Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday 4

Crazy Meiby

I was trying to videotape (I know it's not tape anymore... video record?) a game of fetch with Meiby when she had one of her energy bursts in the middle of a retrieval and spontaneously ran crazy laps around the living room. I was lucky enough to capture most of it including some of her famous drifting (sliding around on the wood floor). She's been having more energy spurts the past week. Several in a day sometimes. I think we need to get her out more...

Clicker Training Videos

Meiby has learned "sit" and "lay down" pretty well at this point. "Dance" is coming along nicely too...






p.s. It's hard to hold a camera, clicker, and treats plus do hand signals at the same time so sorry the videos are a little shakey ;)

Pumpkin Treats

pumpkin treats
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I finally found some small halloween cookie cutters and made these pumpkin dog treats. Pumpkin is very good for pups (lots of vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidents) so I had been wanting to make these for a while. They turned out pretty hard but that's good in a way... Meiby actually has to sit down and chew on it for a few minutes instead of just gulping it down. Also, when making homemade dog treats, you know exactly what's in them (I even tasted one... it's like a pumpkin cracker).

Pug Tricks

We have been working with clicker training to teach Meiby tricks and basic obedience for a few weeks now and we're starting to see real results! She picked up "sit" very quickly because it's sort of natural so we moved on to "lay down". She did not get it for a long time. We'd try to place her into a lay down position to help her get the idea but it didn't help. Finally, a couple days ago I was following her around with a video camera trying to catch something cute (see previous post) and while on the kitchen tile she got bored with me and slid into a lay down. That's when I got the idea to start training her to "lay down" in the kitchen where it's easy to get into that position and within just a few minutes of guiding and clicking and rewarding, she got it! I showed Nick when he got home and we were both ecstatic to finally see some real progress. We've been practicing with her constantly since then and trying out some "stay" and "come" commands. We feel like parents who just witnessed first steps :) We're so proud! I'll try to get some video of Meiby's training within the next few days. Until then, check out this awesome pug trick video featuring Tucker the Pug... maybe someday Meiby will be this cool :)

The Pug Head Tilt

Have you ever wondered why some dogs do the head tilt? This is our theory: According to Pugs for Dummies a pug's eardrum is "located far down his neck", not right inside his/her ear. That's why we think they tilt their head when you talk to them. Pugs can't really perk up their ears so tilting their neck toward you is their way of trying to hear you better!

We're back

and Meiby was just fine while we were gone. Her eye cleared up right away so we stopped giving her the pills (painkillers) but we're still administering the eye drops 3X daily. It's amazing how well she takes it. The first day or so she resisted and squirmed alot but now she's very still and we can get both eyes in a matter of seconds. ...she knows she'll get a treat when it's over.

Anyway, we still don't know what happened to her eye but we're glad it's fine now :)

My parents had a little party this weekend and I took Meiby over there with me. She fully gets along with my parents dog (a big-ish pitbull-(we think)-mix) and cat now. She loved all the attention of the guests and managed not to poop in my parents' house! Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me... but I'll try to get some new photos or video up soon...

First Overnight Away...

Meiby's parents (us) are leaving her overnight for the first time since we've had her. We're going down to Indianapolis tonight for Nick's Indiana Bar Admission Ceremony(!) tomorrow and we're not bringing the pup with us. I've arranged to have a friend stay the night at our house tonight so Meiby won't be alone all night. We won't even be gone 24 hours but we'll miss her. Of course today, of all days, Meiby woke up with a swollen, red, gooey eye. Nick is at the vet with her right now. Hopefully it's no big deal but if it is I'll probably stay home with her and Nick will go to Indy without me. We'll see...

...well, I think the eye will be OK. The doctor didn't see any scratches or anything but they gave her 10 days worth of eye drops and pills and we'll take Meiby back in after 10 days. It doesn't seem to bother her much but she's certainly not a fan of the drops. We're still going to go to Indy tonight and just get back as early as possible tomorrow to take care of her.

