Friday, April 30, 2010

Raising a Puppy




I would like to take this time to talk about raising a puppy since birth.
Our first family dog was Laura when we got her 10 years ago. At that time, a dog was a dog, we didn't even know what a notorious name a rottweiler had in Malaysia when we got Laura! Rosie wanted a dog, and we got her one that we all loved so dearly. I'm so sure that there are very few rottweilers in the world that are so tolerant, so well behaved, so patient, beautiful, kind, sweet, I could go on forever! 

Never have we imagined getting a sheltie. That was Rosie's dream when she was older. 

And least of all, never did we imagine we'd become 'parents' to a newborn pup! Unluckily we did not witness the birth of Eva but having her grow up in our house, watching her every day learning something, there's something very beautiful about it. 

At the beginning, we were so worried that Eva without littermates would be different, unusual, weird.
That is true in some ways, she hasn't learnt how to self defend herself, play with puppies, bring them down, ask for attention - luckily for us, she learnt that during the 6 days Sweetheart was with us. Raising her has never been easy. We've been through happy times, funny times, also many sad, heartbreaking ones. 

Last week, we realised that treating her like a puppy, like our cuddly toy will only make her behaviour worse. Her adolescent period (now) has been one of the hardest times we've been through with her. This week, we've decided to start from the basics again.
For example, whenever she gave us her 'moody' face, we used to try to comfort her. Then we learnt ... it's her face she puts up - that she's bullying us. So we ignored her. Few days later, she's back to her normal happy self.

Another thing we learnt from Sweetheart when she came was that she would always come and ask for attention because living with so many littermates, you have to fight for what you want. Eva gets it without asking for it. That's why she never bothers to come to us and even worse, if we pat her, it's like the most uncomfortable thing in her life and she'll walk away from us. We're still working on this but at the moment if Eva doesn't want to come, I'll leave her alone until she wants the attention.  

We really wish she could be good like her grandma, or even better like her mother but we can't ask for that because she's who she is. All we can do is mould her into a better dog with a better personality. We just hope that our 'inexperience' with raising pups hasn't had too huge and bad an effect on our beloved girl. 

The thing that worries us most are her hind legs. As many of you may know, they are very weak and we've been keeping her on grass, and mats. All we can do is hope and pray that it will not be too serious when she's older. We don't know where to take her swimming which apparently is the best exercise, our facilities here do not have hydrotherapy or water treadmills! 

Each problem will always lead to the next, but having Eva, our miracle has been a very exciting journey in our life, and we hope to share our journeys with you all always. 




Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tis Mine!

Sweetheart is going to be leaving us tomorrow to go back to her owner/breeder as she's still for sale. We had a great time with her, and I think Eva did too. 
 
Having Sweetheart is like having Hana around - they have the same personality - kind, sweet, gentle, calm, well-behaved, greedy, and naughty when they want to be. Princess Eva will be quite lonely in her own room again. We have been quite strict on her recently and she probably doesn't understand why some things she was allowed to do she cannot do anymore. We have to start training her from the basics because as she was born in our house, we will still treat her like a puppy, but she will think that she's the Alpha and higher than all of us. 
 
Anyway, we want a Princess not a rascal :)
 
I bet Sweetheart and Eva had some awesome times during this week.
 
'Tis Mine!!!!!
 

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Our 2nd OB Class



Happy 15th Birthday, Rosie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Barkday to our Little Rosie who is in UK now...Be good!!!


OK, now we come back to our 2nd OB Class...
which was quite...unsuccessful...

Basil the beagle ran towards her when he saw her and welcomed her happily. Our Princess Eva also started to make friends with others now.



I miss you, Puppy Eva!!!
Hi, Eva...I'm Princeton


Today is also Emma the boxer's 1st birthday. All dogs got a slice of doggy cake - Eva got a piece of cake too. We gave her a little and she sniffed at it but didn't eat it...
 Happy Barkday to you..... Emma
...So the big piece of cake was given to the lucky adults, Laura and Mika. 

