Another Chewy!

[Aponi]

Hello everyone! First I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful advice and tips I've been reading on this board. I think I've seen 2 dogs named Chewy on this board. Well, now it will be 3. LOL. It's such a cute name and our new puppy looks so much like a Chewbacca and teddy bear cross, I couldn't help myself.

I would like to introduce everyone to Chewy (III). He's 10 weeks old and has already stolen our hearts. I'll admit I was more than a little nervous about the possibility of him being difficult to train, especially since the woman we got him from hadn't attempted any sort of early training, but he's a smart cookie and doing excellent. We got him on Saturday, and Sunday afternoon was the last potty accident we've had. Of course, I'm sure we'll have more accidents eventually, but he's doing great! The crate training was REALLY rough the first night, sort of rough the next night, but last night and today have been MUCH better (thank goodness, because I was exhausted). I only get a short whimper now when I place him in there. He's also already learned the sit command. Sorry, as a proud new mom, I can't help but brag. I'm in love with this little baby Einstein.

Oh, oh, oh! He just curled up in the crate all on his own. Yay! He must like being bragged about.

Okay, without further ado, here are the pics:

[Ladywrite]

How precious and adorable.  Please give him a snuggle hug from me.

[Studiogirl]

What a little doll! Soooo cute!

[Aponi]

Chewy says thank you for the compliments.

Sadly, I just learned my rose has thorns. We went out for a walk after dinner and he encountered 2 of the neighbor's small dogs. That did not go well. I guess he felt threatened because he started barking, not in a playful way, but with a "stay away from me" attitude when they came too close to him. This completely surprised me because when he met another neighbor's shih tzu, he was happy to see him and just wanted to play. He also had no problem with our 2 cats. Maybe he didn't like the 2 on 1 odds or he didn't like the way they approached. I don't know, but now I have to figure out how to socialize him more once he gets his last shots in a few weeks. I insist on my boy having better manners than that (all mama's boys should). :-P

[Mai Tai]

First, he is absolutely adorable.  I love his coloring.  Second, I had the same problem with Mai Tai when it came to other dogs and it shocked me.  He was raised until 13 weeks in a house with 8 other dogs, and 5 cats.  He did great with my 2 cats.  I thought he would be great with other dogs, but instead he barked like he wanted to rip their faces off.  I noticed though, that as soon as they got up to him, he would bow down to play and then offer his belly.  It is just that not too many people, upon hearing him bark the way he does, let their dogs near him.  I had to socialize him by taking him to puppy classes at PetSmart.  He is much better, but he still barks at a lot of other dogs.  It is hard to socialize him outside of a class because people don't want to get into a dog fight.  I suggest a class to get him started.  Keep trying.  It is really important.  Good luck with your cute guy.

[Aponi]

Thanks. I called Petsmart to see about enrolling him in their class. The lady I spoke with was not very knowledgeable though. She insisted Chewy had to have his rabies vaccine before he could participate. I tried explaining that didn't make sense since their class is open to puppies 10 weeks old and that is way too young to get the rabies vaccine. She didn't listen and just kept repeating the guidelines to me. I gave up. This weekend I'll go into the store and see if anyone works there who actually knows something about dogs. I sure hope so, but I never cease to be amazed.

If Petsmart doesn't work out, I did find a couple other trainers in the area. I'll call them and see what they offer. Worse comes to worse, after he has his rabies shot I'll take him to our local dog park and beg or bribe someone to let their dog play with mine. LOL.

[Mai Tai]

You're too funny.  I am afraid to go to a dogpark because I am afraid Mai Tai will start a fight with his barking.  When I went to petsmart, the people at the front register said we needed a rabies shot for the class, but the trainer agreed that even at 16 weeks Mai Tai was too young for that so they let him in.  I would wait until your dog is done with his parvo vaccinations to start class.  I don't know why they let 10 week old puppies take class, as they can easily get parvo virus, which can be deadly.  My vet said not to take Mai Tai amongst other unvaccinated dogs until he was done with his shots.  I would check with the vet if I were you.  Some vets are less cautious, but mine was adamant about it.  I did not start classes at Petsmart until he was about 16.5 weeks old.  He was one of the oldest puppies there in the class.  Maybe I am too worried about things.  I wish I could have started him earlier to socialize him better.  I am considering getting another shorkie withing the next 10 weeks, so I really want Mai Tai to get along with other dogs. 

