New addition to our family!

[half-carat]

Mara, I have been lurking here for almost two years. Never posted before, but I had to surface for this. She's SO CUUUTE!!! What a little doll! Very best wishes with your new baby.

 

[verticalhorizon]

Fine. Great. I officially hate Mara.

How dare she flaunt her disgustingly CUTE puppy in front of my non-dog-owning self. I am totally jealous of her new puppy that I want to cry.

There I've said it. Her puppy makes me want to cry. I'm ok with that. It's ok to cry. Stop laughing! I said stop darn it!

 

[Mara]

Haha VH...you can live vicariously through my cute pictures.

She looks adorable I know, but for every cute image, there is an equally painful one seared into my brain..such as when she clamps onto my big toe with sharp puppy teeth while I am watching TV..can you say OUCH? Or when she pees gleefully right next to her litter box and I am left cleaning it up while she tries to eat the papertowel. Though she has been stellar about accidents in the last 2 days..0 so far!

Progress!!




Here are some new shots, she is so much fun to take pictures of. The last one is an action shot, hard to capture, she does this racing around the kitchen island thing when Greg drags her furry bone on a ribbon behind him, she goes NUTS. She will chase him and leap into the air trying to get the bone for long minutes, then she drops down on the tile floor because it's cool and naps. Too cute.

 

[hoorray]

awwwwwwwwww.....she's so cute it almost makes me want one! We've talked about it for years, but could never have a dog before now due to our horrible schedules. Now we're a little gun shy of giving up our freedom. But, pics like this make me start to think about it again. Maybe it'd be a good surprise for DH! (it would eliminate that big dog (him) vs little dog (me) discussion again

.)

Enjoy her -- the puppydom will go quickly!

 

[KBerly]

Mara, she is a dollbaby! I love the sleeping pictures and the one where she's posing in between the railing! TOO CUTE! Time for me to start researching a new subject, I'm sure the boyfriend will be very excited to hear that I've added "puppy" to the list, right after "diamond"

 

[Mara]

Haha Kim...the dogs are cheaper than diamonds, most of the time! Greg didn't mind springing for the pup...too bad he wasn't as eager to spring for a new diamond!! MEN!

 

[Nicrez]

Mara, those are just TOO cute! I swear, that dog is just about one of the cutest little dogs!




Cute dogs are so photogenic, and it's so fun to take pictures of them!! I remember when my nephew was a pup, it was during someone's graduation. I brought my camera, and took pictures all day. The party at our house was filled with people. When I uploaded the pictures i realized that about 75% of the pictures where of Georgie...OOPS!




Just try not to have functions at your aparemtn until he's older, or you will NEVER have any decent pictures besides HER!!! She is just so adorable, that I, like VH and everyone else am now pressing for a dog....I've even researched and left him packets of info on different breeds....DAMN I wish I had a house!




More pictures!

 

[sumi]

OMG! I can't believe I haven't seen this thread before. what a CUTIE PIE!! Oh my gosh! She must bring a lot of joy to your lives, she looks like she has so much personality. CUTE CUTE CUTE! I love both dogs and cats and your puppy is just beautiful.

By the way, I think the dogster website is a crack up! I looked up catster and it looks like that website will be coming up soon. I know I'll have to make a page for my cats!

 

[caratgirl]

Ohmygod, what a little cutie!!! I have been gone so long, I am happy that I started reading in this section first. She looks like a holy terror, though. I really want a Norfolk (or Norwich) terrier. They are sooo adorable and spunky. We usually buy a house with a lot of property (and varmints), so either one would be right at home. I loved all of the stories and pictures. Post some more, please.

 

[bling]

more pics! too cute... shes is adorable..

 

[Mara]

New pictures!

We have had her 3 weeks and it's amazing how different she looks! I compared a face-on picture from when we got her to the one we took this week and it's amazing. Since we see her daily, we know she is growing but it's harder to compare...I'm so glad we are taking all these pictures so that when she's full-size...we can say...WOW she was TINY!

The first image is her resting her head on the keyboard tray trying to sleep while I am typing! Heehee...the second is her facing head on..this is the one I compared to another head on from the first week. The third is her YAWNING, it's so cute in person...and the 4th is her sleeping on the couch, the funniest thing which is hard to see here is that she has wedged herself between the seat cushion and the blinds, on this slim area of couch arm which has to be all of 5 inches. She loves to be in tight spaces. She slept here for about an hour!




Enjoy!

