It’s been a long ass time since I posted here!
Buddy and Brutus are doing great still! Winter is here, and Buddy hates the cold, so he tends to not pee or poop outside. We’ve also recently got a new, bigger bed so they love sleeping in the middle now, they get to snuggle up to us both and each other, it’s kind of cute, if occasionally annoying!
It’s their first christmas together. Last year we only had Brutus. Should be fun watching them play in the wrapping papers
Dear Mummy and Daddy,
Woof.
We’re back in Rhode Island. We sure have spent a lot of time in the car this weekend. He made Buddy ride in the back seat on the way back from Boston. Buddy cried, but I tried to comfort him.
We met the people who live upstairs here in Rhode Island. They smell like they have cats. The people seem to be nice, though. They petted us and talked to us for a little while. Then we went into the house.
I started fussing and whining, hoping he’d get the hint that I wanted to go for a walk. It took him long enough but he finally got the idea. We just came back from a nice walk around his neighborhood. I think we like our own back yard better.
I’ve finally mastered jumping up on Uncle Mike’s bed. He just doesn’t understand that whole “pugvator” concept. You should explain that to him.
Wuv,
Brutus
Dear Daddy and Mommy,
Woof.
Uncle Mike put us in those car harnesses again today. You really must tell him how much we hate those things. But we did stop at some place called Dunkin Donus for him to get some coffee. He gave us each a plain “Munchkin” that was really yummy and for a little while, the harnesses were tolerable.
We’re at Uncle Mike’s new place in Boston. His back yard is great. We tried to find holes in the fence to get away so he could chase us, but no such luck. We met Nemo, the dog upstairs. Brutus wanted to play and was barking at him, and the dog was scared. Imagine a dog three times Brutus’ size being afraid of him. Uncle Mike laughed. I wasn’t too happy when Nemo started toward our kibble bowls, but he backed away when he found them to be empty.
Today, he was putting something called paint on the walls. It looks good but smells funny. We both had to inspect his handy work and ended up with paint on our whiskers. I have it on my nose, too.
Well, it’s time to head back to Rhode Island and curl up on Uncle Mike’s couch for a while. We can’t wait to come home tomorrow and tell you all about our fun weekend.
Wuv,
Buddy
Dear Daddy and Mummy,
We were really tired last night and slept like puppies. I woke up really early because I had to pee and made Uncle Mike take me out in the rain. It was still dark and raining cats and dog. I had to pee and Brutus had to poop. All three of us were wet but came in and went back to bed. Then he made us get up at 9:00. How dare he! But at least he gave us kibble. Brutus needed to be coaxed into eating his, but I gobbled mine right down. Then Brutus got his medicine. Why don’t I get medicine?
We’re going to Boston in a little while. I hope we get treats there.
Wuv,
Buddy.
Dear Mummy and Daddy,
Woof.
Buddy and me are with Uncle Mike in some place called Rhode Island. I’m not sure why they call it an island, though. We didn’t cross any bridges to get here.
The car ride was okay. Uncle Mike put those awful car harnesses on us and strapped us into the back seat. Buddy was scared and whined and cried for at least 15 minutes until Uncle Mike gave in and strapped him into the front seat.
His bed is really comfy, but I can’t jump up onto it by myself. Buddy can, though. His house is great because there are all kinds of things to sniff and smell. There is even a bunch of toys that came from our house. Did you pack those for us? He even has food and water bowls for us. We each have our own bowls, just like at home!
Tomorrow, Uncle Mike is taking us to Boston and we’re going to play in his new house. He says we might see another dog named Nemo while we’re there.
This field trip is going to be fun, but we can’t wait to come home on Sunday. We’re all really tired after an exciting day, so it’s time for the three of us to snore the night away.
Wuv,
Brutus
So, last night in Petsmart, I *nearly* bought Buddy or Brutus (whichever would stand still long enough) one of these:
But they are far far too butch for that, so instead I got them a fake tire.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/20/black_metal_for_dumm.html
Black Metal for Dummies. Via Boing Boing.
Today marks the one year birthday of Brutus as a member of our family. We picked up him a year ago today!
This morning, Buddy was woofing at a pineapple.
We weren’t chasing him with it, or playing a game, it was sitting on the counter.
I think our dog is a bit wrong in the head
Photos taken by Mike while we were away can be found here:
http://smeg.serveftp.org/Pugs/08%20August%202005%20-%20Pugsitter/
In two days, this pugsitter goes home. This is good and bad. I miss sleeping in my own bed. But I’m going to miss the pugs something awful. Their cute little snores are the best. I might not miss Buddy pouncing on my face at 4:00 AM, though.
