At the park. Ready to play.
The Times has a piece today about a study that reports that when a dog's tail wags disproportionately to one side or the other, it suggests specific emotions. If it wags to the left, he or she is having negative feelings, and if the tail wags more to the right, the dog is happy and having positive feelings.
What if your dog's tail is all curly and you can't tell which way it's going?
"curly Q" image not of olive by *kaishin*.
It is really tough for me to try to create a post on this blog without pictures. I just don't see the point. But I suppose, someone might be missing out on the weekend happenings of our little family...
Friday we left Olive at home for the evening and went to a concert. This is one of the first few, real, "grown-up" events that we have gone to since she arrived, but it was just down the block, so not too far. I always feel such guilt leaving her at home when I very well could be spending time with her. This is only because we crate her all day while we are at work. It wouldn't be like this if the guilt from "Oh, but how will you work all day and leave her at home? Poor thing!" wasn't everywhere. Geez, dogs live in NYC with owners that work full-time all of the time. They survive. They are not mistreated, harmed, or abused. They are healthy and loved, thankyouverymuch. I can't STAND people who say that to me upon learning that I have a puppy.
The concert was great, Erin McKeown. She is just so darned cute and fun to watch!
On Saturday morning, Olive woke me up at an unusual 4-something. I think. I was so tired I don't remember. I usually like the early morning time with her. It is just her and I while the Jess-ter puts in her ear plugs and sleeps. Or, at least, tries to. I make coffee and spend some time cuddling or just let her be in my lap doing whatever she wants. Chewing, most likely.
But this morning was just TOO early. I took her outside when it was a little more reasonable of a time. The gay-boy-bar was just shutting down their gates from the prior night (!). After the walk and play session/and or cuddle session, she is awake. Simply, awake. I do not give her breakfast until 7, so that is quite a while to wait. But, she usually does fine and she did fine on Saturday. The weather was what begged us to come outside and play. In my groggy state waiting to give her breakfast I fashioned the bright idea that I would take her to the big park for a play session during the off-leash hours.
I decided that I would take her to the park. The park is a full 4 blocks uphill. This is a lot for a little pug to walk on her second walk of the day. But I thought we'd try it. And I am happy we did. It was quite an idea, on my part, to bring a 4 month old pug puppy to the park where neither of us have ever been, let alone know where to go. I knew the off-leash hours were until 9am, but that was about all I knew. I had heard of pugs meeting on a certain hill, (no, not PUG HILL, that is in Central Park. We were still in our neighborhood of Brooklyn after all) but I wasn't sure when or where that was. So we just went in. I kept her on the leash and we walked in the grass. She enjoyed the sunshine and had a lot of sniffing to do! There were so many new smells and she was very excited. She had no trouble peeing outside eventually (hooray!) and we walked further into the park on various paths until we came upon a valley. The valley extended into the main grass area of the park and it was in this area that THOUSANDS of dogs ran, off leash, so happy to be in the sunshine! A beautiful sight. It was perfect because we didn't know where we were going towards, and then we come to the crest of a little hill and BAM! Doggie-heaven!
I was sort of following some smaller dogs since I wasn't sure Olive would know what to do with all of the big dogs. But since she had her first meeting with her cousins, Gertie the chihuahua, and Lexie, of Lexie Lew fame, I figured she wouldn't do much except let others play with her. She is certainly not very aggressive, more like brave and thinks she is much bigger than she is, but none of those qualities really worried me.
So, I found a good spot and unhooked her leash. I didn't come prepared with a toy or anything, which was stupid on my part since I was all by myself, but I learned and brought one on Sunday when we returned. She ran a little and generally didn't bother any other dogs and they didn't bother her. But then, further up the hill, I spotted the trot. The black face in the distance...another pug!
