New Boxer puppy

[parrot tulips]

After some discussion, J and I decided we wanted to add a new fur baby to our household. Now seemed like the perfect time - I''m not currently working, and it would be nice to crate/potty train a puppy before trying to have kids. So...we picked up our white boxer baby Izzy (Isabelle) on Saturday! She''s been a fantastic new addition to our household. Our only challenge, so it seems, will be the crate training, but we''re determined. We know it''ll be best for our household as a whole in the long run. For now, I''m just enjoying all her puppy cuteness. And anyone who has helpful (general) advice for raising puppies, I''d love to hear it! Teaching them that hands and feet are not chew toys, that our dinner is not their dinner, etc.

 

[parrot tulips]

Relaxing on the deck.

 

[parrot tulips]

Chilling with dad.

 

[jjc]

No training advice, but OH MY GOSH how cute is your puppy?!?!??!!
I''m dying

Thanks for sharing pictures!

 

[April20]

She is beautiful!! I''ve never seen a white one. Congrats on your new furbaby.

 

[tlh]

awwwwwwwwwwww

 

[parrot tulips]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:26:55 AM
Author: April20
She is beautiful!! I''ve never seen a white one. Congrats on your new fur baby.

I think that''s because white ones are considered less desirable (not show quality), so they''re usually bred to be brindle or fawn. Plus, I''m sure white ones often get mistaken for either small American Bulldogs, or pits. Either way, hubbie and I are smitten.

 

[anniee19]

Aw, what a sweetie! We have a boxer who is just over a year old now. Half of her litter mates were white, and half were brown. Macy is still very hyper, but taking her for walks helps a lot, and she loves going to the dog park where she can just run and run. For the first week or so, she cried in her crate but now she goes in there whenever we get ready to leave the house, and doesn''t mind it a bit. As far as begging for food, we have never given our dogs scraps from the table, so she does not expect it.
Our problem we are working on is jumping on people that come into our house. She gets very, very excited and leaps up and around people, so for now we put her in the crate when we have company, let them get settled and then let her out, and she does better that way. Good luck, I think boxers are great family dogs!

 

[Allison D.]

What a little cutie you have!

I might be able to help on the crate training; my dog LOVES his crate to the point that he chooses to hang out in there most of the time, as you can see from the photo below. To be successful, the crate has to represent a positive experience and it has to represent security to your dog. This means you can't forcibly put him in the crate and then leave.

This is what worked for me. When my dog Nicky was little, I sat in front of the crate and tossed a banana flavored nylabone into the back of the crate. (You can use whatever toy or bone entices your dog.) Nicky ran into the crate to get it, but when he tried to come out of the crate with it, I took it away from him and threw it back into the back of the crate. After a few times of this, he realized that I'd take it away, so he decided to lie down in the crate with it. When he did this, I let him have it and he happily chewed for a few minutes with me sitting next to the open crate.

Then I'd shut the door and sit next to the crate for a few more minutes. Then I'd get up and move around the house to fold laundry or do whatever I normally do. He could see me moving about or sitting with a cup of coffee so he knew he wasn't alone, but if he cried or whined, I wouldn't take him out until he stopped fussing for 5 minutes. Then I'd calmly go open the door and let him out.

It didn't take long for him to realize that I wouldn't bother him or take anything from him when he was in his 'safe zone' in the crate and he came to see it as his den/security haven. Leave the door to the crate open when you're home so he can roam in and out of the crate freely, too.

You'll have more success if you wear him down a bit first; don't try it when you're just home and he's full of energy. Also, try it a few times each evening so he doesn't come to realize "oh, this only happens when it's bedtime or when my owners are going to leave the house." These 10-minute trials runs will help you, too - they'll give you a few minutes to do other things while he's safe, too.



Here's a

 

[swingirl]

When we got a new puppy I removed my good rugs. Accidents will happen but I didn''t want them happening on my oriental rugs so I rolled them up at stacked them in a closet for a few months. I cringed when I saw the photo of your adorable puppy sitting on your beige rug.

I love his spot over his eye! Too cute!