I’m watching a movie, and someone is knocking on the door in the movie. Buddy thinks he should bark at whomever is knocking at that door, too. It’s kind of cute.
Buddy woke me up at 6:30 this morning because he had to go out. It wasn’t much longer than that and we were on the beach. After that, we went home and napped for a while. It’s been a low-key day for me and the logs.
Buddy woke me up at 5:30 this morning. I thought he had to go out. So I let the boys out and I saw Brutus barking at the shrubs. That’s when I saw the skunk. I ran and grabbed Brutus and threw him in the house. Then Buddy was barking at him. I ran after Buddy (who didn’t want to be caught) and grabbed him. As I was running into the house, I saw the skunk coming toward me. Fortunately, the three of us escaped without getting skunked. That would have really sucked.
Of course, the boys were all worked up and wouldn’t go back to sleep. So we went for a walk, escaping out the front door.
I was grilling some dinner last night and had the boys out on the deck with me. This is a cute shot of Brutus.
Of course, they had to play fight while on the deck. They always seem to do this. I can never catch it with the camera though. They seem to move too quickly.
I’m convinced that Buddy will eat anything. I gave him a piece of the onion I had grilled. He LOVED it. This is the same dog that will tear your arm off to get a carrot. I guess that it’s good that he likes his veggies. Brutus, on the other hand, will only take something just to keep it away from Buddy. He has no interest in veggies.
Buddy woke me up this morning about 4:00 AM. He didn’t have to go out because he had just pooped on the floor. We went outside just to make sure he didn’t have to do anything else. After that, we tried to go back to sleep with minimal success.
This morning, I slipped each of the dogs a “Greenies” treat and for once got to shower in peace. Buddy was in the bathroom, but the treat was more important than playing in the water. This makes me very happy.
Every night, I make sure I set aside some time with Brutus. Buddy makes that really difficult, but I keep pushing Buddy away and allow Brutus to curl up with me and play. Brutus really is an affectionate dog, but he doesn’t always get to show that because Buddy always tries to be the center of attention.
Last night, I needed to get out of the house so I could run to Target. They wanted nothing to do with being locked in the living room. I had to resort to the puppy crack (Pupperoni treats) in order to get out of the house.
Today, Beth gave me a couple of ideas for getting an hour or so of peace. I may have to try a couple of them.
Buddy is getting much better at whining at the door when he needs to go out. That’s a good sign. Now, if he would just stop eating his own poop, I’d feel much better.
After work tonight, I took the pugs on a nice long walk to/on the beach. It’s colder here than usual, so I wasn’t sure the beach was a great idea. But the dogs didn’t seem to mind.
Buddy…
Brutus…
When we got back, the dogs were tired and were starting to take a nap. That was until one of the dogs in the neighborhood started barking and they both went nuts. It was probably Fluffy next door who started it. Maybe it’s time to resort to one of the greenies. I have some work to do and could use an hour of peace.
Buddy started getting anxious at the doorway between the kitchen and dining room tonight, and I picked up on the signal that he needed to go out. As soon as we went outside, he dropped to pee. GOOD BOY, BUDDY!
There is a dog bakery a couple of blocks from my office that sells nothing but dog treats, toys, and accessories. My co-worker Debbie and I went in today and picked up a few healthy treats for Buddy and Brutus. They’re going to love me even more!
Paul had warned me that the Pupperoni treats are like puppy crack. I haven’t had to resort to those or the “greenies” yet. But I swear, Buddy goes absolutely nuts when I pull out the bag of carrots to feed the bunnies. When I’m pulling out the greens, he gets excited because he knows the carrots are coming soon.
I’ve never seen a dog go apeshit over carrots like this one does.
Both the pugs and I are very tired right now. Heck, even Buddy is lying down snoring. We just came back from a long walk to/on the beach.
Brutus insists on stopping to pee on every tree, fire hydrant, and telephone pole he encounters. Buddy is keeping him in check by making him keep moving. We now only stop at every other stationary object. Tonight, Brutus didn’t poop like he normally does. But we did spend some time in the back yard and he pooped there. For once, Buddy pooped on the walk, literally. As we were headed to the beach, he pooped on the sidewalk. Being the good dog walker, I bagged it up and tossed it in the trash.
I called my dad from the beach. He asked where I was—he could hear the noise but didn’t quite make out that it was waves. I told him where I am and what I’m doing. I had to rub it in a little. 