 

[quaeritur]

AAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

thanks for keeping the pics coming, they're GREAT! she's such a cutie patootie!!!

 

[winyan]

Mara, Both your little one and my little one seem to be laughing all the time.

I wonder...

are they laughing at *US*?

win

 

[kpebbles]

oh my god, your dog is sooooo adorable!!

your pics make me want to get a puppy so bad.. i wish! too bad my boyfriend is so allergic to dogs and cats..

 

[icelady]

Mara,

She still has a way before she grows into those adorable ears! Please keep posting pics, she is so sweet and cute!

Our "baby" likes to burrow under pillows and sleep with just the end of her nose showing!

They are wonderful companions, and they just plain love ya! I love the one where she is resting her head on the keyboard holder! TOO SWEET!

 

[Patty]

Awww, thanks for the new pics, Mara. She is so adorable! I love how dogs will do whatever it takes to get comfortable!

 

[KBerly]

She's so adorable! Any outfits for her in the future? Halloween outfit picked out yet?

 

[Mara]

Her ears are huge!! Suddenly boom they were standing up and monstrous. They make her look hilarious when she moves them around like antaenae! She can move one towards me if I am talking and one towards Greg in a different direction if he is talking at the same time!




I know win..hmmmm. Hehe..actually ours looks serious alot of the time, as in her second picture there, like she is contemplating life or maybe just wondering how she ended up with a pair of bozos like us!

Outfits..well I admit to grabbing a cute little sweater polo off the rack the other day in the store because it had a picture of it on a WESTIE in the photograph on the bag...ha ha. They did have 'extra small' but I couldn't torture her like that just yet. Though I guess I should have her start getting used to it in case I decide to torture her like that LATER.

I did ask the gal at the store today if she had a 4th of July bandana but they didn't...boo! She is hilarious, you can put a sock on her back and she won't even know its there. Grab her tail, she doesn't care. She had a ribbon strung around her entire body the other day (I wrapped her up and made a bow with a very long thick grosgrain ribbon she plays with) and she didn't even CARE for about 10 minutes, just played with her toys and ran around. Hilarious!!




We had a personal trainer come yesterday for her ...I know it sounds SICKENING...personal training for a dog, but we can't enroll her in group training for another 3 weeks and we felt like she was ripe for learning now...so I wanted to get the advice from an expert on what best to start her with in the meantime. The lesson was absolutely invaluable and the woman was fabulous! She gave me alot of tools and information to use and P is responding fabulously. The trainer said she was VERY smart. Also got some tips on natural foods and treats to feed her while training which was great since the ones I was using were too big for my taste and she got too full too fast. P loves these new treats and they are semi-soft dog food as well so essentially a training session can be most of her meal for that part of the day. This way she won't get fat aka 'Porka' as we call her now anyway.

We also got a few Kongs to stuff with a mixture of food and treats so that she can eat her dinner that way as well. It keeps her busy and out of OUR way when we are trying to eat!




We are using positive reinforcement training which is rewarding her for things she does well and ignoring what she does that is bad (or taking her away from it and giving her a toy etc)...i is raved about and most of the classes around here are taught in this method...so we'll see! I plan to take her through as many classes as possible to ensure the learning sticks and we have a well-behaved girl in the end. Also we have started socializing her with other people, other houses, and I bought her a puppy carrier (goes on my front side like a backpack) so I can start taking her with me to the mall and coffeehouses etc without having to carry her with just hands. Until she can walk on the ground with a leash (after next set of shots+1 week), she doesn't really get out much but we were advised to get her around as many people as possible to help her with socialization skills.




One note...F&I...I told the trainer about your tip about showing you are alpha by holding forearms and legs on ground until they calm...and she noted that was a very old way of thinking and training called Alpha Me or something similar. She said that that has pretty much been abandoned and did not recommend we continue doing that as it stresses out the dog.

Okay enough with the dog talk..my gal friend just got a dog 2 weeks ago and all we do is talk about our dogs all day long. We have become those sickening 'child adoration' people but with PETS instead...haha. My mom calls and asks how things are going and I tell her 20 Portia stories and milestones. Then she asks..so what else is new and my response is...'oh nothing'. HA!

 

[luckyhonu]

AWWWWWWW.....what a smart girl!

Portia is so precious! I don't have any dogs (just a kitty) and definitely live vicariously through others.

I love the picture of her yawning, they always look so cute when they do that! How big is she going to get? I don't know anything about Westies so I am really curious!

