Poo Poo Ewwwwwwwww....

YUCKY-YUCK YUCK!!!

Hero ate his own poop tonight - I caught him red handed and it was the most disgusting thing ever! Apparently, this is a common problem among small dogs (see the links below), so at least I'm not alone here, but still... Hero, that's gross!

http://www.oes.org/page2/793~puppy_eating_his_poop.html
http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/learn/activities/expert/petveteatpoop

Tomorrow, I'm going to try putting the bitter spray on his poop right after he does the deed and hopefully that'll turn him off for good. I never want to have to endure that sight again!

Hero's Nappy Naps

Snapshots of Hero during his various naps throughout the day and night... he sure is a sleeper! Oh and he really has to learn how to cover up those private parts when he sleeps spread eagle! tee hee hee...

Staying at Alex's

Alex thinks Hero is a terrorist... I say he has no patience with the poor pooch! He's just a teething puppy so he has no control over the fact that he wants to bite just about everything including in sight including socks, feet, hands, pant legs, toys, dvd covers, carpets, and yeah, everything else.



He pissed on the floors and the carpets quite a few times, but can you blame him? He's in foreign territory... or maybe he was just marking his territory? No wait, he's too young for that. Accidents happen!

I try... and I mean I really try not to hit my pup at all when teaching him. I'm going to have to be honest and say sometimes he frustrates me so badly that I give him a little spank on his toosh, but that's a very, very rare event. Alex couldn't believe that he didn't even flinch when he put his fist up to his face or tried to pretend slap him...




He started barking at his reflection... that was the cutest thing ever!!! Who's the cutest puppy of them all? Hero, duh! =)

Visitors, Visitors, and More Visitors!

Hero's a smash hit! He's had more visitors come over to see him than I've had in my entire year of living here! Well who could resist? hehehe...

Auntie Ami and Uncle Daniel

Auntie Sarah

Auntie Annie

Uncle Kenny and Uncle Bernard

Auntie Elaine

Uncle Fobro

Hot Aunties - Tracy, Bonnie & Aya
(we forgot to take a picture - ooops!)

Chilling with Mommy

I was warned about the responsibility involved with getting a dog, but as with everything, you don't really know what you're getting yourself into until you're already in. A lot of people have actually questioned my decision to get a dog quoting that I didn't seem like a dog person... what's up with that? Just look at Hero and me... I'm soooo a dog person!


Having a puppy is very much like having a baby and it's definitely not easy. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night - actually, I do. It was before I picked up Hero on that snowy January 5th day! It's like clockwork... 12am, 3am and 8am pee pee calls... I'm tired, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Although money can buy love (a dog), it takes a lot more than that to maintain it and I'm happy (and grumpy) to do it.

It's not always such a happy union between the two of us though because Hero really tests my patience sometimes. As much as I love him, he's not the "perfect puppy" meaning that he does the whole biting, nipping, barking, crying, peeing/pooing in places he shouldn't thing. I know he's just a puppy and I shouldn't be that hard on him, but there is a fine line between letting him be a puppy and moulding the behaviour that will define him.


I've had to make quite a few changes and concessions in my life to make our relationship work, but it's well worth it. Alex on the other hand isn't always ecstatic that I've lost a lot of flexibility in my life and he has to visit me a lot more now! All in all, I can't imagine what my life would be like without my little Hero anymore. I love him to pieces!

Hanging at Howland

Alex and friends decided to host a Kimchee Chigae Cookoff and Hero joined the party! He was quite the crowd pleaser and good thing he avoided being the main course!


He started getting a little rowdy, so to calm him down, we let him have a little drink...


Worked like a charm! Just kidding! I would never ;)

Hero's Starting School!

You don't know what you don't know... so I've decided to seek professional help for my pup. Not that he's bad or anything, but I just want to make sure that he can be the best that he can be. The last thing I want is a poorly behaved dog, especially after my experience with the family dog Patch! I want to make sure to do it right the first time round so I don't have to go backwards somewhere down the line to eliminate bad habits and retrain things that he could have learned in the first place.

I went through quite a few dog training websites such as Toronto Dogs and Toronto Barks before I finally decided on the one. It was really helpful when I found a "Best Of" list on the Toronto Barks website, where people voted for the best products and services for dogs. The best training school was actually Who's Walking Who which is super close to where I'm living (just down the street), but unfortunately, the classes were on Monday and I have a course I'm taking that night so it didn't work.

Alas, I came upon All About Dogs with Renee, which was second on the list of best trainers in the city. The classes were on Thursday evenings for 1 hour, which I was able to fit into my schedule, but before I committed, I made sure to get tons of references from previous clients so I could be sure that Hero would be in good hands. The letters came pouring in with praise for Renee and her training methods.

Hero is officially enrolled in the First Paw Forward course... or I like to call it Kinderpuppy. 6 weeks every Thursday for $205 bucks - ouch! My sister Ami and I went to the course and we learned quite a few useful pointers in marker based training. Renee was really excellent with the dogs and Hero was the tiniest one there! He was so small that we didn't dare to let him socialize with the other dogs. They were all bigger breeds and quite aggressive since they were constantly barking or running around. Hero observed quietly and unfortunately, when he came home, he decided to copy them! He started barking and running around like a crazy dog when we got home that night for the first time since I got him. It scared me so I've emailed the trainer already... hopefully this doesn't do more harm than good!

