Growing up fast

Good news, Reno is feeling better! Now that he's gotten a little bigger, Reno and Remmi have become the best of friends. Reno has been observing Remmi's actions on a daily basis since we first brought him home. He's gotten a little bigger and a little more rambunctious and curious.
 
The good thing about having two dogs is that they learn from each other and specifically the second one learns from the first. He began copying her moves recently. Boy am I gad that she is trained because if she wasn't I think we'd have a problem on our hands. Reno knows how to "sit", "shake" and we are working on "stay." He also knows that "hurry up means to go to the bathroom" and "in the house" means to go inside. He's a quick learner and picks up on things pretty easily.

Reno kind of amazes me sometimes at how easy going he is. Last weekend we went out on our boat and brought the pups along with us. While Remmi loves going on the boat, she is very afraid of the water and swimming.  We got out to a spot on Lake George that we wanted to stay in and anchored down. As soon as the boat stopped moving Reno was on the move checking things out. He went right in the water and swam for the first time in deep water! He did great. He swam all day both days while Remmi sat there watching and wondering but not swimming. We tried to get her to come in the water with us since it was a beautiful day but she is more of a land lover than a water dog.


The hubs and I brought both the dogs for a walk yesterday afternoon and although Reno hasn't really been before he did pretty good. He was trying to keep up with his big sis and was doing a good job with it, however, walking on a leash is the one thing Remmi really needs to work on. She pulls like crazy and I don't want Reno learning her bad habits. This morning since it finally wasn't too hot out, I brought Reno for a little walk by himself.  And then I brought Remmi for her longer walk. As annoying as it was to walk them separately, at this point I think it's important for him to learn on his own from me how to walk on a leash. I started late with Remmi and she ended up being a pain in the butt to teach. She still needs some work but has gotten a little better.  I plan on taking Reno more by himself so he can learn the correct way to walk on a leash and then hopefully I'll be able to bring them together and perhaps she will learn from him.

Reno also had his first night sleeping outside his crate. He loves it. I'm really enjoying having two GSD's. 

I could really use some sleep right now

For the past two nights I have gotten little sleep due to our little addition, Reno. Reno had been sleeping through the night quite nicely after our second week together, but as of two days ago he began waking up several times through the night, and by several I really mean every hour on the dot.

I noticed the other night before bed that he kind of exploded when I took him out and that the poop wasn't of normal consistency. I wondered if he was having a bad reaction to the treat I had given him and thought nothing of it really until he woke up every hour that night to go and explode.

Luckily, he had a vet appointment yesterday so I brought along a sample and told them about the change. I kind of knew what to expect and I was right. They found one ringworm egg in his poo and since I told them about the change, they gave me a wormer for him. So I crushed up the pill and put it in his dinner last night, which he gobbled right up.

I remember when Remmi was a pup and she had worms. It was the worst experience ever because I was working and had no idea the poor thing had gotten sick all day. My mom had stopped by for her usual mid-day visit and called me to tell me Remmi had puked in her crate and then she brought her out and she had the liquid poo. Since I was at work and couldn't leave there really was nothing I could do about it. I had a date that night with my grandma that I really didn't want to cancel on either. So when I stopped home after work and Remmi hadn't pooped or thrown up again, I thought that she was fine and it must have been an isolated event. I fed her dinner and played for a bit then went over to grandma's for some dinner myself. By the time I got home that night (because my husband works away from home so no one was here) and walked in the door, I knew something was very very wrong. The smell hit me as soon as I opened the door. And there was liquid poo everywhere. Remmi had exploded some poop all over the carpet and surrounding walls and she was cowering in her crate thinking she was going to get in trouble. The poor thing was covered in poop herself. Everything smelled horrible. I moved the crate outside and set up a bath for Remmi. Put some gloves on (essential to have when you have pets) and got to work giving her a bath on my own. She was covered in poop and didn't like it so she actually let me bathe her for once. She wanted to be clean and gave me a kiss once she was clean-- I like to think of it sort of as a "thank you."  As soon as we were done there I got to work cleaning and deodorizing the crate and the carpet and walls. It was not a fun experience. She woke up every hour that night to poop too. I didn't make it into work the next day. She went to the vet and they didn't find anything wrong with her poop sample I brought. She still was having problems a few days later so I brought some more poop in and then they found the worms. She was immediately put on a strong de-wormer and soon got better.

I guess I was expecting it to work magic right away on Reno, but no such luck. The little guy woke up every two hours last night to release. I guess it's better than every hour like the night before. I sure hope my little one starts feeling better soon!