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 6/25/2004 8:48:50 PM Mara wrote:


Her ears are huge!! >One note...F&I...I told the trainer about your tip about showing you are alpha by holding forearms and legs on ground until they calm...and she noted that was a very old way of thinking and training called Alpha Me or something similar. She said that that has pretty much been abandoned and did not recommend we continue doing that as it stresses out the dog. ----------------

Mara, I can assure you it's still being used. I was the training director for our no kill shelter (fairly recent). Hundreds of dogs went through evalution. The trainer who trained me had world class shuzthund dogs & trained for some pretty scary people. It's a hobby of mine - it's F&I's alter ego (remember I have a Therapy Dog & my middle school teaching degree) I've heard this same crap from alot of "experts". It honestly depends on the dog. It's invaluable when you have more than one dog. You are the boss & no fights insue. Read alot of dog books. Dogs are pack animals. And Heirachy is a *big* deal to them. Watch dogs that are "brats" to be around. The owners either have no bond w/ the dog or doesn't respect them enough to behave. "Benevolent" Alpha is what I use. Don't discount it. You want the dog to look to *you* for direction & be happy doing it. I have seen too many dogs turned into the Shelter around 8 months because the dog is running the house, growling over his food bowl. These exercises are also bonding exercises - for example looking your dog directly in the eye & massaging it. Your bonding while in control. Don't get me started on these "halti" leaders. If someone wants to use them after the dog learns not to pull, fine. But, the dog will never learn to walk off lead or on regular lead.

Sorry for my rant. But, I've seen too many trainers take some things literal w/o seeing the *dire* benefit of being the dog's boss. Single handedly, it's the number one behaviour reason people dump their dogs off. The positive reinforcment method is very popular now. And, with many dogs works with great success. But, sometimes you have to throw something else into the mix to tailor to your particular animal. Also, this is by far the prefered method used with a puppy. The first 4 months of a dogs life will dicate their future. I'm huge on this method. I was one of the first to use it - & caught quite a bit of criticism for it being "new age". I saw the way it worked. I'm not a big fan of all this chain yanking correction either. I'm a big believer in B.F. Skinner. You can teach a dog anything w/ successive approximation. But, unless the dog respects you, it won't work. Bonding, Benevolency, Consistency, sense of humor & Guidance (a.k.a. being the boss) is key to raising a great dog. And, I'm also a firm believer (once the pup is not still an infant) in discouraging bad behavior. It's all good and fine to *only* reward good behaviours. Can you really ignore a pup that is either doing something so obnoxious or doing something that could endanger their lives (like going in the garbage)? No, that is why I'm a big believer in using a few methods & not one so literally.

Honestly, I'm not arguing that the trainer said what she said; nor, was she completely incorrect. And, the method used to get there can be debated. I've outlined above what works for me, my dogs & my personality. But, please, you must gain the respect (call it Alpha me) of the/your dog especially if you plan on having children or another dog. Many times it happens naturally; but, it's gotta happen.

And treats are good motivators/rewards. I use them on most of the rescues. With my young male, I tried just praise from me. It worked great & it's nice to not have a mooch on my hands like his sister.

Sadly, the reason I am more attuned to this dog stuff is that we are getting another puppy (which is happy news). The reason it's sad is that my old gal has Cancer (lung mets- which is a death sentence). Evidently, in older dogs it comes on quick & the vet has given her months. I am just trying to make her happy. She's the reason I was cooking the turkey the other day!

Also, you mentioned the natural food thing. I believe it's called the Barf diet. Many people swear by it. And, as an aside, I talked to one holistic vet that said the processed food (though premium brand) could have been a trigger for Cancer. Don't know. The diet goes back to the very diet that the dog would eat in the wild (so to speak). Funny, that she would subscribe to this & not to the pecking order in packs.

I'm sure Portia (whose a cutie pie) will be fine. It's just that when you see so many people abandon their pets - it becomes a very passionate issue for me when trainer's don't preach the importance of being the boss. Think about it. Wouldn't you expect to be the boss/alpha of your children?

Also, my dog group emailed me some legislation changes in CA. Something about that the shelters are no longer keeping animals for 7 days - instead 3 days (including days they are closed). Many lost pets will be killed. This is not good.

 

[Patty]

fire&ice, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog having cancer. I am amazed at how attached I am to our mutt and can't bear the thought of losing her. I'm sure her last days will be good with you as her mama!

