Pug is Scared of a Mini Orchid Plant!

Our pug is scared of anything new. Since he's still a puppy, he reacts so funny to anything he's never seen, no matter how benign it is! He's startled by his own shadow in the oven, by a spotted concrete lamp post (half the paint had peeled off), and any unexpected noise from anywhere. This was a funny video we recorded when we showed him a mini orchid plant for the first time. I don't think he knows what plants are yet!

Enjoy!

Pug Loves Kale Stems!

Winston loves kale stems! We weren't sure if he'd like it since kale is a bit bitter compared to other vegetables, but he devours them. How nice that if we decide not to eat the stems of veggies, he'll eat them!

I'm 6 months old!

So Winston turned 6 months old on March 7th. Some say that at 6 months, they are no longer considered puppies. Once they pass the puppy stage, feedings decrease from 3 to 2, they should be able to hold going to the bathroom for almost the full workday, and they should be able to master a number of easy commands such as "sit, stay, down, and come." So far we have sit and stay.



Well, we celebrated Winston's 6 month birthday by giving him a special meal of fresh green and yellow bell peppers, broccoli stalks, and romaine lettuce stalks. He just loves crunchy veggies! We bought him a new stuffed toy since he likes to chew them up and rip the inside stuff out of them. Check it out, the hunter standing over his killed prey. (you can see the stuffing coming out of its front leg)



The weird thing is that he likes to tear up his bed too and pull out the stuffing. He sometimes eats the stuffing, which I think is causing him to have the runs every now and then. Yuck! Try picking that stuff up from the sidewalks of New York! It's like trying to pick up warm melting ice cream with a plastic bag. :-(

So during his late night walk, Winston must have though he was getting to be a big boy, because instead of his normal squat down to pee, he tried to lift up his leg like the big dogs do. It was funny to watch because he was a bit unsteady and he couldn't hold up his leg the entire time. So the leg came down and he ended up peeing on his leg! Oh well! I wish I had it on video because he looked up at me with those big eyes like he was trying to say, "Now what?" Too funny! After that botched attempt, he has reverted back to the squat and hasn't tried lifting the leg again. Maybe next month!

Tooth Fairy Time!

So Winston's been chewing his bully stick a lot lately (did you know that a bully sticks are actually made from bull penises?) Yuck. Good thing he doesn't know what it is, because he really seems to like them. Here's a picture of him enjoying one. Kinda looks like he's smoking a cigar, doesn't it?



So he's chewing on this thing for a while, totally going to town, enjoying it, even twirling it around, moving it side to side in his mouth. It's pretty amusing. I'll make sure to post a video of it if I can get him to sit still for the camera. He then stops chewing and starts sniffing something near his feet. I look at it, and what else do I find...teeth! His puppy (or milk) teeth fell out! Puppies begin to teethe around 4-6 months, and Winston's been pretty active lately with his chewing. His appetite has gone down slightly, which is normal for puppies when they are teething. Some of his chew toys have had a little blood on them, so I knew that some of his milk teeth were going to fall out soon.

Here's the proud boy with his tooth that we'll put out for the Puppy Tooth Fairy.



So I walk over to his bed to look for a toy, and what do I find laying on the ground next to his bed? Another tooth!! Looks like Winston will get a double gift from the Puppy Tooth Fairy!

Tangerine Tasting

In trying to give Winston a balanced holistic diet, we've been experimenting with various raw vegetables and fruits to see what he likes best. It was recommended to us that we feed him 50% raw foods, 40% canned food, and 10% dry food. We try to buy organic for ourselves, so we buy some extra for Winston. So far we've tested broccoli, lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery, cucumbers, bell peppers, bok choy, zuchinni, apples, and pears. His favorite munchies have been bell peppers and broccoli. He really likes the crunchiness of those veggies. It's pretty funny to watch him devour a whole bowl of peppers and broccoli. He'd much rather have that than any of his canned or dry food.

Today, we tried to see if he likes citrus fruits. We read somewhere online that oranges and grapefruits (the whole fruit) were good for dogs. We weren't too sure how he's like tangerines because they are a bit on the mushy side and lack the crunchiness of the veggies he likes. He was a bit cautious at first, but once I broke the tangerine slice so that he could taste the sweetness of the pulp, he seemed to like it.

Watch Winston eat his first tangerine.

Bath Time! No Where to Run and Hide!

Training Winston to Sit

Here's some old pictures of Winston about 5-6 months ago! He was only 4 months old here.

We trained Winston to sit by offering him a treat and pushing his butt down. He looked at us as if we were crazy and would walk around in circles. Then, he discovered his tail and would start to chew on it. Funny dog. After a few days of offering him treats and encouraging him to put his butt to the floor before we gave it to him, he finally made the connection.... we think.

Sometimes he just sits knowing we like it, but only to get back up again really quickly and start jumping towards the treat. And sometimes he sits when we tell him to sit with no treat in hand. Whether he really understands the command to sit is still up for debate. He sits on our command, but doesn't always understand other people when they tell him to sit.

But he has linked sitting to being a good dog. Look at him now. He sits even before we tell him to. This is how he begs for treats and affection, with his sad little puppy dog face.

Here he is outside sitting, hoping for a treat. First he's up, then he's down.

The Crooked Winston Walk

Winston takes his very first (actually second) walk! His first walk was in the city, in the cold, so he was too scared to walk. He sniffed everything and we had to carry him most of the way.

On his official second walk, he was a little hesitant to leave the door, not knowing what was out there in the big world out there, but he obediently obliged. Now he's doing fine. Here he is with his papa.

Once Winston was used to walking outside in warmer climate on our little holiday trip down to Florida, he was comfortable taking the lead and walking ahead of us instead of walking around our legs getting into a tangled mess. That's when we noticed he has a funny crooked walk. It's the Winston Walk. See it here:



And he even made a new friend down the block!

Winston LOVES people! He loves everyone.

Peeing on Newspaper Outside

We weren't sure how Winston would take to peeing outside since he had never done it before. He was used to his newspaper, and that's all he knows. During our road trip down to visit family for the holidays we let him outside, but he would not pee. So we put newspaper on the ground to signal to him that he should go potty. And sure enough, he did. But only on the newspaper!

If you're wondering what that little white thing is on his back, it is a small towel. It was so cold outside and the poor thing didn't have any clothes to keep him warm. I improvised and tried to cover him up with something he wouldn't pee on. All the clothes at the stores are much too big for him, so either he'll have to grow into them later while he goes potty on the newspaper this winter or I'll have to make him a cute little custom-made outfit soon that'll keep him warm. He was shivering when he came back into the car.

About his potty training... we lucked out. When he went out for one of his walks a few days later, he just started peeing and pooing outside because there was no where else to go. And voila. He was trained. Jogging helps him. It must jiggle his bowels into action. He abruptly stops in the middle of the sidewalk in the middle of running and goes! Funny pug!

Winston scratches and tries to eat the wall

Not sure what possessed him to do this, but our little Winston dear started making lots of strange scratching noises. I caught him scratching the wall (and also with his bed flipped inside out). He proceeded to scratch and then try to eat the wall. Don't worry. I told him to stop, and then he never did it again and gave him a puppy teething stick to help the poor teething puppy.