The words Dog Breed Info with the letter D inside of a black paw print

Raising a Puppy: 20th week in his new home

A day in the life with Bruno the Boxer puppy. Bruno's 20th week—26 weeks old, 62 pounds, 22 1/2 inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders (the withers).

Bruno the Boxer Puppy sitting outside

6 months old

Trash Can

We had been keeping the downstairs bathroom trash can up on top of the back of the toilet so Bruno would not get into it. We had a visitor over and put the trash can down for the day. Sure enough, my husband caught Bruno with his head in the trash can, "Hey, get out of there!" Bruno turned around and walked out of the bathroom.

Bruno the Boxer laying on his back belly-up on a dog bed with its tongue out

Bruno sure is a goofy dog. He often sleeps with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Close Up - Bruno the Boxer laying on his back with his tongue sticking out

Bruno, your tongue looks a bit dried out. You better stick it back into your mouth! Bruno is a huge licker. He licks everyone he meets. Not obsessively, but if you stop to greet him, you will surely get at least two licks from this guy and it will be from that there tongue. Nice huh...

Slobber

Close Up - Slobber on Bruno the Boxer's lip

Bruno, what's that there on your lip? Slobber! Yuck! Don't lay your head on my leg until I wipe you with a paper towel.

Bruno the Boxer puppy with slobber on his lower lip

Yep, a nice line of white slobber on his lower lip

Teeth

Close Up - a human parting Bruno the Boxer's lips to see his white teeth

Bruno's adult teeth are growing in.

Extra Exercise

Over the holidays, there were a couple of days in a row where Bruno would have to be left home alone during evening hours. It was a tad too cold to leave him outside in his fenced kennel yard, so he would have to be left in his crate. Besides Bruno’s usual walk, this pup needed some additional exercise in order for him to be content in his crate. Bruno was taken out for a golf cart run! While Allie, our older Boxer who has bad hips and bad knees rode on the golf cart, Bruno ran alongside it! What fun for a 6-month-old energetic pup! When we were finished, he was all tuckered out and ready for a nice long nap in his crate.

When Bruno Wants In

When our older Boxer Allie wants to come in the house or go outside, she whines, barks and sometimes, against our wishes, scratches at the front door to come in. I will open the door if Allie barks or whines, but I do not open the door if she scratches. Bruno, on the other hand, is the silent type. He hardly ever barks or whines, except for that rare occasion when he will hear an odd noise outside and get a whim to actually make a sound. And when he barks, he howls. Otherwise he silently runs to the door hoping someone will see him.

Bruno the Boxer puppy outside on a foggy day jumping up to look in a window

When Bruno wants to come inside the house, he has been climbing up on the glider outside the living room window peering in, watching and waiting for someone, anyone, to notice him!

Bruno Puked

Close Up - Bruno the Boxer puppy's colorful puke

Gross, Bruno threw up, puked, up-chucked, tossed his cookies...however you like to say it. I don't know about you, but this does NOT look like dog food to me. The pup was eating some kind of guts, mixed with cat food and grass. Now if that is not a reason to puke then I don't know what is! Where does he find this stuff?!

The Trash Picker

Amie walking Bruno the Boxers puppy and Bruno is looking at trash on the ground

Bruno has been labeled "The Trash Picker"! Not by us, by a friend of ours who witnessed me picking trash from his slobbery mouth. He tries to scoop up trash as we are walking. His favorites are still cigarette butts. Today on his walk I had to pick a couple of butts out of his mouth and one of those sticky rubber wall walker toys. I got that one just in time. It was in the back of his throat about to slip on down. I need to really start watching him like a hawk on the walks and correct him as soon as I know he is thinking about eating something. My new mission: get his "Trash Picker" label removed! In the picture above, look how Bruno is "thinking" about picking up that piece of paper.

Bruno the Boxer puppy still looking at trash on the ground as Amie walks him by it

We walked by that piece of paper so many times, correcting him with a tug when he looked like he was thinking about the paper, that he started not wanting to go near the paper.

Amie and Bruno the Boxer puppy walk past the trash

We didn't want Bruno to be afraid of trash, just to ignore it. So we walked by until he learned to ignore it. We will have to do this over and over again until he learns to ignore trash. Those cigarette butts are going to be tough. He dives for them! I think he likes the way they taste.

Dog Toys

Toy Duck with a target on its back with the tip of its foot chewed off

Bruno killed his toy duck. Once the squeaker went, there was nothing left to do with the duck other then chew a piece of its foot off!

Close Up - Broken toy duck foot

Luckily I was watching and dug the rubber piece out of his mouth before he swallowed it. My hand was slimy from digging it out of his big mouth! Yuck!

Bad-Puppy Moments

Chewed Up Mickey Mouse refrigerator magnet

Bruno chewed up the Mickey Mouse magnet. Not sure if he got it off the refrigerator himself, or if it had fallen onto the floor. In any case, seems Bruno and Mickey Mouse are not on good terms.

Raising a Puppy: Bruno the Boxer