First Vet Visit

Poor Scruffy...After getting the shots

We decided to bring Scruffy to the vet when he was two months old.  We went to Orange Pet Care, since it was close to the area we live in.  They provide excellent customer service, both the staffs and Dr. Felix Lapuz are very friendly.  They helped us understand the proper way of taking care of your pets.

Scruffy was just around 2 pounds when we went there to get his first set of shots.  My aunt decided to get an HMO plan which includes all the vaccines and other medicine Scruffy needs.

He was shaking a lot, especially when we put him on the table.  The doctor gave Scruffy anti-histamine before giving the first two shots.  I can still remember how loud Scruffy cried when the doctor stuck the needle in.  I saw his claws dug deep in the assistant's arms.  But the doctor thought me how to alleviate the pain, and good thing we brought his comfort hat.  He was tired and sleeping the entire day.

What's with the Shoe?

My poor shoe..

I am sure all dog owners can relate to this post very well.  How often do you stop your dog from chewing on basically everything inside your house?  Does your dog's chew toys do not seem to be enough to satisfy its curiosity and urge to chew?

When Scruffy met Seven...

I am not sure if I already mentioned what kind of dog Scruffy is.  Just in case it slipped my mind, Scruffy is a chihuahua mix.  When we got him, we were not sure what the other half is.  We forgot to ask the previous owner about it.

We guessed from breeds like cocker spaniel, terrier, and retriever.  Even the people I meet every time I take Scruffy for a walk also tried guessing.  As Scruffy grew, certain features became prominent.  Although, his chihuahua blood is apparent to his body size, other features like the fur on his face is I think from the other half of the breed.

Scruffy's face has spiky and scattered fur, just right above his nose towards the sides and it gets a little long in between his eyes.  It looks cute when it was growing but at the same time, when the fur gets longer, it makes him look like an "old" dog-- similar to a very old person.  The fur on his neck, down to his body-- spine area towards his tail, his legs, is thicker and longer than the sides of his body.

Finally, we got a chance to visit my aunt's friend who adopted one of Scruffy's brothers, and learned that Scruffy's half terrier.  The owners named him Seven.  I guess his number seven among the puppies.  It made us wonder whether Scruffy is younger or older than Seven.  Scruffy enjoyed running around, sniffing, and swimming with Seven.

Meet Peanut and Oodie

Sniff! Sniff!

What a busy weekend we had!  After having few friends over last Friday, my cousin's friend's parents invited us to have dinner at their house on Saturday.  We brought Scruffy with us.  Even Scruffy was stunned with how busy his weekends went.  The next day, he seemed to be looking for more people, loud voices and laughter, and especially, belly rubs.

It was really great to bring Scruffy along since there are very limited places that allow dogs.  The family who invited us also have two chihuahua mix dogs, Oodie and Peanut.  Scruffy was so excited to play with Oodie and Peanut, he cannot just stop sniffing and following them around.  It did not take long for Peanut to get comfortable with Scruffy, but Oodie, it may take sometime.  Since Peanut and Oodie are already nine years old, they do not have much energy as Scruffy.

Peanut played happily with Scruffy, but for some reason, Scruffy really wanted to play with Oodie.  He tried to call him, follow him around, and teasing him, which made Oodie irritated at times.  Scruffy likes sniffing Oodie's bottom but Oodie did not like it.  Whenever Oodie was not looking, Scruffy tried to sneak behind him and started sniffing.  Then, Oodie started growling and Scruffy run away.  Then again, Scruffy will try sniffing Oodie's bottom and the process of teasing repeats.  Poor Oodie, he tried to find a quiet time by himself but Scruffy did not allow him to.  Naughty little Scruffy!  

We all had a great night!  The lovely couple, Frank and Tracy prepared a very delicious dinner.  The combination of seafood pasta and wine was heaven!  I have not tried drinking as much wine as I had over dinner.  Well, as they say, there is always a first time.  Cheers!

Scruffy Partied All Night!

Party Look!

Aside from weekly visits from other family members, we rarely invite friends over since we had Scruffy.  Scruffy only meets new people when I walk him early in the morning.  But last Friday, Scruffy had a blast!  We invited few friends over for dinner.

Normally, Scruffy gets really excited when someone comes home, as if he has not seen the person for a long time.  He endlessly wags his tail, jumps up and down, rubs his body on your leg, and rolls over asking for a belly rub, or asking to be carried.  But with his excitement, he cannot help not to sprinkle his "love" on the floor or worse, on you.

 At first, we did not understand why he have accidents like that especially when excited.  The vet said it is a normal occurrence for puppies and it may stop once he gets neutered or as he matures.  His accidents lessened when he turned five months old.  I think he is learning to control his bladder better, or so we thought.

When my uncle came home from work, Scruffy did his usual welcome home greeting.  He endlessly wagged his tail, jumped up and down, rubbed his body on my uncle's leg, and rolled over for a belly rub.  But when Scruffy saw my uncle's friend, he happily and quickly run towards him and did what he does best, mark his territory!  We were all surprised.  He did not just do it once, but three times.  Then, I realized that Scruffy had just woken up and probably needed to go potty.  Every time he sleeps, it is guaranteed that he will go potty when he wakes up.  Most of the time when Scruffy gets excited, he forgets what he needs to do.

