Diego is here...

It's been a very busy weekend and the human is just now getting around to the blog. We left early Saturday morning, my goodness it was a long trip to Denver. Little over two hours with traffic but I was a good girl. We went to the MidAmerica Boston Terrier Birthday Bash in Denver (ok it was in Northglenn close enough!) and we had a blast! I got to meet the big surprise, my new brother!

He's a five year old true brindle boy who is a owner surrender. Two families merged and no longer can provide him the attention he needs and some behavior issues we're stated to be the reason behind his surrender. They have had him his whole life, the poor boy was heartbroken! He just stood there and didn't care to join in any festive fun at The Bash. I tried to play with him but he just ignored me, no growl, no snap, he just looked away and kept searching for his daddy. Momma tried to cheer him up and bring him places and get his mind off of it, but he was stubborn.

Finally after getting so much attention at the bash, we headed home. My brother still wasn't in a good mood. We relaxed a bit at Grandma's house we we're going to be there for awhile. I got to meet a new family member! Jethro is Aunt Sara's new dog, he's a coonhound and he's a BIG boy compared to little me! Sunday we had to go to a Birthday party there was going to be lots of dogs and it was an hour drive so Mommy took all three of us for a walk together cause everyone else went to church. We had a blast!

We've been going on daily walks, Mommy said we need to exercise more while the weather is nice so we walk roughly .8 miles every night after dinner. We live at 9,494 feet and this altitude bothers my mommy, and I get sooo tired, but Diego, that boy LOVES to walk and can go forever! With all the hills in this town it's tough cause the human has to push that big wheel thing that the little human sits in, a strowler, they call it heh, I don't like that thing, the big tires scare me. Well we gotta go cause the brother needs a dental and mommy needs to call the vet to get him an appointment asap, she said he smells like infection, whatever that is.

The Big Surprise...

This human doesn't have much time to update so here's a quick one! We're packing today for a quick mini vacation to the Denver Boston Terrier Birthday Bash. We will be gone for a few days while we visit family in the area. We will still be able to check online via our iPhone but I won't be bringing a computer with me. We will be staying in Denver till Monday some time. We plan on taking lots of pictures! There will be tons of other dogs, toys, humans, games, and stuff for us to buy ;) It's a huge fundraising event for MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue group. An organization I volunteered to help with. Which is what the big surprise is! We've been talking about this big surprise for a few weeks or so now... and tomorrow is the day... that our new foster boy comes home. That's right, ever since I got Gia I felt guilty that I didn't adopt. Growing up we always got our pets as strays, owner surrenders, but mostly, SPCA or shelters. I looked around my area for quite sometime looking for a Boston Terrier to no avail. I looked for breeders, none had any litters planned till later this year. I went with a breeder from Oklahoma because they seemed like a nice small breeder, older couple, retired, did all the necessary health tests and was willing to ship. I had never purchased from a breeder so I wasn't quite sure what I was suppose to look for. After I got Gia, I realized that MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue actually covers my area and there are dogs here however, their location was always listed as Omaha, Nebraska because that's the location of this rescue group. Beside their names it would say in Iowa, in Colo etc. but due to the website you cannot change the location for each dog, instead it lists them all in Nebraska. I started to follow MABTR (MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue) on Facebook and they we're calling out for emergency foster homes. I applied right then and there without even knowing how the Foster program worked. I had never fostered an animal before... this will definitely be a new experience for us. Here are some of Gia's animal sleeping poses.

The Rabbit

Frog Legs. Personally my favorite.

Waggin Tails

Well the humans brought me to the dog park to meetup with other Bostons like me yesterday. It was a forever drive in that moving metal box they call a car. Seemed like it was never going to end, then finally it stopped, and they got food to tease me with. Onwards we went to the Dog Park they said. That's what they called it. Isn't the world a dog park? Shrug. I'll never get them. Eventually we arrived and I knew instantly why they called it a dog park, it was full of dog smells, more so than the rest of the dog park they call the world. There was puppies and dogs EVERYWHERE! I didn't know which one to greet first or what tree to sniff first I was so overwhelmed I ran in circles around my humans to make sure they were alright before I began exploring. There was a bunch of other dogs that look like me, mommy called them Bostons, I'm pretty sure in the dog world we just call them dogs. I must have met six or seven other dogs that looked a lot like me and many other small dogs my size that didn't look like me at all! I had so much fun, I got so many pets, and random people kept telling my humans how pretty I was and how small I was. They we're all really nice and mommy said I had good manners-really good so we can come back again soon. I'm so excited to come back and meet more puppies my size. After most of the doggies that looked like me left we did a lap around the small dog area, it's so big! The humans said the fence is really secure so they feel safe letting me explore. I followed my mommy at her heels the whole time! She said she was surprise with all the freedom that I still followed like a big girl, I know where my food comes from, I'm not getting lost in a strange dog park! That's for sure. Here are some pictures mommy snapped with her cell phone, she didn't want to bring the big camera till she knew what the weather conditions were going to be like.

