Poochie the Dog

Happy 1yr Anniversary to Us!

2009-08-26T18:05:00.001-07:00

As of yesterday, it's been exactly a year since we first adopted Poochie :)
Here's a photograph, to commemorate this special occasion :D

A note about the ads

2009-07-26T21:52:00.001-07:00

I absolutely hate putting ads on my websites, but recently I've been in dire need of money. So... I'm doing anything I can do start dragging in some of that dough, so .. I apologize.

Starting to brainstorm on some ideas for other means of profit. Maybe I'll make something and sell @ etsy. I'll keep you posted!

love
bagel

ps. thanks to those who visit this site :)
pps if you have any suggestions for posts, etc.. feel free to comment! I've been busy+lazy lately to post anything meaningful other than photos and little updates on Poochie. I do plan on blogging more about other issues, tips, etc.

Told you

2009-07-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Now for a few more recent photos of our beloved Poochie

I absolutely love that she's started to look out the window more. It's adorable, ESPECIALLY because she doesn't bark when something/someone goes by. Instead she does a kind of a frustrated growl+whine+what I call a raccoon gurble.

Gorgeous day, the other day. I couldn't stop taking photos of these fluffs.

This isn't that interesting, but thanks to the heat+humidity, Poochie has started to sleep in weirder positions OTHER than the tight ball she usually sleeps in. Though, I do kind of miss her sleeping under blankets/towels and being able to see only her nose.

Some.. pointless shots in the kitchen.

That's all for now!

OH! No documentation of this, sorry, but she met her first frog a couple nights ago. She punched the hell out of it, pounced after it when it hopped away, and flipped it around a lot. She attempted to pick it up with her mouth, but she learned quickly that that's a pretty nasty idea... It was great. The frog made a crazy squeak sound (exactly like that of the squeaker in a dog's squeaky toy) when she'd punch it too hard.

It's been a while!

2009-07-26T21:34:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone

As expected, it's been slow, but Poochie has made some progress in the socializing department. I really wish I had a fenced yard so she can run around as much as she wants. Since she's so fast and she gets so easily distracted by everything, I've been antsy about training her off leash. She knows when she isn't leashed so she knows she can run away if she wants to. She tends to get stubborn when I tell her to COME, but mostly when she's off leash. Only thing she will do is STOP an STAY when I tell her to.. I don't know, she listens sometimes, but I'm a long ways away from being able to play with her off leash in our yard.

I can't remember if I'd posted any pictures of her playing with Bailey back in November 2008, but I found a few adorable ones.

That's it for now.. be back soon..

Random Photos

2009-05-16T03:54:00.000-07:00

They're buddy buddies. She LOVES playing with my dad.

One of her ways of telling me she wants to go outside.. by inching her way towards the door, stopping, then looking at me, then inching again.

To add some more...

2009-05-16T03:40:00.000-07:00

This was a first. Her tail leaked out of one of the holes.

While the other end was trying to sleep..

I believe I'd forgotten to share stories + photos abt Poochie's first time experience at a park (Robert E Lee Park in Baltimore, MD). I went there with a friend of mine and as soon as Poochie saw random specks of dogs here and there (which is also a new sight for her, at least with me) she started to freak out - lunging and making freakish wailing noises like I was tormenting her or something. Honestly, Jess and I did NOT know what to do in that situation, but I mean.. after getting to meet a good handful of dogs she finally calmed down. Rather she met a couple new friends! Here's a photo of her and the two dogs (Ebby - pit mix, Rocky - Poochie's love interest, who didn't want anything to do with her):

This was also the first time Poochie went for a little swim in the water river (? reservoir?) there. Ebby's owner gave me a few pointers on introducing her to water.
It was also the first time a stranger held her leash, which she didn't really think much of.

Until next time!

To add...

2009-05-16T03:32:00.000-07:00

I absolutely hate it when I have no photos to share with my stories since I'm such a visual person. I don't read something unless it's tiny, or if it has pictures.

However..

I do have a lot of random/pointless photos of Poochie to share :)

She can be my new runner partner now :)

Poochie bath time!

The hood got stuck while dressing her and as a result she looked like an alien.

It was really hot and muggy in my room that day so she was really like melted chocolate on my desk and arm. She stayed like this the whole time while I was at the computer. She actually likes to lay on me like this quite often, but during this night she was extra melt-y.

More photos to come!

Poochie's Doing Great

2009-05-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

She's become more and more goofy. She's such a princess. Except she looks like a boy so she really just seems like a dramatic gay guy. Which, by the way, I love. Actually, she isn't that dramatic, but you get what I mean.

I'm pretty sure she's learned a couple more tricks since I last blogged, but I've started to lose track. About a couple weeks ago, I really started to word hard on training her to be quiet. She's shown a lot of improvement, but still it's a challenge. It's hard when she's as protective as she is.

Though, a week ago we went to the city for my friend's 3rd annual DIY Festival and Poochie had to meet a LOT of people coming and going, along with their dogs of various sizes and attitudes. I think she was quiet the whole time because she was so overwhelmed and a little intimidated, but I like to think that she did really well. Instead of barking and screaming at every little movement or sound, she was okay. She was only a tad skiddish when people approached her and she was actually more curious than anything.

She even let this little kid pet her and be around her for a long period of time. Granted, it really did help that he lives with a dog and that his mother was there telling him what to do and how to behave around Poochie. It was great! I mean, it was a lesson for both Poochie AND me cause I really don't like kids. Rather.. I don't understand them, or trust them. Rather, I don't trust their parents. But this kid was great. He did talk a lot, but I didn't mind that too much.

After that DIY Fest, she had to stay home alone at my friend's apt - which she's previously done a couple of times - while my friends and I went out. After THAT Poochie and I went to my (DIY Fest) friend's house for their after show which had even more people, including drunk people. Again, Poochie did really well with the people, but the dogs were another issue. There was a male pup that hadn't been neutered (hopefully, YET) who had the hots for Poochie and wouldn't stop trying to hump her. And there were Eve and Crom who wanted to "eat" her.. as in.. lick her from head to toe nonstop. Poochie was so overwhelmed that she tinkled a bit, but after the other dogs calmed down Poochie was able to relax a little more.

Anyway...

I'm still working on Poochie's overprotective barking.
She learned to "high five," which is adorable.
I like the new "wait" command where I hold a treat/food right in front of her nose and she waits until I allow her to eat it.

She's basically 110% potty trained. I mean, she was always good about doing her duty outside, but we didn't quite have a system(?) .. or a clue for when she needed to be let out. She definitely has a schedule, but sometimes she just needs to pee an extra number of times and for a while we weren't quite sure when she needed to go out each time.

Oh, and along with teaching her to be quiet, I've been reteaching her the "come here" command since she tends to not listen to me when we're outside, or think that she can get away with it at times when we're indoors. She's improved a tremendous amt. Sometimes I forget about being repetitive with training commands.

