Oohhhhhmigod, our sweet little boy is making me lose my temper today, let me tell you. I have teeth marks all over my arms from him. He keeps trying to eat my food, and refuses to stay in a down-stay. When I grabbed his collar to put him in his FOURTH time-out for the day, he dug in and off popped the collar. He is chewing on everything EXCEPT the multitude of toys and bones we have laying around the house. He’s really snippy with me, when I tell him “NO!” he snaps at me - not with the intent to hurt, but just “talking back.” When I push him away, he bites me. When I pull on the leash to put him in a down, he bites me. When I grab his muzzle for biting me, he throws his head around and bites me! (And by bite I don’t mean chomping, I mean mouthing… he’s extremely mouthy, the little bugger). The previous three time-outs were about 10 minutes each. This one is going to be longer. I’m very fed up with his attitude tonight. He has no manners. Damn teenagers.

He’s being a little bugger again today. Barking at everything, trying to eat my food, biting at me when I push him away from the food, not listening to commands… agh. I took him outside figuring I’d burn off some energy, even though it’s damn hot mid-day, and he just laid down on the grass and ignored his toy. I’ve given him two time-outs in the bedroom today after he went after my food and didn’t listen to me when I told him to lay down and back off. He’s chomped on several napkins, but ignores his toys when I try to get him to play. Aggghhh.

And he’s back at it again! ARGH!

I took him for a walk out back this afternoon and saw how long his back toenails were. I had managed to clip all his front paws nails, but hadn’t started on the back yet. So when we got back in and he laid down, I got out the clippers and some kibble and set to it. Lesson today: his back paws aren’t half as sensitive as his front. Used some kibble as distraction/praise, and it was done in under two minutes! And no biting, either. Sheesh, now if only he could get that good with his front claws, I’d be laughing…

The undercoat rake works well, and Zeeke is sooo much easier to brush than Oreo. A few swipes, get the fur out, all done! Barely one comb full of fur. With Oreo it’s an hour-long ordeal that gives me a pile of fur about as big as she is. And her butt… oh don’t even get me started.

Unfortunately, the hard part is that Zeeke keeps trying to bite the brush when I get near his head. LOL It’s not the “I don’t like this” bite, it’s the “Ooo, something more to bite!” bite. *rolls eyes* Like a kid… can’t keep anything out of his mouth.

Anyways, what I ended up coming home with (other than a headache):
- car seatbelt-harness
- undercoat rake
- black rolled leather collar (22″
- large “durable” nylabone
- 2 10″ rawhide rolls

Not sure how that adds up to $70, but eh, oh well.

And of course I forgot one of the two main things I went there to get, an id tag for his collar, so I ordered one online when I got home. =)

Inside he is getting better, though still chewing things. Just today we were getting ready to go out - with the dog - so I snapped the leash to his collar and let him drag it around, which he didn’t seem to mind. Then I hear some chomping sounds and I look down and he’s happily chewing on the leash. And when this boy chews, he really chews - he made several good marks in the very thick double-ply nylon leash and he only chewed on it for a few seconds.

In the car he’s a hellion, never sits still, tries to push his way into the front seat. And god forbid someone get out of the car… he will NOT be restrained at that point, he goes nuts trying to get out of the car. Patience is NOT his strong point. Not only does he try to get out, but he shoulders his way into the front seat and tries to get out the front door (he is NOT allowed in the front seat) and won’t go back into the back to get out. We keep the leash on him so we have “control” but it doesn’t seem to help much.

I took him to Petco today for the first time. He’s really good with other dogs, just wants to play and sniff. He loves people. But he won’t listen! He knows sit and stay, but he won’t even listen to his name, much less obey a command. He was pulling my arm off the entire time. Sit? What’s sit? And then he PEED on a shelf!! I was looking at harnesses for the car (which I bought!), and next thing I know he’s lifting his leg and peeing all over the corner and the floor. Man, was I embarrassed. I doubt it was because he had to pee, I took him for a walk where he went right before we left.

Once I purchased everything ($75!! Agh!) and got to the car, I strapped the new car-harness on him, tightened it up best I could, got him in the car, put him in a sit, and strapped him in. As SOON as I had stepped back and closed the door, he got up, turned around, got caught in the seatbelt, freaked out, and started chomping on the seatbelt. In the time it took me to open the door and lunge back in, he had already chewed a couple chunks out of the seatbelt - man, my boyfriend’s NOT going to be happy, it’s a new car and it’s a lease. While I was trying to hold him still, he got up quickly while I was overtop of him, forcing my head into contact with the doorframe. Ow. Luckily the ride home he was mostly good, though I did have to bark out “SIT!!!” a few times when he started trying to bite the seatbelt. And thank goodness, the harness worked and kept him in the BACK seat where he belongs.

It’s been a while, I know - it’s not that stuff hasn’t been happening, but that I haven’t felt like writing.

Zeeke got out last week, went for a romp through our neighbors’ yards while Den was trying to catch him. He did, while Zeeke was busy sniffing a plant. Well, now we’re working on training him that he MUST sit before going through the door and only is allowed to go through when we say it’s okay. It’s very useful, and he’s learning very quickly.

