Recently in puppy Category

Ok, i'm kidding with that headline.

I won't be one of those gushing types who thinks their dog is a baby with fur. You know who they are. They dress up their dogs in pink colors and talk to them in a "coo-coo" squeaky voice and blow them kisses like their dog is a two year old.

But, that doesn't take away that Rocco was the best decision I have made in a long time.

I'm bad with change. I like to think things through, weigh the decisions, worry a bit about how things MAY change drastically, and then usually shelve my idea and go back thinking about it later.

Like one thing I was worried about was waking up every morning to walk him. I love to sleep. A lot. I'm the kind of person who falls asleep in cars, trains, airplanes, at the doctors office, while watching TV, I sleep in until 11am on weekends - then take another nap around 3pm that same day.

I didn't like the idea of waking up EVERY DAY at 6am to have to walk my dog.

Good news is that I got used to it. Even better news is that it actually forces me to get up, rather than hit the snooze button, and i'm getting into work on time. That's rare for me.

Plus, Rocco has been good about our morning walks. I go out, we do our business in less than 5 minutes, and he gets fed while I take a shower. He plays with his toys, I get out of the shower and he runs over to lick the water off my ankles while I towel myself dry. He's funny like that.

He only takes 10 minutes out of my mornings, and it was well worth it. What was also made things easier was our time we did with dog training.

I got him into dog training early. We have been practicing a lot, and last night we had our second class with Joana Watsky of Sit And Stay. This time it was a group lesson, held in the Elks Club on 10th and Washington. There were about 12 owners and dogs, being taught various commands by Joana. Rocco did great, he was excited to see the other dogs, but listened to me when we did our commands.

The other owners noticed he was well trained. Some were having issues with their dogs, and I told them what I did with Rocco while we trained to get past some of his walking issues or his fear of stairs.

While talking to the other owners outside, I was telling them how you have to be patient. You have to be consistent. I told them how puppies make mistakes (Sorry Randy!) and you just have to work through it. I told them that Rocco knows when it is time to pee.

I was telling this to a young couple who owned a yellow lab puppy. They looked at me incrediously, like I was lying.

I turned to Rocco and said "Park Time!", which is his command word for "It's time to pee, dude!"

Rocco sniffed for a moment and squatted on the sidewalk.

The lab owner's eyes went wide while watching Rocco and said, "NO WAY!"

After he was finished, I moved Rocco aside, and the tell tale pee spot on the sidewalk was there. I winked and said, "Like I said, he's a good boy."

Thanks to my sister Stacey for that training tip!

It's been now almost two weeks with my new dog, and I figure it is time for an update to those who haven't seen my updates on Facebook.

My new puppy's name is Rocco. He's a French bulldog and this week he will be 10 weeks old. I have a dog walker who sees him twice daily, and send me text messages on how he's holding up. I am doing crate training, and not using wee-pads. He's usually not alone longer than 4 hours.

The first week, he was waking up around 2-3am, and needing to be walked. The last couple of days he has slept through the night, and even this morning was fast asleep when my alarm went off at 6:45am.

He's a very smart doggie. Took only a few days to teach him to respond to "Rocco" and to learn the command "sit". I have scheduled some puppy training from Joana Watsky in a few weeks, to go over what I need to know about raising a puppy. I have been getting a ton of advice from my two sisters, also. My one sister has raised 6 seeing eye dogs, and my other sister has had about 5 different dogs over her lifetime, some rescues and some from breeders.

Rocco's a puppy, and he gets a lot of attention on walks. But, as a puppy, I can't really take him on super-far walks. Our greatest walk was walking from my condo at Newark and Willow over to Church Square Park on 4th and Willow. He had fun chasing pigeons at 7am on Sunday morning. I don't bring him into the dog run yet, because he's not done with his shots yet. He and I have been running into a few problems on walks. He's a bit stubborn, and I expected this before he arrived. We have been working through this by using some tough love (translation: I walk slow, shuffle my feet and keep my leash fixed to my side. He resists a bit, but eventually follows) and a few pieces of kibble when he walks well along side of me. Our normal early evening walk is about a good 30 minute foray, about 10 square blocks or so (maybe walk to 4th street up from Clinton to Park and then along Park back home).

I used Garden State Animal Hospital on 90th and Kennedy in North Bergen for Rocco's care. I won't use the Hoboken Animal Hospital on 6th and Washington after the whole debacle I had with my cat Honey a few years ago (long story short is my cat was misdiagnosed and it cost me $1,500 in unnecessary surgery - also I hear many stories about that particular hospital overcharging pet owners for frivolous things). Others have recommended the Animal Hospital on 6th and Grand. I have a car, and going to Garden State Animal Hospital isn't too far, and the vet there is a specialist in French Bulldogs, so I like that a lot.

