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.

Clean Bill of Health

Well we just got back from the vet, those mean people poke and prob me everywhere, but I showed them I tinkled on the floor then went wild running around the room I think my mind was something like this... Dr L. holds me and starts lovin on me, so I return the favor and give him lots of kisses. He laughs and let's me lick him. Then he turns me around shoves something in my bum guys! How rude! He loves me then pokes me! So he puts me down after I blankly stare at him for poking my bum, and I dash around the room like a wild animal. I stop and piddle and then keep dashing around, I'll show you! Then he picks me up and I act like nothing happened, then he pokes me with something sharp in my neck, my human said it was a shot to keep me healthy. Then he shoves this water into my nose, something about helping keep away the colds. THEN they shove this awful tasting stuff in my mouth. My furiends I officially have been poked everywhere I could imagine except my eyes... though they did shine a light in them and in my ears. BUT I got a clean bill of health and Saturday we're going to the Boston Terrier Birthday Bash for MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue in the Denver area, we're sooo excited, my human said there's going to be LOTS of Bostons there. I'll get to play with them all. Can you imagine that?! My human promises to bring her nice big camera and take lots of pictures. But it's been a long day and I'm going to sleeeeeeppp now. One last request, can all my Furiends say a prayer for Lily the Frenchie, her partner in crime Benny, and their humans? Lily had to have back surgery and everyone is very worried about her, you can read more about Lily and her family here at this blog, Two French Bulldogs Please say a prayer for them! Thanks, Gia

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

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.