After only a day of telling him to sit before we put the leash on, he now sits when he has to go out. Like, he’ll come poke us to let us know he wants something, then he’ll walk into the living room and sit in the center of the room and stare at us. He’s very smart, he picks things up very quickly (well, at least the things we teach him in a way he can understand - a few other things are being much harder).

He has some weird habits, like peeing on his front leg (he doesn’t pay attention and has bad aim) and shredding kleenex. Nothing is safe in the house. And yet, he’s still really well behaved. He just really likes shredding paper and cardboard and tissue paper. He still goes hyper-nuts when Den comes home, but we’re working on that.

We really need to find a dog park for him, though - he needs to get out and run.

News from dad: Oreo and Tessa have started playing together!! I wasn’t sure if that would ever happen, much less in only a week’s time. Oreo was apparently in a good mood after a walk to the dog park (just her and daddy), that she playfully chased Tessa around the backyard and then let Tessa chase her. How adorable!! I’m so proud of my Oreo baby, I can’t believe what progress she’s made.

Also, dad added this: “Tessa took a shortcut through the garden and then tried to jump over the Rhubarb to catch up with Oreo. Well Tessa jumped up and fell well short of the other side of the Rhubarb and just disappeared into it, she got good height, but no distance.” LOL!

Every day we see so much progress in him. He’s really becoming a part of our family and fitting in fabulously.

We returned from dinner to find him laying on the floor in the bedroom. Nothing had been touched. Yay Zeeke! He was, of course, extremely happy to see us. I think it’s a good thing that we start getting him used to being left alone for short periods, since in September I’ll be going back to school and Zeeke will be left alone in the house while Den’s at work.

He’s stopped growling at me over bones. Sometimes he gives me a look and a little tiny wrinkle of the nose, but it’s not very threatening anymore. He lets me touch his nose and his bone while he’s eating.

Yesterday I found a lump on his side, like a bone sticking out of his ribs. Scared the heck out of me. Den, too. I asked on the forum about it, and was told by someone that her dog has the same thing - it’s the last rib bone sticking outwards. Since it’s not causing Zeeke any pain or discomfort at all, we’re not too worried anymore, but we’re still going to bring it up with the vet just in case.

His other health issues are fading rapidly. He’s still coughing now and then, but not nearly as much or as strongly as he was before. His poopies are much better, although he’s still having some discomfort when pottying, it’s not all good. But it’s resolving itself, thankfully.

I got some more pictures of him today, playing and goofing around - I’ll upload them later today.

Zeeke is a big goober-brain. Seriously. He’s just a big, whacky dog, and we love him. *lol* He likes to bark at people who approach… “Who’s that? Do I know you? What are you doing?” Then they get closer and his tail starts wagging like crazy and he rushes up to greet them. I am keeping a short grip on the leash while I determine if they are dog people or not - I’m keeping him away from non-dog-people because he is very exuberant and tends to jump up and mouth people (we’re working on that). But he’s so friendly with everyone, he loves to be petted.

I’m making even more process with the de-sensitisation today. While he eats his bones I touch his back, his head, his muzzle, his paws, his bone. He basically lets me now. Sometimes he’ll get up and walk away, but I follow him or stop him from leaving. I think keeping his toys and bones away from him and only giving them to him as a treat is really helping - he seems to get the idea that they’re mommy’s toys, but he gets to play with them for a while.

Today in the car to and from the baseball game he was very very good, he sat and even laid down patiently. Opening the car doors is the tricky part, as he suddenly explodes in a fit of hyperness, trying to get out the (front) door. Climbing into the front seat of daddy’s car is a no-no. We need to teach him som patience and restraint. But overall today was a big improvement.

He didn’t really feel like playing with his ball at the park. He’d chase it a few times, but the other things going on were far too interesting. I did get him to lay down at my feet for a while, which was a blessing - he was running me ragged, always pulling, always wanting to see the people. So finally getting him to chill out was so very nice.

Den and I got back and had a shower and decided now was a good a time as any to give him a bath - we still hadn’t since we got him, and he needed it. He was less than thrilled. There was no water in the tub, but he still refused to go in, Den had to pick him up and put him in it. Den also had to keep him from escaping, since I was working the water sprayer and the soap. But finally we got him cleaned, and he promptly soaked the entire house. =) Thank goodness there’s not much around that can’t stand a little water on it. Even the floors, they are getting refinished soon anyways.

Den and I watched tv on the couch for the past while, both tired from our less than 4 hours of sleep last night (I HATE early mornings!!). Zeeke happily curled up right against the couch and fell asleep. He’s being SUCH a little doll. He comes over to be pet and kissed, then lays down right at our feet. He’s exhausted! lol Which is good, since we never did get a long lead today to run him (I instead just ran with him, which I must say tired me out pretty bad!).

Now Den and I are going out for dinner - our first time leaving Zeeke alone in the house. I haven’t been away from Zeeke since we got him, and it’s a bit wearing, lol. We don’t really have a room to put him into, since the bathroom’s really small and he can open the bedroom door and there’s no door on the kitchen. So we’re leaving him loose. Hopefully his confident attitude and non-destructive nature will follow through and leave our house in one piece. We shall see.