A Good Puppy Is A Tired Puppy

We didn't get to take Quigley out for a run today at lunch, but luckily he ran around the inside of the house once we got him and the house all cleaned up.  Hopefully he'll have a nice long nap this afternoon.  Sweet Dreams, Quigley.

Poopy Puppy Paws

Have you ever stepped in dog poo?  It's a pretty bad feeling, even with shoes on, right?  Some of you may even remember my really bad incident in New York.  That was  pretty bad.  Well, I've got one up on even that.  Poopy Puppy Paws.

Poopy Puppy Paws are somewhat inevitable.  And they're not soo bad if you witness it, so that you can immediately clean 'em up.  But coming home to a puppy with Poopy Puppy Paws who's stepped all over the hallway, bathroom, his crate, and toys....   Ick!  Yep, that's what we had to deal with on our lunch break today.

Quigley, if somehow you're reading this, please try not to step in your poop.  We were going to take you on a nice walk and enjoy some sun today.  Maybe next time we can actually do that if you don't get another episode of Poopy Puppy Paws.

Puppy Scare

Anyone who's ever felt sick and vomited knows how bad one must feel in that situation.  Being a puppy parent and seeing my puppy vomit without knowing why is a very scary situation.  What did Q eat?  When did he eat it?  Is he going to be OK?  What did I miss that I should've caught?  Did he drink too much beer? (just kidding)  And then on top of that to see him chow down on his vomit as if he hadn't eaten in days....   Absolute horror is all that I can say to describe what I felt last night.

Q actually vomited twice last night.  Once at around 10pm, which appeared to be just a little bit (I woke up too late to really tell).  And the second time was at around 1-1:15am, which was a whole lot.  We decided to give him some plain rice to help settle and fill his stomach.  Not long after, he pooped what appeared to be normal looking poop, so we felt a little more relieved, but still worried and shaken up, nonetheless.

This morning Quigley seemed OK.  He ate breakfast like usual, and barked at everyone outside when I wanted him to just go potty.  He didn't really want to go walking, like usual, but he did play "fetch" inside the house, and then ran his usual laps around the living room, kitchen and dining room for a little bit.  We hope that whatever it was that bugged him last night is now gone, and hopefully can be easily avoided next time.  I just wish I knew what it was....

Puppy Pad Destruction, Part Deux

So I think I spoke too soon in the first edition of Puppy Pad Destruction.  Yesterday (2-16), we came home to a destroyed puppy pad, poop and pee in the bathroom, and smears of poop on the bathroom floor and part of the floor outside of the bathroom.

I have no idea when all of this happened, as my camera wasn't pointed there.  I might have to rearrange my cameras to help pinpoint the issue.

Large Litter of Lovely Little Precious Puppies

As you may have heard, Quigley came from a large litter of 12.  I just thought I'd share some pictures of his mom, and his brothers and sisters.

Carmella, the Mom:

 

 And here are all of her pups.

Addie:

Barkley:

Barney:

Benji:

Digby:

Duffy:

Holly:

Quigley:

Raven:

Saylor:

Skipper:

Zora:

All of the puppies were adopted that Saturday, except for Zora, who was another of the pups I was interested in.  I found out that she was adopted later, as well as Carmella. =)  Yay!

Escape Artist

Quigley isn't a hound, although many people think he's a beagle when they first see him.  But if he was a beagle, we may have had to give him the nickname "Houndini".  This guy is so smart, trying to figure things out, and taking to training pretty well.  But back to the "Houndini" comment...

When we first setup Quigley's area, we got a "SuperYard XT" from Babies R' Us.  It's the exact same thing as the version branded for pets and sold at PetSmart and PetCo, but at a much lower price.  It's 26" high, and has 6 sides.  We used part of it to try and keep him from going towards the garage door, and the part of it to keep him from getting into the living room while we were at work.

At first, we thought great, this'll be perfect, which it was for maybe a day.  Kath came home from lunch, only to find that he was on the other side of the fence!  We figured that he must've figured out a way to push the fence out enough so that he could squeeze between it and the wall.

Next, we tried blocking the fence with some chairs, boxes, etc.  Nope, that didn't hold him back.  One time at home, we found that he figured out how to pull the fence in towards him, and squeeze out that way!

So I rearranged the setup, zip-tying one side of fence to his crate, and sliding the other end between the refrigerator and the wall.  This way, we could still walk over the fence to get to the garage, bathroom and laundry room.  Nope, Kath came home once again to find him on the other side of the fence....and on his way down the stairs!   Freedom called him and, he went running.

After that, I took an unneeded section of fence, and attached a vertical portion to try and keep him from jumping.  Sure enough, he weaseled his way through the gaps and over the fence.  I caught him on the "Puppy Cam" that I setup to watch him while we're away.  I used my old EyeToy Cameras (PlayStation2) and www.HomeCamera.com.  I get a TON of emails now, since it sends me an image whenever it detects motion from Q, or a shift in lighting, since I have it set to super sensitive.

 

Next, I instead made the bottom section taller, using zip ties to hold the two pieces together.  I also used the last section to block him from jumping on top of his crate, just in case.  In order to make it still passable for everyone else but Quigley, I used some carabiners and a dowel as a sort of quick-release system.  Sure enough, Q found a way out of this as well!

 

This was fixed by a single binder clip that keeps him from lifting the dowel.  So far, this setup has been impervious to his attempts at escape.  I just fear the time when he's bigger and can just knock it all down.  Hopefully by then, we can just leave him in his crate while we're at work.

Gee whiz, this dog has too much time on his hands.  Get a job, Quigley. You're a working dog, right?  =)

Puppy Pad Destruction!

We came home from work yesterday (2/15) to discover that Quigley had shredded his puppy pad.  There were some big pieces, and smaller pieces, and then some teenie-weenie pieces.  Dang, dog..... that's not what it's for!  On the plus side, at least he didn't pee all over the floor, just in the bathroom, where he's supposed to.  Also, his poop was on the bathroom floor, so we were glad for that.  He could've flung it around from tearing up the pad....or worse.....eaten it again!  Yuck!