Through the thousands of dogs, they found each other! "OB-One" was his name. He was a big snorter of a guy and just wanted to stand around until Olive got him to muster up some energy and CHASE her! She got him to bark and really let loose! They were so cute together. She ran circles around us, herding, as she likes to do, and he chased after her for a couple of rounds. I was so excited that she found another pug because as soon as he came over, she suddenly KNEW what to do! Amazing! OB-One's Mom and Dad talked to me about how they play differently than other dogs and it really is true. I thought it was just Olive being young and not knowing how, but it might just be pugs. They have little spurts of really intense energy and then none at all. Too funny! We went back home after an hour so the Jess-ter didn't wake up to us missing. She walked very well on her way home (probably because she was tired!) and we brought the Jess-ter with us Sunday morning! So fun! Sunday was not nearly as crowded because we went an hour earlier, but it was still cool to show the Jess-ter where and what specifically, we were doing during that morning.
I am so glad the weather is finally nice enough to take Olive to the park and have both of us enjoy it! She is learning how to walk much better on her leash, plus learning the off-leash park etiquette. She is growing a lot, too! I am worried she is overweight already, but I think I am going to be forever paranoid about that with the pug breed! The doctor said she was fine last week so I don't have any reason to believe this, but still, I don't want her to be an overweight doggie.
ALSO! In the most exciting news, she can finally go up the stairs in the apartment building!! The inside, steep ones to get to our actual apartment door. She goes up all 2 flights and I still can't believe it! She is so cute when she goes up, too, her round little body swaying back and forth taking each giant step with all of her might! There is a dog run at another playground-type park just down the block. We will be exploring that one this evening after work! I hope she continues to be a good, growing puppy.
Another thing I hate: when other dog owners think that she is too young or little to play nicely. A dog approaches and they sniff each other. Olive's first usual reaction is to jump up on them to get a better view. She doesn't really "jump" as much as place her front paws on their back. Perhaps the owner might not like this and view it as aggressive or unconventional, but it really isn't. She is just very small with funny eyes so therefore would like a better view. The doggies usually begin playing or whatever until they ask, "How old is she?" "4 months." Then they usually take their dog away. What's with that? I know they are being protective of her, that they don't want their big dog accidentally hurting my little dog, but when it is a full grown chihuahua? Seriously? Why do you HATE PUPPIES?? I want to answer any questions from now on with: "5 months." or "4 months, but she's tougher than she looks." or lie and say "A year. She's just a miniature pug." HAHA!
As "punishment" for waking up so freakin' early this morning, I subjected Olive to a dress-up session and photo shoot. Here is the evidence of my cruelty:
put on this polo shirt, and look at the treat...
OKAY, since you are being cooperative you can have your breakfast 20 minutes early.
Close-up and photoshopped
I think that Saturday's events have changed me forever. I am a new puppy, everydoggy.
Somehow, after braving the noise that is the NYC subway, I made it to the Upper West Side with mommy for the pug meetup! Waiting for the train was the worst part and I cried a bunch, which caused people to realize that I was indeed a dog, inside a giant pink and gold purse. Once I got on the train, I got very comfortable, rested my head on mommy's arm and alternated between sleep and admiring myself in the reflective silver walls. If only that loud conductor wouldn't come on every two minutes and announce something unintelligable and wake me up! So rude!
When we got there, I walked like a good girl into the park and into the dog run area. This park had a small dog run and a large dog run. The pugs were in the small dog one and as soon as I entered, mommy undid my leash and everydoggy went wild over me! All of the boy pugs did A LOT of sniffing, but I held my own and didn't let them overwhelm me. Then, I ran around and 
around in fast circles as all of the other dogs chased me! It was so much fun. I loved to be chased! If they ever caught me, I did flips around them and one time I did a double barrel roll on my tummy and got right up afterwards to continue playing! I'm tougher than I look, okay? I loved seeing all of the pugs and licked a lot of smooshed faces. One dog in particular was very nice to me. Her name was Daisy and she was a much older, big girl pug. She would stand on the bench and I would put my paws up with her and she would lean down and we would lick each other! Daisy's mom got some pictures, but we only ever did it for split second intervals so it was nearly impossible to catch on film. Heh. (Mom's note: there would be more pictures, but since I was new to the meetup, I was a little intimidated and not so comfortable whipping out the camera and snapping a million pictures. Plus, Olive was hardly ever still and the camera doesn't do "action" so well...oh well...you can see her "resting" in the shade above.) Daisy and I loved to give each other kisses. I think I was reminded a little bit of my old dog-mommy. After Daisy left, most of the other dogs were gone by then anyway since the train took so long to come and we were late, so we walked the three big blocks over to The New York Dog Shop, which was having a grand opening celebration and SALE!
