Yet another vet visit

Well we were wrong about Koda having kennel cough. He actually has conxita which is a lovely little parasite the lives in the gi tract. He apparently always had it but since he had the other bugs active this one laid dormant until the other ones were gone. This can cause his diarrhea and coughing.  We have another medicine That will help. We also are feeding him bland human food to help stop his diarrhea faster. We weren't sure how he was going to take the pasta and chicken but man oh man did he love it! This silly little pup will eat anything! At least he isn't contagious and will be able to go to his puppy classes again this Saturday!  Hopefully his coughing will subside soon.

Sick puppy...

Sometimes we just can't catch a break. Our poor little guy is a little sick :-( We took him to the vet yesterday and he started to cough but it was once in a blue moon. No one thought anything of it. We went on with our normal vet visit and he got his 3rd set of shots and a bordatella vaccine. Not to mention he weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds! Well after we took him home he started to cough more and more but it was only when he was playing. Today after I woke up we started to get a little nervous cause he started to "vomit" but it was a little frothy. We started to Google different possibilities and we came across "kennel cough". He fits all the symptoms perfectly! They even had a video of what kennel cough sounds like and it was exactly what he sounded like. We called Critical Care and they said that we will need to get him on some medicine but they said that if we wanted to we can wait until our vet opens on Monday.  Ughhh so sad to think our little guy is sick; and on top of everything he is still having some diarrhea/really soft stools! Our poor puppy!

Click here to hear what kennel cough sounds like

1st day of day care

Well today was our little guy's first day of day care! I had skills day today and still don't/can't leave him home alone. Jeff dropped him off and we were both nervous how he was going to get along with the other dogs. When I went to pick him up a few of hours later, the girls told me that he actually played with the other puppies!!! OH WOW, that totally made my day! We really want him to be a social dog and not be afraid of things so this is a great step in the right direction. Normally he takes a nap every couple of hours if not more; well he was so stimulated and energized that he never got one. I picked him up and he just put one arm on each side of my neck and started to fall asleep in my arms! The whole way home he slept. He had just enough energy to go potty and drink some water then he passed out again. I wonder how long he will sleep this afternoon. Although I'm sure I'll be having a nice long walk/run with him once he wakes up.

Puppy Class

Today was Koda's first day of puppy school! He was so overwhelmed in that he was trying to smell everything! This was the first time he was able to have dogs come up to him and he go up to them. He was so nervous and wasn't sure what was happening. For our first class we actually had a private lesson because the only other puppy that was there was in heat and not spayed. I am so thankful that we did not get a female dog, the poor pup had to wear a diaper! If I wanted to deal with diapers I would have a baby myself. I don't really want to change puppy diapers.

We introduced Koda to the clicker and he took to it right away. He knows every time we click he gets a treat. Right now we are working on him responding to his name by looking at us in the eyes. We learned today that it is an insult for a dog to look other dogs in the eyes. We have to teach him that we want him to look at us and he will get rewarded for doing so. On top of knowing his name we are teaching him to come touch his nose to our hands (which will help with heeling later) and sit/release. When we have him sit he is supposed to stay until we say OK. So when he sits we toss a treat and say OK to let him know that it is OK for him to get up.

After we practiced with him for a little bit we were able to introduce him to some of the other dogs (small dogs for now) in the doggy day care. OH MAN was he nervous... he had no idea what to do. The instructor kept him separate from the other dogs and slowly introduced a dog at a time to him. One of the dogs tried to sniff his butt and he was like "what are you doing back there???".  I think it will take some time for him to loosen up around the other dogs. 

When we came home he ate his dinner and crashed HARD! He was so tired and slept for a good 2 hours. Well tomorrow he will be going to his first day of doggy day care. I have to go to work for a couple of hours so it will be good for him to go and get a little more used to the other dogs.

Getting ready to go to class :)

A little nervous, staying close to daddy

He conquered sit!

all the dogs were so interested in him, he is on the left in front of the fence

He is the back observing everything

And.... he's out!

We survived a WEEK!

Well today is my little boy's 9 week birthday! I know people may think I'm weird saying happy birthday to him every week but we only got 6 days with out last puppy. I am thankful for every moment I have with him. Jeff and I don't have any kids right now so he is our child (and trust me is spoiled as such!).

