The jowls are growing – oh my!

Yep, the reason every door knob in the house has a hand towel has begun. The slobber-producers are getting bigger every day.
And so is the soon to be cavernous mouth.
Have you ever noticed how big dogs seem to lose things inside their mouths.
I mean all of a sudden your canine is chewing on something – and he hasn’t moved in at least half an hour. Where did it come from! It was simply lost inside that huge mouth.
In about a week Baxter will be 4 months old. We will have had him just under half his lifetime. Ii doesn’t seem that long.
Knock on wood housetraining is coming along a little better. He seems to be able to hold ‘it’ longer.
I was at Pet Supplies Plus and bought one of those door bells you hang from the door knob. It’s only been a day and so far I am holding his paw to it. At least he doesn’t pull back.
Chester and Baxter are buds and can spend hours talking and rough housing. It is wonderful to see Chester enjoying his new brother.

Already a new collar

Today was a pivotal day for me.
Baxter needed a bigger collar. All of a sudden his collar wouldn’t expand anymore.
I had already decided the peace sign theme was going to be continued. Now it can continue until his neck reaches 24 inches. Will it really get that big? Oh my.
Potty training is still a difficult challenge.
Sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t.
It is truly a challenge with these really hot and humid days. He needs to drink more but then there are the consequences…

New uses for white vinegar

Yesterday I took Baxter to the kennel, Larkin’s Run in Durham, so when we board him it won’t be new to him.
I left him there for about an hour-and-a-half. They said he was wonderful; had immediately gone through to the patio side and was a well-adjusted and happy puppy.
Of course I beamed as if this was a personal compliment.
However all those happy thoughts I was having about this wonderful puppy vanished once we got into the Jeep.
Once in the backseat of the Jeep Baxter started to lean on the middle armrest, something he has never done. I thought he just wanted to be close to me. Nope, he was going to the bathroom!
Fortunately not much had a chance to come out and I had a towel to mop it up. And once home the white vinegar worked its magic on the carpet.

Puppyhood and Baxter

We are at about 5 weeks and counting having Baxter. We really have made some progress with his house manners but boy is there still a long way to go.
For instance today. The weather has been hot and sticky. So we have made sure to increase Baxter’s water intake. We have also been careful to take him outside more often. But it hasn’t been enough. Sometimes he will just get up and take a step or two and start to pee.
Any suggestions on a way to get him to do that? All the time!
Today was another first for Baxter. He went walking with Chester and his buds at the Racebrook Tract. And then came home and crashed for about three hours. He couldn’t wait to lay down. Me either I admit.
It was definitely a positive experience. He will become very socialized with other animals this way.
I was at TY Maxx this afternoon and they have an animal section. What a find for only $7.99. A larger bowl with a really good gripping bottom.
Baxter has a tendency to slide his bowl around while eating. He even has a dycuem mat under it to prevent the sliding. This will be a big help.‘

Terrible twos already?

I think Baxter hated me for a couple of moments on Sunday.
Yes, hate is a strong word but if you had seen the look he gave me you would understand.
He had an ‘accident’ in his crate. It happens but he needed a bath to get rid of the smell the accident left. And if that wasn’t traumatic enough for him we decided to take his ears down since they got a little wet anyway.
As soon as we finished with his ears he got up and ran from the room. When I tried to approach him he ran from me and sulked. It took about 15 minutes before I could coax him back to me.
But seriously, he is a really good boy. And Chester is definitely warming up to Baxter. Even initiating play time.

Never underestimate the sensitivity of a Gt. Dane

Have you ever had one of those days when NOTHING goes right no matter how hard you try?
Monday was one of those days for us.
Having had Baxter at home for only three weeks and trying to housebreak him was going so-so. At times it seemed he was really trying. When on the patio he was going over to the gate and pacing to let us know he needed to go to the play pen. And, he had never had a stool in his crate.
All of that changed when his routine, and ours for a day, changed.
We had it planned. We were heading to a concert in Danbury Monday afternoon. It would all work out. We knew when we were leaving and when we would be home. Baxter would be all right. His schedule would be maintained. After all, we were making progress.
It didn’t work out quite so.
He didn’t get fed on schedule. We were gone way longer than expected. Surprisingly his crate was clean when we got home around 11. I stayed up with him until about 12:30 a.m. so he would have some time out.
At 1:45 a.m. he started to scream. Should I ignore it? I did for about 5 minutes. It got louder and louder.
I went to him and found him surrounded by stool. We took him out, cleaned him and his crate up and put him back to bed. Went back to sleep until 4:30 a.m. and he was screaming. Back outside and back to bed until an hour later when he screamed again. The poor guy was having diarrhea.
His routine was changed and his bowels were in an uproar. Thank goodness for white rice.
He is a sensitive gentle giant.
It has taken two days of constant routine to get back on course.

Lead breaking is a fine art

Boy am I full of hot air sometimes and yesterday was a fine example.
I was proclaiming Baxter lead broke. He is, really, in the yard with Chester and his moms as his only distractions.
In the yard he has learned the routine.
Yesterday driving to High Plains walking track Baxter was perched on the passenger seat watching everything, cocking his head when something caught his interest.
As we approached the track a tree was being chopped down on Orange Center Road opposite the track. Did I think twice about it? NO.
I got Baxter out of the car and confidently began walking. He sat and wouldn't move.
Read - Mom this is all new and strange to me. Besides - those noises scare me.With a little coaxing he reluctantly began to follow.
We did this back and forth thing for about a half hour. I was glad to be able to get him back to the car walking.
Leash training will be more of a challenge to me than I thought.
I am finding all this puppyhood stuff more of a challenge than I remembered.
And, I am not getting any younger, only older.