Poop in public

Yesterday I took the lawn pooper down to visit Julia for lunch. She had found a nice little cafe (North End Cafe in El Segundo) which served great food and was very dog friendly. They had a big canister of free biscuits for puppy customers and a few dog bowls outside for public use. Finn was so polite and well behaved while eating that we decided to take him to Petsmart and get him some toys as a reward. He was good in the store, walking around and sniffing everything but not biting, (although anytime something squeaked he got a bit rowdy) until we were about to check out. With no warning Finn squatted down and dropped a smelly number 2. Now it was Petsmart, who is prepared for this sort of thing, but it still is embarrassing. Julia got some towels and spray and cleaned everything up. Unfortunatly we had no $6000 designer dresses, but the baggie/towel/spray combo worked just as well.

Finn had relieved himself before we left and was only about an 1.5 hours removed from his last go and he hadn't eaten in a few hours. The whole thing is a big mystery.

On the way home however, he was much better. No longer does he just sit scared in the backseat of the car, trying not to fall over. Now he tests the limits of his harness and even tries to poke his head out the window. This action is highly discouraged, due to chance of injury. His favorite position though is directly in the middle of the back seat, peering forward between the chairs right up at me. I enjoy this becuase any time I hit a stop sign or stop light and I turn around to check on him this is what I see.

Vaccinations

Yesterday Finn received his last round of puppy vaccinations, now he is free to roam the streets and sniff other dogs without fear of contracting some scary disease. I took him to the local pet store's Vet clinic. Although the offices are obviously not as large and well decorated as the normal Vet it was easy enough to make an appointment, if you can call it that. All it took was walking in and filling out a small form. I brought all his records and the Vet looked them over and gave him his shots (Bordetella, the DHLPP combo shot, and a rabies shot) he also made a point to clean out his ears and I left with a three month supply of Revolution which fights off ticks/fleas and heart worm. The Vet and his workers were friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and convenient all things that made the experience easier both for me and likely for Finn too.

The prices of the vaccines were lower than at the vet, despite them being the same things. The Revolution was even the same price as it is at the discount online places. He also put on two pounds since the last time he was at the Vet, not a lot but then again the last visit was only 12 days ago.

For being such a good pup and getting all his shots like a champ Finn was awarded a single pink octopus chew toy. He loves it, pictures later.

Finn and the shower

Finn had his first shower yesterday, partly in an attempt to clean him and partly to see how he does when sprayed with water. I must admit though it didn't seem like he really enjoyed it. Oh sure he has some fine shampoo (which smells of cherries) and the water was the perfect temperature, but the fact that he can not get any footing on the tile made him not to fond of the whole thing. He didn't run out of there, but he wanted to.

As soon as he was out though he gave what might have been the best drying off shake I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Water was flying everywhere, luckily I had prepared a towel for the occasion and was able to block most of it from hitting too many important things (ie. me).

When it was all over I took him back outside where he instantly decided to roll around in the part of the grass he has already dug. Then he finished the drying process by rolling all over his couch (that's him still wet in the picture) which succeeded in dirtying the couch more and ensuring that he stays dusty for another few days. The whole experience wasn't that bad but next time he'll likely be taken to Petco for his grooming.

To the Pet Store...

Today's trip to the pet store netted us the following:
1 Large bag of Dog food
1 Large Kennel
1 Kennel water bottle
1 training choker collar
1o pack of dog bones
1 Lixit faucet attachment
1 dog tie-up
1 portable dog bowl

Although this all ran us a small fortune (somewhere around $200) we saw this coming so it wasn't as bad. And in case it matters, buying a kennel online seems to be about $40 cheaper then in the store.

Also this Lixit seems like a great little product, just screw it onto a normally unpopular outdoor spicket and it turns into a water bottle. Anytime Finn "lix-it" a little bit of water comes out so he can always stay hydrated. All the new stuff got him quite excited so I took him on a little
walk with the training collar which seemed to work well as he stopped pulling on the leash. The heat and walk tired him out so now he's napping in his new kennel, door closed and everything. He seems to take well to the kennel and most other things so at least we can save money not buying videos and books, plus pretty much all training techniques can be found online, like here, here, and here.