Almost forgot.. I'd been having a really hard time teaching Poochie to be quiet so I finally decided to give in and try out one of those collar/remote things. I found an Ultrasonic sound emitting training remote from Pet Safe (Pet Safe Remote Trainer) and I stiiill don't really know what to think about it. I think I love it, but I feel like it doesn't quite work at times... Maybe it's because it's only the beginning, but I expected that to happen after continued use of it... STILL, it has helped tremendously. Poochie did try to run away from it the first few days I tried it, but recently she'd stop with the barking and actually listen and come to me ordered to.

I still don't know, though... It hadn't made as great of achievements as I would've liked it to. Whatever I think, I'm going to use it as little as possible.

The Surprise Chute

2009-03-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

So.. I've noticed several times before, that Poochie occasionally had rotting fish breath (.. at both ends). But I never bothered to look it up and instead put up with it until recently. So, anyway... I learned that it could be impacted anal glands.. but I knew it never got bad for her because the smell would go away and she never resorted to scooting or anything beyond a few licks.
Anyway... she started sticking her bum at some point tonight and i smelled it.. and phew.. yeah.
SO thanks to the research I had done previously, I was somewhat prepared to do whatever it is I was supposed to do.

Did it. Mystery brown liquid on a napkin. Over. Wasn't thick and the smell eventually went away and she stopped bothering with her butt. So.. I've checked it off as a successful first time. :)

.... I was a tad shocked once I saw that the squeezing did cause secretions.. and then the smell was 300 times worse.. and since I was kind of confused and had no idea if whatever I was doing was even right.. I checked to see if she was cleared or not by sniffing her butt... first whiff.. HUGE mistake..

it choked me a bit.

i still smell it. it's.. in my nose.

Running machine

2009-02-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

During those icy days, I couldn't take Poochie out for her daily walks so I taught her to walk/run on the treadmill! Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to do it, since she's so scared of anything big and loud.. but she loves it!

It's been a while...

2009-02-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone

Poochie's doing super :)
Within the last few weeks her ears and her tail got a little bigger. Her tail is longer and a little fatter.... definitely not that flattering. Poochie had a blast on the weeks worth of ice we had not too long ago... Slipped and slid everywhere.

New tricks! "turn" and "shake". "Turn" she only knows in Korean, though. So she knows all of her commands in both English and Korean. Yes.. yes, we are proud of her :)

Socializing

2009-01-02T14:57:00.001-08:00

Forgot to note that she has been making progress with being around people!

Happy Holidays and Greetings to a NEW YEAR!!

2009-01-02T14:07:00.001-08:00

My dad returned from Korea with one of his sisters as well as a bundle of gifts for Poochie! A great quality knit sweater (comes with matching scarf) cost around $10.00.

Here's another shirt he got her. Actually, it was a freebie from the groomer's my aunt's Yorkie goes to. Each time they go, they're given free dog clothing. I hate pink and I hate wings, fairy-like things, but this shirt... is a winner. I think it's the teeny wings that bettered it. The pink isn't too painful, either.

She also got two pair.. sets of shoes! All leather, zipper, velcroe, and fashionable... for around $10-$15 each. They fit perfectly and stayed on. Awesome, awesome. As soon as my birthday present (camcorder, hurray!) comes in, I will take a video of her in them. After a minute she's gotten the hang of the 1 set (black & white). The other set is brown leather and a size bigger than it should be, so it's a bit funky... Have you seen a dog trying to walk in shoes for the first time?? Do you know just how painfully hilarious it is?? Now, don't comment and say something annoying like, "that's inhumane," "you're torturing the poor dog," "you should go kill yourself," "etc.". I think she'll appreciate having warm feet when out in the freezing cold. She loves her clothes more than anything. If I pull one out and prepare it to be put on her head, she dances, sits down, then sticks her nose out for me to put it on her.

Oh deary me

2008-12-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since my last update!

I have been sick and busy. Now that I'm a full-time student, I'm twice the busier.

Poochie is well... She did have a bit of a skin problem due to the dryness and coldness. Our house is super dry ...
She had these hot bumps on her back for a couple of weeks. It's all cleared, though it spread a bit to her bum, but that's nearly cleared as well. I kept her back moisturized and cooled with a peppermint oil spray I made. I don't know if it's the cooling mists or just time, but her back did show signs of getting better when I started to use the spray. It also made her coat smoother. She never showed any changes in behavior. The bumps didn't itch, either. I could tell that it did irritate her, tho. During the breakout, she also chewed her tail raw. It healed as soon as I sanitized and applied ointment. Used Bitter Apple to keep her mouth off.
To keep her warmer I made her a fleece vest. It's super cute and she likes it. She dances when I bring it out.

She dances a lot now.

Such a brat of a princess, she is.

Still working on the socializing, but her training is going really well. Still haven't taken her to classes, but I think I'll still wait on that till I can take her to more advanced classes and once she's much more socialized. Due to my busier schedule and being so ostracized from friends, it's harder to go out and do things.

I am loving the low gas prices, thanks to our WONDERFUL economy...

My first book is published and availble for purchase online!!!! EXICTEMENT!!!!
I was going to wait on giving the link out till my name is put in the inside of the book, but the publishers like to rip us off on teeny changes like that, so.. here's the link!!! I'd prefer you guys buy the softcover, since my name is permanently on that one. The hardcover has my name on the jacket, but not on the physical book :(

Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind - Written by Tad Troilo, Illustrated by Jennifer "Bagel" Han

Here are a couple pictures of the book that the author sent me a copy of :) (Thanks Tad!)

The jacket:

The Spine!! My first real, hardback spine. (without my name T_T )

Poochie's First Snow!

2008-11-21T10:21:00.001-08:00

At first it had snowed enough to cover the ground...

Then it started to snow heavily

When I noticed that it was starting to snow again, it was also windy and blew a lot of snow into our deck.

Eager to go back in

Charlee Bear

2008-11-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Karly (Bailey's mommy) was giving treats that looked like these. I'm not sure if they were Charlee Bears, but I think they were... The ones I bought are "liver". Poochie loves them; therefore, I love them. LOVE them. Poochie now knows the "down" command. She learned this within minutes of me having opened the bag. Of course, Poochie's smarts and myself also deserve some credit, but still.. Poochie has never shown this much exhilaration and such hard work for her other treats. Awesome. Pure awesome.

If you own a dog and you've never given the love of your life these treats...
then you leave right now and you go buy some now!
Charlee Bear

Buttplug

2008-11-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

I'm an intern at Port Discovery, a children's museum in Baltimore and I've developed a habit of watching the PBS channel before I leave. Which means I get to watch a number of educational kid's shows, including: Super Why!.

