Our Lives

We have had Enzo for approximately 3.5 months. He’s changed, we’ve changed, and we’ve all learned a ton. From how to react to his antics and mannerisms, to how our attitudes and energy affects him, it has all been a wonderful learning experience.

Let’s flash back shall we?

Enzo was brought into our lives at 8 weeks old. He weighed just about as many pounds.

He was so small and kind of scared, but SOOO darn cute. We immediately went to work teaching him and guiding him as to how to acclimate to our lives. Little did we know how much of our lives we’d need to change to acclimate to his needs.

The first big change: Staying home from work for a week and working the evenings for a couple of the following weeks. I stayed home during the days to help house train Enzo and then during the evenings I put in 4-5 hours while Veronica watched the little guy. This little charade payed off however because to this day we’ve had only 2 accidents in the house. One was due to us not paying attention after he had been running around playing and the other was as he got older and could sleep through the night, we got him up in the morning without his leash.

Big change number 2: Our energy and attitude towards Enzo. There were times when the little guy was extremely stubborn and frustrating we had to check ourselves out and essentially swap duties. When Enzo was about 12 weeks old we started to let him hang out in the living room with us. This entailed getting his leash on and trying to get him to lay down and not constantly chew on things. Every day for about 2 weeks we’d spend 45 minutes or so correcting him and teaching him how to behave in the living room. Well it’s paid off because now we can have him curl up at our feet at night while we watch TV and there is little to no drama. How quickly they learn.

Some other changes we’ve made are going to the dog park and taking Enzo to daycare. The past couple of weeks he’s gone to doggie daycare at Swanson’s Streamway Dog Daycare and Park. They give the animals (2) 1 hour and 15 minute play sessions. This is a Godsend. Enzo is usually pooped out at the end of the day and it makes the evenings much more low key. I spoke with one of the trainers at Petsmart where we take puppy classes and he said for the first 2 years of a dogs life with us, it’s not a bad idea to get him to doggie daycare at least a couple times a week. They get the socialization they need as well as get to burn energy the right way. Not to mention it allows us humans to worry less while at work.

The dog park is a fantastic place too. Except when there are the dog owner’s who do not watch their dogs or care what they do. It’s essentially like parents dropping their kids off at the mall and letting them run wild.

However, Enzo has made a couple friends at the dog park. Most notably a Vizla named Jemma, and a Puggle named Lily. Both of these females made Enzo realize who was in charge, but they played most wonderfully and it was great to see him socializing so well with new dogs.
Puppy classes:

The puppy classes at Petsmart have been wonderful. The trainers really love dogs and really make it fun to teach and learn about a new puppy. Our puppy class had 3 other pups in it. Kinzie, a german shepherd, Beau, a bloodhound, and Barkley, a miniature australian shepherd. We felt kind of bad for Barkley as he is the same age as all of the other pups in class, but he was a good 3 to 4 times smaller in size and weight. He bounded with the best of them though and at one point he managed to hurdle Enzo in the middle of play. I can’t say that Enzo aced puppy class but he sure did well. On graduation day we managed to show off how he can stay at a distance and wait for us to signal him to be released. (A skill taught in intermediate class)

Now we have a little bit of summer break before the next level of puppy classes start. It’s nice to have the weekends with a bit more freedom. It will be fun to keep excelling in our obedience and learning.

Every day is a new and exciting challenge and experience with Enzo. Some days he is so laid back we wonder if he’s alright. Then other days we wonder when he may eventually calm down. Usually he is more calm than anything. Like right now for instance he is laying at our feet under the desk just chewing away on his rawhide. He’s the best!

Until next time!

This past Sunday marked Enzo’s 12th week in this world. It’s our 4th week with him which means he’s had 3 solid weeks of our routine (Veronica and I took a vacation to Michigan, so he stayed at Swanson’s Streamway Doggie Daycare). I must say the differences over the past 3 days have been incredible. Enzo is starting to get big first of all. He’s about 22lbs currently and stands about 13″ at the withers. We’ve noticed a few things along the way and learned a lot already.