Well, Scruffy did not stop with one person.  When my aunt's friends came, one of her friends carried him.  Again, Scruffy sprinkled him with "love," but this time it missed the floor and went straight to his jeans.  Good thing he also owns three dogs and used to being accidentally sprayed on.           

Do not disturb!

That was a really fun night!  Nothing can beat an excellent combination of good friends, mouth watering food and wine, and of course, KARAOKE (singing)!  Even Scruffy enjoyed the night!  He did not sleep until everyone left.  It was heaven for him because everyone likes giving him belly rubs.  Just like us, Scruffy was tired and sleepy the next day!

Few more minutes, please!

It did not matter where Scruffy is, as long as he catches up with sleep!  He is such a party dog!  :-)

Kennel or Crate Training Tips!

Nap time!

Training your pets proper behavior is a laborious and overwhelming process, especially for first time pet owners.  One of the challenging trainings, is letting your dogs to get used to their kennel or crates.  Luckily, we did not have difficulty kennel training Scruffy.  Partly because he was really young, around six or seven weeks old when we started training him.

 Here are the steps we did to kennel train Scruffy:

1. Buy a right size kennel or crate for your dog.  Neither should it be too small nor too big.  It should be big enough for your dog to stand, sit, and lay down.
2. Put his favorite bed or blanket inside the kennel.  This will allow your dog to recognize something familiar.  For Scruffy, we put his favorite bed in.  Puppies love sleeping.  He cannot resist not to get inside the kennel when his favorite, fluffy bed is inside.
3. At first, we kept the kennel gate open in the morning.  This will give him the freedom to go in and out as he wishes, and it will not let him feel that he is being caged.
4. Then at night, Scruffy is already asleep when we put him inside the kennel.  So, he did not resisted at all.  We keep the kennel gate closed all night.
5. We also used the kennel to potty train Scruffy.  For potty training tips, click this link:  kennel and potty training. 

Now, Scruffy is comfortable with his kennel.  We also put Scruffy inside the kennel when we need to leave the house.  It gives us peace of mind when we leave the house and not worry about any surprises when we get back.

Kennel and Potty training

When Scruffy was finally settled with his new home, we started training him to sleep by himself.  My aunt bought a kennel and put his bed in it and placed the kennel in the kitchen.  For the first few nights, Scruffy kept crying and kept everyone awake.  We have no other choice, but to bare with it and wait until he gets tired of crying.  One of my aunt's friends told us to put a small clock inside his kennel, as the sound resembles a heart beat, and to turn on the radio in a low volume and tune-in on a station that plays soft music.  These will help Scruffy feel less alone and lonely at night.  To our surprise, it worked!  Now, Scruffy has no problem sleeping by himself.  He can sleep without the small clock, but we still need to keep the radio on.  For more kennel training tips visit my post Kennel or Crate Training Tips.       

Knocking after potty

For his potty training,  we send him out to the patio on a schedule.  We let him roam around the patio and find his spot.  At first, it was difficult to train him since he does not want to be left outside.  We normally go out with him and wait for him to do his business.  Gradually, we try to leave him by himself.  When we are all at home, we leave the door to the patio slightly open, for Scruffy to freely go in and out.

Now, when he needs to go potty, he will stand by the patio door and waits for someone to open it.  We still need to teach him to call us when he is by the door.  Sometimes we do not notice him waiting, then that is the time he will accidentally make a mess. 

Before putting him in the kennel at night, we trained him to go potty since he is too young and cannot really hold it until the morning.  This way he will not wake us up in the middle of the night just to go potty.  The schedule works well for all of us.  Scruffy has different potty schedules in the morning.  First potty schedule, my uncle lets him go potty before he goes to work and puts him back inside the kennel.  Then his second potty schedule is when I wake up around six am.
 

During weekends, there are a few changes in his potty schedule.  When my uncle does not go to work, scruffy can manage to hold it in until six am.  Then if no body wakes up around that time, he will start calling and waking us up.  I am normally the one who hears his calls.  So, when I hear Scruffy, I know that he needs to go potty badly.  I remembered, there was one time that no body heard his calls, I think because we just came home from a trip the night before, Scruffy accidentally wet his bed.  When we woke up, he was crying and was on the side of his bed, trying to avoid the wet spot.  We felt really bad for him, gave him a bath and washed his bed.

My Mornings with Scruffy

 "Start your mornings right!", as the saying goes.  Waking up early in the morning can be a dreadful process.  How many times do you hit the snooze button every time you hear your alarm clock goes off?  How many times do you tell yourself, "five more minutes," or simply go back to sleep?

Since we had Scruffy, my morning rituals changed dramatically.  No more hitting the snooze button or saying "five more minutes."  Scruffy does not allow me to do all those things anymore and became my alarm clock.  When I hear Scruffy's morning calls,  that means it is his potty time.  You cannot simply ignore him because it gets louder and longer, and the pitch of his voice gets higher.  It can give you the worse headache ever!