When the lead character first suggests we go to the "book club," I swear it sounds like he's saying "to the butt plug!". When I first heard it, I was like, "what'd the kid say?!" And then the next kid says "to the book club!" and it sounded like "book club". That was the only way I knew what they were talking about. It wasn't just that one time... anytime the show comes on I hear it as "buttplug". It's only when he repeats the word that it sounds correct.

I like the pig. Although, his song is starting to get pretty annoying.

New Friend, New Sweaters, First Pests

2008-11-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Poochie's made a new friend! Pictures from their first playdate will have to be posted later, but we recently went to Soldier's Delight, Serpentine Trail for a nice, fun hike. From there and from Bailey's home, Poochie got her first ticks.

Here's little Bailey, the 5 mo old Jack Russell Terrier~

The color of the leaves were pretty

Quite a nice park

Now, I'm looking for some essential oils to make pest repellent sprays. For some reason, I can't seem to remember any local stores, nor am I having any luck in finding one online to go to. I need either geranium or peppermint oils.

courtesy of aromaweb.com

Poochie's first sweater started to look more and more like some rag thing Hercules wore in the Brat Pitt movie, Troy... Anyway, my mom made a second one with two colors of Lion Brand yarn. More stitch techniques started to come back so it started to look more and more like a store-bought sweater. Unfortunately, this one came out too short. It really was more like a vest. Since the whole point of a sweater/vest is to keep Poochie warm... my mom made another one. Perfect! It even has a collar. Only downside is that it.. slips back down to her tail... Need to tighten it up here and there. We had some fun with the 2nd sweater and as miserable as Poochie might've/must've been.. it made me laugh till I lost a kidney... It was painfully, pathetically adorable. Oh, and for once this mean hat idea wasn't mine; it was my mom's!

With her faux hat... and miserable.. perhaps

Without her faux hat and exhilarated.

Hampden, MD

2008-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Cara and I went to Hampden with Poochie. She did a super job. She even let a few kids approach her. She only growled at a few people and that was when a single person popped up out of nowhere or they were tall and wore a lot of black... Can't wait to socialize her some more. After that, I can take her to training classes and by then she will have learned enough that I won't have to waste money on puppy classes.

Speaking of such...
she's getting a little better about lunging and screaming at our neighbors and people that walk by. It is getting easier to distract her from doing it. I'm starting to master the timing of stopping her before she even tries to.

New Commands!

2008-10-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

Stay
Come & Go (not 100% complete...)
Wait.... eat!

New Sweater & New Friend

2008-10-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Excitement!
I finally retaught myself how to knit... but.. I kept messing up so my mom ended up taking over...
The sweater turned out beautifully despite it having been well over 20 years since the last time my mom has knitted anything. It's a bit iffy, but still really great for a first sweater. It's a little too long and the belly part is a bit too loose; can't wait for the next one. She was sleeping when we made her try it on.. so.. she was really tired and out of it. Even so, she sat and stayed so I could take a photo.

Poochie's made a new friend! I got to watch my friend's family dog for the day, today. They said that Kaiser, the beagle, is known to be pretty territorial. He chased a giant great dane around the house... I thought perhaps it might be okay since Poochie's similar in height and a female. Surely enough... Poochie ended up chasing him around and they played all day. It was great :)

Pooped I

Pooped II

I took hundreds of photos.. so.. I tried my best to shrink the list down.
Oh yes, and what was even more exciting was that Poochie also behaved like an angel.

Been a While!

2008-10-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Spider bites still hurt :p

It has been way too long since I last updated on Poochie's wellbeing!
I've been up in New York all weekend (Fri - Mon). I've been interning at Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore, MD. I'm their design intern and have been busy coloring a children's book and making posters for their over the weekend "Eek, Squeak, and Boo" event. On top of that, my fall quarter of classes started this past week.

Anywho...

Poochie was without me for a full 4.5 days. She still ate and went potty, but during her meals and during the mornings of the first two days, she constantly went upstairs looking for me. While my parents were gone, she tore up a part of the crate cover, turned her bed/blanket upside down and peed a little. My mom spent the rest of the day washing Poochie's bedding. Again, Poochie went looking for me upstairs... she kept bolting at every sound, perhaps thinking it was me. She was apparently restless. That was all Friday and Saturday. While my parents were away for work on Saturday, she yanked in a part of the crate cover, but didn't tear it up. Poochie did much better for the rest of the weekend, since my parents were home on Sunday. This gave her a chance to bond with someone else, but apparently she's still not nearly as friendly towards my dad as she is towards me.

My dad's back to his jealous self, now that I'm back. At least Poochie now says hi to him when he comes home from work instead of coming to the door then scampering off. She's much more lively than ever!

She now follows me almost everywhere. During the last couple of days, she's fully (ok, well almost fully... like.. 98%) learned the Come command! She's beginning to walk a lot better on a loose leash. She's also starting to become a lap dog. If only she had shorter legs and didn't like to stick her butt on my chest and point it at my face.. Other dogs like a good rub on the head.. a nice scratch behind the ears... not Poochie. She likes the attention on the other end. Sigh.. at least it's somewhat cute...

She met my grandparents for the first time, yesterday. It was around the time that I would've taken her out for a brief potty break... so.... yeah.. she dribbled here and there during her own excitement of screaming at this pair of strangers. I shook a can at her and she shut up after that. Of course, she was frozen with fear... Then we took her outside and she barked at them a couple of times while they picked some veggies from our garden.

Enough for now.. I have homework to do.

Oh.. my.. god.. I finally chose a vet for her. She gets to see her doctor this Friday! Oh boy~... oh boy...

ps my friend took me to Woodstockwhile we were in NY and I missed Poochie more than I ever had before. There were dogs everywhere; I even saw a black/tan minpin pup!

I hate spiders...

2008-10-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

The first time I was bitten by a spider was during the summer of 2003, on the back of my left hand. My hand.. within 45 minutes blew up to the size of half of a tennis ball. So.. around an inch growth. Yeah. THe pain was thick in my arm and even up to my chest. I was a bit disoriented.

THat was how I learned I'm allergic to spider bites :)

The second time.. same city (Baltimore), was 2005... Again, my hand, but this time my right and on my middle or ring finger. I had to get out of my drawing class. I am right handed, after all. My hand swelled up to the point that when I made a fist it still looked like my hand was just open flat. Again, the pain took up the entire arm and half of the chest. Sigh....

THIS TIME... and it took me a few days to realize that the source of my intense pain and discomfort was a result of two bites from a single spider on my left side. In the beginning, I thought it was from carrying Poochie with my left arm... she isn't the lightest thing in the world, so of course one would think her ribs were aching from 12 lbs of dense flesh pressed up against them. The puzzling thing was when my entire left side from front to my back started itching a lot... my insides even hurt. Imagine the worst heartburn and slap that on the surface of your entire left side... throw in some itching and then muscle/bone aches in the surrounding areas. That was when my mom noticed that I had a couple of bites on my ribs. THe whole left side of my abdomen is also swollen. SO with the itching, visible bites, and the kind of burning, aching pain I was having... I concluded that it was the fault of an obnoxious spider.

