Marcos and Cheree’s Shiba Inu Puppy Adventures Blog

Well time for an update!  So far things have been good.  I can offically say that Ace is potty trained! Woo hoo, that was a big hurdle to go over.  However, we are now in the puppy chewing stage, and it has gotten worse!  I swear that dog will chew up any thing and EVERYTHING.  Also he eats everything when we go on walks. Flowers, snails, prickly plants, rocks, and even Bees.  I guess this is the way he explores his world. 

Marcos told me last week he actully ate a huge mouthfull of MUDD!! Ha, he said that he gobbled it up and then started hacking and coughing trying to spit it up.  Marcos said it was so sad but funny at the same time! he was wipeing is mouth all over the grass, but could not get it out.  He came hope and I had to clean his mouth out with a rag.  It was stuck in his teeth, under his tounge…. so gross! Needless to say we had to change out his water 5 times before the mud was gone.  Ha… silly dog!

Well to show the expenses we have incurred due to his puppy chewing I have made the following list: 

1.  Apartment Carpet  
2. 2 rugs
3. multiple magizinges
4. 2 books
5. the handle on the arm chair
6. dozens of chew toys ( I dont mind these)
7. 2 glass picture frames
8. Our TV Remote
9. The Massage Chair
10. My phone Charger
11. The toilet paper roll
12. $30 in cash (we were able to tape it back together, thank goodness)
13. And The worst one that just happened… MARCOS’S CELL PHONE!  (good thing it was upgrade time)

Yes… I know this has been quite expensive, and at times I have wanted to throw Ace out the window (not really)…. but in the end, I would still do it all over again.  As I said my worst fears have come true, but at the same time, I LOVE HIM TO DEATH!

Well.. my worst fears have come true… THE DREADFUL PUPPY CHEWING!!!! It first started with chewing on a few harmless things like the plastic door stopper and a few corners of the chair, now it has turned into a chewing frenzy!

A few weeks ago after I came back from school, I found that ACE chewed up a corner of our CARPET! Not to big, but enough to notice.  I was mad but thought, OK this can be fixed.  Then IT HAPPENED AGAIN!  I was only away for like ten mins and he got another corner!  This time it was not repairable, he literally chewed so much you could see the floor board.  I was LIVID! I am still contemplating whether we should just replace the whole carpet on our own (we have a close family friend who does carpet) which might be cheaper, or should I see if we can get away with not loosing our deposit on the apartment.  Ill keep you posted on what we decide to do.  Well after that time, he has learned and no longer chews on the carpet!  However, this has not kept him away from venturing into new areas…

This morning I woke up, took my shower and I came out and found Ace Chewing on the Massage Chair control.  Yep, you heard right, the massage chair.  He had completely de-wired the control and detached it from the chair.  I walked into the bedroom and threw the control on the bed where Marcos was sleeping and said, “I hope you dont plan on using this anytime soon”.  Needless to say he was devastated!

(sigh)… I think I should start tallying the money we have lost… (500 deposit, 150 massage chair….) on second thought, I dont even want to know. 

 I knew this time would come, but hey, at least I was somewhat prepared for it. Marcos on the other hand, is still recovering from the loss of his beloved Massage Chair.

Me and Marcos were in a cleaning frenzy this weekend and decided that everything must be cleaned.  The house, the cars, the carpet, and finally the dog.  So this led to Ace’s first bath.  We had originally planed to do the self-wash but could not find any in the area.  So instead we called Pets Smart and found they had a puppy special for 11 bucks!  We jumped on that real fast!

Well Ace could tell something was up the whole day with our mad cleaning frenzy, Im sure he knew it was only a matter of time before he would be scrubbed clean.  The experience started off well, a normal trip to Pets Smart which he loves cause all the workers give him treats and he gets to smell all the new toys.  Then came a turn for the worst… THE GROOMERS.

We dropped him off at around 4 and you could tell he was scared, but we just brushed it off as first-time jitters.  They said he would be done in a couple of hours… A COUPLE HOURS!!! We thought it would take no longer then an hour and thought it would go by fast since there was a window you could watch them.  Anyways, me and Marcos ran some other errands, and then stopped at the fish store to waste time… this is where the story gets good…

While I was walking through the fish store I get a panicked phone call from the groomers saying we needed to pick up Ace immediately! I was shocked thinking… oh no what happened.  They told us to come right away, that he has freaked out and they had to stop the cleaning mid way though.  I hang up the phone and rushed right over.  Well turns out he freaked out in the water, got caught up in the leash, and they had to cut him free with scissors.  The hole process sent Ace into a panic where he try frantically to get away and protect himself by snapping at the workers. 

