ll never be able to jump it. Only problem now is that Metaxa will need to go around to her food through the guest bathroom rather than hopping over the wooden fence.
Speaking of Metaxa:
She is using this bed to keep away from Buster. Note the box of bandaids in the foreground. I need to buy more!!!!!!!
I may use the wooden fence to just block off the den door or bedroom door if I want to keep him out. Right now, I’m just keeping the doors closed and have moved out into the living room and dining room. Here is another picture of my newest best friend:
This shows the gate for access. I’m keeping it open for the moment but will close it when I want to contain him and do some training. All of this stuff was supposed to come tomorrow so I’m so glad that they came today. Oh and also this came:
Real grass. All he has done so far is eat it, but I think it will be better for him to eat than the plastic astro turf. On second thought – so alcoholic! I’ve decided to cancel this subscription. Why would he pee there when there is no grass in my part of AZ. So no reason to get him to get used to it and all he wanted to do was eat the grass anyway. But this astro turf thing is not working either. He still holds it and just comes inside and does his “thing”. I’m wondering what is next? Last night we went for about a 5 minute walk – he pulls too hard on the leash – training needed! But he did not go through the “zoomies” last night so I’m going to try to tucker him out in the evening so maybe that will help control it. I have a ZOOM meeting today and perhaps I can get a couple of answers. I posed a question for it so we’ll see.
Jenn sent me this picture of Sammy:
Look at his Harness: Look familiar?
I have subsequently changed his harness to another black one that I had for the cats and it doesn’t bother him at all. I think the blue one will be better when it cools down here. Right now it is still too hot in the afternoons. I am grateful for the fact that he doesn’t mind a collar and a harness. I keep them on him all of the time, although they suggest taking it off when he sleeps. So far (3 nights now) it doesn’t seem to bother him in the crate. I am also seeing that he doesn’t mind touching everywhere on his little body. Some puppies have trouble with that. He seems happy with all of it. We’ll see how he does next Thursday (Bill’s birthday on the 22nd) when he gets his first bath and slight trim.
We had a fit of ZOOMIES this morning. Upset me, Metaxa and Buster. He has worked it out and is now sleeping on the floor by the gate in the kitchen. Metaxa is on my lap looking at him. Probably figures he’s a NUT JOB!!!! It upsets him when I YELL at him. But I’ve been told, dogs hold no judgement and forgive right away. I hope that is true because I want him to be a nice dog and not mean. I believe his personality is basically calm. Time will tell and there are always bandaids!
Yesterday we were doing this:
Metaxa found the cat bed I put on the table for her. She was sleeping in it this morning. I hope she begins to use it during the day to keep away from Buster. He riles her up at times too.
Trying a new harness. He steps into it and I pull it around him. He walks on the leash easier with it. The other “cat” one I had fit over his head and was getting too tight and he hated it coming over his head. So now it is off of him except when we go out. It is still too hot to go outside. The road is hot on his feet and the sun is still too hot and it is 5PM. We’ll take a walk tonight after the sun goes down and it may prevent the Zoomies. I don’t think he knows how to tell me he needs to go out. We’re still working on that. It’s a challenge.
I want to keep this:
https://youtu.be/bn1nGZ9MgzQ
This is a great video on biting puppies which I have one of those!
Halloween at Bette & Suzan’s:
We were discussing this today and we were talking about it as it relates to a new puppy. I have never been one to decorate – no kids, not a school teacher etc – so this is what a mama & teacher (Suzan) does for their house. We were also saying that this year will be a bust due to COVID! Who would trust their kid going to people’s houses, so I don’t think I have anything to worry about.
Buster and I did about 5 minutes in this today:
That was about all he could take, so my thinking about walking to the trash with him and then carrying him back in the “Outward Hound” is a bit of a stretch right now. I just need to realize he is a little bitty puppy and my expectations have been too much for him at this point. I need to slow it down for his and my own sake.
SO this is what I did with the other barrier I had:
It blocks off the den and Metaxa can jump over the fence to get into the den. I found her in the corner of the piled up chairs looking for some private time. This way I can still get to the printer when I need it without having to let Buster onto the carpet. I may do something like this for the bedroom, but I don’t think that will be necessary. One of these nights I’m going to move back to the bedroom while he sleeps in his crate. Not sure when “I’ll” be ready for that. My couch is pretty comfortable to sleep on.
So I heard about “Bully Sticks” from my friend Carolyn of Carolyn’s RV Life on YouTube like I mentioned above. She is training her puppy Sadie. So Sadie loves them and I thought I would try them. So this morning I was telling Suzan and Bette about how wonderful they are and Suzan burst my bubble – kind of. She told me what they were made of which is unpleasant, but at least it’s 100% Beef: Preparation can vary from sun dried to oven baked or smoked. At the end of the process you have the bully stick – a very hard, long brown stick (30-40 inches) which is then cut into smaller pieces for consumption as a dog treat. Authentic bully sticks are made from 100% beef (the only ingredient is the bull penis). YIKES! Oh well. Doesn’t discount the fact that he LOVES it.
