August 20, 2007
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Baron von Klutz…the fourth day
The baby seems to be housebroken already. He’s taken to whining at night when he needs to pee and we are more than happy to oblige him. We started taking up his water dish around 6 or 7pm and the food dish too. We figure it isn’t fair to expect his little bladder to wait all night to pee if we just let him keep drinking water. Since he’s kenneled at night, they do NOT want to piddle where they sleep so he would be very frustrated. Better than he whines to let us know he’s got to go.
He is still having a problem getting down the stairs from the deck so we carry him down (while we can) and he will immediately pee. I walked him around the yard a bit last night and he did his business, too, so we were both very happy about that. After he cavorted around for about 10 minutes, he clumped up the stairs and waited for me to sit down so he could crawl (and this is a real feat and quite a sight
) into my lap. He won’t be able to do this for too long since he already is bigger than my lap. I’m actually amazed at how he can curve himself into a circle to go to sleep.He is still enough of a puppy that it doesn’t take much activity to wear him out. He will plop down and go to sleep but is full of piss and vinegar when he wakes up. He will start running around, wanting to play. We have a rope toy that he’s come to like and will play tug-of-war, complete with his puppy growls. He will now chase a ball, too. He just looked at it like some strange thing when we first tried to get him to chase it. NOW he gets it and will chase it, bark at it and his mouth just fits around it. After a couple *chases* though, it’s covered in saliva.
We were talking about what we will do once winter hits here because Baron will still need a lot of exercise and it won’t be feasable for the Beast to exercise him with the scooter. Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, suggests a treadmill (and uses it on his personal *pack* and for dog rehabilitation) for high energy dogs. We decided that we would get one in a couple months and put it here in my office. There is nothing worse than a dog that needs exercise and isn’t getting it. They get frustrated and that starts some serious problems for the pet owner. Better to meet the problem head-on and avoid it.
He did start some whining last night after we first went to bed but a loud, firm SHHHHHHHHHH shut him right up and he settled in to sleep. We had gone to bed fairly early (8:30) but had already walked the dog and made sure he did what he needed to do beforehand. He slept until about 3 am before he started his *pee* whine so I got up to take him out. He could barely wait until I set him in the grass before he got into position and you would almost see the relief on his face. The Beast joined me outside and we sat and had a cigarette before heading back to bed. Baron settled in and we all slept until 7 am this morning. We took him outside and he took care of business then wanted to play.
I went in to make coffee while the Beast did the rope tug and ball rolling with the baby. By the time I brought our coffee outside, he was ready to crawl in Mama’s lap but I wouldn’t let him so he sulked for about 5 minutes. His attention span isn’t that long so he was back wanting to play in no time.
I love to watch the hummingbirds playing and eating at the feeder in the morning. They will feed pretty much all day long and I think it’s because the severe draught here has killed off the flowers they normally would prefer to feed on.
Even the morning glorys, which are pretty much a pest and grow like weeds, have died off. Our five regulars were here this morning along with one or two new ones with some beautiful coloring. I really need to find a good hummingbird book so I can identify the ones we are seeing. I’ve been trying to get a couple good pictures but they are so darn quick that it’s difficult. I have a good camera but….I really can’t select my speed with any accuracy but that may just be my ignorance. I’m sure there is SOME way to do it. I guess I will have to give in and ask the Beast to show me how unless I can find my darn book. I’ll look for my book first, though.I hate to do it but we decided that we are going to fence our back yard behind the house. I like having it open but, with the dog, it makes more sense to fence it in. Once he’s bigger, you just never know if he will feel his oats and decide to go for a run or explore and possibly scare the shit out of someone who doesn’t know HIM or dobermans.
We are going to have a microchip put in the dog tomorrow when we take him to the vet to get the stitches out of his ears and retaped. Since we have full breeding rights from the breeder, and paid a lot of money for the critter, we don’t want to take the chance on him being lost or (shock, surprise) stolen. It DOES happen.Well, it sounds like both the Beast and the baby are up from their naps so I guess I will go and make us all some lunch. We are rationing out his food because keeping a dish full of his kibble doesn’t make sense when he STILL wolfs it down like he expects his siblings to try to eat it, too. He gets a bad case of heaves and hiccups when he wolfs down his food and I am afraid of his getting bloat, which dobermans seem to get a lot. It’s as bad as croup in babies.
Have a great day and I will let you know how the vets goes. He’s supposed to show us how to properly tape Baron’s ears tomorrow. We will be gone all morning since we are going to the vet the breeder used and it’s an hour-and-a-half drive from our home. We will change to a local AKC vet after his baby shots are done and his ears healed and *perky*.
Love ya’ll
