Cayman's 4th Night and 1st Walk

Nights are getting a bit easier with Cayman, or should I say early mornings are getting easier. Cayman didn't start his crying until about 5 am which was only 45 minutes earlier than I would have to be getting up to go to work anyhow. And he had yet another accident free kennel! Hurray! He has also been doing excellent with the housebreaking, only one accident all day yesterday! Hurray!

Zoey, our toy poodle is finally warming up to the little guy. Yesterday they played together for a good half hour or so! Zoey has always been very gentle with animals younger or smaller than her and she is displaying that same gentleness with Cayman as well.

This morning Cayman got his first bath. He received one the week we picked him up but this was his first with us. It started with Shaylee and I getting ready to take our morning shower and he kept jumping up against the tub and crying. So I told him "I don't know if you really want this, but okay..." and pulled him into the shower with us. He didn't cry or try to get out, he just walked around a lot. So now he smells fresh and clean!

This morning Cayman went on his first walk. My grandmother watches our daughter while we are at work and to keep our daughter's schedule normal and to get Cayman adjusted to his new home, she is watching Shaylee even though I am on a mini vacation. Since my grandmother only lives four houses down from our house, we took Zoey and Cayman on a walk with us. I attached an extra leash to Zoey's harness so that Shaylee could learn how to walk a dog properly while I held onto the other leash attached to her harness, just in case. Nils, my husband, walked Cayman. At first Cayman sat down and refused to walk but after I called to him, he begun walking. It was a lot of stop and go the whole walk to my grandmother's but once Shaylee was dropped off and we turned back towards the house, he did much better. The trick is allowing him to walk close to Zoey. I guess he feels more comfortable walking alongside of her. So even though the walk was short, which was acceptable considering how little he is, Cayman did rather well. I look forward to when he is old enough to go for longer walks with me and the other dogs. In the meantime, we will continue the short walks whenever possible.

Cayman's 3rd Day Home

As usual, Cayman woke us up at 3:30am with his whimpering and crying. Good news- still maintained a dry kennel ALL night! Hurray! I think he is an old pro by now. Bad news is we are still trying to get him to sleep through the night. Geez, sounds like I am talking about a human baby here! As usual, Nils got up with him and took him out to go potty and as usual, he did nothing except stay night at Nils' feet and as usual, it was me that continued to shush him while I snapped my fingers to get him to settle back down after being returned to his kennel. Ahh, the trials and tribulations of puppyhood! But we are patient with him, he is a baby after all, and he will learn soon enough.

Cayman did really well with pottying outside yesterday as well. Sure, he had the random accident (pee-pee) here and there, but mostly went to the puppy pad we keep out, just in case either he or our poodle, Zoey, have to go potty and we are busy doing something else. I did take him over to my grandmother's house when I went to pick up Shaylee, my daughter, and when we returned home he went #1 and #2 outside which means he was such a good boy, he held it the whole time I had him down on the floor in her house and on the passenger side seat of the car, and still no accidents. He is one smart pup!

Roxy, my parents' beagle mix, has taken a liking to Cayman. She is old, probably close to 10 years, but grew up with Ciji, our first weenie dog. She would walk over Cayman and gently knock him on his side while she stood over him, sniffing and licking in his ears, which was her favorite thing to do with Ciji. She is very tolerant of him except when he jumps on her backside. She is sensitive there, probably due to age. She even tolerated him sneaking a bite out of her food bowl. She protested with a whiny bark but did not act aggressively at all.

Zoey, our poodle on the other hand, is not as motherly towards him as we expected. Zoey has always taken a liking to smaller or younger animals whether they be Sterling, our cat, when she was a kitten, one of my pet rats I used to have, or any orphaned and abandoned baby animal I hand raised when I worked at the vet clinic. She isn't aggressive to him or anything, she just makes all attempts to avoid him. If he bounds happily after a ball that was originally thrown for her to fetch, she gets all bent out of shape and snaps at him. She never is close enough to actual bite him, and I doubt she would anyways. She is like a teen girl yelling at her baby brother to leave her alone. He just sits back and looks at her like "What's your problem? I only wanted to play with you!" Hopefully she will warm up to him more as she accepts the fact that he is a new member of her pack and here to stay. Everyone says it is because she is jealous of the attention we are giving the new puppy. Not that she has anything to worry about, she still ranks higher in our little pack structure. After all, she is the only dog allowed to sleep in bed with us.

As with so many different aspects in both Cayman's life, our other dogs, and our own, its all a matter of getting adjusted. I have to say, Cayman seems to be doing just fine and I have a feeling he is going to be one awesome dog!