 

[Madam Bijoux]

She''s adorable! My next door neighbors have a white boxer, and he''s a sweetheart. He likes to jump up and down like a jack-in-the box - be ready to play!

 

[April20]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:39:20 AM
Author: parrot tulips

Date: 8/5/2009 11:26:55 AM
Author: April20
She is beautiful!! I''ve never seen a white one. Congrats on your new fur baby.

I think that''s because white ones are considered less desirable (not show quality), so they''re usually bred to be brindle or fawn. Plus, I''m sure white ones often get mistaken for either small American Bulldogs, or pits. Either way, hubbie and I are smitten.

That''s interesting! I assumed they''d be more desirable because of the white color- like bulldogs are. A white american bulldog in Georgia fetches a ridiculous price, but than again, we have UGA to blame for that.

I think she''s the cutest darn thing I''ve seen in a long time. I''ve always bugged DH to let me get a boxer (he keeps telling me no). Maybe I can break him down by showing him the white version. He''s a huge UGA fan; you never know, it might work!

 

[jcarlylew]

Date: 8/5/2009 10:56:12 AM
Author:parrot tulips
After some discussion, J and I decided we wanted to add a new fur baby to our household. Now seemed like the perfect time - I''m not currently working, and it would be nice to crate/potty train a puppy before trying to have kids. So...we picked up our white boxer baby Izzy (Isabelle) on Saturday! She''s been a fantastic new addition to our household. Our only challenge, so it seems, will be the crate training, but we''re determined. We know it''ll be best for our household as a whole in the long run. For now, I''m just enjoying all her puppy cuteness. And anyone who has helpful (general) advice for raising puppies, I''d love to hear it! Teaching them that hands and feet are not chew toys, that our dinner is not their dinner, etc.

AHH SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!! i wanna smush her, and love her, and take her home!

 

[ficklefaye]

oh my goodness, she is too cute! congrats on the new addition to your family

 

[parrot tulips]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:48:55 AM
Author: swingirl
When we got a new puppy I removed my good rugs. Accidents will happen but I didn''t want them happening on my oriental rugs so I rolled them up at stacked them in a closet for a few months. I cringed when I saw the photo of your adorable puppy sitting on your beige rug.


I love his spot over his eye! Too cute!

Fortunately Isabelle is actually doing really well with the potty training so far (her only accidents happened when I decided to play with her after a nap instead of taking her right out), plus it''s a cheap $19.99 Ikea rug, so no worries about that. It doesn''t mean that I''m confident enough to leave her unsupervised, though.

As far as the crate, she likes it enough to wander in and out at random (she has toys in there, occasionally finds "surprise" treats, and gets fed in there), and even takes naps in there when I''m on the computer (I shut the door then), but it''s the night time crating she hates. Oh well, persistence and patience.

Thanks for all the lovely compliments. I''m a little tired, but so excited to have her.

 

[geckodani]

Look at the little face!!!! TOO freaking CUTE!!!

 

[parrot tulips]

Here she is during one of her more peaceful moments in the crate. Wish it was always like this...hoping that in a week or two it will be...

 

[iheartscience]

EEEEK she is so cute! I love white cats and dogs because they end up looking pink because of their skin underneath! So cute!

 

[jcarlylew]

Date: 8/5/2009 12:30:17 PM
Author: parrot tulips
Here she is during one of her more peaceful moments in the crate. Wish it was always like this...hoping that in a week or two it will be...

SO CUTE!! she is just such a cutie!

 

[AmberWaves]

Parrot, I can''t give any tips, even though we crate trained our dachshund puppy. I just wanted to wish you luck, I know the first two weeks were a nightmare, I''d have to sit on the end of the bed and "shuuuuuush" him nightly. I''d take him out to pee and he''d instantly want to run and play, but I would just put him back in and let him whimper for a bit, with little murmurs from me hushing him. Eventually he took to it, the first two weeks are the worst, I know. Now, Woofie loves his crate, even goes in when we say, "Bedtime!!"

Your pup is adorable!! Boxers really melt your heart, don''t they?

 

[dani13]

I think she may be the cutest puppy ever!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS and good luck with her!!!!!

