Long time no post

Growing pains and coat shedding!

So I haven't posted in quite some time, and I'll admit its simply due to my schedule. Regardless I'd like to update on some of Comet's most recent adventures, at least in terms of his growing changes. He's traded his rather dye-able, stain-able, and raucous puppy coat for a more downy undercoat. His most recent guard hairs are falling away and revealing the very, very soft undercoat he has growing underneath. Regardless of this he can't really stand the heat any better, but thats really more due to his younger puppy system, as his body isn't still up to date on regulating ambient temperature.

Some teeth have officially fallen out! Voila, big-boy front incisors, though the puppy canines are still firmly in place.. which is unfortunate, considering that his bottom puppy canines have a tendency to cut into his top gums. I'm hoping the intruding incisors (including the bottoms, more recently) will space out his mouth a bit more, and quit allowing his baby teeth to slice his gums.

Feeding has been great, much better than his previous attempts at keeping a schedule, though I'll admit the double feeding is probably a better bet than feeding him three times a day. He basically ignores his first meal, and simply waits for lunch/dinner. This has the unfortunate side effect of loose, erratic stool. He'll dispense his innards at more random times, and with more run, than if I only feed him breakfast and dinner. A bit of research from the Great Dane Lady finds this normal, and I simply have a dog that prefers twice, rather than thrice, day feeding. Since switching, he's had fewer bowel movements, and they've been solid and healthy.

So much for talking of stool, huh? Haha.

I posted about the incident in the Shiloh Forums, but I'll leave it to say I'm insanely proud of my puppy, considering he's showing all the attributes I could ever hope for in a dog. After proving that he is willing and capable of not only detecting, but defending against threats to my household.. I couldn't ask for more. I was so surprised and so thrilled with his immediate guarding instinct, I'm not sure I could have found a better dog. When interacting with people and other dogs, he's friendly and trusting, the epitome of "well-mannered", I was almost worried he wouldn't know what to do in face of a threat. I was proved wrong, and couldn't be more pleased. I know, in the future, people will cross the street to avoid him at full-growth, but thats okay with me. Thats his job, and I won't begrudge him that! Thanks Ma, you've given this world a fantastic canine, and nobody is more grateful than your Shiloh fandom and breeding community.

Fourth of July and then some

Oh no, fireworks!

So I was looking towards the fourth with a little more trepidation than usual, since I wasn't entirely sure what to expect out of Comet and the kittens. As it turns out.. I had nothing to worry about. I'm sure Ma would have slapped my hands and said "well DUH." In any case, we had a very nasty wet rainy day on the fourth.. and though Jinx was over to keep him busy, both dogs desperately needed a walk. By the time the rain had subsided enough to get some of the kinks out of their legs.. it was closer to 8PM and the WHOLE neighborhood was lit up with firecrackers. I'm talking fireworks being shot off not 5ft from where I stood at one point. Normally I wouldn't have ventured into this, if only for the smoke clogging the air and the possibility of a badly aimed firework, but by the time it became dangerous enough to turn around, we were already on our way out of the complex.. so we trudged forward.

Comet was a champ, totally and completely in control. I am utterly impressed with his nature and how he took everything in stride. His leash manners were perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better companion.

He ate and slept soundly that night and only would periodically pause when a particularly loud firework went off--and at most he tilted his head, haha.

Unfortunately.. Comet came down ill not long after, and caused me a great deal of panic and anxiety. His stools were acidic and causing him rectal inflammation. I have since dewormed him with Safe-guard, which because it utilized fenbendazole, will take out quite a few bacterial infections if they're present. Luckily we had turned in a stool sample to the vet previous to his sudden illness, and he was positive for Giardia. I have combed every inch of my house, my yard.. toys, bowls, EVERYTHING, in order to eliminate residual sources from his personal areas. I don't know where he was infected, but it has now passed and his energy levels are higher than ever. Jinx has also been dewormed with safeguard, though she shows no signs of parasitic/bacterial infection, just to be sure.

I can't express how relieved I am now that he's healthy, that whole week was a nightmare--not being able to rouse him long enough to go outside, watching him whine as he tried to eliminate. It was almost too much.

Since then life has been a breeze.. compared to that week, I can handle anything it feels like! He's bouncy and responding to training very well, and eating like a champ. Heres to hoping for nothing but positive posts here on out, huh?

Comfortable

Settled in and wreaking havoc!