Hero, the Smarty Pants

My this puppy I have learns fast. He's already learned how to sit, give paw and lie down pretty consistently. The sit command he has down pact. I'm a proud mommy to say the least!

SIT!

DOWN!

Sorry I couldn't get the paw pic, but when I have someone over to hold the camera, I'll be sure to get a video of him!

Oh and to continue the bragging, Hero is crate trained (thank goodness), so he sleeps in there which helps tremendously with his potty training. It teaches him to hold in his waste by waiting to get out before going since dogs instinctively will not eliminate where they sleep (unless forced to). Of course, he is a puppy, so his bladder isn't too big and he can't really hold it in for more than a couple hours at a time. I did push it one day and left him for 5 hours... he was a good boy though and didn't do the deed in the crate, but once he got out, boy that was the longest pee pee ever! He's also 80% potty trained to go on the pee pads in the washroom. The poo poo part is still a little bit of a struggle and I've had to remove the carpet in the washroom because it looks so much like the pad, but he's getting there. GOOD BOY HERO!

=)

Hero's First Walk Outside

Don't be fooled by the pictures... our first walk outside was not very successful. It started out with me dressing him up in his Argyle sweater (courtesy of Auntie Ami & Uncle Dan - thank you!) which he hated! He's not very fond of clothing right now, but the waterfront winter is just a little bit too harsh for a puppy right now.

Secondly, he hates his collar and leash so it was tough to get that on him too. Since he's never had a leash on, he didn't know what to do with it, so he refused to walk! Half the time I was dragging him around, but I made sure to always go through doors first and to always keep him either beside or behind me in the walk... whatever there was of a walk!

Hero sniffed and sat and got dragged and sniffed and scratched and fought the walk... just give him some time and he'll love it. At least he was cute!!

Hero and the City

Dress Up - FouFouDog Style!

Alex was in contact with FouFouDog over the holidays to get some gear to review for the NOW Magazine Holiday Gift Guide. They hadn't made arrangements to get the stuff back yet and since I just got a new puppy, the light bulbs started lighting up...

Guilty as charged. I took advantage of my puppy while he was sleeping and dressed him up and took pictures of him - I didn't take off his clothes though! I put them on... isn't he adorable? We blinged him big time!


Meet my Gangsta Pup! Where did you get all that loot Hero??

Ahhh... from mommy's accomplice - Auntie Sarah!


I'm definitely going to have to get Hero some nice new clothes, but I think I'll wait till he's a little bigger so he doesn't grow out of it too quickly. In the meantime, if you want to check out some more designer doggy gear, visit www.foufoudog.com.

Moving on Out!

I seriously don't know where he learns this stuff, but my puppy is a smartass.

He's recently started this new ritual... we've called it "moving out" for lack of a better term. As you know, I've crate trained Hero, so he sleeps in his crate and stays in there if, and when, I'm too busy to watch him (like when I'm cooking).


He always sleeps with his favourite toys inside his crate... his little teddy, nylabone, pillow and blankie. Lately, when he starts getting tired or is just in some need of play, he'll go inside his crate and start emptying out the contents one at a time...

It's almost as if he thinks he can make his home outside if he just takes out all his favourite things. What a little joker! hehehe...

Day 1: The Fun Begins

OK... I read a ton of stuff on the internet about training dogs and the more you read, sometimes the more confused you get. Everyone is saying something different, but there's one thing that's true - it doesn't matter how much you read... nothing can totally prepare you for the real thing.

I've been really nervous and kinda having anxiety because I'm scared I'll be a bad mom. I definitely don't want a poorly behaved pet like some of the ones I've encountered in the past. This time, the difference is that if Hero is bad, then it's really no one's fault but mine. All I can do is try my best! I'm going to enroll him in puppy training promptly!

Here's some pictures from his first day with us at home...

Uncle Ryan's Visit & Visitors

Uncle Ryan came to visit his new nephew and he kept gushing how his toy poodle doggy, Trish was cuter than Hero. As if! Every dog is cute in their own way, but I suppose it's just human nature to compare your kids, your pets, your spouse and everything else. For now Hero is still smaller than Trish and it won't be that way for too much longer.


I actually find it kind of amusing that everyone you meet will tell you something different about how you raise your pet (and your kids and everything else again too). Uncle Ryan allows Trish and their other Maltese dog, Tiger to sleep on the bed with him and his wife Donna. I told him I would absolutely not allow that not would I allow him to go on the couch (for now at least) and he told me I was mean. I also have Hero sleep in his crate while I'm away from home and in the night and when I catch him sleeping outside and I can't watch him because I have to work. Again, he said I'm mean.



Well, I do love him to pieces, but I also have clear boundaries. I make sure he is comfortable and that his needs get tended to... not to mention that I spend LOADS of time with him since I work from home, so that's probably already way better than a lot of people that work 9-5. Ryan and a lot of other people say that I'm mean... I say it's TOUGH LOVE and it doesn't make Hero love me any less... I'm just doing this so he's more well behaved. He is a dog, not a human and I didn't get him expecting him to be one.


I didn't like it too much when Ryan put Hero up on the couch because that's one of the things I don't allow. The next morning, I was sitting on the couch and Hero was on the floor below me and he actually started barking at me. Not good at all... these puppies learn fast!



I love having visitors, but sometimes after a visit, I find myself having to retrain Hero because they negate all the things that I teach him sometimes. It's pretty frustrating to be honest. What can you do though? At least at the end of the day, my little Hero knows who's boss!