SmellyMan Update - August 7th, 2014

Oscar napping in the living room

It's been over a month since I've given an update on the pups myself, and it's been 6 weeks now since we've had the boys.  What great progress we've made!  Along with some little setbacks (OK, an outright scary moment or two!!) as well....

The boys have a definite favorite, and that is Alex (aka, Dwarfman).  They continue to consistently do things for Alex that they are much more hesitant to do with Lauri (aka FlowerySmellyingGirl) or me (SmellyMan).  The cutest thing is the whimpering.  Especially when the boys are in the living room, Felix will whimper sweetly whenever Alex walks into the room.  It doesn't matter how long Alex disappears for...he can go around a corner, come right back into the room, and it's like Felix is greeting a friend who's been overseas for a year.  As soon as he sees Alex, he starts whimpering. Oscar will pick up on it too and get excited, but for Oscar,. it's not whimpering, it's almost dancing!  He'll give a playful little hop or kind of rear up on his back legs when Alex comes in.  When Alex sits, he's inundated with wet sloppy kisses.  If he doesn't satisfy the pups, he may well get more whimpering and "dancing" until the pups have had their fill. SO sweet to see Alex become such a good buddy with them.

They are also so much more friendly with Lauri and I, but alas, no pleasurable whimpering or dancing.  Lauri I'd say is the next "favorite".  Lauri's "SweetTalk" definitely goes over big with the boys, and they'll give her a lot of wet sloppy kisses as well.  Lauri is definitely the favorite sleeping buddy, although frankly, they're both awfully good sleepers with whoever happens to be around.  One of the boys favorite hangouts now is the sunroom, but only when Lauri is sitting in the rocker in the corner.  When she's in there, the boys will inevitably come and lay on the dog bed by the chair, usually playing toys while Lauri reads a book or is on her iPad.

And then there's me!  I definitely do think I'm "third favorite".  You'd think that'd be a major bummer when it's 3rd out of 3!  But it's really not, because they've come so far with me as well in the last 6 weeks.  Our old dogs used to love to both lay in the futon chair in my office, because it's right by my chair and desk where I work.  I'm very glad to say both Oscar and Felix have picked up the same habit!  I work at home on Thursdays, and typically am on my computer upstairs.  It's a nice relaxing day, with both pups usually laying on the chair by me, or playing toys in the office. I guess you can say Alex is "King" of the living room, Lauri is "Queen" of the sunroom, and I'm "King" of the office, as far as the boys are concerned.

Sleeping is no issue whatsoever now.  The boys will sleep anywhere, with whoever is handy.  At night Felix will typically jump right up, and snuggle right by your head from the very start.  Many times, if you say it's bed time, the boys will go running upstairs, and Felix will immediately jump on the bed.  By the time you brush your teeth, he's out cold on the bed.  Oscar on the other hand is sneaky-snuggly.  He'll snuggle all night long, just as well as Felix.  But it's usually not from the start.  Usually when he comes upstairs, he first goes under the bed, and it's not until the light is out that he'll jump up on the bed and snuggle.  He's also definitely the most shy when daytime comes around.  He's fine as long as you're snuggling with him on the bed, but the moment you sit up or put a foot on the floor, he often goes right under the bed for a minute or two, before following you downstairs.  All in all though..VERY snuggly and sweet sleepers who usually give us no trouble, other than sometimes getting up earlier than we may like.

Going in and out of the house also now is absolutely no problem.  When we first got them, it was a huge struggle to get them to go either in or out.  Typically you had to open the patio door, and then stay away from it and let them go in and out in "peace", without you around. That's improved every single day, and now it's absolutely no problem to get them to go in or out.  We can stand right by the door, open it a crack, and they'll walk right past you going both in or out.  It's also SO nice to be able to just go out on the back deck and call them in, and have it actually work!  It's usually Felix who comes first.  You'll call for the boys to come in, and many times Felix will stop what he's doing, and RACE up the stairs and to the door.  Oscar then typically follows.

No problems eating or drinking either.  They still like to drink from the bird fountain/bath outside, but FINALLY they will now also drink water inside the house.  All it took was for me to shut off the bird bath for a few days!  Eating they're doing great too.  We have set breakfast and supper times, and put one bowl down for each.  They know now that's "it" for food, that if they don't eat then and there, the bowls will be gone.  We did this so they'd eat on our terms, instead of just setting food out and then wondering who ate, and how much.  They of course love their snacks and treats, like any dog.  They both will generally come right up to you and take treats right from your hand, although Oscar is still pretty shy about doing so sometimes.  Sometimes he won't do it if you're standing up.  But if you sit and offer a treat, he'll come up and take it.