Its been over a week now and the house has been retrofitted a few times to fit his escapee tendencies, and he's begun to really relax in his chosen settings. He's allowed the kitchen, porch, and backyard in separate doses until he can learn to control himself, haha. I have a new set of photos that were uploaded, yet however uploaded to the wrong folder.. I'll be transferring them so they're more easily discernible.

Some good news, in the very least. It has become more and more obvious that his undescended testicles are not going to stay offended for long, as they make flashy appearances every once and a while. Our recent visit to the vet confirmed this, as well, as even though he decided to hide them once more, she could still identify them in place. This particular vet visit revealed much of what we expected - alot of "Oh my, he's big" and explaining precisely what kind of breed a Shiloh is. Its rather funny, to me at least, since Mark gets exasperated with my recited litany every time someone asks me what a Shiloh is. I refuse to just let the subject drop without getting my 2 cents in worth of education :P

As for health, his weight has increased to approximately 18lbs (varying based on whether he's eaten recently or not.. xD), yet still is very touch and go about eating. We've found he's very very picky, and will need some sterner obligation to feed. I've, therefore, begun the training on being released from the crate once he's eaten from the bowl.. with some time, he'll learn that the only way to get released will be to finish his meal. It stirs up some negativity about the crate, but he already harbors some resentment to be crated in the middle of the day when the cats are much, much more interesting .. :P I'm not worried, the late-night crying has long since ceased.

Perhaps we'll have a fresh wave of exciting news in a week, he'll be attending Puppy Playtime for the first time tomorrow morning (My workplace offers a safe puppy socialization hour to educate and get non-rabies vaccinated puppies some time out). Here's to hoping he doesn't scare the more touchy pet parents off with his loud mouth!!

Day 1

Moving past the travel trauma

So today was the day, and everything almost went according to plans.. almost. The final flight was slightly delayed, causing the pickup to be closer to 7 PM rather than 6, but thats

alright, Mark was there and waiting regardless. I got my first encounter finally when he arrived at my workplace, to which my coworkers eyeballed his size and queried, "How old is he..?" He wasn't terribly thrilled at being there, having only just arrived after a very long and unpleasant voyage, but we got home in one piece. He was much better on the second car ride, being sang to and whatnot :P I'm never more confident than when I'm singing, and it transmitted to him, and he calmed right down and napped for the 20mins home.

My cats.. were not pleased. They themselves haven't been with me too too long, and had only recently adjusted to Jinx--but Jasper calmed down within a few minutes (Milo disappeared for an hour..). I wish I had a picture of them fuzzed, its hilarious.

He was led in, of his own volition, into the house and to his area - his crate, essentially, though the whole kitchen is puppy proofed and will be our staging grounds for the next couple of months. Spent about 30mins-1hr getting him comfortable with his crate, which

worked very well. Not long after he was carrying his favorite toy items into the crate for storage - I'm thrilled! He calmed down enough to eat, which led to his outdoor adventures..

Jinx was with us at this time, and she loves her outdoor time, and was particularly hyper since Dad didn't come home on time today! Comet was confused, but eventually settled down to eliminate (after being harassed by an excited Aussie). No accidents tonight :) That was only the first of two successful potty times, he'll be a pro in no time at all.

All the pictures of Day 1 are in my Picasa webaccount linked on the right (6/24).

Waiting Impatiently

Tuesday - Final confirmations & unsuspecting Bengals

So after a few hectic phone calls and email relays with Ma (Tina Barber), the soon-to-be shiloh member of my household is schedule to be en-route to Melbourne Airport two days from now. Its a tad unfortunate that I have unavoidable work until 7, and need to send my better half to pick the fluffball up. Delta was surprisingly easy to handle and didn't fuss about my adding his name to the pickup list.. but then again, they're all backwards about animal transport anyways. Who ever heard of Pit Bulls expiring in 70 degree weather? If you're confused.. Mark had done a little background research on how airlines regulate dog shipping, and brachycephalic animals have special conditions. That in itself isn't surprising, except that they have an idea that flat-faced pugs and bulldogs will somehow immediately expire in "hot" weather.. which is.. apparently, 70 degrees. Maybe he read it wrong, or maybe the airline companies are complete whack jobs. Probably both. I'll add on here that they included AmStaffs and Pit bulls on that list, I guess jowls=flat face, who knew?!

Anyways, Messire Comet has a crate, a room, and plenty of chews waiting for him upon his arrival. I have my whole gameplan of easing his transition in mind, and my lists/charts are updated and awaiting data input.