The First Time

Since the husband and I have had Reno for a few weeks, we figured it was time for the first Vet visit. I set up an appointment for him and brought him in the afternoon for his first check up. I was not quite sure what to expect as the husband was the one who brought Remmi for her first check up.

Reno was wonderful. He did so great and of course, everybody loved him. He was the superstar patient. He was so calm and didn't really seem to mind the poking and prodding and shots.... he just laid there as calm as could be-that is until the doctor tested out his joints.

He squealed in pain each time the doctor tested any one of his joints. It is cause for concern because Shepherds are known to be effected by hip dysplasia and joint problems.  It can be quite costly and devastating if this is the case.  I'm not sure if he squealed because he's a wimp and didn't want the doc pulling on his leg or if there is a problem that is going to be more prevalent as he gets older.

We got Reno from a breeder in VT. They are very sweet people and I don't believe they would have knowingly given us a dog that is not in tip top form. I would like to believe they wouldn't anyway. When we got him they discussed the "hip guarantee" that they offered because they were certain none of the pups would have a problem. The hips on our puppy are guaranteed for 1 year, however, if there is a problem with the hips instead of fixing them (because I don't believe there really is a fix) we would get a new puppy instead.  That sounds all fine and dandy, but we have already bonded with Reno and so has Remmi and to be honest, we don't have a big enough house for another Shepherd.

I'm hoping that all will be fine with Reno in the long run and that perhaps he was just having a rough day and really doesn't have any problems! We are going to have the joints re-tested in 3 weeks when he returns for the rest of his shots. Poor guy. I hope that his poor joints are doing better by then!

Have you ever had a scary first experience at the vet?

Sometimes I think we are Crazy

My husband has been talking about getting another German Shepherd dog for quite some time. I'm not opposed to it, although I am opposed to all the dog hair sticking on the carpet. Yes, I know that sounds silly, but I'm somewhat allergic and my allergies go all haywire sometimes from Remmi so I can't imagine what adding another dog to the mix would do. I have a good vacuum so it's not that, it's just that dog hair gets embedded in carpet. There is no way of getting around it. My condition to getting another dog was that we need to rip out the carpet in the living and dining rooms (the upstairs is carpet free and the dogs don't go into the rooms in the basement). I never thought my hubby would agree to the condition, but then one day he did.

My hubby likes the soft carpet but he wanted another dog more. And then one day about three weeks ago we went and looked at GSD puppies. They stole our hearts. There was one male in particular that my husband was all about, and so we got a puppy!

His name is Reno and he's already a great dog. Remmi loves having a playmate all the time. I'm not going to lie, the first two weeks were REALLY hard. Reno was not crate trained and not house trained which we anticipated but still it was hard to get used to a puppy peeing and pooping in the house again. I think my husband was having a fit. I just kept reminding him that it really doesn't matter since we are taking the carpet out eventually anyway!

Crate training was essential since he wasn't house broken. We didn't want him peeing and pooping all over the house at night or when we went out. Also he doesn't know all the rules yet so leaving him unattended to roam free is so dangerous for him. The first week I got NO sleep. He liked his crate and would go in it but as soon as we left the room he whined. And I'm not talking about a little whimper, I'm talking about a full on spaz attack of loudness.  After keeping me up for hours whining I couldn't take it anymore and came downstairs where we was. As soon as he saw me he stopped crying. So I layed on the floor and slept next to his crate the first night. He did much better with me and Remmi there so the next night when it was the same thing, Remmi and I were back on the floor. As soon as he passed out I snuck back up to bed. The hubs was mad that I was down there with him, but I needed some sleep so badly! He had no problem sleeping through the big whine fest but I couldn't. After the first two nights I didn't sleep downstairs with him anymore, I let Remmi sleep next to him though and that helped. And finally, after the first week there was no more whining all night. He has such a small bladder that he couldn't hold himself all night so he does whine in the middle of the night to go out, but it's a lot better than all night whining.

Reno was pretty easy to break of peeing in the house and learned quickly that going to the door after a nap was essential. And that when I asked if he "wanted to go out" it meant to pee outside. And he picked up in the first week that when I told Remmi to "hurry up" it meant to go to the bathroom and he started peeing when I said "hurry up" as well. Breaking him of pooping in the house was a lot harder. He would do it when I turned my back for a minute and I just couldn't seem to catch him in the act! But once I got his pooping schedule down and started taking him out before it happened he did really well. Of course lots of praise was involved when he peed or pooped outside. Two weeks was all it took and he hasn't had any accidents indoors since. He runs to the door when he needs to go out. Although he doesn't wine at the door (and neither does Remmi) he sits in front of it and waits for you to take him out.