I know that they say puppies are puppies until roughly 6 months, but Enzo is a quick learner. He has started testing the limits of where he can go and what he can jump towards but Veronica and I both have been steady with our discipline and he’s learning what he can and cannot do. For instance, the kitchen has an island in it and his boundaries are to stay out of the ‘L’ shape that has the stove and dishwasher in it. 80% of the time he manages this on his own. The other 20% of the time we have to correct him. It only takes a couple of corrections and he scoots on out of there. Another sign of maturity is his ability to sit when asked as well as stay. He’s learned down and will do most of these commands the first or third time you ask.

We recently (last Sunday) started puppy obedience classes at PetSmart. This is a basic introductory class and teaches simple commands as well as basic puppy things (potty training, bite inhibition, etc.). Our homework this week was to “load” our clickers so that our puppies will respond to the click as an understanding that they did a good job. The clicker also bridges the gap between their brains understanding they did the right thing and us getting them a treat. That 1.x second can be the make it or break it period. To say the least, Enzo has picked this up quickly. So quickly in fact he knows to look away after he gets his treat and look right back before the click. (Our instructions were to click when he’s not paying attention so he’ll react to it). Veronica and I are both very excited to keep up the classes and learn and grow with Enzo.

Another milestone this past weekend was Enzo graduating from his small travel kennel to his big wire kennel. We bought him a bed in hopes that we could move it in the living room and he would sleep on it during the evening when we watch TV. So far it has been a test of who can last longer him or us on keeping him from chewing on the couch cushions. He loves his bed, that is definitely not the problem. The day we bought it and brought it home, he jumped on it and LOVES being there. The only thing that tears him away from that is the sunbeam (Which he is currently basking/sleeping in). We decided to help him deal with is new bigger kennel we’d lay his new snazzy bed in there. That was the trick. He comfortably sleeps there most of the night and we keep getting a little bit more sleep. Soon Enzo will make it through the night without having to be taken out.

His walks are going swimmingly as well once we get him away from the house. He has some sort of barrier in his brain where he doesn’t like leaving the view of the house. Once past that he walks on a loose leash either right beside us or behind us. YAHOO! we’ve got him walking properly and it’s only been 4 weeks. I can’t imagine what 4 months will bring.

Until next time here are our most recent pictures.

Enzo likes to play.

Enzo does not know how to play.

He doesn’t understand the concept of fetch.

His idea of running around the yard is to attack our ankles.

He thinks that biting feet and pants and fingers is a fun game. We do not.

So in an effort to play with Enzo and still keep all out fingers and toes, the Duck-On-A-Stick was born.

Veronica

Can we talk? I have a few things I would like to ask you about.

We will start off with an easy one: why do you want to bite my sweatpants? Although only $5 men’s Target sweatpants that I cut the ankle elastic out of, they are my favorite and I don’t want holes in them. Baggy with a little paint is fine, but holes cross the line.

How come you don’t enjoy taking a bath? This one boggles my mind. It’s warm. You essentially get a massage because you don’t have opposible thumbs to be able to do it yourself. And you leave feeling clean. I don’t get it.

Also what is so appealing about the right side of your kennel that has made you decide to start chewing on it…today? It hasn’t changed since yesterday. You have a chew stick that you seemed to like.

How do you get the hiccups? Do you notice you have the hiccups? Do you care that you have the hiccups? Do you even know what they hiccups are? Okay, I will stop.

Do you dream? Sometimes you make noises when you are in your kennel. Sounds like you just got getting attacked or just got a treat – not sure.

Lastly but most important, why did you pee in your kennel yesterday morning? I took you for a walk. I gave you a treat. You were quiet when I left. Why so tricky?

Love,

Your (Human) Mom

As my lovely wife posted, we have added a 3rd member to our family, or in this instance I suppose it’s our “pack”. We purchased an 8 week old blue Weimaraner who we named Enzo.