Koda is finally getting used to being on his a little more now. He "likes" being in his pen... well not really but he doesn't cry or howl when we close the door behind us. We go in there and play with him if he has been quiet for a little bit. It's crazy how smart this little boy is!

He is able to go up and down our stairs, although he prefers down instead of up. I took him for a run the other day and literally got so tired that he lied down and wouldn't get back up. I had to carry him the rest of the way home. Since that run he really hasnt wanted to go for a run... maybe i just tired him out. Yesterday I took him for a walk and all he wanted to do was sit and people/car watch. He loves looking at everything and observing everyone and everything. It started to rain a little bit when we were on our walk (sit) and he didnt even notice it until his face got wet. It was seriously the cutest thing ever... he looked up at the sky trying to figure out where the water was coming from.

One day at a time...

I can't believe we have had our boy for 5 days now! It's weird how much our lives have been changed but I wouldn't have it any other way. He keeps us on our toes and gives us so much joy!

We received a call from the Vet today and the fecal tests came back... NO PARVO!!!! That was the best news we could ever receive! No one quite understands how horrible Parvo is and what these poor puppies have to go through when they do have it. I just remember my Koda I wanting to cuddle all the time cause he felt so sick, he did not want to play and if he did it was only for a short period of time. His diarrhea was so bad that he couldn't even let us know he had to go (personally I don't think he even knew he had to). If the diarrhea wasn't enough the poor thing was vomiting! I know whenever I vomit I want to just die cause I feel so ehhh. I can't imagine vomiting every hour or more for almost a WEEK! He couldn't eat, drink and he was barely able to keep his eyes open. My poor baby was the sickest pup Advanced Critical Care has ever taken care of. They have an 80% success rate for the pups that have Parvo that get treated. He had 2 different IV's and an NG tube (a tube that goes through his nose that goes into his stomach). The NG tube was set up to suction and give feedings. NG tubes are uncomfortable to pup in in a human, but you dont realize you have it once it is in. My poor puppy didn't even fight it when they tried to put it in (he was that lethargic) and they had to use staples to keep it in place (cause of his fur). He had a staple on the tip of his snout, 2 on his nose, and 3 on his head. He also had to get ultrasounds of his abdomen every 6 hours to see how the fluid level in his intestines and stomach were changing. The virus just kept eating away at his intestinal lining to the point where everything was leaking out; his lungs had so much fluid in them he could hardly breathe! That was the final straw for us. The doctors said they could do a couple of things to see if it would help, but they also said it would probably just happen again. That was one of the worst days of my life, seeing this poor helpless puppy have to be put down on his 2 month birthday! Every Vet we talked to said that Parvo is one of the worst things a dog can get and unfortunately it really only happens to puppies (since they aren't vaccinated yet).

Although a little man was tested negative for Parvo, he did test positive for roundworms and giardia. The vet said that these two things are very common for puppies to get. Roundworms are normally given to puppies by their mothers and giardia is found when lots of puppies are in close proximity to each other (ie: his brothers and sister) or they can get it from camp sites. We have to give him some medicine with his meals for a week and test to see if it's gone. I took him to the vet when I picked up his medicine and man oh man what a flirt! Everyone there was googling over him and couldn't get enough of him. He didnt even want to leave. Afterward we had a nice walk around the park.

I can't wait until all of his shots are done and we have him play with the other dogs in the park, until then he can look but can't touch (at least he is small enough for me to pick up).

He is doing a little better about being alone, but still will bark and cry when we first put him in there. We had him sleep in the crate last night in our room and did REALLY well! He only cried for about 5-10 min at first then would play with his toys or sleep. We are taking each day at a time and hopefully really soon he will be able to go in the pen and crate without any fuss.

Crate Training in full force

Well last night was a little more difficult than the first, but ehh I love him too much to get frustrated. Today we are going to try and get him used to being in the pen by himself. A very wise friend said to put a mirror by it so he thinks there is another puppy with him. I'm not too sure if it is working yet but it is definitely worth a try! Hopefully soon he will want to be in there so I will be able to sleep when I go back to work.

He is definitely loving his walks tho! He finally learned to go down stairs but still nervous about going up. Once is he is outside he is one happy pup and loves checking everyone out. There are so many people running/walking their dogs/playing in the park. He just wants everyone to check him out and give him loves (he is such a ham). He is getting over being nervous when a car drives by. He loves checking out all the plants and flowers but it makes it hard to walk as he stops every five feet. We started to run with him today and we think for the first time he realized "ohhh I am a running dog". He is running faster than we are (which isn't saying much), so hopefully we will all condition together.

