Bantam Bindi

Bindi will be 12 weeks old tomorrow.  I don’t think I can quite get a feel for how much she’s grown in size, however we did weigh her last night at the vet.  She’s 32.6 pounds.  Yep.  She’s gained 11 pounds in under 3 weeks. 

Last night was the second week of puppy kindergarten.  It’s so funny seeing the contrast between her and the other dog in the class, who probably ways 3 pounds. 

She’s starting to do well.  The main reason is that Kathie picked up some freeze dried liver treats.  She goes absolutely crazy for them.  She follows you around watching you for any kind of command.  So far she’s learned sit, down, come, stand and touch to some level.  She’s a pro at puppy pushups.  She’s also learning release.  Kathie was even able to get her to come when she was across the yard playing with the neighbors dog.  Those liver treats are THAT good.

She’s still pretty nippy, but it’s pretty limited to her ‘crazy’ puppy times. When she’s just outside or hanging out, she’s getting much better.  But if she gets the crazies, then it’s very difficult to get her to stop. We’re going to try a spray bottle next. 

Happy Birthday Braden!

Wow, five years old!  Where has the time gone!? 

Braden is very excited to be five and we’re very proud of him.  It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling, though, as it’s amazing how quickly they grow.

Last night after prayers, Braden said he couldn’t sleep.  That sparked another Bradenism conversation:

Braden: “I know, I can think about the really nice birthday presents I got.  That will help”

Me: “Good idea.  Happy Birthday, buddy”

Braden: “Happy Birthday. I’m very excited!”

Me: “Me too.  I’m very proud of you and I can’t believe you’re five years old already!”

Braden: “When is this talk going to be over?”

Me: “Now.  Good night.”

Busy!!!

Things are going well.  Ok, as well as they can when you have 3 small kids and a 10 week old puppy at home.  It’s Easter break this week and I’m guessing Kathie will probably go crazy fairly soon.

Braden continues with his gross and fine motor skills therapy sessions twice a week.  He is already getting tan from playing outside!  He loves playing with all his friends and (sometimes) his sister.  His birthday is next Monday and he’ll be five.  He’s very excited.

Emma is a constant:  A constant roller coaster of emotion.  She can be the sweetest girl one minute and a screaming devil child the next.  She’s very smart and I think she takes advantage of our lack of constant discipline at times.  Wait, I meant to say consistent there.  No, actually, with her it’s probably constant.  But I mostly joke about Emma and her fits.  She really is a sweet girl.  Her latest thing is pretending to be a baby, a momma or a daddy.  “I’m not Emma!  I’m a baby. Waahhhh”

Alex has had a rough week or so.  He hasn’t been feeling quite himself and we suspect it’s new teeth coming, but really aren’t sure.  No fever or other symptoms.  He’s just cranky a lot.  Ok, a lot for him… because he still is a very happy kid.  He’s also getting physical therapy once a week to help out with his core muscle tone.  But that doesn’t stop him from trying to climb everything in sight.  The other day he figured out he can get into the bathtub.  Or, rather, he figured out that he can get over the edge of the top and that gravity takes over from there.  He also really enjoys being outside and swinging.

Bindi is doing well.  Probably amazingly well for a 10 week old puppy, but it’s a little hard to judge when your embedded in the situation.  She has had a few accidents, but is house broken for the most part.  Of course we don’t really let her out without supervision yet, so there’s still some work there.  She’s getting a little better with the nipping and is starting to learn commands.  She came up to Emma the other day and Emma said “Sit!” and her little..um… moderately sized… butt plopped right down on the ground and she sat there looking for her treat.  At last measurement she was 27 pounds, but I think she’s growing in size faster than weight.

I know this is getting a bit long, so I’ll leave you with a Bradenism.  Braden took on himself to hide an Easter egg for Emma in his toolbox.  Then he wanted to give her a subtle hint, so he said “Emma, there’s an egg in the toolbox.  No.  Wait.  I didn’t mean that.  Um…. there’s an egg someplace where we carry lots of tools.”  Subtle he isn’t!