He's so far been a very good boy, a few #1 accidents in the condo but I blame myself for not seeing the warning signs fast enough. I'm sure he will get the get the hang of only going outside when his puppy bladder gets bigger and his control is better. I'm taking him out every hour, and 15 minutes after meals & naps.

Every single walk I hear the "Ohhhhh myyyy Godddddd" squeal from a girl who sees Rocco. At first it was funny and I still laugh now, but there are times when i'm just hoping he can go to the bathroom, and have to wave people off. I have been up to Washington Street twice, trying to get Rocco used to people, dogs, sights and sounds. He's been doing very good.

I'm also hoping to find a grass field that is fenced in somewhere in the vicinity where I can take Rocco off leash. If you know of someplace to go (someone suggested Liberty State Park, but I read the rules and it says dogs must be kept on-leash). Have a suggestion? Email me.

Been running into another minor problem with EATING well. Since I have gotten him, my "diet" (not much of a diet, but more about eating right) has been in total flux. Far too often I forget to eat, and I weighed myself the other day and was down 4 pounds between the poor eating and numerous walks. I'm trying this week to get back on track with my diet and exercise, with the last two weeks things have been a bit out of order.

I'll see about getting some new clearer SLR pictures on here in the next week or so.

Well with all the serious talk going around Hoboken these days, how about something fun, and refreshing.

Ever since I bought my condo there seemed to be something just, missing, from my life. I lived with roommates in Hoboken since I moved up here and in some ways they were like a surrogate family or friends that were always at home with me. Now that I lived in my condo alone for two years, it's a bit empty. Even when I lived with roommates and would be watching TV or playing on my computer, it was nice to know there was someone else in the house. Now certainly there's not an exact parallel between a human roommate and a dog, but there's also something there, too. I could have had a cat or a bird or maybe some fish...but I wanted a dog for a very long time.

As some of you know from my Facebook updates, and posts over the last year or so, I have been doing a ton of research into getting a dog. There were lots and lots of factors to consider.

Like...is it right for the dog? I asked Opportunity Barks' Leigh Siegfried about that a few weeks ago, I wrote:

"Hello, I live by myself in a condo. I had dogs all my life, growing up, and my family members and many friends have dogs. I'm an active person, with a fairly busy life, but my weekends & nights are mostly free. I'm interested in getting a new furry friend, but i'm torn with a dilemma. I work about 9-10 hours a day. I certainly can get a dog walker for an afternoon walk, but the dog would be alone most of the day. Is this fair to the dog? I kind of feel guilty for locking up a dog in my condo all day. I'd be around for nights and weekends to be with the dog."

and she replied:

"Look, if everybody that had a dog didn't work 8 hours a day, there would be a lot MORE homeless dogs out there! I think you may want to consider a low energy dog that may already be in foster care, so that the foster folks know that
1. the dog IS crate trained
2. the dog IS comfortable being left alone for hours at a time
3. the dog IS house broken

That sounds like a win-win to me. And remember as you get to know your dog better, they may be able to afford freedom in the house and can get out of the doggie "condo" themselves. Even in a crate, a dog should have multiple things to chew on- kongs, bones, yada, that helps make crate time, less boring and gives a dog access to things to stimulate them.

You can also consider dog daycare if the dog enjoys being around other dogs too, and some walking services even offer mid-day hikes!"

At the time, I was looking to adopt. I did some looking around, getting in contact with various shelters, and viewing what they had available. But, I didn't have a dog jump out at me that was perfect for both me, and the dog.

Some of the factors was that I wanted a low energy dog, a companion breed, that could handle being alone in my home while I was at work. I had my heart set on French Bulldog, Bulldog, Boxer or Boston Terrier. I looked at lots of other breeds, for example, a Labrador Retriever...but didn't think it was fair to have that kind of dog in a condo all day alone.

I know some people are adamantly against dogs being alone at all, but I think Leigh presented a logical argument. The breeder was found by my sister, while we were looking on Petfinder for mixed breed dogs. The French Bulldogs were already 8 weeks old...and available from a registered AKC breeder in Southeast Ohio.

There are friends of mine that very much wanted me to find a homeless dog for my home, and in a way I do feel guilty for not looking longer. But I had to make a decision that was right for me...and right for a dog entering my home. At the end of the day, everyone needs to be happy and this was my decision. I hope that one day I can have more dogs in my life, once I have a home with a backyard, and can help rescue or foster dogs.

I'm very excited at this new chapter of my life. I'm certainly up for any advice from other dog owners and already reading up on what I have to do to "puppy proof" my home.

I don't have a name yet. I have been thinking of a bunch of names and given advice on names like Erving, Scrapple, Rocky, Ben, Will, Krimpet.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments. Shoot me an email at philly2hoboken@gmail.com. Also if anyone can suggest a dog walker in Hoboken, i'm all ears.

In case you didn't understand my title...