Kevin came over today and brought a present over from him and Tracy. OOHHH man does this guy love his toys! The frees-bee is ten times larger than him but he tries to walk with it regardless. It is so cute to watch how uncoordinated he is.  A very big THANK YOU to Tracy and Kevin!!! The funny thing about the toy it says on the package "not meant for a chew toy". OOPPS! We'll let him chew the heck out of it ;-)

The one thing i think i love most about him is that he loves to play hard and snuggle harder!! He will just let us sleep with him!

Koda says, "Thank you Aunt Tracy and Uncle Kevin!!"

Can't decide if he wants to lie inside or out

My snuggle bear

He just loves to be cuddled!

Clean bill of health!

Well we survived our first night and he did great! He only woke up twice, once for being lonely second time cause he had to use the restroom. Sorry I have to say it again, we have the best puppy ever!

This morning we had our first visit to the vet, well second for him and oh my gosh did people gush over him. Everyone wanted to come and see him. He did so good for the doc and let him do and see everything he wanted. But here is the great part... he weighed in at a grand total of 10 pounds 4.5 ounces!!!! OMG SUCH A BEEFCAKE! The doc couldn't tell us one bad thing (which is a first for us!). He was even allowed to get his second set of shots! We are so over protective of him and the doc told us that we need to socialize him with other people and dogs (not strange dogs, only one's we know who have all of their shots). We are a little nervous but we know it is for the best. We also had him tested for parvo and should know the results either tomorrow or the next day. The vet doesn't think we has it at all, but we wanted to have it done to put our minds at ease.

After our trip to the vet we took our little boy for his first walk around the neighborhood (on the advise of the vet). He first scared of the cars that would drive by, but then he was just interested in them. He was pooped after the walk was over. After he woke up we gave him his first bath, and man oh man did he not like it. But that will just be something he will have to get used to... haha!

The best part of everything is that he is almost potty trained. He knows where he needs to go and every time he wakes up he goes right to the door to go outside. He is super smart!!!! I am so blessed and so in love!

Excited to be at the Vet's... everyone loved him there

such a mad face after his first bath

trying to escape the tub ;-)

He's Home!!!

Well what can we say... WE HAVE THE BEST PUPPY IN THE WORLD!!! At this very moment he is asleep in his pen that Jeff built for him. The whole way home he was either sleeping next to us or he was looking around. We were joking with Heather (the breeder) "wouldn't it be nice to have a quite drive home..." we all laughed because we knew that was a LONNGG shot! Well IT HAPPENED! He didn't bark or howl once! To top off that... we didnt even have one accident! Every time we let him out at a stop he did what he needed to do. (ok I know this may be a little TMI for some of you) He didn't even have any diarrhea... all formed! We are so proud of our little man!

We arrived home and all he wanted to do was wonder around and sniff everything! We couldn't get him from exploring for one second until we squeak a squeaker toy... It was all over! He is OBSESSED with his toys! He will just play with them until he finds something else to distract him... which is actually harder than you think. Well he is eating and drinking and so far no vomit! For those who are not familiar with parvo... those are all signs of it. Tomorrow morning we have our first check up with the vet, so fingers crossed he gets a clean bill of health!

Well to top off our day, we put a deposit down on our new place. Yes we are moving... finally! The best part is, we are only moving 2 doors down. The place next to ours is MUCH bigger and will be great for our little man. Sooo soon we will get the keys and we can start to make the long walk (totally kidding there) to move over our stuff.

