Mmmmm...marrow bones.

We've always been hearing from fellow dog owners that marrow bones are the cat's meow. For dogs. They love the taste, it keeps them occupied, and they're just all around awesome.

So, we finally broke down and bought one for Miles. It REALLY helps with the chewing, and it literally kept him occupied all night last night.

However, I definitely had a moment of panic when I realized that he was able to chew off chunks of bone from the side instead of just hollowing it out. I had heard that it's really dangerous to feed dogs bones because they splinter in their stomach, and that's exactly where my brain went, and I was like "WEHAVETOTAKEITAWAYFROMHIMRIGHTNOWORHE'SGOINGTOGETSPLINTERSINHISSTOMACHANDDIE!"
Rob, the cooler head of the two of us, said, "I really don't think that's going to happen, but we can take it away if you want."

So, of course, when my husband and I have such polar opposite reactions, because he's had a family dog before that he can remember, I always have to find out why he's right. It turns out that only cooked bones have the splintering danger, and Miles wasn't chewing off huge chunks, so it wasn't a big deal. Crisis averted. Chew away, Miles. Chew away.


The big thing that I want to talk about today is antibiotics. Over the past few years, I have really adopted an anti-antibiotic stance. I try to avoid them at all costs for myself, and so does Rob. They do terrible things to humans, not the least of which is diminishing ability to fight infections on our own. Animals are no different. Miles is now on his fourth round of them since we've had him, and knowing how much antibiotics can damage humans, and my research about how damaging they can be for dogs, naturally I'm pretty worried about it. I am also starting to realize that the lesson here is to check him whenever he comes home from daycare for cuts and clean them immediately, because that's how two of the infections have happened. We generally don't have to put him on antibiotics for very long (one course was three days, two were five), but this time the infection was bad, so we have to give them to him for fourteen days.

We have been feeding him probiotics with his food (alternating with the antibiotics, and with breakfast and dinner when he's not on antibiotics) in order to promote healthy bacteria growth in his gut, and it seems to be serving him just fine. But the idea of prevention of these infections is more compelling to me, because I would really like to not have him on antibiotics at all if I can help it. It can cause a whole host of problems, like bloat, food allergies, and secondary infections because of lack of good bacteria, just to name three of the laundry list I've found.

So, I think that solving this issue is going to take a plan from two angles: Checking him whenever we get home from anywhere for cuts and to clean them immediately, and looking for natural remedies so that we can avoid antibiotics altogether. It looks like I'm not the only dog owner who's worried about this, and this blog looks like a great start. :) I'm going to also talk to my vet and do some more research to figure this out.

For now, I will leave you with an adorable picture of Miles chewing on his favorite thing on earth, his marrow bone.

He's such a good boy.

Miles has a new favorite toy!

The laser pointer! Watching him play with it is actually better than tv.

Plus, it provides rainy day stimulation and fun, which is important because we don't walk when it's raining.

In other news, we left Miles home alone for longer than 3 or 4 hours for the first time today. We kept him crated because we're still concerned that he'll rip the house apart, but overall, it was wildly successful.

We're also working on the barking, which is helping. We were at the beach yesterday, with TONS of stimulation, and he hardly barked at all, and only when he wanted to play because a ball got too close to him or someone walked by too quickly. So, we're working on the patience aspect of it from my end and it's definitely working.

Have I also mentioned that Miles is so good at self-entertainment that it's awesome? When we don't want to play and he does, he goes to his bucket-o-toys, and picks one out and throws it around, probably pretending it's one of us throwing it. Then he throws and chases. And throws and chases. It's hilarious to watch.

I heart my dog.

He's such a good boy.

It finally happened.

Yes, readers. It was bound to happen at some point, and Monday, boy did it EVER.

I lost every shred of my patience with my dear sweet dog.

Now, there have been times where my patience has run thin, to be sure, but in the five months (tomorrow) that we have owned Miles, I had never, ever lost my patience with him. Have I been close? Yes. Have I completely lost it? No.

Until Monday.

Now, the barking has been a problem. A large problem. One that we are working with and trying to eliminate as much as possible, but regardless, still his biggest challenge.

I bring him to work with me on Mondays, and this particular one, I had a webinar. It involved a conference call. One of my coworkers walked by my office, and he started barking at her, right in the middle of said webinar.

He continued to bark until I got flustered, and told my dog to SHUT UP. Then he didn't, so I started yelling. My patience? Gone.

I brought him outside to pee, and was still angry. He knew it, and was upset about it. We both continued to be upset when we got back up to my office, and after a few minutes, it dawned on me:

He's just a dog. He was acting on his instincts (which are particularly heightened when he comes to work with me, what with all of the smells of all kinds of different animals and procedures that are done in our office building), and he's always on heightened alert when he's with me at the office. I need to take that into account and act accordingly.

