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?

Not for the Squeamish

Anyone who wants to keep thinking of Meiby as a perfect, cute-all-the-time puppy, stop reading here! (or click here)




She'd be mad if she knew I posted about this (hehehe) but it might be helpful to other pup owners out there...
Last Thursday when I got home from work I noticed Meiby scooting her butt across the floor so I checked it out and she had a red swollen bump under her tail. I had heard about some pugs needing to have their anal glands expressed so I figured it was Meiby's turn. I pointed it out to Nick when he got home and we looked up some info and tutorials on how to deal with this. We put her in the tub and attempted to squeeze. We must not have been doing it right because nothing came out except a little red (uh ohh) so we called the vet thinking she might have an infection. In the meantime, I held a warm washcloth on her rear to soothe the swelling. She seemed greatful for this!

Nick took her to the vet the next morning and they "expressed" her properly and showed Nick how to do it (darn, I missed it!) We had been a little worried that we weren't feeding her the right stuff or something. They explained that we weren't doing anything wrong, some dogs just need this done occassionally. She seemed much more comfortable when she came home, though maybe a bit violated. We figured we could just do this at home when needed, and sure we can, but it's only $16 to have it done at the vet and we know they'll do it properly and thoroughly so we'll probably just stick to that unless it's needed very often. Supposedly feeding dogs pumpkin will help them to "express naturally" so I'm going to whip up some of these pumpkin treats for Meiby.