Happy Birthday Wallace!

He's one year old today. My boy's growing up. Scott says I'm silly, but at least I didn't plan a whole party for him. I just bought him a party hat so I could get a picture.

He decided he would rather eat it than wear it.

More dog tales

Yes, my life does consist of more than my dog, but lately there is a lot to say about him.

First of all, our little boy is growing up. This morning he lifted his leg for the first time and marked a tree. Up until now he has only done the puppy squat to relieve himself. Is that act instinctual? He hasn't been around enough dogs yet to witness others doing it.

Then later this morning, as we were outside again, Wallace found chocolate. Yes, CHOCOLATE! Very bad for a dog. Someone (probably a kid) must have dropped part of their chocolate bar in the side yard. I'm glad I was observant this morning. When I moved Wallace away from the area, at first all I saw was this glob. Honestly, it looked like an old plum or prune or something. I didn't want to touch it. What if it was poop?! But I braved it for my own dog's safety. I scooped a bit up on my finger, sniffed it, and sure enough... chocolate.

Into the house I ran to surf the internet. I had no idea how much he ate. I had no idea how much will poison a dog. This website was a good resource. I can only assume it's milk chocolate. It smells stronger, but it's too light to be dark chocolate, and if it was baking chocolate (the worst for dogs), that would mean someone is out to poison a dog on purpose. No one carries around and eats baking chocolate, so they wouldn't accidentally drop it.

I was worried, but I don't want to be one who runs to the vet for every little event. Especially because you then come into unknowingly high bills way too fast. The website said I could use hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting. I gave him one teaspoon, he heaved a lot, but no dice. Another does after 15 minutes, hardly any heaving... is he already used to it? I kept him in the bathroom for a while hoping he would vomit on the linoleum instead of the carpet. No go. He seemed fine.

5 minutes later... yes... on the carpet. I'm thankful for my Bissell Little Green Machine. Worked like a charm.

It's now more than 2 hours since the ingestion. He's sleeping peacefully in his cage. I think he's going to be fine.

I would like to pick up some Syrup of Ipecac and activated charcoal, and maybe this book.

Upset

We've been having a really hard time lately trimming Wallace's nails ourselves. He has become very resistant, exhibited mostly in the form of biting. I blame it on his new teeth. That and we don't have the proper restraint system that the groomers have.

So I decided to take him and get them trimmed at a proper place. The place where we got him said they would not charge since we bought him there, so there we went this morning. I knew they had groomers, so I didn't think it would be a problem.

Unfortunately the pet store owner thought he could do better I guess and did them himself. Then he brings out our dog, and within about 10 ft from the door there fell at least four huge drops of blood.

"What happened?" I asked. "Is he okay?"
The owner replies, "No. I can't seem to get it to stop." And he disappears back into the grooming area.

I wanted to cry. I was so sorry I brought my puppy here.

He finally comes out a few minutes later, and it looks like the toes have stopped bleeding. Thankfully it was just two toes. At first it sounded like he clipped all four paws too short. I asked him why he cut them so short, to which he replied, "The quick was just so close on that paw. I barely cut off anything."

He clearly did not listen to my instructions upon giving Wallace to him. "Last week when we tried to trim his nails, we were only able to get one paw done. DON'T TRIM THAT PAW!!"

Now I am afraid to allow him outside to walk on the concrete (he won't just stay in the grass). Currently he is in his wire crate. I want to give his toes extra time to clot before he walks around on the carpet.

Next time we'll just pay the $8 at Petsmart!

Sir Wallace

Wallace did really great while we were gone. We are very thankful for our friends Ryan and Malia who were willing to give Wallace a home and attention in our absence. He gave them potty troubles the first day, but I think he just takes a little time to adjust to new surroundings. He was fine after that.

We sure did miss him. Scott kept wondering if he would forget us. His fears of such were quickly relieved for as soon as we walked in to pick Wallace up. He went crazy! We rushed him outside because he is known to pee when very excited. He must have gone on and on for about 5 minutes just jumping up and licking us repeatedly. It was heartwarming to know how much our puppy loves us.