Wordy

A friend of mine (who will remain nameless) told me last night that I’m too wordy in my posts here because he can’t stay focused past a sentence or two.  He said he just looks at the pictures… so….

(nameless, but not faceless)

Mega Update

So, I blogged last about our new puppy and her arrival.  Then disappeared for three days.  Disappeared probably doesn’t accurately describe the situation.

I took three days off of work so I could be home and help get the puppy acclimated to her new home, as well as get us acclimated to her.  It was a fun, but very exhausting three days. 

Bindi has definitely settled in to her new home.  She’s gaining more confidence each day, which is both good and bad.  She’s definitely a good dog!  She’s friendly and has an appropriate level of submissiveness.  She likes to sit behind you, but isn’t afraid of a lot of things.  She follows  you around the yard or the house and likes to be near us.  But she’s definitely a puppy!  When she gets frantic, she tends to chase the kids or us and nip a lot.  We’ll work on that and it’ll improve with age, but it’s difficult to prevent it with the kids running around.

She’s learned her potty spot already and the accidents have been limited to two so far.  She has even gone to the door and asked to be taken out already.  That was probably mostly coincidence, but she did go right away when she went out.  The first night involved 4-5 trips outside, the second night only two and the third night was only one and that was because I was already up with Alex and woke her up to take her out.  Last night she slept through the night. 

She loves her play area and her kennel and can be found sleeping peacefully there quite often, especially after playing with the neighbors dog and getting worn out. 

Her first vet visit went well.  She was very calm until they gave her some freeze dried liver treats.  After that she was a nut case looking for more treats.  Who ever heard of treats making the vet visit worse!?  Her checkup went well.  We’ll probably have her spayed around 5 months after all her puppy teeth are out and she’s ready to head to puppy kindergarten and play with other dogs now that she has her vaccinations. 

The kids are doing pretty well with her, but so far they haven’t been terribly  involved with her, short of running around the yard. It’s a little hard to get kids their age involved in training a puppy her age.  They’re all a little intimidated by the nipping.  Well, Alex isn’t, but he doesn’t know any better.  Sterling is also doing well with the new addition. They’ve been face to face a few times with no incidences.

 

Two Days, 940 Miles, 4 pees, 1 poop

Welcome home Bindi!

What a sweetheart of a dog!  The whole family is quite impressed with Bindi.  She seems to have just accepted her new family and has been a great dog so far.

Kathie and I met her first this morning at Sycamore Creek Ranch.  I highly recommend them for anyone looking for an American Mastiff.  The breeder took a lot of time answering our questions and introducing us to all her dogs this morning.  The most impressive, for me at least, was the one year old male mastiff that tips the scales at 220 lbs!  They had what I think are 6 foot high kennel’s and this dog could stand on his hind legs and look over the top easily.  All of their dogs were extremely friendly.

We met Bindi and her litter in stall where they were all cuddled resting.  The were all very calm and friendly.  Amazingly, the first dog to come over and sit right next to me was our new girl.  The breeder said it seems like they just know sometimes. 

The kids were very excited to meet her when we finally got home.  She had to do her business outside first, which, I’m sure was a challenge with Braden and Emma watching from the window.  But she did a great job and then came inside to explore her new home.  She was very calm and gentle with the kids and seemed very excited to explorer her new environment.  She loves her new kong… it’s very fun to pounce on.  She also has taken to her kennel very well.  She lays down in it as soon as you put her in it and hasn’t whined at all.  In fact she’s sleeping very soundly in it as I write this. So soundly that she’s fallen asleep in her food dish.

We have a long road ahead of us in training Bindi and making her a part of our family, but I’d say the first day was a bigger success than I imagined it would be.

You Are My Sunshine… NO I’M NOT!!!!

Emma can definitely hold her own with regards to tantrums and screaming contests.  When she gets angry, she certainly digs her feet in… some times literally.  Kathie will sometimes poke the bear, so to speak, by singing “You are my sunshine” to her in the middle of the scream fest.