First sniffs.

I protect the humans at all cost! I was circling everyone and making sure none of those strange dogs were going to hurt my humans before I explored.

This is Tilly, I think, she's only two weeks older than me! We really got a long well. We sniffed and barked, we even played like puppies together.

None of the Bostons wanted to drink from the water bowl, every other different looking dog did, then one came up and peed in it, mommy frowned and dumped it out before any Bostons even drank from it, we all wanted to drink from the cool cup thing that dripped from a bottle this man brought, it was so neat I told mommy we need one. All in all we had a great time, the humans said it's good for my socialization and that the vet said I need lots of it so I can work on my alpha issues, whatever that means! I can't wait to go back, thanks for reading! - Gia

I Got A Pocket Full Of Sunshine

It's a wonderful morning in my house! De sun is shining and everyone is happy. Momo said she has to go to a Birthday Party today and that I have to stay home alone in my kennel, what she talkin about?! Mean momo you can't leave me here alone! That's animal abuse don't cha know? I fell asleeps in de bed last night with momo, I'm not suppose to be der, Daddy caught us when he came home from work, I gotta be a good girl and sleep in my kennel he says, but momo said I can snuggle her anytime as long as I sleeps in de kennel at nights. My new foods is delecious, I never knew dis new stuff dey call stinky cheese can be so goods! You should ask your momo or daddy for somes too, you'll love it! Momo said it's really called parmezan cheeze and dat it's human stuffs. If momo can eat it, so I can I right? I seen her sneaking a bite of my foods. She said de websites say she should try everything I eat so she ates my foods yesterday-just a bite, I guess I can share a wittle bit. Here diz some pictures of me over de last few days. Momo loves taking my picture she says I pose pretty for herz.

Week One & A Half

April 17th marked the addition to our family.  A small four pound, eight week old, Boston Terrier puppy had traveled from Tulsa to Denver to become part of our family.  We picked up our cuddly little girl that afternoon and have been so grateful for the amazing joy she has brought to our life.  We quickly settled on a name, Gia, and she would be quite the Diva like the supermodel she was named after.

Gia has been with us a whole week and a half nearly ten days to be exact.  In that time we have learned so much from the abundance of information the internet and the people online that we decided to compile everything going on in one place.

Gia developed some behavior issues on day three of being with us, she started to growl.  I felt like it wasn't an aggressive growl and started to search for information on young puppies growling when being in a person's lap and being adjusted with movement.  The information I found online has been plenty but nothing seemed consistent.  We we're in information overload and we we're starting to feel helpless.  So many people recommended a behaviorist but we simply couldn't afford the travel fees included on top of the price we we're given, living over an hour from any major big city with those services was such a great disadvantage for us.  We searched high and low for one in our area and decided if we wanted to get this resolved now, we would have to do it on our own.  So my research began at the vet.  Our vet ruled out medical issues and suggested that it was an alpha puppy behavior and not aggression.  We were given tips on how to curb her growling (but not prevent it!) and it's been working miracles for us.  Gia officially is minimally growling when being handled in only a few short days since trying these new methods given to us by our vet.

Over the last ten days Gia has been here we have weaned off the kibble she came on and onto a higher quality kibble and eventually onto The Honest Kitchen (THK) Preference diet.  THK is a dehydrated 100% human grade dog diet that you add water to.  THK Preference is a base diet that requires you to add your own meat as well as hydrate with water.  Gia wasn't enthusiastic about this food at all.  I was set on trying everything under the sun, more water, less water, more dry mix, less mix, soak longer, sprinkle with chicken on the top, I was exhausted at trying to get her to eat and quite frankly, I was worried.  She barely touched the stuff unless I sprinkled chicken on the top and even so, she wasn't eating enough for me to feel comfortable.  We went back to the high quality kibble and I e-mailed the company in hopes of finding something that worked for my little picky diva, Gia.  The representative, also a Boston Terrier mommy, suggested Parmesan cheese (I always called it stinky cheese!) or adding broth instead of water.  After I felt Gia had ate enough kibble (over the course of a few days) for me to be ready for her rejection of the THK again, I was ready to be as stubborn as her if she choose to reject it again.  Our first meal with Parmesan cheese was a total success!  I wasn't ready for her to eat so enthusiastically, I was quite shocked at the change in her behavior when eating the same stuff (minus the Parmesan cheese) as before, that she rejected time and time again.

This blog will be a compilation of our clicker training, positive re-enforcement training, holistic ways, and adventures.