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Brooskey will be eleven weeks old this weekend! He's growing like a weed; I can honestly say he's now twice the size he was when he came home with us just three weeks ago. He's growing so fast that his harness, which had been adjusted to fit him perfectly a few nights ago, was too tight the next morning.
He's doing great with his crate training, but not so great with the housebreaking. There are two main problems getting in the way here. When we catch him going inside, the "experts" say we're supposed to use a "no" or "eh", or a loud, sharp sound, to interrupt the behavior, then take him outside to finish. But absolutely nothing startles him - he finishes anyway, and then nothing happens outside because his bladder is already empty. The second problem is when we do actually manage to get him outside before he goes, there are so many distractions that he forgets all about peeing or pooping. He'd much rather eat leaves and weeds, and go visit everyone he sees. No matter how long we keep him out there, he never goes until two minutes after we've finally given up and brought him back in. Since we live in a condo, there isn't really a more private, distraction-free area to take him to. I'd happily welcome any suggestions anyone has on this.
It's been fun getting to know his personality, and at the same time bewildering just how opposite he is to his "big sister". Chiquita loved soft, cushy surfaces, and to be covered and wrapped and as warm as possible. Brooskey prefers to sleep on hard, cold surfaces. His favorite spot is under the coffee table (it has a solid platform under it), but I've also seen him crash in the middle of the ceramic tile in the kitchen. Chiquita wouldn't have been caught dead doing this - in fact, she refused to even step onto certain floors. When he does sleep on something softer, the cushy dog bed we bought him or a spare pillow we've been keeping in the living room, he tosses and turns, moans and groans, and eventually gets up and moves to something harder. He's absolutely not a snuggler, which bums me out, because his fur is so wonderfully soft and would feel so good keeping my feet warm while we watch TV at night. Chiquita, on the other hand, always had to be touching one of us... and if Chris and I were cuddling ourselves, she had to climb right in the middle.
Brooskey, just like his sister, is spoiled rotten and has lots of toys which we bought over several trips to the pet stores before and after we brought him home. His favorites, though, are an empty water bottle he got ahold of one day, which we subsequently removed the label from so he wouldn't peel it off and eat it bit by bit, and soda boxes! When we finish off a box we toss it on the floor and let him chase it around for a while. This, thankfully, is very effective in burning off the huge bursts of energy he gets after being cooped up in his crate while we're at work.
He'll be going for his second vet visit and second set of puppy shots next Friday. It will be interesting to see just how much weight he's gained. I'm convinced he has at least doubled the six pounds he weighed at his last checkup.
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