BlackJack Peed My Pants . . .

and more tales from the puppy who’s taken over our lives!

Ok, I promise every post is not going to be about the puppy. But these stories just must be told!

So we’ve been working on house training BlackJack and he’s been doing pretty well. He had gone 11 straight days without an accident until last night. After work I decided to take him to go play at Tempe Town Lake. I don’t usually do this on a weeknight but I was feeling bad about his nose that he cut on his kennel while trying to drag his bedding out that morning. Anyway, he had a long walk, several potty stops and we came home. An hour or two later I got up to pee. Sorry if this is graphic! I left the bathroom door open so he didn’t freak out being alone. He followed me in through the bedroom and grabbed a pair of my panties and took off with them. This is not unusual. He’s taken a liking to my panties and bras. Any clothing really but panties seem to be his favorite. He’s definitely a BOY. I yelled for him to stop but figured I’d take care of business first before going after him. As I’m peeing I thought it sounded kind of loud or like there was an echo or something. When I’d stopped peeing I was still hearing peeing! So I yelled at BlackJack to stop! I jumped off the toilet and arrived at the crime scene. Not only had BlackJack had an accident, he had it RIGHT ON my panties he’d stolen! They were soaked and the carpet underneath it was too! I didn’t know how to stop laughing long enough to scold him! BlackJack peed my pants! I’m chalking it up to noise. He heard me peeing and it made him have to go. So he’s still 11 days and counting in my book . . .

On a sidenote, BlackJack can swim! We took him on a playdate last weekend to a friend’s house. They have a 4 year old Beagle named Archie. The two of them didn’t get along wonderfully. BlackJack would chase Archie and try to jump on him and nip at his ears and Archie would howl in protest at the annoying puppy that wouldn’t leave him alone. Anyway, later that night BlackJack was outside in their backyard by the pool where some of our friends were learning how to scuba dive in full gear. BlackJack was next to the edge of the pool and apparently just kind of decided to jump off the side and join them. BlackJack went under and then came back up and frantically swam to the side. But then he couldn’t get out so Steve reached in and picked him up. We need to teach him to swim towards the stairs! But I guess it’s true, they don’t call it doggy paddling for nothing!

BlackJack Update

We've had our new puppy 2 weeks now and he has kept us on our toes! The house training is coming along and accidents are becoming less frequent, but we've still gone through almost an entire bottle of rug cleaner. We're also finding out which types of toys he likes, and which couch corners he prefers to chew on. That would be all of them.

BlackJack is so well-behaved in public one would never think he has an hour or two each night where he goes crazy at home chewing on everything and nipping and biting at us when we try to stop him. We're practicing Cesar Millan's techniques on being a calm-assertive pack leader. It takes patience, but it's very fascinating stuff.

BlackJack had his first vet appointment Friday where he received antibiotics for a respiratory infection. Poor guy, he's had it since we got him but the vet kept rescheduling our appointments. Now he's medicated and he can finally get the last of his shots next week.

This morning we took our weekly outing to Tempe Town Lake for a long walk. We tire him out so when we get home we have a few hours to get things done around the house. He's a little bundle of energy and when he's out of his kennel we have to watch him every second to make sure he doesn't a) have an accident b) dig up the carpet or c) chew up the furniture. In that order.

BlackJack is fascinated with grass. Seeing as he doesn't experience it much here in Phoenix, when he does he goes to town. And by that I mean he tries to eat ALL of it. Here he is with a blade of it stuck between his teeth. (click on the picture to maximize and see the grass)



And here I am trying to get it out of his teeth, not very successfully.



Focused on a passerby:



Running. Look at those ears flop! And I don't mean mine . . .



After the walk we took a trip to PetSmart so BlackJack could sniff out other dogs and we could have fun shopping for toys and dog treats. He's a pretty scary puppy as you can see . . .



Here's BlackJack when we got back from a potty break to find Steve vacuuming. BlackJack was freaked out and ran as fast as he could from the door to behind the couch where he could still see the monster vacuum but was at a safe distance so as not to be eaten. Hmm, perhaps we could work the vacuum in as a part of the discipline process . . .



One of his favorite toys: an innocent white teddy bear he is determined to shake the life out of. He moves so fast we have a hard time getting still shots.



Rawhide . . . the puppy pacifier! He'll chew on these for hours at a time. Also referred to as our "wit's end" toy.



Typical BlackJack when we're cooking in the kitchen. He likes to be wherever the action is. I have to be careful he doesn't stick his head in the hot oven when I open it, he just MUST see where the smell is coming from.



And finally, his favorite playing position. Watch out, this is PG-13. Just when we're fed up with him he goes into this playing position and we can't help but laugh! He's so funny!