I .. don't like spiders. I really don't. Been seeing a lot of them lately.

Apple Scroll Ball

2008-10-07T20:55:00.001-07:00

My new apple mighty mouse's scroll ball just failed on me. It wouldn't scroll up. I rolled it upside down and hard on a piece of paper and voila, good as new. Damn finger nasties. Thanks Apple Blog!

Fall, Menu, and Apparel

2008-10-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Oops again!
Poochie and I have been enjoying the wonderful fall weather we've been having lately, among other things, that I haven't been able to update her blog. I've been busy with PODOHAMA.com, as well. Starting this week, I'll be starting my design/illustration internship at Port Discovery in Baltimore, MD and starting my fall classes online.

SO A MUCH AWAITED UPDATE:
Poochie is so silly... She's almost fully learned the "Come" command and is stubborn from time to time with the "Sit" command. She now likes to spend time with me at my computer! She likes to nestle between me and the chair. As in.. I have to scoot my butt out a bit so she could fit in. I think she's just using me for the warmth ;)
She's also learned "Outside?," "Let's go outside!" and "Num nums" (for food). If she's hungry, she'll run over, get a little nutty, then finally sit down for me to put the bowl down. A lot of times, she'll wait until I say "eat" before she jumps in. Other times, I guess she's just a little extra hungry to wait for the command.
We give her diced carrots as treats; she loves those. I also like to crack a raw egg into her breakfast. This new addition to the menu is what brought her closer to me. She's even starting to have separation anxiety issues :/ I'll fix that. Since I'll be a little busy from now on, it'll help me help her get used to being alone. Before the whole egg and carrot business, she was really great about behaving while left alone for hours straight, but... since the expansion of her menu she's loved the idea of yanking the cover of her crate in, through one of the holes and I think she may be tinkled on her bed once... It smelled suspiciously urine-y. She's yanked the cover in the first time we covered her crate, but I believe that was because she wasn't comfortable with us or the house.
The hoodie I got for her is a tad small and the top velcroe likes to pop open. It looks like she's wearing one of those baggy, wide 90's sweathers... with the really wide open collar..? You know the one, right? Anyway.. it's adorable, but it's also starting to get really fridgid. I need to make that sweater of hers and we need to buy her a descent jacket. My mom and I both know we'll never get around to making her a puffy jacket. She did mention knitting her a sweater!! Exciting! Another thing about the hoodie: sometimes I wake up to a naked Poochie.. She squirms just enough that she ends up out of the thing. I would love to get her one of these:

A Cable Sweater :) Or...

An Aspen from the Dogs Department.
Unfortunately... I am not willing to spend close to a hundred dollars on a sweater... Thanks...

Though... I think they should retake the photos of their product. There's too much dog and not enough sweater. I have plenty of faith in the look of the clothes, but... there are many people out there with little to no imagination...

If I had the skills, time, and patience I would be making all kinds of sweaters (including Christmas sweaters!!) for Poochie. Oh crap... how about a onesie with a booty door and a hoodie in the shape of some ridiculously, sickeningly adorable animal?? !!!

Cute Overload

2008-10-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

Been meaning to blog about this website for a long time.. so long I apparently forgot. I found these hilarious photos at cuteoverload.com

Flying Una!

2008-10-06T05:59:00.001-07:00

Flying Una!, originally uploaded by WelcomeToTheDoghouse.

flyyyyyy

Oh Poochie, and Your Crooked Nose

2008-10-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Happy fall everyone! Fall has come and permeated the air. One couldn't be happier. Here are a few pictures of Poochie on one of our many outings. Unfortunately, it's only my backyard, but.. it'll do for now. We'll be going on more adventures soon, promise.

It was this puff of cloud that lured us out.

Poochie parachute in the form of a hoodie.

She was talking to nothing.

Shake and bake

Looks SO EVIL

All high and mighty like...

So evil looking...

I wish I could say "why yes, she was off leash. she's just that good".. but no.

Whenever I laid on the ground, I was confronted with the scary face of hers charging towards mine.

Perdy

They also remind me of bicycle handles

I tend to confuse the name "Yoda" with the word "yoga".

Aw

Aww

It's adorable when she's seated properly

But it's cuter when she isn't

If anyone knows me.. they'll know that I'm quite obsessed with clouds, the sky, and flying.

Yikes!

2008-10-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking off with the updates. I've been preoccupied with working on my new website/e-store at www.podohama.com. Please, go check it out and buy, buy, buy! I'm also going to have some minpin/Poochie related merchandise for sale there as well.
Poochie is super, as always. The weather, this past week, as been awful for Poochie. It meant, no long walks thanks to the heavy rain.
My mom and I got some fleece fabric to make a new vest/jacket for Poochie. We had a horrible experience at the Joann's Fabric store. I'm not getting into it.. but I will say: I have hated, currently hate, and will always loathe stuck-up, snobbish, rich, probably sucks their poolboy/son's best friend's c--k, does nothing but worthless, selfish bullshit to appear they're busy ASSHOLES who think they can cut in line to do something that takes 10 times longer than what the 3 customers behind them needed to do combined. I think she might've embedded a cancerous tumor into my brain that day. The employee there is also at fault, though she got a taste of her own medicine having to end up dealing with the same asshole who ended up looking down on her. Seriously.. it's not our fault we're not white and not rich looking. Alrighty. No need to comment on any of this. We all need to rant and rave at some point and it doesn't mean that we always mean what we say.. we just need to say it to feel an ounce better.

Poochie made our day a lot better.

Good Morning

2008-09-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

she really didn't want to get out of bed... too cold.

one more hoodie picture...

Her Hoodie Has Pockets

2008-09-22T18:44:00.001-07:00

Aww

2008-09-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

Update

2008-09-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Poochie in her hoodie
She needs some sweaters

So! Poochie met another one of my friends. I took her to my friend, Amanda's dorm at UMBC and this was where Poochie got to work on some of her territorial aggression. An officer actually approached us and we thought we were in trouble, only it turned out that he loves dogs and wanted to meet Poochie. Officer Stevens gave me some really great tips on training and offered to help me whenever I might need it! He also gave me a lot of help on controlling Poochie's barking and lunging towards strangers. Within a few minutes he had her silenced and ignoring the rest of the passing students. Amanda and I went to a shopping center and Poochie completely ignored the people who were passing by. It was great! It was nice to see someone with experience handle her and watch what they do. I mean.. I've been watching so many videos on training but none of it has helped because none of those trainers had any dogs with problematic behaviors. With any other puppy/dog I would've been more assertive than I had been with Poochie, but I was definitely weary about being too rough with her that I was actually getting nowhere with her aggression.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Today, she was still nuts towards my next door neighbors, but I was able to get her to bark at them less and less with more practice. Two houses across the street also have dogs that they let loose in their yards (invisible electric fence) and Poochie always went absolutely nuts whenever they were out because they too went nuts when she was in sight. But with a word and tug to distract her she kept her mouth shut and continued to walk with me. She even began to improve on the walking with a loosh leash.