The walk was so nice. The Upper West Side is where I belong! There is no garbage like in my neighborhood and therefore I walk like such a good girl...Mommy couldn't believe it! They have little elevated boxes around all of the trees so I knew that when I stepped up there, that was where I was supposed to do my business. I peed outside THREE times!!! That is more than I ever have before!
At the shop, I got treats and was passed around to different arms, which I didn't mind at all. I was nice to all of the other doggies, though they would get jealous when their owners wanted to admire me! I eventually fell asleep in someone's arms while Mommy shopped (& drank Cristal!) and when I woke up, it was time to go home! I slept the whole way home on the train as well. I was so quiet that some tourists didn't even know I was in my carrier (which is quite silly, since I had my head out the side) until I started SNORING!
I had a lovely time and now feel more comfortable peeing outside. Generally, after this excursion, I am better on my leash. I guess it just takes practice on
my part and patience on mom's.
At the sale, I got some very nice things. A pink polo shirt, a bigger Puppia harness for when I grow out of this one (they were such a deal Mommy couldn't believe it!), this dress, my same black Puppia puffy vest in the next size up, and last but not least, a pink pearl necklace! I think Mommy loved shopping for me with all of the sales. She even stayed (mostly) within her budget! Go Mom!
Hey everydoggy!
It's been a while, but I have just been too busy to post. Plus, mom thinks that if there aren't any current pics of me available for posting, it just isn't worth it, but whatever.
I have been up to so much mischief! Lately, I LOVE to bite. I mean, LOVE. IT. My mommies got me some new toys to hopefully cure me of this, but even though I LOVE my new toys, I LOVE mommy's toes EVEN MORE! Teehee.
So, first, I joined the club and got a loofah dog. A pink one, of course. I really like this one, but I think some stuffing is already coming out after 2 days of good chewing and general ruffing it up. I also got these two Petstages toys. 
Boy do I love those! This one can be frozen and so it feels soooooo good on my gums and teeth. I'm teething, you know. 
I like this one for tug-o-war, and I generally am occupied by these toys for a much longer period of time than others. Yes!
Finally, Mom got with the program and actually put something tasty in my pink puppy-Kong. She puts this yummy-tasting stuff that comes out of a can...I think it says something like "Kong stuffer" on it for Puppies...well, I looooove it! The first squirt kind of exploded all over the place so there was a lot of extra to lick up....lucky me! I chewed the Kong for a long time, much longer than usual, without the yummy goo inside. And today I still wanted to chew it! Even after the yummy stuff was gone! Just the residual taste was good enough for me!
Mommy says I have to go to the vet tonight, but I don't mind. Everyone there loves me and they give me sooooooo much attention.
On Saturday I am going to my first pug meetup in Manhattan. Or at least, Mommy and I are trying to go. The Jess-ter is going to some sort of "baseball game." Whatever that is. So she won't be able to help Mommy take me on the subway into the city from Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure I'll convince her to take me anyway, since I am usually pretty good and quiet in my carrier, but we shall see. There is also a grand opening celebration of a dog boutique right near where the pug meetup is! I think my new coat has already gotten a little, um, tight so I want the next size up...What? I'm a growing puppy! This store is where my mommy ordered this coat from online and they are actually opening a real one, so I'm excited. Plus, there is this talk of "sales." I don't know what those are yet, but the way mommy gets so excited about them, I'm sure when I find out it will be great!