Cayman's Wellness Checkup

This morning Nils and I took Cayman to Miracle Mile Animal Hospital for his examination. We met Stacey Bradley, DVM who I liked very much. She was very friendly and I liked her "bedside manner" she had with Cayman. She read over his health certificate which was issued by the breeder's vet. Her only concern was that the kennel cough vaccination was missing from the list of vaccinations given. She said technically its required by law but we could catch up on it when we bring him back for his next series of vaccinations.

She than began her examination of Cayman, exclaiming how adorable he was the entire time she ran her hands over him. She checked for hernias and said his little testicles were appearing fine although they had yet to drop. She checked his knees and felt his head for an open fontanel which  is the area at the top of the skull where the bone plates merge. This will usually close when the puppy is 4-6 weeks of age, but sometimes they never completely fuse, leaving a hole in the top of the skull. His fontanel was fine. Thank goodness.  I was so afraid when she started listening to his heart. I kept thinking, "Sure, he looks perfect on the outside, but watch him have something horrible like a heart murmur going on inside". Dr Bradley assured me his heart was fine and that he was indeed as perfect as we hoped.

She gave us a Puppy Pack that included a bunch of information like brochures on puppy wellness and vaccinations and our first month of Sentinel which  given once a month for the prevention of heartworm disease in dogs. We explained to her that we have always used Revolution on our other pets in the past for this same type of protection and she went on to explain the differences, pros and cons of each medication.

Sentinel which is in a flavored tablet form, is given once a month for the prevention of heartworm disease in dogs and also protects against hookworm, roundworm and whipworm. Sentinel is also used to control fleas by preventing the development of flea eggs. Sentinel does not kill adult fleas or protect against ticks.

Revolution is a topical parasiticide applied once a month for the prevention of heartworm disease in dogs and cats. Revolution is also used on dogs for the treatment or prevention of fleas, certain ticks, ear mites and canine sarcoptic mange but does not protect against internal parasites.

Both are waterproof which is good.

Sentinel is cheaper. I can order it from PetCareRX.com for $58.99 for a 6 month supply of the 2 to 10 lb formula. Revolution is more expensive. So it looks like we will be a Sentinel family from now on.

I gave Cayman his first monthly dose of Sentinel and he seems to be doing fine with it. I do know that Revolution, when I put it on my cat, Sterling, she ends up with a bald spot where it was applied. I never noticed any bald spots when I used it on Zoey, my toy poodle. Cayman has a beautiful golden coat. I don't think I want to try Revolution on him just in case he has the same reaction as Sterling.

We then discussed the matter of neutering him. Nils and I were quick to answer whether or not we planned on doing it. "Oh yes! " was my answer. I DO NOT plan on breeding and definitely do not want a peeing and humping machine! I was then given a quote for Cayman's neuter which can be done when he is 4 to 6 months of age. My quote was ranged from  $324.42 to $406.00!!!! Yee-ow-ser! I remember back when I was a vet tech assistant and even without my employee discounts, neuters were NEVER that much! That was more what you would spend on a spay since they are more complicated. So now I am considering having a different vet do the neuter when he is of age. I can't believe with all the problems of overpopulation that vets would charge so much. I mean, I have assisted this type of surgery and its not that difficult or complicated. Spays are much more complex. Sigh. Guess I have a few phone calls to make the next two days I have off from work. Having a puppy sure gets expensive! Thank goodness he is worth it!

And onto the cuteness! Cayman playing "Don't Get My Belly"!

Cayman's 2nd Day Home

Cayman’s second day at his new home went really well too. He discovered his reflection in my parent’s mirrored closet doors and spent a good majority of the day play bowing and lunging at the “mirror puppy”, beckoning it to play. We got a cute little video clip of it.

As far as accidents in the house, Cayman has had a few. But he did pee-pee outside all on his own twice and pooped out there once (I caught him circling and ran him outside). I must have looked like a lunatic when he made the first poo-poo outside, praising him like crazy. Since the grass is nearly as tall as he is, anyone just passing by would think I was praising my lawn, unable to see him by the tall grass. Thank goodness my  neighbors know about him already! LOL!

Shaylee, my daughter, has really taken to Cayman. Even though she is only two, she is extremely gentle with him, petting him softly. Once in a while she tried to pick him up and we have to remind her that “he’s just a little baby and we have to be very careful not to hurt him”. She likes to take his tail and wag it for him saying “Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle”. It’s really cute. She does get upset when he takes a nap though. She cried for quite some time yesterday afternoon because Cayman was sleeping in the middle of the kitchen floor instead of playing with her. She is still too young to understand that all babies need to take naps. I think it was that she was cranky and needing one herself.