Reno is at this really great stage now where he just copies everything Remmi does. And she's a pretty good dog to copy.  They say training your 2nd dog is easier than the first because they learn from the first dog. I can see how this can be both good and bad. If the first dog is properly trained, training the second one can be a lot easier because they will copy the first one, but if the first one is misbehaving and allowed to misbehave then I can see the second dog picking up bad bad habits! I'm glad the hubs and I took the time to teach Remmi to be a good girl when we did. And I can't wait to see what a good boy Reno turns out to be.

Shenanigans

My birthday is on the 4th of July. It was always a fun birthday to have growing up, but as I get older it becomes more and more difficult to celebrate it the way I want to. My parents always want me to go over for a cookout, my husband always wants to go out on the boat, and I always just want to spend it with my friends. It's impossible to please everyone.

For the past few years my husband has been winning this one. I love going out on the boat and seieng the fireworks over the lake,but... But I also want to see my friends and family and there isn't room on the boat for all of them! This year we rented an island on the lake to camp on and my two sister in laws, brother in law and their kids all came down to celebrate with me.

We had rented the island for 3 days and had planned on going out on the lake on Sat. Whenever there is a big trip like that (3 days is a long time for camping in my book) there is always TONS of food prep I need to do beforehand to be ready. I usually plan the food and then put the food together the day before we go out. However, this year my BFF Amanda insisted that I hang out with her. She hadn't seen me in two weeks, just found out she was pregnant and wanted to give me my birthday gift. I have to admit that I was really annoyed she wanted to do this on Friday when she knows exactly how much time I need to get things together. I kind of told her I had a lot to do, and she said to try to get it done Thursday because she really wanted to see me.

I'm not sure if I noticed how pushy she was being about it but I really wanted to see her since it had been a few weeks and celebrate her good news. So I tried to get most things done on Thursday so we could hang on Friday. Turns out it was all a big cover.

My wonderful husband, BFF's, and family had gotten together and schemed up a big 30th birthday celebration for me. And I really had no clue. I think back now on things and wonder how I could have missed that clue, but I'm glad I was so oblivious- it made it so much better to not know!

Amanda took me out for the day while my other BFF Erin and husband set up the house with decorations, food, and liquor galore! Then while I was out with Amanda she kept secretly texting them telling them the 411 on our location. When we pulled on my little private road and I saw tons of cars parked on the lawn, I knew something was up and then I looked up and there was a slew of people on the porch waiting to greet me and wish me a happy birthday!

It was really amazing. My husband and friends all did such a great job planning and executing the party for me. I had a blast. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday surprise! So this year, I got my wish- to celebrate my birthday with friends and family AND we still went out on the boat to enjoy the fabulous weather for the 4th. The in laws and family weren't coming until my actual birthday on Sunday, so my BFF Erin and her man came out with us on Sat. and we had a blast. We had perfect weather this 4th and we fully enjoyed it with friends and family.


Has your husband ever done anything sneaky for your 30th birthday?

Remmi

Remmi has a lot of personality. She has a LOT of energy and she craves constant attention. She gets into everything and she can be annoying but she's my girl. Remmi is a bit psychotic at times but we really bonded in November when I lost my job.

I liked Remmi just fine but she was locked in the crate all day (for her safety) and just a huge ball of energy when I got home and let her out so our relationship was a bit strained. Not to mention the fact that my mom would come over most days, take her outside and play with her for hours. Still, she was full of energy when I got home from work. I didn't mind playing with her when I got home, but she wouldn't let me do anything I needed to--like cook and eat dinner-- without causing a ruckus. When I got laid off due to the economy, we really had time to spend together and she became a much calmer dog.

Since I now had time and daylight, I taught her how to walk on a leash and started bringing her for walks every day. The walks help her get her energy out and she really needs to go everyday. It's been nice that I have been able to take her and exercise her the way she needs to be. She loves exploring new places but she is a very strong dog and it is a little difficult when other dogs walk by, but other than that, she is great on a leash now.

My husband began working longer hours further away so to save sleep he made the decision to stay in the work area all week. And since I no longer had a job, I no longer saw people on a daily basis. So Remmi became my new BFF.  She's kind of like a person. I never thought I could love a dog that much, but I do.

She's grown up a lot in the past few months also. She just turned one and everyone has noticed that she has calmed a little bit and she listens a lot better. I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm home with her giving her exercise and attention or if it was bound to happen with age. Either way, she's a good dog and I'm so glad she is ours. She's not perfect, but nobody is right?

Have you ever had a difficult dog that you were able to tame in time?