Wallace's teeth are falling out at record pace. At first it was 3 molars and a fang. I caught him chewing on our bedspread, and as I pulled him away, I saw blood on it. Luckily it's on the underside, so if I can't get it out it won't show at least. By now I think he has pretty much lost all of them. I have found several of them, and I saved them all of course!

I feel bad for the poor guy. His gums must be hurting. He sure has been chewing on everything in sight; things he doesn't normally chew on - like the couch pillows! At least he doesn't cry in the middle of the night like a baby would. I got him a chilly bone. It's made of cloth, you wet it, put it in the freezer for 10 minutes, and he likes it. The bad thing is it's white, so it shows blood.

Wallace didn't forget us, but it did take him time to adjust to us leaving at all again, even if it's just for the grocery store. He didn't know it would only be to the store; to him it's like we're just leaving. He would whimper and whine and yelp. I think we're back to normal now though.

The dog

Disclaimer: If you don't like reading about my dog, then don't read this. It's all about the dog. There's another new post below, so you can scroll to it. These stories are mainly for my mom since she is so attracted to the idea of having a grand-dog :-) That, and I just like to talk about him. We don't have a baby yet to talk about so this is my substitute!

Wallace got his rabies shot, and it was no big deal. He didn't even whimper, much less know he even got a shot. Shoot, I could hardly tell when the vet did it.

I really like the vet so I guess we'll stay with him. He even said to give us 20% off because he goes to Prestoncrest church too! But, the lady who gave us the bill I guess didn't see the note. I wasn't going to ask because that just felt weird. But I might ask next time for them to apply it to the next bill. I also like the fact that he doesn't charge for an office visit when you just go in for shots. That saves a lot of money. He makes up for it though with his neutering charge. He wants $179 to do Wallace!! I think I will find somewhere else to do that task. My friend in OK says her vet would charge $60, so we could use that as an excuse for a road trip, and the difference would more than pay for the gas.

We got him started on heartworm medicine too. I would have done it earlier, but I thought he had to have a test first. The mosquitoes have been really bad, probably from all the rain. I get at least 2 bites a day now, depending how many times Wallace has to go outside.

Dare I say anything about the housebreaking progress? Last time I bragged on him, he peed on the bedspread! He hasn't had any house accidents in over a week. After he was groomed, he seemed to take a step backwards, peeing everywhere, and it was discouraging. I started giving him treats for doing good again, and he's on a roll. That is, if we see him go to the stairs. He still has no interest in ringing a bell on his own. He just sits and waits for us at the bottom of the stairs. If we don't see him go down them, he will have poop accidents. I don't count those because he did his part (except for ringing the bell :-). I have since weaned him off the treat rewards again, so we'll see if he continues the good progress.

One more story... He also should get an award for best travel dog of the year! We bought a chain that creates a seat belt with his harness so he can ride in the car's seat instead of in his crate. He did so awesome! We just put towels down to protect the seats and occasionally had to distract him with Mr. Bear or the rope. Half of the time he would konk out and sleep all nestled there or with his head in between our seats so he could feel the breeze of the A/C. He didn't whimper or whine. I had to use self-control not to pick him up and hold him sometimes though. If I did so I was afraid he would whine next time.

My little old man

Wallace got his first haircut on Tuesday. Scroll down two posts to see the before shots. We went in just for the puppy trim (nails, ears, face, feet, butt), but there was another 4mo old Schnauzer there who had just gotten the full groom, and she was so adorable, I couldn't help but pay $12 more. These are the best after shots I have gotten so far. He is so soft and cute. He goes in for his first vet visit on Thursday. Time for the rabies shot... poor guy. Unlike the puppy shots I have been giving him, that one goes in the muscle and will hurt.




Remember when he was tiny?

He's growing too fast

And he needs a haircut.



I love this picture of Wallace.