We’re doing fine. Who knew that pugsitting would be this much fun?
My only concern is that Buddy keeps humping Brutus. Is that normal?
My friends Marc and Liz came up to visit today. Buddy and Brutus loved having new people to play with. After a walk on the beach, the pugs are both sounds asleep on the couch, and Brutus is snoring.
I finally got brave enough to let the dogs loose on the beach today. They did great. I was concerned that Buddy wouldn’t come back, but he did without a chase.
The pugs let me sleep until 8:00 this morning. As soon as we were up, Buddy had to pee and poop. Brutus had to pee.
After that, we watched some TV. I was lying on the couch, and Brutus was at my feet. Buddy was on the top of the couch right above me. They’re so cute when they’re like this.
Buddy insisted on jumping into the shower with me this morning. I made him get out, and he pooped on the kitchen floor. I guess he got the last word.
I cleaned the bunny litter box. It was stinky. They’re doing fine, too.
Have you ever seen the movie “Mr. Mom”? The kids keep looking at Jack and saying “you’re doing it wrong!” Well, I feel like Buddy and Brutus keep doing that to me. But we’re getting settled into the daily routine of pug care.
We went to bed about 11:30 last night, and sleeping with two pugs is an experience. I’m used to my dalmatian who used to sleep in my bed. But these two are completely different creatures. Once I turned out the lights, they decided that it was time to play. I had to cuddle one and hold the other away at arm’s length to get them to settle down. After that, they were fine.
Buddy woke me up about 6:30 this morning being restless. We immediately went outside and he had to pee. GOOD BUDDY! Brutus did the same. I don’t mind getting up if it means not having to clean up puppy pee. I was hoping they’d let me go back to sleep after that. No such luck. It appears that we came in too early because both pugs had to poop as well. After this, I was hoping we could go back to bed. Brutus was fine but Buddy wanted to play. I tried to lie back down, but it was no such luck. I heard Buddy starting to dig at the bed and found he was chewing on the comforter and had some little pieces of cotton. I’m going to have to sew that back up. After that, we got up and started the day.
About 8:00, we went for a walk on the beach. I wanted to take them out before it got warm outside. They did really well. I’m still not sure I’m ready to let them loose on the beach, though. I’m not so worried about Brutus. It’s Buddy that I’m afraid will run off.
One of the nice things about a long walk is that you get about an hour of peace and quiet when you come back because the dogs are exhausted.
Bunnies are doing fine. I need to clean the pen and change the litter box today or tomorrow.
Beth and Paul can relax. The aminals are doing just fine. If Buddy tears at the comforter again, they might come home to one less pug and one more rug in the house. I’m joking, of course.
Before Paul left, he told me that if Buddy is out of your sight, he’s probably getting into trouble. He knows what he’s talking about.
When I left Buddy out of my sight, he pooped on the kitchen floor. So the next time I saw him jump off the couch, I followed him into the kitchen. I took that as a hint. We went outside and both pugs pee’d.
All is well. I’ll be feeding the bunnies soon and then going to bed.
We just went for a nice walk. It’s not too warm outside today, so we went earlier than usual.
Right out of the gate, they both pee’d on the first telephone pole they could find. As usual, Brutus continued to pee as frequently as he could.
On the way back, we stopped at the bakery to see the Chicken Lady. She didn’t give them too much love because she was a little busy. But she did allow me to buy some cookies.
On the way back from the bakery, Brutus finally pooped.
I’m seeing that Buddy is becoming more aggressive when they walk. Brutus will want to stop to pee on a tree, but Buddy insists they keep walking.
I know I’ve been blogging a lot today. But I want the pugs’ parents to know that they’re doing well.
The bunnies have been fed, and now the house is really quiet.
I’m learning that Brutus will stand in the pantry and bark at the trash can if I leave the pantry door open.
I came home from work today and immediately let the dogs out to take care of nature’s business. Brutus had to pee, but Buddy didn’t do anything. It turns out that Buddy pooped on the floor while I was at work. We’ll go for a walk a little later and make sure they fully relieve themselves.
They both kept looking at me like I had forgotten something. So I gave them each a scoop of food, which has been promptly ignored. But they kept following me, acting like I had neglected to do something. So we went back outside and ran around the yard some. When we came back in, they both did nothing but nibble at the kibble—nothing substantial. Maybe it’s just too early. I’m home from work way earlier than Paul and Beth come home. I just happened to have an afternoon off because of a doctor’s appointment. I bet they’ll eat if we go visit the chicken lady.