Needless to say, Ace was brought out to us sopping wet, and shivering. They said they could not finish the job with such a frantic dog.  The whole time I was in shock and almost had to chuckle cause he looked so pathetic dripping wet walking around.  I really wish I would have taken a picture cause it was just one of those moments, but didn’t think the dog groomers would appreciate it.  For all i know they wanted him out FAST…. Of course…leave it to my dog to get kicked out of the groomers. (Marley and Me anyone?)

Anyways, we ended up having to still pay full price for a job that was half done, but I figured, that was the least I could do for such a unrully dog (or so they thought).

We got home and we had to blow dry him finished in the bathroom. Below is a picture of another dog but reminded me of  this whole experience! 

Well it looks like Ace is starting to loose his puppy teeth!  The other day I was walking around the house and found a white rock looking thing and discovered it was a tooth! CRAZY!  Good thing is he has not developed any bad chewing habits which is said to be formed during this time.  I am Keeping my fingers crossed!

Christmas:  Ace was very excited to open all of his presents during Christmas!  I think he was more excited about the paper then he was about the present inside the wrapping.  It was so cute watching him tear open his presents and then rip the paper to shreds! 

Side note:  This has proven to bite us in the butt later cause now he has developed a paper fetish and has since ruined one book and multiple magazines, Oh yea, and mounds of toilet paper.

The day After Christmas:  This was the first time Ace was left alone for the weekend.  We had Victor (Marcos’s brother) come over and dog sit, while Marcos and I went to the snow with family.  Things seemed to have gone well, Victor said we have a very energetic dog, that loves to get up early.  Ha, I think one time Ace even woke Victor up at 3:00am.  He definitely has been initiated into our family now!   With only a few accidents, and my house still in one piece, I have to say the weekend was a success.  Thanks Victor for Helping out!

New Years:  We again had to leave Ace over New Years because we were heading to Brittney’s house for the night, and it turned out her dog had kennel cough   So instead Anna-Lisa (Marcos’s Sister) invited some of her friends over to have a party at our apartment.  I am glad he had someone there since I know dogs tend to freak out over fireworks and I did not want him tearing up our house while we were gone.  Buddy, my old dog, used to do this.  Lisa said Ace had a blast and I am glad he was able to have some more socialization with other people.  I do have to say it is great to have such a big family to help out and  take turns watching Ace.  This is going to be great for when we have a kid! We will have babysitters for LIFE!. 

Other Fun Events:  Ace had a puppy play day over the holiday break with his buddy Guido!  Becky, my Friend from high school, came home from down south and they were able to meet each other for the first time.  They were a little timmed at first but after about five minutes they were chasing each other around the backyard having a good ole’ time.  I was surprised to see how fast Guido could run, Ace could not keep up!  They seemed to really hit it off, and even got a little Rough Play in there.  Ha, I think we had to break it up once or twice, but it was all in good fun!  I can’t wait to have Guido over again!  I love that little guy!

Two Buddys!

Look at that SMILE!

On the same note, Ace also got to meet his Aunti Christina and his cousin Tibels for the first time this week. Again Ace had a blast, and loved that his cousin played rough. I have to say Ace is meeting quite a few friends this past month!

Last week Nicole came over for a girls movie night.  Well Ace, like most other Shiba Inus is a little stand-offish around people, espcially people who he did not really know.  I warned Nicole before she came in the house that Ace may bark at her and completly blow her off, as he does with most guests. 

Well to my Suprise, Ace was attached to Nicole the very first moment she walked in the door!  I was anticipating barking and instead he was so exicted to see her, almost as if he had known her all his life!  When she sat on the coutch, he layed in her lap licking her non-stop!  What was this… he has never even done that with me and marcos!  Well, I guess he must have the same taste in great friends like I do!

Below is a picture of Ace and his New BFF!!!

My Money is on ACE!

Last night was the first time me and Marcos were able to sleep through the night!  Praise the LORD! These last few weeks have been a struggle cause Ace would be waking up every time at 3:00am then 5:00am then again at around 6:00am.  Needless to say me and Marcos were very frustrated at the constant scratching and whining, we just gave in.  Well after we both put our foot down and make a pack we would not get up…. (dont think we are cruel, the books say to do this)… we finally had a breakthrough.

