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).
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).
6 months old
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 sure is a goofy dog. He often sleeps with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
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...
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.
Yep, a nice line of white slobber on his lower lip
Bruno's adult teeth are growing in.
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 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.
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!
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?!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