When I came home, I gave each of the bunnies a yogurt treat. I’ll feed them momentarily.
As I started typing this, Brutus started whining at the back door. I thought he just wanted to bark at Fluffy next door. It turns out he had to poop too. Not to be outdone by Brutus, Buddy decided he had to poop too. After the first piece dropped down, he spun around to see what had just happened before dropping the next one.
We’ll get this figured out.
I woke up at 4:30 with kisses from Buddy. This is going to be a fun two weeks.
These pictures are from last night.
When I started spending time with the pugs, I was a little worried about Brutus. He’s Beth’s dog. Brutus never had time for me. Buddy, on the other hand, is an attention whore, and we get along just great.
Tonight, Brutus started to show me some love.
Dear Beth,
Your pugsitter has arrived. Brutus has warmed up to me finally. As soon as I walked in the door, they greeted me warmly. I got all kinds of love.
Love,
Mike
It won’t be too long before I start Pug Patrol. I’m pretty excited about this. As you can probably tell, I’ve grown rather attached to Buddy and Brutus. I thought this would be a good way for me to keep the parents informed that all four animals are doing fine. I’m not worried about the bunnies. They’re fairly low maintenance. It’s the pugs that are going to be more work.
I’ve been remiss posting here ... the guys are totally fine
Either way, I wanted to post that I’m handing the blog over to our pal Mike for a couple of weeks. Diosa is in England, and I’m going over there too for two weeks. Mike will be looking after both the guys and the buns while we’re gone, and we’re hugely greatfull to him for it!
Over to you Mike
The guys went to the groomers on the weekend, they both were getting a little stinky, and Buddy’s nails were getting particularly long. I dropped them off and came home. When I picked them up later, they were so happy it was silly! Big smiles from both of them, tongue hanging out, soft and shiny coats, nice non sharp nails. Even their breath smelt good. Well worth the $30!
Of course, as soon as I got home Buddy jumped in the paddling pool we’ve put out for them (A small kiddies one with a shallow pool in it, no chance of drowning in this!) to keep them cool, but at least he’s stayed nice and soft coated
We’re going on a couple of vacations later this year, and for a while I was freaking out trying to figure out what we were going to do with them. While I’m in England, a friend of a friend (we’ve met him and trust him) is going to house and pug sit for us for two weeks, so that will be nice. When we go on our honeymoon to Mexico, my parents are staying over for a two week vacation and will look after them.
I’m very relieved thats sorted!
We’re not dead, honest!
Life has been busy recently, but I got to spend some great quality time with the guys while I was off sick. I was at home for almost two weeks, and they loved the attention!
Buddy is getting much better at pooping and peeing than he has been. Now we’ve moved to the ground floor apartment, he is about 90% better at letting us know when he needs to go out! We still have accidents, but not too many.
Something really drove me nutty recently, and I wanted to share.
Someone we know from another community recently got a 12 week old pug. Fine. He made a plea for help post, because even though he was trying all the things the book was telling him, she was still peeing and pooping in the house.
NO shit! She’s 12 weeks old! Buddy is 8 months, and he *still* pees and poops in the house! 12 weeks?!
I sent him a friendly message, I hope he realises that it’s going to take *much* longer than a few days to toilet train a pug.
Just when I think I can take good pictures and have a half decent digital camera, “Jennygolightly” of Pugvillage posts pictures of her dog, Pixel
http://www.pugvillage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16413
and I’m put to shame again. Isn’t Pixel great?
It’s been a while since we’ve updated the blog so I thought I’d say how the guys are doing.
Buddy graduated from his puppy class. He did really well. There’s an advanced puppy class coming up that we’re wanting to start him in starting the 24th (I think). I would love to sign Brutus up for one, but he is far too stubborn to go for doing pet tricks. He will sit and come when you call him (usually). Otherwise he just looks at you like you are daft.
Now that it’s getting nicer out, they’ve been getting much more exercise. We’ve been taking them to the beach more lately, especially in the mornings. It’s also light out when we get home from work, so we can take them then as well. Today they’ve been up twice. This morning they got to play with their puggy friends Lola and Greta, a little white fluffball pup by the name Henry, Logan the older pointer mix and Kayla, the collie. There weren’t many dogs on the beach tonight, so they spent most of the time chasing each other and the seagulls. It’s nice that they can burn off all this energy outside now and not in here making us crazy.
We’re going to try to get a vet appointment for them both next week, as they are out of heartworm meds. Plus we really need to get Buddy microchipped, and both of them up to date on any boosters they need.