My dad, on the other hand.. has poor reflexes, is stubborn (like I've mentioned before... ), and is actually a wuss when it comes to being assertive (unless he's angry at the person.. then he's unnecessarily loud)... so.. there's a lot, a LOT of work to be done on my dad. If only we had a local Korean Cesar Millan.. because my mom and I know he'll listen to that person more than any one of us.
So...
funny.. story..
My dad decided to try this assertion on Poochie and well.. my next door neighbors were out and she apparently went nuts and instead of doing what I told him to do, my dad decided to grab her by the collar to physically control her.. BUT.. his clumsy fingers unhooked her collar and away she went! I wasn't there but once I heard the commotion of two kids, two angry dogs, and Poochie's barking... I saw what had happened. Fortunately, she stopped at one point and my dad was able to grab her. Sigh... This isn't the first time she's gone loose in the hands of my father. I don't know what it is with him walking Poochie! The last time he just.. lost his grip on the leash or something and they were down and across the street. Fortunately, she ran to our backyard...

I mean.. seriously... he doesn't like to listen to either myself or my mom, so.. sigh... Yeah... Not much I can do with that.

"No, don't feed her that, you don't know what's in that and she'll get fat!" - chomp
"No, don't let her walk out the door before you" - does so anyway (after the 30th time we yell at him not to)
"No, don't do that just to see how she'd react. What are you insane?!" - has tried 3 things now... yeah.. now she's angry that one box... not going to get into it.
"No, don't say 'sit' or 'no' like that and so many times in a row" - "sit.. sit.. sit.. sit.. sit.." "no. no. no. *tug* no. no."

I .. sigh. Too bad he's stubborn and i'm extremely impatient with him. Too bad I'm not allowed to yell at him because he's an elder, a father, a man, therefore above me. That's ok. I love him. It's all good. I'm sure.. Poochie will be smart enough not to let my dad's forgetfulness and stubbornness and the occasional stupidity to ruin her training... One can only hope.

Creature Comforts!

2008-09-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

If you guys haven't seen Creature Comforts, do check it out!
I've only seen seasons one and two. One is really cute and heartwarming, whereas the second season isn't nearly as cute or funny... It's still worth checking out :)
I haven't seen what they show on Animal Planet because we don't have cable, so.... I don't know what to tell you about that. It's especially to die for when younger animals are talking. Adorable.

Update

2008-09-20T02:30:00.000-07:00

Sooooo a bulky update on Poochie's progress.

Well.. her spunky, silly personality is really starting to shine.
She is extremely territorial of me, my parents, and our house. (We're working on that with little progress, so far)
Still working on the loose leash walking, but she's very quick to learn with that. It's the lunging and barking at passersby that dirties up the pretty picture. Working on that, as well.
She loves her Bobo more than ever. A few days ago, she started to just run around the house with her red Bobo. When she's bored and lazy, she chews on the tabby cat.
Funny thing about the playfulness... she starts to do this the day after I post Poochie's story and a bit on her lack of interest in toys and playfulness on some Yahoo! forum thing. This seems to happen to me quite a lot.
She has started to play around with the blanket in her crate more. She tugs at it and pulls on it to get it the way she wants it. Honestly, it never ever looks comfortable when she's done :/ I can't wait till she figures out how to just.. get under it and.. bury herself in lovable warmth.
My dad makes it much much harder to train her since he's extremely, even 100% stubborn. I tell him to do things a certain way so as to keep it consistent and so we have a routine for her to adhere to and learn from.... but no.. Not going to get into that. My family has a history of high blood pressure... don't want that on my case.
Poochie is still learning to "come". Scenario: I tell her to come so as to give her a treat. 1 time out of 5, she does around the corner, pops her head in... and from there she either goes all the way or turns back around and into her sanctuary of a crate. When she does go all the way... she stops a few feet from me.. sits down and expects ME to walk up to her with the treat. Yeah..... brat. Brat, brat, brat. She isn't such a brat if I say, "Outside!" Then, she'll run over, no.. HOPS over to me and sits all nice and pretty waiting for me to put the leash on her. Brat, brat, brat :)
Cannot wait to take her to obedience training. Don't know where to take her though... Would a place like Petco/Petsmart be good enough for her? I donno... If I did go with either of them, I think I'd go with Petsmart. Their employees are much friendlier and better informed. Petco people are.. cooooold. Never have I ever been approached by an employee asking if I needed help. What store DOESN'T have that?? Petsmart: they don't leave you alone. Granted, I don't like it when they don't leave me alone, but... once or twice is better than none. At Petco, I never feel good... I never did feel good at any Petco I'd ever been to. Petsmart employees are always friendly and there seems to be an abundance of them.... Anyway, going off on a tangent here. Moving on~
Poochie is starting to learn "Kennel" "go to your kennel". I store the term "kennel" from the video I recently posted. I'm sorry, the video is happy and the word just .. stuck. Anyway, I mean "kennel" is really easy considering she loves going into her crate. A lot of times, we have a lot of trouble getting her to come out.. I hope that's not a sign of anything bad, behaviorally. I really hope that she just genuinely want snuggle up in her blanket... Like I've already mentioned, our house isn't all that fun... I mean.. I hate walking, sitting, laying on our floors. Even our furniture isn't that great... I just want a used couch that sinks in and just.. hugs you. You know? Fabric, too. The leather couches are just not welcoming. Again.. moving on....
Poochie is still extremely territorial, but she's gotten a whole lot better about barking at my parents. When the door opens and the alarm does the "beep, beep (door opened~)" sound, Poochie barks and runs over to the door to see what/who it is. As soon as she notices that it's one of us, she's fine and either stays and watches us/them or she runs back to her crate. Before, she used to scream, then scream the entire way to the door, then continue to scream even after seeing that it's only my parents. (WIth me, she always stopped as soon as she noticed it was me. Rather, if we had been home alone and I left to run an errand, then returned... she never made a sound at the beep, beep of the door).
As calm and lazy as she is... she still has a good few number of moments where she unintentionally does something to make me laugh out-loud. There's this one thing she does, quite often... sometimes when I'm moving around the house and I'm walking towards her bed, she hops over to it and plops down.. and if I bend down to pet her, she rolls over to expose her belly and... this is when she overcalculates the size of her bed and roll right on out of her bed :). There was this other time, this past Sunday, where she... snorted SOMETHING.. we don't know.. must've been too much dust in that one spot near her bed.. BUT.. she started to have a sneezing fit and literally, literally sneezed about 13 times or more. Iiiiiii had quite the laughing fit that day. I laughed and laughed until I cried. Yes, until I teared up, but even until I literally started to cry. I can't remember the last time I laughed like that. I regretted that I didn't get any of it on camera. I did get a bit of camera action afterwards, when she went into her crate... She cringed a few times and spazzed out, about to sneeze again. She never did.. but almost! I want to show that clip.. but I'm kind of ashamed of the past two, extremely boring videos.. Don't want to torture you guys.