Good Luck with petsmart.  I did not find them to be the best trainers, but it was an opportunity for my dog to be with other dogs on a regular basis.  I could not afford the other trainers in my area.

Let us know how it all works out.  Have fun.

[brenlynn]

he is so cute!! congrats

[Cash]

What a cutie indeed! Well I can tell you that Cash loves other dogs and playing with them.  However everytime he's played with them it's been outside.  The other day we had our neighbor's over and they brought their dog with them in our house and Cash did that same angry noise.. Shocking to hear coming from these little guys isn't it?  We've had other dogs in our house that he has not had that reacation to,, though they were females and were much bigger dogs so they don't play the same as my neighbor's little guy.  I sent Cash over to the neighbor's house yesterday to see if he had the same reaction inside their house and he did not.  He must have just felt threatened by him in our house.   I only know my Shorkie, haven't ever met another one.  But he's so social by nature I didn't feel the need for puppy classes.  Good luck, I'm hoping too that Chewy won't have problems with other dogs as that's 1/2 the fun for them being able to play with eachother.

[codysmom]

What a cutie!!
We just picked up Cody on Saturday too, crazy! He's 13weeks though(14w today). I want to get him into the Petsmart Training classes too. Which I should go see about getting him signed up for the next classes this week. Like Mai Tai I'm scared to take Cody to many places before he's got all his shots. A lady walks her dog through our yard(we don't have a fence). She's a little crazy so I'm not sure how up to date her dogs shots are so I will not let Cody go in that area of the yard yet. He is aloud to go in our Neighbors yard cuz I know they keep their two yorkie mixes up to date. He's funny with them too, cuz the littlest one(a girl and very laid back) he walked right up to and was sniffing and was fine, the boy(and who is a HUGE ball of energy) he hasn't gotten to close to yet, he'll just lay on the ground, look at me look at him like, Mommy is it ok, he's making a lot of noise I'm not sure about him, it's really cute! I think those two are going to be great friends once they finally get close to each other lol!

[Aponi]

I have wondered if it is really safe to take him to classes without having finished his shots yet, but I figure if the other puppies in class have had the same shots they may very well have some immunity already and it is probably relatively safe. As for the class being in Petsmart...Well, I hope they clean the store really well each day. It's a small risk for sure, but I doubt it's much riskier than taking the puppy to a vet where sick animals come and go all day long.

Cash, yes it WAS shocking to hear Chewy barking like that! It was LOUD and sounded like it came from a dog ten times his size. My husband and I just looked at each other like, "What the heck?!" He's got a big bark in a little body. LOL.

[Ann]

Hi Aponi,

Your puppy is soooo Cute!!!! They are such lovable dogs even when they do play up.lol

[teddybear]

Hey, could anybody tell me how you posted those pix? I am so stressed out about this, I just want to show you the pix of Teddy that I have! Please tell me how to post the pix of little itty bitty Teddy

[Bailey]

Hey, could anybody tell me how you posted those pix? I am so stressed out about this, I just want to show you the pix of Teddy that I have! Please tell me how to post the pix of little itty bitty Teddy

hi hope i'm remembering this correctly
first click on "profile" on the top of the page
then click on "summary" on the left side
then click on "forum profile information" on the left side
this should bring you to 3 ways you can load a photo of teddy on...if i remembered the sequence correctly...

[teddybear]

Thanks Bailey! I will do that after I find just the right picture. I am looking at one right now it is on an sd card so I am trying to figure out how to download the pictures on the sd card onto my computer. so many complications.