 

[winyan]

Oh F&I I'm so sorry about your pup!! I know mine is 9 now, and I am so scared! I try to do all the best things for her, but well, why do we have dogs but to spoil them a *little*.

I can't imagine life without a dog...especially the one I have right now.

*sigh*

Again, I'm so sorry.

win

 

[Mara]

F&I sorry to hear about your dog with cancer...

hopefully the new puppy will ease a transition that is very painful at best. You note the BARF raw food diet...that's not what I meant when I noted 'natural'...for that I meant organics...I am trying to only give her natural and not processed or preserved foods...interestingly enough I read her labels and not mine!

There are alot of more natural foods out there, which is great...aka if the ingredients are ground lamb (various parts!), brown rice, flaxseed and sunflower oils and it lasts 2 weeks vs the food that lasts 1 year that also lists odd items such as sodium chloride and sulfonate blahblahblah, I will choose the perishable.




I honestly don't think I can subscribe to the BARF diet, I have read about it and besides needing to mostly be home to feed the dog appropriate foods (raw meat can't be left out for 4 hours til lunch time!), the thought just really grosses me out!! Mmm eat this big chunk of raw chicken and then come give me kisses. YUCK! I too have heard the rumors about cancer and processed foods, supposedly also the BARF diet prolongs life and has 'cured' many ailments like skin problems and the like. But again, yuck.




I wanted to stress that the trainer by no means subscribes only to positive and absolutely NO negative...that doesn't seem prudent...but notes that you can definitely train a dog by negative means, however then many times the dog is fearful or not sure what exactly they are ALLOWED to do. Of course everyone is going to have their happy mix...Portia does need a little of stricter training at times, we are definitely not the type of people to overlook their pet/child's faults and can be very strict at times (me especially as I am home with her all day). I will NOT tolerate a disobedient pet in the house and I let her know when she is getting out of hand (aka time out in her pen area or the cold shoulder/no playing from me).




We are doing things like teaching her to let us take her food/toy/whatever she has and giving her something else instead so that she WON'T be that dog growling over her food bowl or toys (my parents dog is like that). We hand feed her part of her meals so that she can associate hands with giving as opposed to taking. I like using positive where it works. She can already 'sit', 'leave it', 'come', and 'lay down' though she can't really use them in a special context yet (aka she will lay down but not stay there and/or won't go lay down on her BED which is eventually what I want). She is very treat oriented as are many dogs..but we don't intend to use it forever. Westies in particular are very stubborn, so a blend of positive and some tough love is probably what will work best for her, and definitely consistency as you noted.




However, when I used the technique you noted...she seemed really stressed out and would never look at me. When I noted this to the trainer, it's what somewhat set HER off (just as you yourself were a little torqued!) and she raved for a while about old styles. Anyway, each person is going ot have their own methods, and each dog is going to be different. But it was interesting to hear what she had to say, considering that I sensed P did not really love us doing that to her. We are trying a new method of settling her and also establishing ourselves by holding her cradled in our arms, belly exposed and petting her belly til she calms...then praising and releasing her. This seems to work well.




This trainer we used is a Sirius pup trainer, trains Therapy dogs and is pretty well known around this area I guess, I had 2 separate people around the BayArea refer me to her and she has been doing this for many years as well. She's being enrolled in positive reinforcement classes within the next 3 weeks but I expect she will do fine. I just need to be sure we can wean her off the treats (and the clicker which is used in these classes) since we don't want a chunkbunny!

We took her out with us today in this 'pet pocket' thing I bought into Los Gatos, she was an absolute doll (even let us eat lunch and sat/sprawled, licked the chair she sat in while we ate--we fed her some bread to appease her) everyone loved her and we saw a 3 year old Westie named Pepper. P isn't that into dogs yet so she kind of dismissed Pepper (who was a charmer), we visited a Los Gatos petstore and got her a cute 4th of July cotton collar and a new toy. Now she is crashed out downtairs. Spoiled!

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 6/26/2004 9:12:23 PM Mara wrote:


MS'>However, when I used the technique you noted...she seemed really stressed out and would never look at me. When I noted this to the trainer, it's what somewhat set HER off (just as you yourself were a little torqued!) and she raved for a while about old styles. Anyway, each person is going ot have their own methods, and each dog is going to be different. But it was interesting to hear what she had to say, considering that I sensed P did not really love us doing that to her. We are trying a new method of settling her and also establishing ourselves by holding her cradled in our arms, belly exposed and petting her belly til she calms...then praising and releasing her. This seems to work well.


quote]


First, I have no doubt that your trainer knows what she is doing. Second, I know you are smart enough to not buy into the plan as the absolute plan for your dog - I said that you must be creative in your blend of training methods. I'm unsure about what method I subscribed to that made your pup stressed? I don't know a dog alive that doesn't like massages - most pups find it orgasmic. And, what you are doing presently is precisely an "alpha" move.