Readers, I was not doing my job as his owner. I was punishing him for simply acting on his instinct, instead of showing him that there was no reason to be afraid, or redirecting so that the barking would stop, which is exactly what I should have done. I scared him by yelling, and he didn't understand, as he shouldn't have, because he was just being a dog.

I read a lot of articles by Gail Fisher, and she's got a lot of amazing viewpoints. Her overreaching viewpoint in everything that she teaches is that a dog is a dog is a dog. They have certain things built into their instincts (just as humans do!), and that can't be helped. It can be worked on, but in any situation, they will act on their instincts if necessary. In moments of frustration where I don't know what to do, I turn to the articles she writes and it helps me.

Anywho, his "misbehaviors" (I put that in quotations because a lot of people see barking, chewing, etc. as misbehavior when they are actually either instinct or a symptom of a problem like boredom), once I re-thought it and realized that he was just doing what his instincts were telling him to do, made me feel better. So I apologized, gave him a good scritch and a kiss, and he was happy again. Good thing puppies don't hold grudges.

The lesson in this for me is what I try to tell myself at least once a day - Miles is a good boy. He's a GREAT dog. He's smart, he's funny, and he's just a joy to be around, always. It's my job to teach him what is appropriate, and to redirect and try to change those habits of his that are not desirable and redirect into something more situationally appropriate. That's my job, not his. His only job is to be a dog.

Since this moment of realization, I have been markedly more patient with Miles. I don't yell, I haven't gotten impatient even once, and I really am trying to work with him and love him in the way that he truly deserves, and he's responding in kind - no more frightened behavior, and it has brought us closer than any training I've done with him yet. Plus, now that I don't yell or get impatient, he listens. I don't have to be stern, just firm. I don't have to yell, I just have to be sure of what I am asking him to do. Those are not one and the same.

So, this week has taught me a big lesson in dog ownership, and I am really hoping that I can continue this trend, because the closeness with Miles will be worth it. He is such a good boy.

Puppy Hiccups and Barfing...awesome topics, I know.

So, Miles has been hiccuping a lot lately. He also eats so fast that he barfs.

I think that this has to do with the fact that he's growing like a weed currently (I am noticing a difference a little every day, and I think this is his last push before he's full grown). I sat down and looked up puppy hiccuping yesterday, and found that it's actually very common in puppies, particularly when they're growing, because their insides are growing too and they need to adjust to his eating patterns. Everywhere that I read said also that it's only normal in puppies, so if he is over a year and it is still happening, then it's time to talk to the vet.

Miles has eaten very fast since the day we got him. His feeding schedule is 7am, around 1pm, and 7pm, give or take. The only time it really gives him trouble is in the morning, and I think he eats so fast because after twelve hours of not eating at all, he is absolutely famished. So, he totally scarfs his food, whines and absolutely HOWLS for about three minutes, and then barfs. We used to feed him a wet/dry combo in the morning, and when we stopped and did only dry in the morning, the barfing seemed to subside.

Then, I was dropping Miles off at doggy day care early this week, and she brought it up, asking how he was doing with the fast eating. He had just barfed that morning and I told her so, and then she showed me this bowl:

It forces a dog to eat between the rivets and slows their eating significantly. When I say significantly, if this bowl had no rivets and was full of food, Miles would have emptied it in less than 30 seconds. With this bowl, it takes upwards of 3 minutes. He likes to chew on the bowl, and eventually he just knocks the bowl over, which knocks all of the food onto the floor, but he did pretty well with it, his own impatience aside.

It was good for us to get this for him, because it will prevent a very dangerous condition called bloat. It seems like it would be a pretty scary thing, and as diligent puppy parents, we want to do everything we can to make sure he stays our healthy and happy dog.

Speaking of dog, Miles looked like a dog, as opposed to a puppy, for the first time the other day when I looked at him. I mean, seriously - this is what he looked like when we adopted him (taken on the first day that we had him):

Also, when he curls up on the couch, he now takes up an entire cushion. I am beginning to think he's going to be bigger than originally thought. I do love when he still acts like a puppy, and though I posted it on my other blog, here's my favorite picture of Miles that I've ever taken:



He's such a good boy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached adolescence.

There are two things that I have read about when it comes to adopting a puppy: one is the adolescence phase, and one is the honeymoon phase.

These can be marked by misbehavior, and just general brattiness. But it can cause even patient dog owners to have adopter's remorse, and sometimes even return the dog in question.

I have realized that not only has Miles reached adolescence, but the honeymoon phase is officially over.

This has been marked by sleeping less, pulling the leash more when we walk together, INCESSANT barking, an unhealthy fascination with catbox snacks, and doing things like eating my knitting.

