Day One and Day Two

I didn't have any time to post last night, so today I'm doing day one and two in this post :)

The family and I sat down to look on kijiji. It was just out of boredom. My super best friend, K, was over and doing her homework. Ma mentioned a dog, and I grabbed the laptop so I could show her some pictures.

The first dogs we saw were Shar Pei/Boston Terrier mixes. They were cute, and we called. Unfortunately, the dogs were almost two hours away.

K.L, my cousin, stumbled upon English Bulldog/Boston Terrier puppies. He wanted one of those, and he called. Seeing as he doesn't live with us, him getting a dog won't effect us too much. That was the thing though: his dog, not ours. I got upset - after already being in a bad mood - and sulked, while scrolling through more puppies.

We had been talking about getting a small dog, and then I found something that made me insanely happy. They were such adorable puppies. I turned the computer to my mom, and let her have a look. After fourty five minutes of talking, I called the guy up, gave him our address, and he was delivering the puppy.

We got a shorthaired boy dog. The man we bought him from said he was half Husky, half Golden Retriever. We've since named the little boy Spencer. He's a gorgeous blond dog, with 'racoon tail'. It has dark rings, and white stripes on it. It's cute.

Spencer. When he came, we were fairly disgusted. The guy had the dogs in the bed of his pickup truck, with the cover over top. They were covered in urine and feces, from having accidents and being tossed around the bed of the truck. Instantly, I took him to the bath. He had to be bathed twice, and the water that came off of him was almost black.

He cried a lot during the bath, and it began clear that he wasn't an indoor dog. He was fascinated with everything inside, but also scared. Despite him being a bit bigger, I had to pick him up and craddle him to my chest in order for him to relax. It was...bad. He was pretty scared. He kept whimpering, and nuzzling his nose into my throat. I sat for an hour with him in my lap, arms wrapped around him.

After he dried off, Spencer decided to do some exploring. I watched him as he ran around the house. It didn't take too long for him to take a giant poop on the floor. He got it everywhere! Of course, we just cleaned it up and told him no. We then took him outside, and I decided he had to have a leash, right then. So, I scooped him up into my arms and carried him to the store.

The Pet Valu near my house apparently has a horrible selection of dog collars. It was either Chihuahua sized, or big enough to fit a Mastiff. I had to go with the Mastiff one, and tightened it to as small as it will go. It's still a bit loose on him, but I figure after a few weeks - especially with the way he's eating - it'll fit a little better. And at least with the larger collar, he'll be able to make it last.

After putting the collar and leash on him, it was really obvious that he'd never been walked before. He had no idea what to do. My sister, S, went ahead of us and crouched down, calling to him. He wouldn't walk, so I lifted his hind end and walked him forward, like a wheelbarrow (although, with my arms under his hind end, not pulling his legs straight out) and voila! He walks like a pro now, sticking right to my side. He hasn't pulled at all, which is great for me. If he gets to the end of his lead, he slows down or runs back to sit at my feet.

We brought Spencer back home, and with the use of a solid voice and - once or twice, not everytime - a treat, we've taught him to sit. It took us less than two hours, and he does it on command now, without having to be bribed with treats. When he sits like he's told, he gets praise, which makes his tail go crazy! It's lovely to see him responding so well to us, even after only a few hours.

He had two more accidents, which were pee-pee incidents. Again, we didn't yell, just told him he was bad, then took him to the yard. Shockingly...he hasn't had an incident since then. Instead, he goes and sits at the door and whines. To be honest with everyone, I'm amazed.

He had a few chewing incidents as well, but when told no and that he was bad, he backed off of whatever he was doing, and settled at my feet instead. Just for an extra measure, I got an empty can and tossed a few pennies inside. Afterwards, I taped the lid on again. I heard about this on a dog show once, and it's working wonders. When he goes to eat the cat food, or chew something, or any no-no behaviour, I give the can a shake and he stops. Instantly. He returns to my feet, lowers his ears, bows his head, and is good. It's turning out to be an amazing training tool.

Last night Spence slept in my bed. Being his first night away from home, he was pretty worked up. Having my Hedgehog, Bella, in the same room probably didn't help much. He could hear her wheel and it kept making his head jump up. He was whiney for most of the night, and we didn't get to bed until after three. He got me up at six thirty, but it's fine for now. I know it's going to be difficult the first few days, with him just having left home and all.

It's funny actually. He was bought to be a family dog, and my mom kept jokingly calling him "Erika's dog" (that would be me) because my birthday is in two weeks, but he's really turning out to be my dog. He doesn't like it when I leave him alone, and he readily climbs into my lap for cuddles.

When we woke up this morning, I thought for sure that we'd have an accident in my room. I took his water dish back into the kitchen - I had brought it in last night, because he was panting like crazy - and then grabbed him off the bed. He was crying for me, of course. I put him on the ground and clipped him to his leash and bam! He went outside, had a big pee, and got a treat for it. I'm using the treats as rewards for doing his business outside, because really...I don't see anything wrong with giving him little snacks for doing such a good thing.

A few hours later, we had a nice long walk in the park. He did a pee and a poop, and got his reward for it. He seems so happy here, that it makes me happy. We are getting a crate for when we're not here, but it's only going to be until he's fully trained. Considering as I'm job hunting right now, and don't have a job, I'm only going to need to be gone a few hours every few days. Plus, he's catching on so well, that I'm sure he'll be potty trained within a few weeks. Since we got his leash, he hasn't had any accidents inside. So proud!

That's all for today folks, sorry it's such a boring post. Hopefully tomorrow's entry will be more exciting!