Play time is improving as well, from the standpoint of them being comfortable enough to play around us, and with us.  They LOVE playing toys in the living room.  Oscar continues to love to "play ball", picking up a ball, dropping it, rolling it around, and having a jolly time.  Felix will pretty much play with anything...ball..chew toy...doesn't matter.  They love playing with each other, both inside and out.

All in all, they've come a long way!  I don't want to jinx it, but I dare say that Felix pretty much seems like a completely "normal" dog.  His shyness is SO much less, he doesn't have those scared reactions, he ALWAYS wants to be around you, he's such a licky littler lover that sometimes you have to get him to back off so you don't drown in slobber...he's really come into his own with us and become a little sweetheart.  I'm assuming it's a submissive type of behavior at times, or perhaps he just wants his belly rubbed, but he does spend a lot of time on his back around us!  At night he'll often lay right by your head, on his back.  During the day when playing or when we're petting him, he'll often roll over on his back for belly pats.

Oscar is getting much better, but is by far the more shy and "jumpy" of the two. Suzy and Clay were amazed when we said at first it was Oscar who was acting "braver".  That's definitely changed.  While Felix has become very brave and almost "normal", Oscar still is much more shy.  He's much more apt to "jump" at a sound or sudden movement, and is typically much more cautious at coming up to you for pets, or for treats.  He can still be an outright sweetie, such as at night when he'll snuggle it up for the night, or when I'm on the couch with him when he'll cuddle up and fall asleep.  He's getting there, but is behind Felix.

Felix chillin' in the back yard.

I've probably made it sound like all peaches & cream, which for the most part, it has been!  But we still have a LONG ways to go in many areas.  They still do not like leashes, at all.  MAN we'd love to go for walks with these guys, but that's going to be awhile yet.  We thought we'd at least get them used to being out front and being around new people, sniff and smells, and dogs that walk by, so we thought we'd get some long tie-down leads and stake them in the front yard.  That way they're free to walk around on their own, get the "feel" for being out front and closer to other people and the street, but also get used to the "feel" of being on something that limits their movement (although they're long 30' leads).  Sounds good in theory!  Well this afternoon I put that theory to the test.  I thought I'd surprise Lauri and Alex when they got home, and I'd have both Oscar and Felix on their leads, staked in the  front yard when they drove up.  I put their harnesses on, got them out there (carrying them and hooking them up), and I was SO thrilled!  At first, anyway.  For 10 minutes, they cautiously sniffed around the front yard, they were moving around like they do in the back yard, they weren't cowering in fear, they weren't looking for an "escape".  GREAT!  Until...Felix "backed out" of his harness.

HEART.  RACING.  Given the "Great Escape" of last week where we had to chase Felix down for 2 hours, I was scared to death when I saw him shake free of his harness.  But you know what?  He didn't bolt!   He didn't run for the hills, like the Great Escape episode.  That time, handymen painting our deck left the gate open, and they got out.  This time, Oscar was still staked and calm, I was right there...and Felix didn't run when he had the chance.  Still VERY scared he was going to, but he instead just sniffed around, and stayed in the area.  Thank GOD.  I went over and opened the gate to the back yard, and thankfully, it only was a moment before he went running right through the gate and into the back.

After last week, one thing we did was put padlocks on the 2 gates.  We have neighbor kids who sometimes hit balls into our yard and go to retrieve them, and we didn't want them, or anybody else, to accidentally (or purposefully) leave our gates open.  So those gates are always locked now.  Now after today, I see I need to find a better "escape proof" harness, something a dog can't "back out" of.  At the time, Felix was on a harness from one of our old cocker spaniels, and they'd never "escaped".  Felix is a lot trimmer though and has a different body shape, and even me resizing it for him didn't seem to work.   Thank GOODNESS he now seems to know where "home" is, and he didn't bolt, but we won't be doing the out-front-on-a-stake thing again, until we find a harness system that is 100% secure.

Training overall is something where we'll have to continue doing a lot of work.  Just basic commands, ESPECIALLY a "come" command that gets them to come to you whenever you like.  We are continuing to look for a trainer who can come over and work with them, and do have a couple of names for folks in the area.  For that, and something like leash training, we were waiting until the boys had settled into things. I think they're getting to that stage where we can start taking more liberties and trying to do some basic training.

That's it for the update!  A long update to be sure, but I know there are folks who have been following their story, and would like to hear how they're doing!

SmellyMan (aka, Terry)