Dont get me wrong the first few nights, almost broke my heart cause I hated hearing him cry at night, but I knew we had to do it.  We both knew that if he got accustomed to us getting up every time he cried, he would keep doing it!!!  Well, the hard part is over and last night was the first time he did not cry!  I think this could have been the best thing we could of done. 

Also as a side note, just yesterday Ace discovered toilet paper!  I was taking a shower… he must have sneaked in the bathroom… and completely unrolled the whole roll of toilet paper!!!  I got out, thought things sounded offley quite (as they do when he is normal up to no good) and found our entire living room COVERED in shredded toilet paper!  He just gave me that look with a big ole’ grin, showing how proud he was of his master piece!  It was so cute I couldn’t even get mad.  I am sure the second time though, will not be so cute.  I really wish I would have taken a picture!!!

Well this first week with Ace has had its ups and downs.  We started off great, all excited, and happy to have a new person in our family.  As I said before, for the most part, he was a very calm and quite.  Well the personality has come out!!!  Now that Ace is a little more accustomed to our house, each day we see more and more liveliness.  Just yesterday, he let out his first bark at me!  At first I was like???  But then I figured out he just wanted my attention.  Still though, I hope this does not become a habit, for my neighbors sake!

Monday we started puppy training classes, and he did great! Listened, wanted to play with the other puppies, and even figured out his name.  I was glad to see that he was not to traumatized from the experience.  I also didnt know if it would be to early to start him in classes but my fears were drops as soon as I saw him calm down and have fun.  The only thing that worried me was that a couple of times he snapped at the other dogs.  The trainer told me, for the most part, he was just playing… but the a couple of times he did it to tell the dogs to “get out of his face”.  I just hope the other pet owners didnt mind.

So now that brings me to today, and the first dog park trip!  I was nervous, thinking… i hope he doesnt snap at the other dogs, but Marcos said it went well.  He met a puggle and they hit it off! Round and round they went chasing each other around the park.  It is good for him to get all this energy out since i know he hates his leash.  The only issues encountered here was the car ride.  I still think he is fearful of the car, which is to be expected.  The whole way there marcos said he DROOLED.  After doing some research I found out that this means he is nervous.  To solve the problem we are going to start taking him on small trips and getting him accustomed to the car.

So thats its so far!  Check back later for more Puppy Adventures!

With much anticipation, the day finally came!  We got our new Shiba Inu puppy Saturday morning, November 29th @ 12:00pm.  The day seemed to go by so slow in the morning, I think from lack of sleep the night before, you know, the tossing and turning you do the night before Christmas day when you are a kid. 

We finally made it to the airport, elated that the flight was arriving an hour early. However this didn’t pan out well cause we still had to wait over an our to have ACE delivered.  Since he was a “live animal” the cargo had to be hand delivered. Below is a picture of Marcos waiting for the puppy at the airport .

After an hour of waiting he was finally delivered!!! I swear, I’m sure like your own kid, I thought he was the cutest thing ever!  The car ride home was a little tricky, he was drooling the whole time! By the time we got home, my shirt was drenched.  Come to find out, he was nauseous from the plane ride and he ended up getting sick in the car.  After that, no more drool.  Ha…. I know… TMI!!!

So pretty much the first day he was very, very, calm and sleepy.  It was to be expected though, he had a long flight, he was in a new place, new smells, and new owners, I would be tuckered out too.  However after a full day of sleep he was up and alert at 4:30 in the morning!! Ha… good thing Marcos was up to take him out for a potty break and get some energy out. 

Now it has been three days and I have to say he is adjusting quite well.  So far he has learned how to stay in his crate when told (all i have to do is point and he goes in), he has learned to go up and down the stairs (even though he is still a little stubborn), and he has learned to go potty on command.  We have only had a few accidents in the house, but for the most part he only goes outside when i point to the grass.  Oh and today, Marcos just told me he learned how to SIT.  Not too bad for only having him for three days! We have also already been asked for our first play date, from a lady we meet in the park who also owns a Shiba.  She thought he was so cute and asked to take a picture with him.  We also had another person from their balcony ask where we got our dog and what type of breed he is.  Man Ace is already a Celebrity!!!

The only thing he does not really like to do yet is go for walks.  Go figure, right? What dog does not like to go for walks.  I think he is still a little scared of the outside world.  We have seen no signs of biting, chewing, or barking… but again, i am not getting my hopes up.  I am just waiting for all these traits to come out.  However so far, he seems like a obedient dog that has a few odd quarks, but overall loves his new home and his new owners.  WELCOME HOME ACE!!!

Ace Refusing to Walk