 

[tigian]

OMG! She is soooo freaking cute! She''s going to grow so fast. I remember when our pups were that big...wait, I sound like I am talking about kids! Well, our dogs are our kids for now. Keep us updated on her. Patience is key for training. My DH was home when we had our 2 growing up and we thought it would never get better in terms of them getting into EVERYTHING. Before we knew it, they learned and really started behaving. So much easier now.

We never give them people food.
They are not allowed on furniture.
We used a spray bottle of water to train them not to jump on people.
Consistency is key even though it can be a PITA. So worth it though.
Good luck.

 

[marlie]

I basically just hugged my computer screen. Izzy is sooooooooo cute. just beautiful. she''s got one of those faces that just makes you melt.

congrats!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/5/2009 1:25:21 PM
Author: marlie
I basically just hugged my computer screen. Izzy is sooooooooo cute. just beautiful. she''s got one of those faces that just makes you melt.

congrats!

 

[parrot tulips]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:44:00 AM
Author: Allison D.
What a little cutie you have!


I might be able to help on the crate training; my dog LOVES his crate to the point that he chooses to hang out in there most of the time, as you can see from the photo below. To be successful, the crate has to represent a positive experience and it has to represent security to your dog. This means you can''t forcibly put him in the crate and then leave.


This is what worked for me. When my dog Nicky was little, I sat in front of the crate and tossed a banana flavored nylabone into the back of the crate. (You can use whatever toy or bone entices your dog.) Nicky ran into the crate to get it, but when he tried to come out of the crate with it, I took it away from him and threw it back into the back of the crate. After a few times of this, he realized that I''d take it away, so he decided to lie down in the crate with it. When he did this, I let him have it and he happily chewed for a few minutes with me sitting next to the open crate.


Then I''d shut the door and sit next to the crate for a few more minutes. Then I''d get up and move around the house to fold laundry or do whatever I normally do. He could see me moving about or sitting with a cup of coffee so he knew he wasn''t alone, but if he cried or whined, I wouldn''t take him out until he stopped fussing for 5 minutes. Then I''d calmly go open the door and let him out.


It didn''t take long for him to realize that I wouldn''t bother him or take anything from him when he was in his ''safe zone'' in the crate and he came to see it as his den/security haven. Leave the door to the crate open when you''re home so he can roam in and out of the crate freely, too.


You''ll have more success if you wear him down a bit first; don''t try it when you''re just home and he''s full of energy. Also, try it a few times each evening so he doesn''t come to realize ''oh, this only happens when it''s bedtime or when my owners are going to leave the house.'' These 10-minute trials runs will help you, too - they''ll give you a few minutes to do other things while he''s safe, too.




Here''s a

Ahhh...I''d play with her a little bit in the evenings, but probably not enough to wear her out. And while I''ve been "practicing" during the day, with me in the room, I haven''t been doing it in the evenings. I''ll try this out - thanks!

 

[Erinleigh]

What a beautiful puppy, congrats on the new addition!!!

As for advice, Allison hit the nail on the head. We did very similar things with Charley (our yorkie), and he LOVES his crate. The one thing we also did was NEVER try to take him out of his crate when he went in. We treated it as his safe haven, so if he went in for a nap, or just to hang out, we made a conscious effort not to pull him out to play (even though it was tempting with a new puppy!). That way he knew that he could also go there whenever he felt he needed some time alone.

Good luck!

 

[dianne]

OMG! I love puppies! Izzy is so-o-o-o-o adorable. I would kiss her to pieces....kiss all the fur off her....I would have a pink naked puppy!!! So sweet!!

 

[gemgirl]

I just love her name! Sweet Izzy is so adorable. I just love pink noses and paws, and pink velvet tummies.

How big is your cutie patootie going to get?

 

[parrot tulips]

Thank you all for your lovely words.

I''m not sure exactly how big Izzy will get. Her mother was about 60-65lbs, which I think is about average for a female, but her father was particularly big at about 100 lbs. Hopefully she''ll be closer to her mother''s size.

 

[lulu]

too damn cute.