Wordless Wednesday 3

3M Dental Treats review

yum
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I had been looking for a good, safe dental chew for Meiby... something that would clean her teeth, improve her breath and not choke her. I had been recommended to check out Greenies but there seems to be a lot of bad press regarding them being dangerous (although they've since changed their formula). I decided to try it and bought a small bag of them for Meiby. I gave her one and monitored her the whole time. Even though I was watching closely, she still gulped down a huge chunk of it and I was worried for a little bit. It turned out fine but I haven't given her any more of them.
Last week at Target I came across a new product: 3M Dental Treats. They have 3 "prongs" to keep your dog from swallowing them too quickly. The ones I bought were white though (not brown like the one pictured in the link) and smelled minty. I gave one to Meiby and she loved it, ate it slowly while holding on to the prongs with her little raccoon claws, and had nice breath when she was finished! I definitely recommend these over Greenies. She really takes her time and chews on them, getting the full benefit of plaque removal that's intended, and they definitely smell better (not that Greenies smell bad, they just don't smell much like anything.) They are a bit expensive but I certainly don't give her two every day as the package suggests. I think one a week is plenty. (There's another good review of these at epinions.) Anyone else tried these?

The Pug in the Mirror

Meiby barking at her reflection and generally being weird...

Meiby has a zit!

zit!
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I've heard that this happens with adolescent pugs. Meiby is 9 months old now and she's got her first pimple. So far it seems like no big deal. We'll keep an eye on it until it goes away. There are lots of stories about pug pimples on Bam Bam the Pug's blog. We do clean her face often (at least every other day) and she has metal food and water bowls which should keep the breakouts to a minimum but she does always have her face buried in the rugs or the yard...

Oh, Pug...

Every time we think we have Meiby on a good, regular schedule, she goes and throws us off again. For a while she'd poop in the morning and again after dinner. Then she started going at lunch and before bed (so I'd be waiting outside forever in the morning while she just nibbles at the grass.) She loves to poop in the house. The longest no-poop-in-the-house streak we've had, ever, is a whole week. The we start thinking she gets it and then she turns around and does it again.

However, she NEVER pees in the house... until yesterday. I got home from work, let her run around for a bit, gave her dinner and was putting things away and getting ready to take her outside. Next thing I know, I look up and she's PEEING on the COUCH! WTF! Since I caught her in the act, I scolded her and took her outside immediately. The couple times she has peed in the house before (the first week when she didn't know what was going on) she always finds a towel or something like that to pee on so we now keep all towels and clothes off the floor. Since there was nothing on the floor to pee on, she decided that the blanket that covers the couch was a good place to pee. Unfortunately, it leeked right through to the couch. I was disappointed in her but we cleaned it up and moved on.

And then later that night, I was putting fresh flannel sheets on the bed (it's getting cold!) and she peed right on the dirty sheets I'd just taken off the bed. Twice in one day! Am I failing to read her signals or is she just getting lazy? At least it was the dirty sheets though. I would have been so mad if she peed on my brand new clean sheets! What goes on in that head of yours, Meiby?



How do you train your dog not to use the house as a toilet?

Doxie Friends!

meiby and friends
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

This weekend we took Meiby over to Nick's friends house where 2 cute one-year-old Dachshunds, Annabelle and Fozzy, live. We introduced them in the huge yard and let them sniff each other on short leashes for a bit. When it looked like everyone was getting along OK we let them run around the yard. We've never seen Meiby run so fast. She chased, tackled and played with them like they'd been friends forever. Later, Annabelle asserted her authority and barked to show Meiby who the top dog was. Meiby was a little freaked out but she got over it and got some good experience hanging with other dogs. Being an "only child" at our house, she never has to share anything or fight over food. It was good to see her deal with it and learn to fit in with the other dogs. She did so much running around with them though, she's just exhausted today! We'll have to visit them again soon!

Clicker Training

I like chips too!
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I've decided to start clicker training Meiby... Here's why: She begs (as you can see) and she poops in the house way too often to just be "accidents". She's generally a good puppy though but she needs a little guidance. I read through "The Power of Positive Dog Training" and I started with her last night and she's already getting the hang of "sit". The hard part is that she's totally distracted when I get the treats out. Has anyone else tried clicker training with a pug? With any dog?