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.

Today is even better than yesterday. Our little pup is learning, adjusting, and growing up quite quickly. Last night Veronica and I challenged him to go 4 hours between potty breaks to allow us to get a little more sleep. It basically worked. He managed to make it from 10pm – 1:45am. Our goal was 2am.  I took him out. He then managed to make it from 1:50am-5:45am! Yahoo! He’s getting it. And we’re getting more sleep.

He’s also beginning to sleep longer during the day. That’s a good thing too because it will allow me to get to work longer hours during the day instead of just at night.

The best part is he’s starting to go farther on walks. At first it was just around the house. Then up the cul-de-sac and back. Then after a bit it was 2-3 times up the cul-de-sac and back. Now we can get a bout 2 blocks from the house and back and he seems to do good. Sometimes it takes a lot of stop and go coaxing to get him moving, but after that he generally walks quite nicely. Right by my side or slightly behind me. He gets distracted by passing cars but I don’t let him dwell in his anxiety so he just goes back to normal right afterward.

We have currently had lunch and had a romp out in the back yard. The sun is shining and the snow is melting so it made for a good bit of fun for Enzo. Now he’s cashed out at the back door in the sun beam! He’s a good one and he’s going to get better!

Later today is our first car ride and trip to the vet. I shall report on how that went!

Enzo pics day 5