That's all for now. It's late. It's 6am. Way too late. :/ I wish I had slept...

Wakey

2008-09-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love it when dogs wake up and their heads wobble from the sleepy

Dingos

2008-09-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

Poochie also loves the infamous Dingos
I gave her one of these for the first time yesterday and she ran around the entire house hiding it, retrieving it, then hiding it again, then she finally took it to her crate and ate it there.

Random 9.13.2008

2008-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Awwww

Aww

2008-09-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

I go run an errand and this is what I come home to. Seriously.

Poochie's 2nd Video

2008-09-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

When She's Hungry for Her Meal

2008-09-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

As of only a couple of days ago, she sits at her eating area whenever she's hungry and wanting her meal.

First Video! Boring, but it's Something!

2008-09-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Please ignore what is being said in the background. Cara and I are ordering dinner and I just wanted to get a quick video of Poochie. It's kind of dark, so.. please hold while I get I fix it.

Poochie's Visit to Cara's PHOTOS

2008-09-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

Dumbo's trying to fly
(You can't really tell, but that's a navy blue hoodie Poochie is wearing :)

I know, it's kind of mean, but I love giving her the pig-nose. This time it's a bit lop-sided, but.. I didn't want to torment her.

The apt's really cold

These photos were all taken once Poochie was done exploring the apt.

Not too long after we got home, Poochie passed out. She pretty much slept with her head like that for most of the night. ... It can't be comfortable can it?

Ha! She just pulled her head back up.

Poochie's New Friend

2008-09-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

I finally got to take Poochie to my friend, Cara's place. There was a guy delivering Chinese food while Poochie and I were walking up the stairs. Naturally, Poochie barked at him, but she quit after I was able to distract her and walk her to Cara's door. (It's when I take her out for her to go potty and something comes by to set her off that it's hardest to distract/control her. I guess that's mostly because we're still on my property?)
Soooo Poochie got to meet Cara. With a tiny bark and a growl, Poochie started exploring the apartment. Cara had a blast. Poochie is still wary of her, but by the end of the day started to loosen up around Cara. Like she did with David, anytime Cara moved or got up to do something, Poochie either growled or ran after Cara. There was no biting or any, ANY signs of attack. Still, she's doing really well with meeting new people. She had no problem with letting Cara pet her, etc. She did eat some of her dinner out of Cara's hand and Cara gave her a rawhide stick and Poochie didn't care for it until later in the day. Anytime Cara handed it to her, Poochie would take it into her hand then place it on the floor. Hurray~
I had left my digital camera in Cara's car so I can finally take videos of Poochie! Very exciting! Though, I think the lens might've been damaged from being in the heat. :/ I hope it's okay. I've had it for so many years, it can't fail on me now!
I have to do other things, so I'll be posting videos/photos soon of Poochie's visit to Cara's house.

Yikes

2008-09-12T22:15:00.001-07:00

A woman loses her dog, Daisy May, to an unexpected attack from a dog it was previously interacting with. For the full story go to: abc2news.com
If there is an error then go to abc2news.com and search "petsmart dog attack".
It irks me that a dog that was calmly interacting with Daisy, out of nowhere attacked her. Very frightening... I guess this would be a lesson to everyone to be cautious with your dogs around others' dogs, esp when they're meeting for the first time. It's just unbelievable. I wonder what triggered the dog to act that way.

More Territorial than Ever

2008-09-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a tiring day...
I took her out this morning but she could barely pee because she was focused on my next door neighbors, who were all leave the house at the same time. Poochie loves their dogs, but doesn't like the people. After a little while I took her out again in case she might have to go but she never got to focus because there was a person yaaards down and across the street walking in and out of her house. Poochie had to bark and bark and bark and bark at that person. I tried all kinds of methods to keep her attention on me and at least distract her from barking, but nothing has stuck so far. I even did Cesar Millan's methods, but to no sign of avail. If I had the money to get Cesar out here and he did come out... I bet what'll happen is that she'll listen to him and it'll work like a charm while he's there.. and as soon as Cesar's gone... Poochie will be back to her old ways. I know I'm being firm and I'm pretty sure she sees me as the leader and yet it's still hard to get her to listen to me when there are strangers around.
So far she's only seen people walking and today, for the first time, she saw a jogger. Yup, she went nuts... I have bad hearing so I never even knew someone was running by until Poochie started going nuts. This was the 3rd time I took her out to let her go potty and hopefully be able to focus, but NO.

THEN.. THEN.. the neighbor's dog, Janey came out. That was fine, Poochie loves the dogs, BUT.. the little girl (don'tknow how old she is) came over, too. Poochie started to go nuts and so Janey started to yell at Poochie.. Little girl thought Poochie was being mean to Janey, so I told her it was the other way around. I have never been around little kids and I have no idea how I'm supposed to talk to them and what I'm allowed or not allowed to tell them, but I don't believe in lying to kids, so I told her.. Poochie was never around people so she's not used to them, bla bla bla. Of course, she's a little girl who grew up with really nice, huge dogs.. and didn't fear Poochie at all. Poochie's also very tiny... The LAST thing I need is for Poochie to nip Justina and for Justina to go crying to her parents and for her parents to come screaming at me. Don't want that. Do not ever want that. Ever.. Iiiiii do not like little kids. They ask silly little things like, "Does that man (pointing to my dad) that lives with you speak Spanish?" What in the world is her mother telling her?? And what the HELL are these kids learning in school? Clearly, nothing about ethnicity. I mean, it's understandable when you're going to a school in some rural town, back in the nineties, with only one Asian and no one knows what "Korea" is. Hell, you don't even have to go to school to learn these things.
Today, though.. it's different. Kids should know the difference between a Caucasian, African American, Asian, and Mexican/Latino/etc... Okay, if we were Indian and this girl asked if my dad spoke Spanish, I can understand. When you're 7, 9, whatever her age is, that can be confusing. Maybe they came from another all-white area?

Hey, a show of hands of those who've heard rumors that Finksburg, MD (that's me) has an underground KKK!

My dislike of children definitely does not help Poochie to feel less threatened around Justina; I know this...
Poochie almost got to play with a dog. It's a shame Justina had to run over. I don't blame her, either.. her dog was in our yard and she had to be a good owner and come get her.. Sigh..... I want to understand and like kids, but... phew... like Poochie and her socializing, I have a long way to go with that.