Cayman’s second night went even better than before. He managed to stay asleep and didn’t wake up whimpering and crying till 4:30am. Ahh, it’s like having a newborn baby again! LOL! We took him outside to go potty (which he did not do and instead tried to settle down in the grass to go back to sleep!) and returned him to his kennel.  When he started his whimpering and crying again I would shush him sharply and snap my fingers and he would settle down. This method seems to be working as within about 20 minutes he is settled back down and sleeping again. The best part of last night- NO ACCIDENTS in his kennel! Hurray!

Today Nils is going in late to work since he will be accompanying me to Cayman’s vet appointment. Part of the sales agreement for Cayman stated that we have 48 hours to have him examined by a vet of our choice. I made an appointment at a VCA hospital in town a couple weeks ago so today we will have him examined, discuss the age and cost of getting him neutered, and see about getting a prescription for Revolution. I prefer Revolution since it is flea and tick preventative and heartworm preventative in one. I have had great success with it with my other dogs in the past and feel it is the best preventative on the market, and the most convenient too.

Today I will also be taking Cayman to Petsmart to buy some training treats. Since I will not be returning to work until Thursday, I am using this mini vacation to get some training with Cayman accomplished. I would love to work on getting him used to walking on a leash so that we can start taking him and the other dogs (Zoey, our toy poodle, and Roxy, my parents’ beagle mix) out each evening. That and continue to work on learning his name. Even since we decided on the name, we had the breeder call him that from the start so he would learn faster. He seems to come almost every time we call him but  I want to work with him more so he looks up at our face when we say it, not just following us when we call him as we walk away. Also while at Petsmart, I want to look into their puppy education classes. Although I plan to work with Cayman at home, I would like to get some sort of more formal training with a professional too. Petsmart seems to be the best deal as it is a 8 week course for a little over a hundred dollars. I just hope they have a high success rate.

Cayman Comes Home!

Last night Nils and I FINALLY got to go pick up Cayman, our longhaired miniature dachshund puppy right on his 8 week old birthdate! When we arrived to the breeders house, we were happily greeted by several dachshunds including our little man, Cayman. We were pleased to see that all the dogs had excellent dispositions, even Raven- the black and tan longhaired female who had a litter of 4 week old pups on a large pillow in the middle of the living room floor. This litter of puppies was the litter we were originally waiting for but after much thought, decided to go with a pup from a previous litter. Raven was very trusting even with two complete strangers picking up and cuddling her young puppies. It was a good sign that all the dogs in this particular breeder’s care had excellent dispositions which is what we were expecting to have in our little Cayman as well.

Our breeder went on to show us the kennels where the dachshunds all sleep at night and proudly boosted that Cayman has finally stopped the crying and howling at night and even has stopped wetting or soiling his bed unlike one of her older puppies, Popcorn, who was 14 weeks old.  We can only hope that continues with us too!

Before we left with our pride and joy, we were presented a nice gift basket, all done in blues, with puppy toys, a sample of the puppy food he had been on, a baby blanket and his health certificate and microchip information. What a wonderful way to welcome home a new baby than with a gift basket! It was such a nice gesture!

The whole ride home, Cayman was very good. He spent the majority of the time sleeping on shoulders, sandwiched between my neck and my seat. I think he liked it up there since he could see out the window. He was so good, we even stopped for lunch at Checkers and I was able to eat with him sitting on my lap without trying to stick his head in the bag or grab at my chicken strips. We hope he continues his disinterest in human food and begging, but being a dachshund, we aren’t expecting that will happen!

When we finally got home, we had to show off our new puppy. Gerry and Lisa, our neighbors across the street, were outside in their driveway with my parents and Shaylee so we brought him over to meet the gang. Of course everyone thought he was just too darn cute.

 

Cayman got his first collar last night as well. Bright blue with his engraved ID tag. He’s still getting used to it. He keeps trying to look down at it, causing him to walk backwards or flop over on his side or scratching at it. I kinda feel bad for the little guy but it’s something he is just going to have to get used to it!

Our first night went pretty well. After playing for a while, Cayman was finally all tuckered out so we put him in his Petmate Pet Taxi which we are using a kennel. He went right to sleep. It wasn’t until 3:30 am that I was awaken by his whimpering and crying. I took him out and noticed he wet the bed, the poor thing. I took him out to go potty, which he did not do, and changed him bedding.  After getting him back in his kennel and settling him down, he slept till 4:45. Again I took him out, then kenneled him again. He then slept till Shaylee woke up in the morning, around 6:30am.

Considering all the excitement of a new home, Cayman did really, really well his first night. He only had one other accident (poop) before the bed wetting incident which is to be expected until he learns what is expected from him at his new home.