Yesterday was week 7 at Buddy’s training class, and pretty much the last productive week ... next week is graduation, and pretty much just a play games and run over stuff session.
It’s really been a worthwhile thing to go through, and I’d recommend it for anyone with a puppy. It’s mostly not about teaching the dog, but about teaching you how to teach your dog.
Through the weeks, we have learnt how to get Buddy to St, Lay Down, Wait, Stay (yes, they are different. Wait is a short pause, and you come back, Stop is a longer pause, and you call him to you), Come. My favourite has been Leave It, although we need to work more on that one I think ... we have also tried to go through things like pulling on leashes and jumping up at people coming in the house, and neither of them I’m too worried about, as he’s only little and it’s not a big problem.
We have also covered all grooming and health problems, gotten a lot of valuable information on how to deal with a puppies teenage years, how to deal with house training ...
The trainer only deals in positive reinforcement, and it is very effective. Obviously there have been times when we had to time out our dogs, and by now we are all familiar with our startle word (a loud noise or work you yell when you need to interrupt them from doing something bad), but it’s all coupled with given them treats for things they enjoy, and it really helps. The dogs now work to please you, so they get treats and praise.
It’s helped Buddy a lot! We still have issues, he’s not completly house trained, and sometimes he gets very wound up and will do naughty things in the house (ripping up his pee pads, biting Brutus, chewing hair and stealing socks are his favourite), but with startle words, then redirecting him to a toy, he’s getting the hang of it.
He’s not going to become a perfectly trained canine good citizen any time soon, but it has helped immensly to give us the tools we need to train him as he grows.
I defenitely like the puppy class!
Since getting Buddy, it’s done nothing but snow, and they haven’t really had the chance to get their regular around the block walks in, instead going out to the back yard.
Now it’s getting nicer again, I’ve started walking them around the block every morning and evening. It quickly became apparant that we didn’t have the tools for the job.
Leashes were a major pain. Buddy had a slightly shorter leash than Brutus, and they would get twisted up and tangled badly. Brutus’ leash would tangle up underneath them (it being longer).
So, yesterday I picked up a coupler.
The one I got was tagged as Extra Large, and seemed to be the only one that wouldn’t drag them so close together they couldn’t move.
I tried it last night and this morning, and the difference is great. I have Brutus’ long leash hooked to the coupler, so they get great range. They tend to pull each other around a little more than before, but it’s so much easier for me to control them, I’m willing to let them yank each other, rather than have someone end up in the road!
Definietly one of my favourite buys.
On Monday night, as usual I took both dogs out for their nightly pilgrimage before bedtime.
I’m standing on the back deck, and they are busy snuffling around in the dark.
Then Buddy dissapears. As in, totally gone. Now, our back yard it *completely* enclosed, there is no possible way for him to get out, so I knew he hadn’t done a runner, and after a minute or two, I could hear snuffling.
He’d gotten under the deck!
On the far corner of the deck, the ground dips away, leaving a gap big enough for him to crawl through. He then crawled all the way to the other side of the deck (remember, totally enclosed, he can’t get out that side), and he ended up under the steps. The steps had a small enough gap for him to look out and put his head out, but way to small to crawl through.
So, it’s midnight. I’m laying on my belly in the snow and ice. My jeans have gotten soaked, then frozen, and I have a claw hammer, trying to dig enough frozen mud away to give him a big enough gap for him to crawl out of. He’s getting panicked, and whimpering and woofing for me, but refuses to go the way he came in.
30 minutes later. I’m cold, fed up, I’m seriously thinking of ripping up the deck. He turns around, wriggles the way he went in and pops out!
So now, there is a very large brick, blocking that entry.
A couple of weeks ago we signed up for puppy training for Buddy at the local Petsmart ... we got snowed off last weekend, so it started last night.
The first session was without the dogs, just owners, and it was pretty good. A lot of the stuff she was saying was stuff we had already been doing (never say NO, or use their name when telling them off for example), and some of it seemed very basic to me, but from the looks of some of the others in the group, not to every one else.
There is one woman there, I’ll call her Jumper Lady, cos she had a horrible jumper on, who is going to be difficult. She has a “Cockapoo”, a cocker spaniel / poodle mix, and seems to think that bringing the dog to the one hour a week sessions will automatically make it well trained. She seemed quite shocked when the trainer suggested that we should carry treats, so any time they do good things, or follow a command, they can be rewarded, and you could just see her brain thinking “I’m not carrying stinky dog treats in my pocket!” She also jumped around with questions, all things that her dog does or she wants to know, instead of just shutting up and letting the instructor get to it ...