In the 5 days we’ve had him there has been much to write about. Follow along in our adventures!

After doing much research and reading we decided we were ready to bring home a pup. I have read through Cesar Millan’s book How to Raise the Perfect Dog and we were ready to start following the guidelines set forth.

Day 1: Introducing Enzo to his new digs.

Sunday was an icy/snowy mess of a day but our breeder delivered Enzo at about 2:30pm.  Veronica took the reigns on showing puppy his new bathroom spot and then introduced him to his crate using the “Nose, eyes, ears” method suggested by Cesar. While she was taking care of this I was going over the paper work with the breeder and brimming with excitement as we finally had our own puppy. We finally had a dog to raise our way over the next 12-15 years and have him become a calm, submissive, great member of the pack. The rest of Sunday was spent playing with our puppy and trying to figure out how to establish the best routine for him. Needless to say it’s still in the works, but we’re getting there.

The first night was rough. Real rough. The whining, crying and 2 or 3 potty breaks took a bit of a toll. I decided that I would work a half day monday and go in during the afternoon so that Enzo had some leadership for at least about 24 hours.

Day 2: Holy crap! what don’t we know

Monday brought new drama to the Enzo novel. The morning went fairly well. We woke up, pottied on time, ate on time, played and all of those things. Then it came time to go to work. My thought was to go in for a few hours and come home let him out and head back to work. Well that didn’t go at all as planned. When I arrived home only after 2.5 hours of being alone Enzo had had a panic attack for the ages. He did not manage to escape his crate, but he had apparently been so anxious that he threw up his lunch, and apparently he ate it again. I know that is disgusting to us humans but he was just trying to keep his kennel clean after he messed it. This episode had me re-evaluating our strategy to break him of this separation and adapt him to his new home..

The evening of Monday was much better. Enzo slept to his 2 scheduled potty breaks in the evening. One at 1am and one at 4am.

Day 3: Veronica stays home to puppy-sit.

I had to go to work all day Tuesday, but my wonderful wife stayed home with Enzo to help his acclimation. She did wonderful things and noticed behaviours that we could try and curb. Mainly his energy when staying in his crate. Veronica read Cesar’s book and was able to practice his technique of disagreeing with Enzo’s anxiety in his crate to a point where we can be in the kitchen and he’s across the room, yet he will lay down and be calm. THIS HAS BEEN HUGE!!!! She also took him for a short walk this day and this appeared to really wear him out. We may have discovered the formula needed to help us.

Tuesday evening was no big deal. Enzo more than slept to his potty breaks, however to help him not have any accidents we took him out at his scheduled times.

Day 4: Sean stays home and we make progress

I am lucky enough to have a company willing to work with my schedule (read: boss willing to work with me). I arranged to take the days off an work the evenings to help get Enzo over his separation anxiety issues. I managed to take Enzo for a few longer walks which helped even more this day. I also managed to leave for 15 minutes and come home to no sort of destructive actions or even a whining puppy. We were making it. Another great thing, that shows how quickly our pup will learn things. Since we had consistently taken him to the back door for potty breaks he has learned where to go to notify us of him needing to go. Yesterday while Enzo had some free time from his crate under my 100% supervision he walked to the back door, pawed at it, sat down and just stared at me. I jumped up, got my shoes, golves, hat and coat on and took him out. He pottied, just like we wanted! He learned. He knew how to alert us to take him out! This was 4 days in our house! What more will he learn? For starters he almost sits on command already and he’s pretty good about walking on a leash. YES!

Evening 4 was a little longer, only because this was my first night working in the evening. I must say however I got a lot of work done and had I not been so tired, I could have accomplished more. Enzo did great with his evening potty times and I think this evening we will be testing if he can make it 4 hours before potty times. If he can, we can make it down to 1 potty break a night! Progress!

Here are some obligitory pictures of the pupster!