You just don't know it. And, yeah, being able to calm the pup is key. They get so beyond themselves with glee - and when they get to that point - it's not good. Dogs don't have as much of that loss of control.

Not a big clicker fan. Read about it. I'd rather use voice and/or treats. That said, clicker may be for you & your dog. You guys leave me in the dust w/ diamond knowledge. Dogs is something I *do* know. I have to say that regardless of methods used - a nice dog is a dog that isn't given up as a lost cause. Unfortunately, from my point of view, I end up trying to "fix" the bad dog. Yet, positive reinforcement does work on them as well.

Thanks for your sympathies on my Gal. I didn't mean to hijack your happy puppy thread. It's been really hard on us though.

Hah, funny about the Barf diet - it grosses me out also. I'll have to look into the "natural" thing. That is one thing I am not abreast on. What brand of dog food are you looking into once Portia is grown?

 

[pricescope]

"WELLNESS" brand is one of the best though we feed Sharik raw beef and some granes, plus fruts and greens.
F&I, our setter was diagnosed with cancer at the age 14 and lived 4 more years, so I think it was a mistake. Hold on

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 6/27/2004 4:40:00 PM leonid wrote:

'WELLNESS' brand is one of the best though we feed Sharik raw beef and some granes, plus fruts and greens.
F&I, our setter was diagnosed with cancer at the age 14 and lived 4 more years, so I think it was a mistake. Hold on----------------

Thanks Leonid, but she has real clinical signs of total body melt down - it's invasive. She's the reason I'm not going w/ Mr. F&I to Canada. I can't leave her again. We are spoiling her rotten though.

I'll have to look into the Wellness. What are some of the things to look for on the label - as in bad stuff?

And, one thing about dogs. You sign on taking them w/ full knowledge that you will most likely be faced with the end. Doesn't make it any easier though.

 

[Mara]

Update! Here is our princess at 11 weeks, she is now 12 weeks but looks pretty much the same. I guess now we see more subtle changes from week to week, rather than the large jumps that were made from week 7 to week 11. She is still sooo adorable. I took some more pictures of her last nite. She just sits there and stares at me and probably thinks...how did I end up stuck with this INSANE woman???

The first one is one of my favorites, I call it 'Chillin' with Booda' (her penguin)...the next shot that I did not post here was her sleeping on him. The last one is another favorite, she looks SO serious. See her cute 4th of July collar?

 

[icelady]

More baby pics!

She is awesome, and the serious shot looks more like serious trouble! She is thinking of her next cold calculated move!

Thanks for the pics Mara.

 

[kpebbles]

awww...she is just toooo cute!! thanks for keeping us updated with her growth pics..i love seeing them. is she almost fully grown? how large will she get?

 

[Mara]

No she is only about 1/2 the size she will get to be...she should be about full size at 6 months and right now she is 3 months. But in terms of looks, aka dog snout and eyes, ears...I think they are pretty much where they will be but now everything just gets BIGGER.

She already has 'larger dog' paws, her large ears, and her chest is pretty broad, so I think part of it is filling it all in!

We can walk her on the ground now (but no dog parks or grassy areas yet), so we started walking her last week...now she is up to 2 walks a day and we are taking her on longer and longer jaunts. She's pretty good about walking with us rather than pulling, the puppy classes she will start next week should also solidify this and other training we have already started with her.




She is pretty much potty-trained now and her harrowing 'bite/destroy everything' puppy days seem to be slowly waning...so she is much more enjoyable now that we don't have to watch/entertain her every minute of every day. She is able to chill out and relax with us (chewing on a beef stick or similar), go to potty when she needs to, etc. I also got her another large exercise pen today and joined it with her original one so that when I start work again later this week, she has almost a full size room that is 'her' area for when we are gone. She now commands 3/4 of our dining room.

Who needs a dining room anyway!




It will be SO hard to leave her...I dread it every minute. My sister who is out from school will come and spend 3 hours 3 days a week with her (playing, walking, feeding) and the other 2 days I will come home at lunch. By September, she will be older, and more acclimated to us being gone more hours of the day.