Life altering event

16 July 2010

Ke'o is now just a little over 7 months old and the past 5 months have really flown by.  I'm disappointed with myself for not being more diligent about documenting his progress lately, but it is, as they say, better late than never.

Ke'o and I completed a 9 week basic obedience course, which he passed...by one point.  I'm still a proud momma, though.  He's learned how to sit, lie down, stay, come, shake hands, high-five, roll-over, bring it (fetch) and leave it.  I'm such a proud momma :)

Today, I took Ke'o to the vet to get neutered, microchipped, and have his remaining puppy teeth removed.  I was wracked with guilt and anxiety as I waited for the vet to finish with his procedure.  I felt horrible for putting my sweet little guy through pain and resulting discomfort.  It felt unfair... why should I be the one to decide whether or not his genetic material gets passed on?  I felt a growing knot form in the pit of my stomach.  I started to hyperventilate.  I cried.  I felt ridiculous.

It's been a rough day.  For him, more than me, I daresay, but he can't talk so I'll speak for us both.  He isn't sitting or lying down for more than 45 minutes, probably because the pressure that sitting or lying down puts on that area is causing him major discomfort.  So, he ends up standing.  I've never seen a dog fall asleep standing up, but I think I may tonight.

The biggest guilt inducing trigger for me right now is when Ke'o looks at me with his sad, sad eyes as if to ask me "What happened to me?  Why does my body hurt?  I don't understand what's going on..."  Proud momma?  Not so much today.

Puppy gets a name

My name is Kahuna Ke'o Li'i.  But you can call me Ke'o for short.

Ke'o continually surprises us with how smart (and manipulative) he can be.  He's learned to climb stairs, but we're still working on going down stairs.  He can go down two or three stairs, at the most, without one of us having to help or carry him.  Ke'o seems to have found his "voice" also and surprised both himself and me when he barked for the first time this week.  Fortunately, he uses his voice fairly judiciously in play or to alert us that he's p-o'd about something.  He hasn't barked at anything else, like the front door opening or at people walking by or at cars driving on the road.  That alone makes me feel that he's a pretty special dog.

 

Puppy's first play date

Yesterday we went to our friends' house for a puppy play date with this guy:

Now, the very idea of my 2.2 lb, 11 week old puppy playing with a 75+ lb, 2 year old German Shepherd did give me some cause for concern for a minute or two, but Blitz (the German Shepherd) is such a well behaved dog.  He's probably the most calm and gentle 2 y/o large breed I've seen and that speaks volumes about how well his people, Dan and Karin, have trained him.  In fact, they're two of my biggest role models in how to raise Puppy right. 

Introducing dogs, especially ones that are so mis-matched like these two, can be over-stimulating for both dogs.  Puppy was shaking and clingy for the first few minutes while Blitz checked him out and settled down from all the excitement.  But once he got down on the floor, Puppy held his own and played well with the big dog, even egging on Blitz to annoyance.  3 hours later and this is what I got...

He slept this way the entire ride home, completely oblivious to the world.  When we got home, he stumbled out of his crate, went straight to his bed and fell right back to sleep.

And he wasn't the only one.

It was SO nice to have a quiet house for a few hours!

The first 48 hours

Hi!  You will love me.  Resistance is futile. 

We're now on day 3 with our newest family member (name to be determined this weekend).  So far, I feel more and more confident that I chose the right dog.  I did a lot of research, bordering on obsession, on which breed would be best for our lifestyle and energy level, as well as how to choose the right puppy. 

After a series of temperment tests, I chose this puppy out of a litter of 4.  He showed little to no signs of dominance, no signs of resource guarding, no mouthiness, and accepted my leadership and corrections immediately.  He was also the biggest of his litter, so I'm hoping he'll be bigger than the standard 4-6 lb Pomeranian.  He seemed naturally curious and confident, but looked to me for approval.  Too good to be true?  Maybe. 

A lot of people complain that Poms are hyper, yappy, and neurotic.  What people forget is that when we get dogs as puppies, they're a blank slate and so any bad behaviors they exhibit should have been corrected by their humans early on.  Dogs aren't bad or neurotic by nature.  We humans make them that way by letting them get away with naughty or dominating behavior and lack of proper socialization.  It's easier to make these mistakes with smaller breeds because we think their mannerisms are cute.  But the same mannerisms, such as jumping or excessive barking, from a larger dog would be corrected.   I'll get down from my soap box now.

Thursday night, aka the first night with puppy, was a challenge for all of us.  He had no problem going into his crate, which I placed outside of our bedroom door.  Thinking that we'd be close enough for him to smell us or sense our presence, it would be comforting to him.  It wasn't.  He woke up 4 or 5 times during the night and cried for about 15 minutes each time before falling asleep again. 

Have you heard a puppy cry?  It's really heartbreaking. 

Now I know why Ferberizing kids can be so difficult.  It was a challenge to not only go out there to comfort the little guy, but to also try to fall asleep while he was crying.  Thankfully, we all made it through the night. 

I took him to work with me on Friday and he behaved beautifully.  Played quietly on his bed, sat on my lap or at my feet and napped for most of the day.  Maybe an exhausting night wasn't such a bad thing after all... for puppy, anyway. 

We came home and puppy napped on his bed or next to us on the couch until it was time for bed.  At bed time, he climbed right into his crate without needing a treat or a bully stick to entice him.  I moved the crate in our bedroom and placed it near enough so he could hear, see and smell us.  Hopefully, he would feel more comfort by being closer to his new pack.  I guess it worked because he didn't cry once!  either that or I slept so heavily he didn't wake me up.

Today, we're going to visit our friends, the Schwalbe-LaBelles, and have a puppy play date with their dog, Blitz.  It should be interesting to see how both dogs react to one another, considering Blitz is a 2 yo German Shepherd and is about 150 times bigger than puppy.

24 hours and counting

After a couple months of careful research and a little over a week of negotiating, I'm excited to announce that we're adding a new member to our household! Pictures of my new guy to be posted tomorrow.

Golf - new personal best

2 January 2010

I'm REALLY excited to post this. I smashed my personal best today in driving and putting. 210 yard drive and a 50ft putt on the Mountain Course at the Kona Country Club! Ok, so maybe it was probably closer to 40 but it sure as hell felt like it was 50! What an amazing feeling, though, and to have both happen in the same round of golf! I was still whooping for joy when I drove home and got some interesting looks.

Now Toby says that I can't hit from the ladies tees anymore when I play with him. We'll see about that.

New Years: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain

3 January 2010

We're about to embark on the first week of the new year and there are some resolutions I've decided to make this year that I would really like to stick to -
1. Play more golf (i.e. be more active)
2. Eat more raw fruits and vegetables (i.e. eat healthier)
3. Have more patience with my loved ones (i.e. be a kinder, gentler person without being a push-over).

There - I've committed them to writing so there's no going back now. Fortunately, being here in Hawaii has afforded me a fairly good start to keeping those resolutions...even though the 3rd one is tested almost daily.

So, here's what my blog will consist of for 2010 - golf improvements and new healthy recipes that I find over time. Hopefully I'll see an improvement in my general health and weight as well!