To end on a good note... Poochie is an angel on our walks.
As for an ultimate goal, this is how Poochie will be in the future. I whole-heartedly wish:

Min-Pin vs Pit Bull

2008-09-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

I so badly want a pit bull...

RED CHAIR III PHOTOS

2008-09-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Red Chair III

2008-09-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

Poochie and Her Red Chair, originally uploaded by JenBagelHan.

Poochie has been trained to stay in her bed and to leave the chair alone. After a few no-no's she complied.. That night, she was a tad sad.. but.. now she guards her bed like nobody's business. As soon as anyone of us get up to move and move towards the direction of her bed and she's not already there, she trots on ahead of us, and hops into her bed. Sigh... So paranoid.

Poochie's First Day in the City

2008-09-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

So! Very exciting day, yesterday in Baltimore, MD. It wasn't that eventful, but.. it was Poochie's first day in such a busy environment with all kinds of noises, smells, and people walking by. I went to my friend, David's for a visit and I thought he would be the best person for Poochie to meet first since he absolutely loves tiny dogs like her. He has a Chihuahua, named Mr. Tuggles, back home; an even bigger plus.
She showed little to no sign of aggression or fear towards David and allowed him to pet her, etc. We hung out in his room for a while and she napped a lot. Anytime he got up to do something she growled a little. He went to the bathroom, she growled. He came back from the bathroom, she growled. These moments were each followed with a brief nap.
We also hung out on his porch. She barked and growled at any person that walked by. She only barked at a couple of people across the street. Nick, one of David's housemates, came home and Poochie didn't growl at him or anything! Very, very exciting. She just sniffed him and left him alone. David needed cigarettes and we walked down to the corner store on the block and she did very well just sitting there, panting away the heat. A customer came out, she barked at him once and kept growling. The guy talked to her for a bit. Shoftly after, he was on his way again.. Then Nick came up and was off to work. Again, she was absolutely fine with him. I wish I still lived in the city. It would help tremendously with the socializing. People in the city understand a lot more about dogs than the people in my neighborhood. Or maybe, I just feel that way because I myself am not comfortable in this town. I'm too used to the city... I'm much less insecure there.
Anyway...
Poochie was behaving pretty closely to a dog that I can't wait for her to be until Kelly, another one of David's housemates, came home from work. Naturally, Poochie started to growl and bark like crazy at the sound, then more so at the sight of Kelly. She didn't stop growling out Kelly until we went outside and Poochie was distracted by the neighborhood cat, Balls.

This is Balls. He has quite the cajones, in more ways than one. This was taken at another date, but that's him. Balls. He loved to tease Poochie. Poochie wanted to attack him so badly.. unfortunately for her, she had to be on a leash. So.. understandably, she didn't do well with Balls. He taunted, she had no choice but to stare at him and occasionally fail at attempting to lunge at him. Hopefully, she'll meet nicer cats and learn to like them whether they hate her or not. Baby loved the first cat she ever met. He didn't like her back, though... Oh cats and dogs.

This is David. Again, taken at another date. Sorry for the lack of pictures from Poochie's first day in the city!

I wish I could've had Poochie as a pup

2008-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

That's not her. Just someone's min pin pup on youtube.com
We'll just pretend that this is in fact Poochie, but with a penis and cropped ears.
Can you guys imagine just how much wonderful, drop-dead-adorable shenanigans Poochie would've gone into as a pup in a normal living situation? It breaks my heart a little to think about it.

Templates

2008-09-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

Wow... so... I downloaded and tested out a couple of templates and I lost interest in the first one and I realized that a tiny part of the 2nd one wasn't working... So... I tried to set it back the way it was, but I don't know what happened, but blogger decided to get a little nutty and change things... I spent hours to noooo avail, whatsoever.

Oh no!

2008-09-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to notice it (of course..) but my mom said, "oooo she's getting a little chub chub!"

We have started to walk for an hour everyday! Honest! We just didn't start right away...
I'm sure she'll begin to get fit soon with more walks and when she finally figures out what the damn tennis ball, that I got for her today is for. She likes to poke it with her nose then leave it alone. I think I had more fun with it myself...

RED CHAIR II

2008-09-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

When I started to keep her from hopping up on the chair, I moved her bed onto the floor, right next to the chair. At first, when she was upset and confused she didn't like to come near the chair at all. This was earlier tonight, now she goes back and goes right to her bed and plays there.

Success!

Planning on taking her to the MICA campus for some socializing. Don't know if I'll go to my friends first, or second. We'll see. I don't think going to MICA will be too much for her, but luckily tomorrow's weather isn't looking so super. This means that there won't be as many people out wanting to greet her. I remember when Baby, the 2 month old pit bull mix I had (for.. two.. months.. :( became such an attention whore whenever I would take her out and onto campus. If only Poochie could've had some of that loving and attention when shew as a pup. It really is a shame.. Speaking of which... the lady who rescued her, Tara, recently e-mailed me Poochie's story and I'd like to share that with you:

Anne Arundel County Humane officers investigated a man who was a backyard breeder. The county only allows you 4 dogs without a fancier license and he had about 10. He kept them all confined in a room with little to no socialization. They were in good physical shape overall- decent body condition, but no social skills. The owner was forced to surrender 5 dogs in order to comply with the law. He gave up Hershey and Snickers (the girls) and 3 boys. The boys were unfortunately euthanized before we could get them even though our rescue informed them we would take them. They claimed they were biters. Well, duh! Unsocialized, terrified little dogs taken out of their regular environment will bite! We have rehabilitated many “biters” with great success. I personally own one that was set to be put to sleep by another rescue until I stepped in. He is one of the best dogs I have ever had and does not bite now that it is not allowed.

When I came to get the girls, they had them separated. They also would not let me put them in the same crate even though I was the one transporting them. Both girls were at the fronts of their cages, but the shelter workers treated them like they were rabid pit bulls and didn’t let me get them even though I offered. If they had been truly fearful, they would have been at the backs of their cages. Unfortunately, many shelters have prejudices against small dogs and especially min pins. I am just thankful that we were at least able to save 2 of them and get them into better homes. I would have really liked to keep them together as Snickers is the more shy of the 2 and took on some of Hershey’s confidence, but placing 2 dogs in one home at the same time is very hard to do. Hershey is being fostered right now and doing very well. She is the same color as Snickers, but her body type is completely the opposite. She is a TANK! I will send you some pictures of her as we had her for a few days as well. I am certain Hershey also had at least one litter if not more

RED CHAIR

2008-09-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

No picture about it yet, but... today is the first day.
She's a bit confused and sad about it, but.. I don't want her to think she can start taking over.

My dad's quite the stubborn one. I tell him not to do certain things or I tell him how to do certain things.. and he doesn't listen. That's what I get for having a traditionally, stereotypically Asian (Korean) dad.