Puppy puggy kisses!
These were taken with the Jess-ter's camera, which finally got fixed and finally got a connector cord. It is much faster than mine. And generally better. She is still quite squirmy to capture on film the way we want her.
Hm...her two mommies did not influence this picture at all. This is one of her favorite toys. Bad Olive! 
A series on her Lexie Lew bed. Before it was taken away.
She likes to try and chew on beer bottles. I guess since they are cold on her puppy-teething gums??! 
Watching TV.
Another favorite spot to chew. She also barks and scratches at the floor in this area.
I am convinced Olive's brain is very large. Larger than average for a puppy her age. The Jess-ter does not agree. This morning while waiting for our subway transfer I tried to "prove" to her why I thought she was so smart. I couldn't really gather many examples, but now that I think more about it, our morning makes a nice example.
This morning, Olive woke up with the sun at her usual 6-ish. She always wakes up between 6 and 6:30 because no matter what, those curtains we have are simply not complete black-out shades. This is normal and fine by me. It gives us the right amount of time if we all wake up on her schedule. She began whining, but not badly and no barking. So I let her out, she went straight to her piddle pad, relieved herself and then waited patiently while I used the bathroom for a treat. She might have even been...(gasp!)...sitting! She was then unusually good by climbing onto my lap as soon as she saw her harness. She helped by putting her head through and was very quiet, patient, and cooperative after that while I carried her downstairs to go out.
She left the apartment building on her own. (Sometimes, you have to pick her up for the entry-way part and just place her outside once you are out, but this time she walked right out the door on her own accord!) She walked pretty well, meaning only minor pulling and biting of the leash and eating garbage off the ground and as soon as we turned the corner off of the main avenue we live on, she moved to the side (to the side! the side!) of the sidewalk to do her #2. She had a beautiful little squat in which she did not move all around (i.e. didn't accidentally step in it while she was going) and then moved out of my way and SAT, waiting for her treat! I cleaned it up, gave her the treat, and then she was all frisky and ran down the rest of the block. I'll admit, she wasn't as good after that. She keeps trying to bite her leash as she is walking/prancing!
She walked as far as she could right into the apartment (until the stairs that are steep even for humans) and was happy to lick the Jess-ter when I put her in bed with her to say good morning. She did not bark for her breakfast and when she piddled again she sat right after to wait for her treat! Such a smart and good girl! We are finally getting the hang of this, I think! It really helps that we automatically have a pretty strict schedule due to our jobs and commuting.
When it was time to leave, she could sense that it was time for her to be in her crate from the typical scuffling of last minute bathroom touch-ups, gathering of coats, and assembling of bags. We put all of her toys in her crate with her, I put on my coat, I went into the kitchen to get her goodbye treat, and when I turned around she was nicely sitting in her crate on her make-shift bed! She knew we were leaving and that she had to get ready with us, too! Perfect little girl...
Alas, her extreme intelligence might be due to the fact that she finally has begun to understand this:
doing what they want = treats.
I was reading this article all about schedule-based training as opposed to crate or paper training, and I think we are doing a pretty good job keeping her "schedule-based" all along and we didn't even know it. Harrah!
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And now, for some cute bath pictures from the weekend! Since she is so small and therefore easy to control, she does not give us too much trouble in the bath. This was her first time in the actual bathtub, as opposed to the kitchen sink which we used before.
I thought this was cool enough to post twice.
This neat program randomly generates any text of your choice using photos in Flickr. Check it:
Although Nat seems to think Olive knows her name to the point of coming when called, I tend to think it's closer to working only 50% of the time. I don't think we're helping her to learn her name, however, when we call her so many different things! I'll admit my guilt in using the occassional Wrinkle Face or Besita, but I've heard Nat coo the below to Olive, just within the last week!