 

Typically, I teach Scruffy how to behave and a few tricks before giving his breakfast.  My boyfriend told me that the best time to teach a puppy is when the puppy needs something from you.  Since the puppy wants something, it will normally give you its full attention.  So far, it works!  Scruffy knows how to sit, lay down, high five, beg, and shake hands.  I still need to work with him more to learn the "stay" command.  He is a one sneaky pup! He will stay for a few seconds, and if you are not looking anymore, he will start following you around.

When he is eating, I prepare and have my breakfast too.  I liked it when we are eating at the same time.  At least, he does not beg for my food since he is busy eating his own food.  After having breakfast, I take him for at least thirty minutes to an hour walk around the neighborhood or at the park.  I started bringing him to walk when he was two months old.  He was shivering a lot and scared to go outside.  I thought he will not grow to like walking.  Boy!  I was wrong.  Now, after having breakfast, he will stand by the front door and look at you with his puppy dog eyes, begging you to walk him.   

Scruffy loves running around the baseball field.  He runs really fast, like a bullet train.  Probably because he is so small.  He likes digging the loose soil in the batter area of the field.  He also likes chewing the grass.  I guess eating grass will help with his digestion.  He also likes playing with dry leaves.  Now, he likes chasing flocks of crows.  These past few days, there were a lot of crows stopping by the field.  Scruffy just loves chasing them as they fly away.  It was really funny to see him run in confusion.  He does not know which crow to follow first.

After running around the field, we head home.  I wipe his paws with baby wipes and start cleaning the house.  Scruffy brings a lot of dirt, dry leaves, etc., from our morning walks, that I needed to vacuum the house everyday. 

So, that is how my usual mornings with Scruffy!  How does your morning go?  Please feel free to share you morning stories with me!

Are your pets just "pets?"

Prior to bringing Scruffy home, we knew very little about how to properly take care of a pet dog.  Different from animal lovers, we perceive pets as nothing more than four legged creatures.  Animal lovers might feel uncomfortable while reading this, but I only want to describe how we view pets before we had Scruffy.

Pets are not treated specially by their owners, well at least what I have seen and experienced while growing up.  Dogs for instance, have only one purpose, that is to guard its owner's house.  Commonly, dogs are fed with left over human food, and encased in a caged outside the house.  I know it sounds very cruel, but that was how most of our neighbors back home treat their dogs.  Aside from the dog owners, most dogs were feared by other people because of their aggressive nature.  Probably, one of the effects of being treated with less love and care.        

When we came to the United States, we were surprised with how much pet owners value their pets.  They treat them as if they are part of their family.  At first, we cannot comprehend with how much money these owners are willing to spend for their pets.  But then again, since they are considered as part of the family, you will do everything to provide for their well being.  Of course, one does not need to spend beyond his/her means in order to provide for his/her furry babies' needs.  Just make sure that you provide proper nutrition, vet care (This can be costly but I think you can search for low cost vet clinics), and most importantly TLC.          

An "Unwanted" Joy

Who could resist this look?

"Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures." -- Dalai Lama XIV

How many of us have seen stray dogs or cats on the streets, or how many do we know have been in the pound or put to sleep?  The answer is "too many."  We do not know the stories behind each dog or cat, but for whatever reason their previous owners had to let their pets in such situation, it is heartbreaking. 

When I came across this quote while browsing the internet, it reminded me of Scruffy and how he became an important part of our family.

When we brought Scruffy home, he was barely five weeks old.  He is what people call a "freebie dog."  He was given to my aunt by an acquaintance for free.  I am not sure what the story behind it, but all I know was that the previous owner cannot afford to take care of many puppies.  So, they decided to give some of the puppies away, if not, they will be forced to put the "unwanted" puppies to sleep.  It was a sad story to think about, but as far as I know, the owner tried to find good homes for the puppies.

At home, Scruffy was shivering uncontrollably.  I assumed he was still trying to adapt to his new environment and being away from his mother for such a very young age. He looked so tiny and delicate.  He did not even have teeth yet.  He had cute little paws, small body, short legs, and a big head.  At least, that was what my cousin noticed.  His eyes are round and dark brown that pierce through your heart when he looks at you directly while begging.  He has ears that flip forward.

He is our first dog.  The only knowledge we have for taking care of dogs was from the internet and from what other people had told us.  Whether it is right or wrong, we do not know.  It was an overwhelming thought at first.  We really do have a live dog now.  He is not just some virtual pet, like Sims pet or Nintendo pet, that can be taken care of with a click of a button.  He is alive!  He responds to his surroundings and to us.  He is another life that we have to nurture and protect.

It is saddening to think that there are a lot of people who incautiously breed animals for business or profit, or those who do not know how to take care of their pets and let them accidentally reproduce.  It is  a great responsibility to take care of pets.  Not only it cost money to take care of them, but they need your time and attention as well. 
          
Sometimes, I cannot help wonder if Scruffy's previous owner managed to find new homes for the other puppies.  Nevertheless, we are grateful to have him and we are making sure to provide a comfortable and loving home for him to grow.