Wakey Wakey

2008-09-08T05:20:00.001-07:00

Finally got her a fleece blanket and into her crate. When I first came downstairs, I couldn't find her. She had completely buried herself.

Woken up....

Falling asleep again....

Very, very, oh so cozy.

And then she went back to sleep for another 30 minutes.

Brat! :)

2008-09-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

She's more adorable than ever. As bratty as she is.. she is die hard cute as well as very smart. So... It's always about the chair. The chair is hers. As much as my dad nags at her, the chair is hers. It is.. the Poochie Chair.

Even without her comfy bed, it is her chair. I'm sure I've mentioned how when she isn't in her chair and any one of us are walking near, or by the chair.. she runs over and hops on into it.

My dad. My dad is now sitting in the chair. He sat down before she got to. Still, she immediately jumped on and though it may appear that she is snuggling... she is not. What she's REALLY doing is reiterating that the chair is in fact, hers. In a nutshell... the chair is no longer ours...

Walks really well on the leash. I stop and tell her "stop" and she stops and looks at me. Then, I tell her to sit and she sits. This I do whenever a car drives by or whenever we come to a curb of the sidewalk.
Loves to bark at people and dogs... Working on fixing that.
Loves her Bobo doll in her crate.
Loves her weird tabby cat rope, ball thing...
Only downside so far... is that she doesn't listen to me unless I'm holding her leash. We started to get her to sit without the leash, but that was very shortlived.

Even More Territorial

2008-09-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Poochie is even more territorial. I decided she should spend some time with my parents so she's now hanging out with them in the library while they watch their Korean shows. It's nice to see that she's become more bold, but we canNOT wait until she gets used to other people. That will be one super day.

Formerly Snickers, Now Poochie

2008-09-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

We decided that we would like to name Snickers, Poochie. As adorable as "Snickers" is, it's tough for us to say, especially my parents. She did respond to "Snickers" on the first day, but after that she kind of started to ignore it. With Poochie, her ears perk up. It's happier and easier to say. First, I wanted to rename her to Pookie, but my dad kept saying Poochie. Poochie reminded me of the loser character on the Simpsons and being a huge fan of the Simpsons, I decided that would be appropriate. Poochie (Poochy) is also a dog-like character in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Very cute.
I was starting to get a bit anxious about Poochie growling and barking at my parents, but after talking to Lisa and Sally (the lovely folks who did the home visit for Friends of Penny, MinPin Rescue) I felt a lot more confident about taking care of Snickers. Thanks to them for their support and advice :)

I plan on enrolling her in obedience classes... soon! Soonish. Sooner the better, yes, but.. not .. right now.

Friday Night

2008-08-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday

2008-08-28T22:36:00.001-07:00

Snickers seems to have found a favorite chair.

The neighbor's dogs, Jane and Joey came out and they said hi to each other. Again, as soon as Jane started to walk away Snickers got upset about it and whined and barked some. Then the neighbor's kids came out to say hi to Snickers and she started to show some fear aggression, in response to which the dogs got disgruntled at her for. #1 priority now is to socialize her as much as I can and as soon and as most as possible. I think I'll take her to meet my friends in Baltimore... tomorrow? Weekend? She will be meeting another one of my friends soon.

She is still skittish around my parents.
Today's weather was.. a tad dreadful.
Snickers ended up napping quite a bit all throughout the day.

What else... the rain doesn't seem to phase in any way.
She continues to go to the bathroom in the same general area at the far end of our yard.
She's sort of, not really getting the hang of what a toy is. I got her one of those Petsmart Bobo dolls. She's tossed the thing around a few times, other than that, that's about it.

Oh! She's starting to learn the "sit" command :) I've been trying to get her to do it before I put the leash on/off of her and before I give her her meal. I think she's starting to get the idea.

First Petsmart Trip

2008-08-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Snickers and I went to Petsmart today. She did extremely well in the car; rather, she just curled up and took a nap. She was a bit scared of being inside Petsmart, but she didn't freeze up or anything. She was curious about everything and sniffed around a lot. She met one of the managers but was very scared of him. She was ok with one of the female workers. She did well with a male customer outdoors.
I got her a flexi leash and a bottle of FURminator shampoo because she's starting to stink a bit. I think the neighbor's dogs' snot might've contributed.
She made a tiny sound when we were playing in the backyard, earlier. She was enjoying the heat and rolled around in the grass a lot. At one point when she flopped down like this morning, she started to fall asleep.
The puppy goodness in her is coming out! I've discovered that she absolutely loves raw hide. She actually took over one of our couches with one of the rawhides.

She's getting a bath today! Too stinky! :)

My dad took her out for a walk. I noticed that her tail started coming up as soon as they got on the grass. *fingers crossed* I hope she's starting to warm up to him because she is still pretty scared of him. She likes to poke my mom.

Tuesday Morning Photos

2008-08-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Morning 8.26.2008

2008-08-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

She's warmed up to me quite a bit. She likes to run around the house and explore. She's still afraid of my dad and somewhat nervous around my mom. Whenever they try to approach her she runs away, but when they're not paying any attention she follows them around.

At 7am, I took her outside and it seems she misses the neighbor dogs. She's made a potty spot for herself in the way way back of our yard. She's finally starting to come out of her shell. On our way back to the house she decided to have some fun by just flopping onto the ground and laying on her back. Rascal! Now whenever she doesn't feel like walking any further, she does exactly that. She hasn't barked or whined at all since she's been here but whenever she gets on her back like that I start playing with her she makes a deep throated purring sound. It's very subtle, but it's something!

She ate a considerable amount of food this time, around 1/4 cup. It's about time to take her out for a potty break, so.. more later!

Monday 8.25.2008

2008-08-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

She slept with me in my bed last night. Once things were quiet and she was alone with me she even asked for a belly rub. Very exciting. She also had a bit of food last night. That's it for Sunday.

She walked really well on the leash. This evening she got to meet our neighbor's dogs and daughter. Jane is a 9 year old Akita mix and Joey is a 4 year old 145 lb. black lab. I let Snickers walk up to the fence while they barked away at her. They started to sniff each other and the one second I wasn't looking she lunged into their yard through the fencing! Sooo she got to meet the dogs and Jeanie the owner. Jane apparently likes to be a mom, so that's really good.

Snickers is extremely quiet for a minpin. I've never met any minpins before, but I've read that they bark a lot. She's extremely nervous still.

This time she slept in her crate. Around 9pm she just went into her crate and passed out.

Snickers

2008-08-26T06:39:00.001-07:00

After much research and searching and applying, we decided to adopt Snickers. She's a Miniature Pinscher and is assumed to be 1 year old. We adopted her this past Sunday, August 24, 2008. She was really scared and skiddish. She's still a bit skiddish when my parents are around, but she's warmed up to me quite a bit!