Either way, we have a couple of excercises to do this week, one being the Name Game, where you hold a treat in a clenched fist, raise it to face height, say their name once, then extend your arm out. They get the treats, along with a YES and a cuddle when they look back at you, and stop looking at the treat. The idea is to have them focus on you, not the reward, and to get them to see that their name being called is a good thing too. Buddy is good at it, he already sits very well and on command, so it’s pretty easy for him.
We also picked up two fantastic toys:
and
These things have the loudest squeekers I have every heard, and both dogs absolutely *love* them. They are quite soft, but very tough. They will squeek when they bounce even! Buddy has worked out how to pick it up by the head and chompsqueek chompsqueek chompsqueek chompsqueek, but Brutus still hasn’t worked it out. He picks it up by it’s feet, which don’t squeek, they gets all confused that it’s not making that cool noise 
Most definitely recommended toys!
We’re trying an experiment today ... we normally have Buddy in his crate in the day time, and let Brutus have the run of the house, but today we’ve let Buddy have free run. He showed us this weekend that he knows how to use pee pee pads, if he has too, so we’ve left one or two down for him, and his crate is open, if he needs time out.
According to webcam watchers, Brutus is chasing him around right now
We’re trying to get everyone’s routines in sync right now, it’s been a bit of a messy week
Brutus needs to go out three times in a day. First thing in the morning, as soon as we get home, and and just before bed time.
Buddy however, hasn’t got the capacity at 4 months old to hold on all day, especially considering he gets fed twice (morning and evening), and Brutus only one (evening).
So, it’s been a balancing act, but I think we’re getting a handle on it.
He needs to go within 4 hours or so of a feed, so when we feed him in the morning, we need to come home at lunch to take them out. Same deal in the evening, he needs to go out as soon as we get home, then feed him, then take him out a bit later, and again before bed.
Days we haven’t made it home at lunch (company meetings run over lunch, as did some training last week), we’ve come home to a messy puppy cage.
Training him to go out is fun. Whenever he goes while outside he gets a lot of fuss and a treat of some sort, he thinks it’s great, and now sits at my feet for a bit, hoping for a treat, before working out he needs to earn it first.
Pugs are pretty intelligent, so he should be getting there, but they are also stubborn, so if he decides he doesn’t want to, it could get interesting 
Fortunately, he can handle all night with no mess, so he’s been in bed this last few days, which has made for an interesting puppy pile in bed!
We thought Brutus’ first week was hard work
Buddy has had a very interesting first week in this house hold ... every one has had to learn a whole bunch of stuff, a whole lot quicker than we’d have liked, but I guess thats the way these things go in general 
Introducing Buddy to Brutus wasn’t a problem at all. They both get on with each other great. They play constantly. Unfortunately for Brutus, Buddy has razer sharp puppy teeth, and likes to bite on Brutus’ jowls. Over the course of the week, he’s done a bit of damage to Brutus, who now has scratches and a small section where he’s lost some skin to the pups teeth. I can assure you, this has freaked *us* out a lot more than it does Brutus! We called the vet who just assured us it’s a normal injury when you have a pup around, keep it clean and smother it in antibiotic cream.
We really didn’t want Buddy to make it worse, but when they play thats the area they always go for. To prevent it, we’re trying a couple of approaches.
Firstly, we’re trying lots of positive training ... whenever he does something good, he gets a treat and lots of cuddles (this is great for when he poops outside instead of inside).
Secondly, negative training. Specifically for when he gets too rough around Brutus’ face, we have some water spray bottles that he gets a face full of, along with a loud “STOP”
Thirdly is DAP. Dog Appeasing Pheromone. We had this recommended by a friend who has a particularly skittish greyhound, it mimcs the pheremone of a mother dog, and is very effective at calming them down. We plugged it in last night, and the difference has been amazing. Much calmer puppy, much less fighting with Brutus, a lot more affectionate. It’s been great. They aren’t cheap, buying it is about $50, with $15 - $25 a month afterwards, but well worth it for the difference it makes!
We’ve also signed him up for puppy classes to socialize him a little more, they start a week today. It’s also going to help train us on what to expect from him, which should be nice.
Last night, for the first time, we had Buddy in bed with the rest of us instead of in his carrier. It went *really* well and he settled down very quickly, and joined us in the land of nod all night. I woke up with him curled up around Diosa’s head, it was very cute (oh for a camera!).
Let me leave you with a few pics 
