Is my puppy 17 weeks old already?!?

Thinking back, it seems like we brought Dobey home just last weekend, but it feels like a lifetime ago! I can't believe I have such a wonderful and amazing puppy to call my own!

We've had quite a few hurdles to overcome since bring Dobey home. So, let's recap the last +6 weeks...

Jason and I bought a condo back in January that was under construction until June. During that time, we were assured over and over that the sun deck located on our floor was also to be used as a dog run. How wonderful would it be to run a little baby puppy just 20ft outside as he learns where to go (and not go!)? He attempted to poop in the bedroom his 1st night, but our startled reaction to his squatting probably scared him enough to learn to only poop outside. And, other than a few random piddle accidents during brief, unsupervised moments, he was basically house broken within 2 weeks! He LOVED the sun deck and we loved the convenience of not having to deal with elevators, lobby and doormen while Dobey had minimal bladder control functions. Who else do you know who’s puppy NEVER pooped in the house and was trained to only go outside within 2 weeks of bringing him home?!

Then...we received an email from the condo property manager stating that from here on out, absolutely no dogs are allowed on the sun deck. Umm, what?!? The use of the sun deck was the #1 aspect that sold us on this building, or else we would have bought a condo 2 blocks over that also offered a dog run on their sun deck. So, obviously, this was a case of bait & switch. And, now that I have my wonderful puppy, who has learned within 2 weeks of being home to ONLY go out the sun deck, we can no longer bring him out there. His potty world was basically taken from him. He was too scared of going inside on the puppy pads in fear of getting yelled at. He was too young to go to the dog park, and he was still not fully leash broken. I remember one night, roughly 2 days after finding out the news (and 2 days without pooping!), sitting on our bathroom floor in tears, watching my puppy whimper and cry because he had to poop so badly but was too scared to poop inside on the puppy pads. It was heart wrenching to see this little puppy so confused and in probable pain from the back-up. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do.

The next few days, we kept taking Dobey on walks around the block. Since he finally HAD to be on the leash, he quickly accepted his new limitation, thanks to all the fun distractions and smells around him. We took Dobey to the dog park and watched him interact with all the varieties of dogs. Dobey impressed us from the start! He was submissive yet curious and was equally interested in both dogs and their owners. Of course, we quickly learned "What goes around, comes around"...which has become the motto in our home.

But, to no fault of our own…Dobey picked up a parasite. The lack of sun deck pushed us to bring Dobey to the dog park a bit too early. We found out about the bug, coincidentally, at one of his regular routine vet visits. Dobey was acting fine, no vomit or diarrhea. We did notice how awful his poop started to smell a day before, but didn’t know that that was an indicator that something was wrong. Fortunately, we must have caught the parasite early as Dobey never had any of the normal symptoms of Giardia, which is contagious to humans, too….eek! I read a few blogs and forum posts on mycorgi.com from other Corgi owners who had boughts of the same parasite with their dogs, and let me tell you…we had it easy! (just thinking about the descriptions of what their owners came home to is absolutely horrendous!...I’ll spare you the details.)

So, Dobey was given a 5-day course of antibiotics and we treated it like a kid with lice: Wash Everything. Dobey got a bath on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th day of treatment, his bedding and toys were washed and swapped out daily, and of course…NO more dog park. During his 5-day treatment, you wouldn’t have known he was a sick puppy. I think he actually liked the taste of the antibiotic, but was definitely not happy about not being allowed up on the bed anymore!

After his treatment was complete, his new fecal sample came back clear of all parasites! Yay! Mommy did her job of not re-infecting her puppy and puppy did his job of NOT eating weird things. We still haven’t brought him back to the dog park as we’re waiting until he completes all his vaccinations. Instead, we just walk him around the block, venturing further every so often.

Another recent hurdle is Jason’s new job position, which requires him to travel for work. He’s been gone for the last 2 weeks, coming home late on Fridays and leaving at 5am on Mondays to catch a plane to wherever. He’ll be gone again all this week, too. Of course, Dobey has been all thrown off by Mommy being solo caregiver. For the 1st few days that Jason was MIA, Dobey had a bit of stress diarrhea, but more noticeably, his 1st case of separation anxiety. He also became even MORE interested in the people walking by on the street in hopes that the next pedestrian could be Jason. But, after 2-3 days into Jason’s absence, Dobey seemed to “forget” and went right back into his normal routine.

Of course, I am not happy about Jason’s new traveling position. I never planned on being the only one taking care of Dobey, especially as a puppy. Dobey is definitely in that bonding stage. I fear that he might only be bonding with me and could potentially become possessive or dominant. It doesn’t seem like that’s the case at the moment because Dobey seems to be the happiest when Jason’s home and he has both Mommy and Daddy to play with on the weekends.

So that brings us up to date. There have been a few unforeseen set-backs, but you just got to deal with them as they come. Dobey is noticeable growing up, and it gets me so excited whenever I catch glimpses of him looking sort of like an adult Corgi. Of course, as a puppy, he’s been a ball of energy, biting hands, pulling on pant legs, eating anything on the floor, etc. But recently, Dobey’s cognitive learning has increased dramatically. He’s learning right from wrong, bad boy vs. good boy, and retaining that info for the next time that situation occurs. He’s even calmed down enough to enjoy some brief cuddle moments without the urge to snap at my nose or chomp on my hands.

I feel really bad admitting this, and no one seems to understand, but I am so excited for Dobey to grow up. I know what’s to come: companionship, unconditional love, and a happy dog who loves to learn new things. And of course, puppies are simply a handful! Which is exactly why it’s taken me so long to sit down and write my 1st blog entry….I just haven’t had the time or energy. But, now that Dobey’s a little less of a destroyer, I feel confident that I will continue updating and keeping in touch with fellow Corgi owners!