The adventures of SD Juno and SDIT Kaline (and their human, Colt).

25 June 2012

First vet visit, etc.

Puppy zoomies just ended and Kaline has fallen asleep, so I thought I'd get in a little blogging.

Last night everyone got a lot more sleep, even me. Kaline and I worked on crate training during the day, and then last night, he slept in the kiddie pool bed with his leash tethered to a kitchen chair. I was on the couch up here, right next to him. He actually slept! I woke up a lot, worrying about whether he was awake and needing to pee, or chewing on the bed, or the towel, or the leash. (Despite having a fluffy bone, a Nylabone, a Kong and now a toothbrush thing, the leash remains the most popular thing to put in his mouth. Thank goodness it's not the BLD leash!)

But there was no yowling, so what sleep I got was a lot better. Kaline did some time in his crate today as well, when I went next door to feed my neighbor's cats, and later when I took Juno out on a walk by herself. She needs a lot more exercise than Kaline does at this point, and of course she really needs her individual time. Kaline did well in the crate—Mom reported that he yowled at the beginning, but by the time Juno and I got back, he was lying in there quietly and calmly.

Brief moment of sibling peace and closeness.


Can I just say, I cannot begin to imagine how much more stressed out I would be right now if Juno were still blind. It takes off so much pressure to know that I don't have to depend on Kaline for anything anytime soon, seeing as how I can't. Juno and I are going to go on a longer walk tomorrow, plus we'll have training in the park.

Kaline got more of his intro to the prong collar today, and he's doing quite well. He started pulling on leash last night (getting some more confidence!), so he wore the collar this morning. Juno is great at teaching new dogs to walk nicely, so between the two of us we really got Kaline going great! He looked so cute. He has the most gorgeous little trot, even at nine weeks.

We also did clicker introduction. He gives such amazing eye contact! Before he gets distracted by Juno, of course. All he wants is to play with her ... Sigh. She barks at him and runs away. Or just stands there and barks. It's loud. Kaline is much less intimidated already, haha. He always goes for her tail, he's utterly fascinated by it.

This. All the time.


Anyway, I think he's getting the clicker ... I will have to use higher value treats tomorrow to make sure. I've been using his leftover kibble, because he's leaving a lot at each meal and I worry, but he is not terribly motivated by it. Damn, I knew Juno would spoil me. (She will work/train for vegetables.)

Kaline did a lot of sleeping. Thank goodness, cause then I can recharge! This afternoon, I pulled the extra downstairs dog bed into the family room (we now have literally no floor space) and ended up snuggling on it between Juno and Kaline. Kaline snuggled so wonderfully, and even pillowed his head on my neck. He also fell asleep in my lap at another point. He's so bloody cute when he sleeps. Okay, he's cute when he's doing practically anything.

Cuddling between my dogs!


This afternoon Mom and I took both dogs in to the vet. Kaline had to go for a puppy checkup, and we wanted to see what's up with Juno blowing her coat all of a sudden (she normally doesn't). Everyone thought Kaline was very cute, and commented on his enormous paws. We got our first, “What is he?” comment. First guess, if you can believe it, was DACHSHUND (admittedly, his face does look Doxie-like) and the second guess was Rottweiler. Third guess was mix. Nope. Kinda knew I was in for that with his natural ears. (The thing that is really annoying me, so far, is that everyone calls Juno “he” and Kaline “she.”)

Kaline was pronounced lookin' good by the vet, Dr. Harish, who also said that yes, walks around the neighborhood are fine, just no high-traffic areas. It's what I thought, but it's nice to get vet confirmation. Juno got blood drawn to make sure her thyroid is working properly. Kaline managed to almost fall off the exam table twice, and later tried to perch on my shoulders like a parrot. Oh, puppy.

Kaline at the vet on the exam table.


After the vet we went to Pet Place to get Kaline's play pen (turned out it was the wrong model, oops). Kaline waited in the car with Mom; Juno came with me and milked everyone in the store for treats. She's really good at convincing people she's starving, neglected, no one feeds her, etc. I love my girl. Lynn, who owns Pet Place, came out to the car to meet little Kaline and cooed over him. Teehee.

He got zoomies when we came home, sliding down the stairs a couple times, pouncing on all his toys like they were running away from him, running around in circles, etc. And then he crashed. I feel like I haven't done anything all day, yet I'm wiped. Guess this is puppyhood!

2 comments:

  1. Oh, puppy days, I do miss those!

    You might try carrots and/or green beans with Kaline as treats. I know that Elka likes them...so long as we're in the house. Out in the world, I need to up the ante!

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  2. Thanks, I'll give those a shot! Once he's old enough to go out with the pack, I won't worry so much about calories, but for now I kinda do. Figured out how to get him to finish a meal--start switching to Juno's food, haha. I was planning to do that anyway, I want him on an ALS food.

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