Eva did some work but most of the time, she was distracted and wanted to play. However, we learned sit, down, stand, heel, turn right, halt and recall. This doesn't mean we did very well though!!!


Eva has a short concentration span so we have to keep training fun and short. She soon got tired of doing stuff for treats, and didn't even want to look at it. Once she decides it's enough, she won't do anything. The instructor thought that he could show me how to train Eva, but Eva looked at HIS treats and didn't want them. How embarrassing!! I wish I could tell him that Eva has a personality of her own! She's one naughty little pup. 

Treats... To eat or not to eat???

We read that from 4-8 months old, it's the adolescent stage of a pup when they don't want to come to you, run away from you...etc. All I can say is that it's too true when it comes to Eva. She's like that, and it's really quite sad when she doesn't want to come to you...especially when she sees that you don't have treats. 

Another problem we're facing is her and moving objects - cars, motorcycles, any fast moving object. She gets all jittery, wanting to chase them, jump at them. It's so dangerous especially when we take her for a walk, we've tried getting her to sit, and be calm, but it doesn't seem to work. Now we don't want to take her out, because walking her is like walking a maniac - she no longer stays calm, especially when a car goes by, or even when she sees people walk past - she has to stop, look back until they are out of sight. 
Any ideas on how to conquer this problem?


Puppy Eva girl is sleeping so well at home now. She's exhausted but happy and so she sleeps contentedly now. Sweetheart is so wide awake. I guess she has had enough sleep when we were out!!!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Friday Frolicks

Get ready for a whole lot more action.

Introducing.........

Sweetheart & Eva
the two sisters!

Enjoy the pictures. This is an all action, no words post.


Thursday, April 22, 2010

The two sisters

Beware: Pictures lead to infinity

Sweetheart came to us yesterday as a very well behaved, calm dog, as opposed to Eva's hyper naughtiness.

Today, however, we noticed a slight change in Eva - she is less hyper, less excited, more calm...more zen. I don't think she's unhappy though.
Eva has been a good host. She allows Sweetheart to play with her toys, sleep in her room, drink her water. In return, she bites Sweetheart's tail constantly no matter how many times Sweetheart tells her off, she just never gives up.

24 hours later, Sweetheart has shown her more naughty side ... chewing ... she especially loves Eva's beloved toys. Poor Mr. Bear is now .... mutilated :( (check out his ear!)


Tug-Of-War with Mr Dalmation

I think I see the winner here

Now the cloth


Two shelties make the pictures look prettier, especially when they're sisters!

Now I'm going to pass you on to Princess Eva

Hi everyone! I'm guessing you all know a bit about my sister already. 
I think I've been a bit irritating to her, but it's amazing how she tolerates me!
It's been great fun playing with someone my age, who can teach me some stuff too (my hoomans hope!) Although everyone hopes I can be a goody two-shoes like my sister, I have my own personality too!! However, due to peer pressure (my hoomans think!), I've been slightly better behaved, and less naughty! 

I introduced her to my grandma Laura.

Then we played tag..

Catch me if you can!

That silly girl was too scared to come in! See, aren't I brave?


I had to submit to her after a while .


Eeek! She's scary!

Kinda tired now....
zzzzzzzzz

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Wonderful Wednesday

First of all, we would like to welcome a furry guest, Eva's sister Sweetheart!!! She is indeed such a sweetheart and will be staying with us for a while to be Eva's playmate.

Second of all, Piappies World presented us with a GABE award! And we're just TOO EXCITED!
Guess what the prize giveaway is??? Name tags!!! And real pretty ones too :D

Now to our wordless wednesday picture.......once we're all past the excitement .....
Laura has always been Eva's favourite. She will always try to play with her, lick her, get her attention...but of course, Grandma is always very moody, but she does tolerate the little pup.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Rosie & Eva's day

Today, it's all about Rosie and Eva 

Cuddling....
The pup is her baby sister

&
Being naughty

Remember Eva's half-sister, Sweetheart?
She's going to stay with us for a while so that Eva can have another puppy to play with her. 
The puppies are going to have a holiday!
 
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