Also here is a cute expression on my nephew, Little Chris from when we went to Austin last month. Wallace liked to play with him. Chris would chase him but then get scared when Wallace would lick or jump on him.

War Casualty

Tug of War, that is.


I found a flea on Wallace last week. I'm sure he got them from being outside. I just hadn't gotten around to buying the Frontline yet. Grabbed some and they (few) were dead by the next morning. Spent Saturday researching carpet sprays, purchasing them and spraying the apartment. We didn't have any yet that were noticeable, but it was important to catch them before they hatched. We did a thorough job, getting underneath the couches and bed, spraying the furniture and washing many loads of laundry. Yuck!

Anyway, we threw out the orange Mr. Bear since he slept with it in his crate. We got this new blue one for him, but I don't think it's going to last long either the way he treats it. Of course, this was with Scott's help :-)

Did I speak too soon?

Well, I had to go home over lunch because Scott locked himself out of the apartment. Naturally I let Wallace out of his crate, but I did not take him outside right away. What was I thinking?

I took him in the bedroom to say hi to daddy. He jumped out of my arms and onto the bed. Right as I went to pick him up I noticed a familiar stance. The squat. Sure enough he peed on our bedspread (and of course it says dry clean only). I ran for the paper towels and soaked it up, sprayed the area with the odor neutralizer and then some febreeze. We'll see what it's like later. So I let Wallace down and I was helping Scott with something. Then Scott went in the living room, and I hear "I found a turd... and another turd." All I could do was giggle because I knew it was all my own fault for not taking Wallace outside in the first place. Plus, poops are much easier to clean up than pee spots.

Anyway, I've seen this quote online several times as I've been reading about puppies. I can't find the exact link at the moment, but here is the quote. Some people think it's good to hit dogs on the nose with a newspaper when they do something wrong. This quote tells you what you should really do with that newspaper:

A rolled up newspaper can be an effective training tool when used properly. For instance, use the rolled-up newspaper if your dog chews up something innappropriate or has a housebreaking accident. Bring the dog over to the destroyed object (or mess), then take the rolled-up newspaper... and hit yourself over the head as you repeat the phrase,"I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG, I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG!"

Visitors and puppy routine

We were blessed to have Randy and Brianna Carroll and their three kids over for dinner last night. They have been missionaries in Germany for 6 years and are currently beginning the second and last month of their furlough. Lucky for us, they were able to include us in their itinerary for a few hours. I treated them to some homemade Mexican food since it is a rare treat for them. Randy especially liked the fresh guacamole. The visits are always way too short, but it was an encouraging time for all. I was so surprised too how well their kids take to being in a new place all the time. They made themselves right at home from the moment they walked in the door. They especially liked our big bed. Now I wish I could get to Germany again and visit them. (Photo borrowed from their flickr page.)

Wallace and I have developed a morning routine. I get up about 7:30 and take him potty. Then we come back in and he literally scarfs down his food. The pup eats so fast, you can hear him swallow air. He often gets the hiccups too - it's quite funny. Then he retrieves his favorite orange bear ("Mr. Bear") from his crate and we play fetch. He only lets go of it about two times after retrieving it, and then he likes to growl at me with it in his mouth. I think that means he is ready to play tug of war with it. Incidentally that has required two repairs to Mr. Bear already. I don't know how long he will last.

Wallace is crate trained very well now. He rarely ever whines at us while in his crate, and he hasn't had any accidents in there in quite a long time. He's also growing so fast. Scott had to adjust the piece of wood last night to give Wallace more room in the crate. We're still working on potty training. I bought him a bell to ring, but he could care less about it. For now we just have to watch him close. When he starts sniffing, it's Outside! I think he has told me a few times though that he needs to go. He does a cute pawing thing, or he just runs down the stairs by himself and waits. That's usually only first thing in the morning though. But at least we're getting there. I bought a compact carpet cleaner that gets spots up pretty well. I used it for the first time yesterday in preparation for our visitors. I'm pleased with it so far.