God seriously blessed us with an amazing puppy, and we know that this was a gift from our dear Cynthia. 2 years ago today she passed away, we know she is looking down on us and smiling and LOVING Koda!
Here are some pics of our little guy

Profile shot looking out the window

All snuggled up and ready for the drive home

Just woke up from a nap

He loves to walk himself :)

The for mentioned squeaker toy

We're not moving :(

We'll to make a very long story short, we lost our awesome house! Our stupid relator that we were working with decided not to send over the lease to us until it was actually due! He had the lease since saturday morning and didnt email it to us until Monday night when it was supposed to be signed and turned back to the owners agent. I called the owners agent and he said that he called our relator 3 times on Monday and emailed him this morning before he approved the other applications. I confronted our relator and he denied EVERYTHING!!! I seriously can't believe how mean some people can be! Now we have to get back into the "Crap we need to move" mode. I found another house (Literally a block away from us) today, we went to go look at it a few hours later (since that was the earliest this new relator could meet us) and by the time we saw it, it was already leased to someone else!!! WHAT THE HECK MAN! To top everything off, this house was even better than the other one and they were totally cool with our pup. We seriously can't catch a break! There are many houses that we could get, but not everyone is cool with having a dog. We will eventually find one, but we thought we were done and now we have to start from square one again. And to add to all of this loveliness, the closer Thursday gets, to more nervous I get. I keep thinking that he will get sick, our place is still infested and we will have to put him down. I don't know what I will do if we have to put him down as well. Please keep us in your prayers... I know in the grand scheme of things, this is not the worst thing in the world, but it still sucks! Tomorrow we make the long drive up north to get our little boy. Please pray for a good drive home and for a healthy puppy!

We're Moving!!

Well after trying to figure out what where we were going to live, we finally found a place! It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath, 2 story house. We are in love with it and it will be awesome until we decide to head up to Washington. The new house is only a few miles down the road in Irvine (a little further for me for work, but ehh) in a really nice area. We unfortunately fell in love with Tustin Ranch and really don't want to leave the area, but any house here is RIDICULOUSLY over priced for what you get. At least we can come back whenever we want (which we will!!!) The cool thing is our little boy will have his own room! Yes I know he is a dog, however, he is my child until we decide to have kids, so until then I will treat him as such (my little prince). It will be hard moving with a little puppy but he wont be able to leave the house so he can just follow me around while I pack. We will have a month to slowly move stuff over so it should keep him entertained going back and forth. Hopefully leaving his mom then leaving our place for a new one won't be too many changes for him. So if anyone wants to come help us pack or move it will very appreciated!! Once we get everything settled we'll have an open house party :) Well that is it for the update for now. 5 more days!

The whole family playing

I wasn't quite sure if we were going to be getting new pictures this week since it is a little difficult to make an active puppy sit still. These are the cutest pictures ever and I love seeing them next to one another. Jeff and I are making the last preparations for our little guy to come home. A couple more things to bleach again (yes we are paranoid!) before we bring him home. On top of bringing home Koda, we will hopefully soon find out if we got our new home! Well not much else on the news front but here are the pictures of Koda and his brothers and sister.

Koda- A growing boy loves his food!!

Koda

Bandit Jr.

Jet

Jet (left), Bandit Jr. (middle), Lacey (right)

Lacey

Happy 7th week birthday!!

Well I thought I was going to cancel my blog about my little boy after all the hurtful comments I received. But my dad is right, who ever would say something so hurtful about a little puppy is just plain rude! Jeff and I watch "Ten Things I Hate About You" tonight and I always forget all the good morals that movie can bring. 1) Don't drink a boat load of tequila and hit your head on the chandelier, 2) Washington is the best place to live and the most important of all... Don't listen to all the stupid people in the world who just try to pull you down. I am a very sensitive person and I take things to heart. We lost our other little puppy not even 6 months ago after wanting one for so long and being by his side in the hospital for a week. I just shut down after hearing all of the hurtful comments. But the lovely girls of my small group really seemed disappointed after hearing I was going to stop my blog. I realized I have amazing people in my life who actually want to hear about our puppy and want to build us up.  SOOO I will continue my blog, even when it's 2 am and I can't sleep cause I work such a weird schedule that I dont operate like a normal person anymore.

Well I received a call from Heather (the breeder) and we set up a date and time for us to pick up our little boy. We will be getting our little puppy next Thursday at 10am!!!! It can't come fast enough. She said that our Koda is very curious and loves to play. His mom has been playing a little rough with him and the other pups. This is her first litter and I don't quite thinks she understands these little pups are little! I guess this is just teaching him to prepare for when he comes home. I know my dad will want to wrestle on the floor with him just like he does with this 120lb Bullmastif. (We might have to wait until he gets a little bigger first tho)

I just want to have my little puppy home and know that he is healthy and happy. We have so many plans for him and just want to take him everywhere! Well let the countdown begin... 7 days!!!!