I have been working on a sweater for the past two weeks, and I looked away for one second, and there was a portion of it in shreds. This is what it looks like now:



It took quite a bit of repair, but it looks better, and with only a few snags, which I can live with (because they're on the wrong side, as opposed to the right side, which you are now looking at).

I have chosen to take this as an educational experience and have been working harder to not leave things out in the open for him to get. I now keep all of my knitting in a laundry basket, and keep it on top of the washer.

The barking...oh my goodness, the barking. He barks at everything. I mean, everything. We have to keep the door closed because he barks out the door. We have to keep the curtains closed because he will bark at the window. He has taken to barking at the television today.

We have been trying to work with him, but it is hard to get a dog to stop barking. The reason for this is that barking is part of a dog's instinct - dogs will bark when their protective instinct kicks in, and there's not much a dog owner can do to fight that. Dog owners sometimes take the route of debarking surgery, but I am of the opinion that it's as cruel as declawing a cat - which is to say, way too cruel to even consider. So, we are going the training route, with the "shush" command, and it's not working so much at the moment, but I'm hopeful.

In spite of all of his crazy bratty antics, which I must admit are few and far between, he still makes me laugh pretty much constantly. I also have to put into perspective that he's only six months old, and that if we continue to be diligent in his training, then he'll continue to be a great dog.

Next up for us is clicker training. We aren't going to start doing it until we absolutely know what we're doing - if we're not careful and educated in our approach, then we could reverse the training we've already done with him, at which he is now a total champ. I actually am really excited to start it - I think it will take him to a whole new level as far as his training is concerned, and we will be able to get him to do adorable things, like smiling on command (which is something we've REALLY been wanting to do), rolling over, all that other good and fun stuff now that we've mastered things like wait, sit, down, come, etc.

So, the next chapter will be exciting. We've got lots more to cover, and we will continue to learn more about Miles every day. He's such a good boy.

Miles Graduated From Puppy Class, and the Effects of Neutering

Yay! Watch this video:




We finally made it! I have to say, puppy class had its moments of being totally frustrating, but all in all, totally worth it. It was just as much a class for me as it was for him - I learned that consistency is key, and that focus on me as his owner (particularly with leash walking) was the most important part. And she was right - if I could get him to focus on me, I could pretty much get him to do anything.

What's next? Either Obedience I (which might wait a little while so that we can do some work with him first), or clicker training. I'm thinking the latter might be more effective, but we'll see.

Also, his neuter surgery went very well, or so I thought. He endured the 10 days with a cone (which, we found out, only about 5% of dogs need...lucky Miles!) and all was well.

Then, one of his sutures came outside of his body. I'm not even really sure how that happens
(they're supposed to be dissolvable), but it did, and it got infected. In the research that I've done, it says that it can take weeks for stitches to dissolve. Another stitch has come out, so I am hoping that with the antibiotics and healing, we'll just be able to pull this new one right out eventually.

Anywho, that's about the only change. He's still the happy, energetic boy that we love, and maybe a little more mellow, but not much. :) Which is exactly how I like it. Does he feel like hell on wheels sometimes? Are you kidding? Of course. When I bring him to work with me, I'm absolutely exhausted by the time I get in my seat to actually, you know, do work. But he makes me laugh pretty much constantly, so it's a good tradeoff. :)

He's such a good boy. :)

Remembering.

My grandfather passed away this morning.

When I think about dogs, my mind has always gone immediately to my grandparents - they had dogs the entire time we were growing up...cocker spaniels, in fact. They had another dog when I was young named Sheba, but I don't remember what kind of dog she was.

When my grandmother passed away, my grandfather was so lonely. The summer after my first year of college, I lived with him, but I knew that would only be a temporary abatement to how terrible he was feeling. Shortly after the next school year started and I had moved out, my grandfather decided one day that he wanted a dog. So, that very day (hey, when his mind was made up, his mind was made up!), he looked in the paper and went and picked up Sam.

This is Sam (Picture courtesy of my cousin Nicki):


If there were a picture in the dictionary of the human-animal bond, it would be my grandfather and Sam. They talk about dogs finding their "person", how our animals actually pick us, and not the other way around, and these two were a perfect example. Sam NEVER left my grandfather's side for a minute until he went into the veteran's home. He came into my grandfather's life at a time where my grandfather was so in need of a companion, and Sam delivered, and then some.

There are so many things about my grandfather that I aspire to in my own daily life, and actively practicing unconditional love, every day, is the big one. My grandfather always showed so much unconditional love for his family, both human and animal alike. Sam was only too happy to give that right back to him, and so much more. I can only hope that we are growing that bond with Miles every day. If we are successful, then and only then will we be good pet parents.

Sam, you're such a good boy.