Oh my gosh, I haven't posted about Watson in way too long.

My big tough watchdog

 He is 4 months old today! My, how the time has flown by. We went to the vet today for his last puppy shot and his rabies  shot...he weighed in at 7.3 pounds!! I can't believe it! Average weight for a male mini dachs (full grown) is around 11 pounds...he's almost there!

He jingles now, since I put his rabies tag on. He already had an ID tag. It's nice to be able to hear him wherever he goes. But he keeps trying to eat the tag. He's a genius *eyeroll*

Really though, he is pretty smart. He can (usually) sit on command, and "down" (lay down) is getting there.

Speaking of smart, Little Doctor is also a total sneak! A few weeks ago he had a case of worms and some poo problems, so he was on medicine. He wouldn't take the pill if I tried to hide it in bread or peanut butter, but I hated having to shove it down his throat twice a day. So one morning, I just put it in his bowl with his kibbles, hoping he would just eat it. When I checked later, it was gone. So I did that again. Nice and easy, he eats the pill and I don't have to shove meds down my puppy's throat.

Later though, I was searching for a toy in his little playpen, and lifted up his bed. Guess what I found. Two little pills. Little smarty pants took them out of his bowl, and HID them under his bed!!

Well, after that little stunt, they just kept going down his throat. Smart little booger.

???

Watson can't figure out what Daddy's noise maker is!

Busy boy!

So I haven't posted in a while...Watson has had a very eventful couple of weeks!

Last Monday (3/26) Mommy's friend Frank came over. Frank breeds havanese and chihuahuas, so he knows a lot about puppies! He weighed Watson and gave him a dose of de-wormer, and then gave him his second puppy shot, since Watson was 9 weeks old that day. Daddy and I tried to give him his shot first, but he squirmed a bunch and it went all over when I pushed the plunger, thinking it was in.

So everything was fine after he got his shot (other than him crying like he was in the worst peril imaginable) until...it wasn't. About an hour after he got it, his face ballooned up real bad. Apparently reactions to the 5-way shot are common, especially in smaller breeds. So I ran out to Walmart to get some kids benadryl (at like 1 in the morning) since Frank had warned me of a reaction and what to do about it. It was the first time my baby was sick, I was freaking out!

I stayed up with him until about 4 am, giving him some benadryl every 20 minutes and watching Netflix. He aspirated a bit of the last dose I gave him (I was using a syringe and shoving it to the back of his mouth) and  I was terrified my dog was gonna die and it was going to be all my fault! Frank said it was fine and puppies aspirate sometimes (like when they're still on the teet.) I swung him around a bit to try to get it up, but to no avail. Finally we both went to bed, and he was fine the next morning.

The next day we went to see Lady and Mister, Mommy's parents! They have a nice big yard to sniff in, and they love to pet and play with Watson. Sadly, their beagle Josie, does not really like him. She was my girl when I was younger, and I think she's jealous of Watson. At one point we were all playing in the living room (me, my mom, Watson, and Lola,) and Josie was just sulking in her bed. I felt so bad! Hopefully she'll warm up to him when he gets older, Lola was the same way when he first came home, but they play together all the time now.

The little doctor is also growing so much! He actually looks like a dachshund now, he's so long! He's still learning a lot, but the whole "don't bite fingers and toes" isn't quite computing yet. But he knows lots of words (outside, inside, come, bring it, drop it)...well, sort of. They're definitely starting to click for him, but it's not always 100%. We've worked on "sit" a little here and there, but it's almost time for some hardcore training. My little man will be a gentleman!

If you have any questions or training advice, please leave comments!

Hungry dog!

Watson started carrying his food bowl around...it must be lunchtime!

Yum!

Licking peanut butter out of his new Kong toy. Doesn't he have the prettiest markings?

A real update on the doctor.

Time to have a real update about baby Watson!

He's about 7 1/2 weeks old now, will be 8 on the 19th. He has grown leaps and bounds since we first brought him home, though not quite physically! The only way I can really track his growth right now (since I see him every day and it's hard to notice daily changes) is how tightly his harness is fitting. We go the extra small size, obviously, and at first it was a little too big even when it was on the smallest adjustment. It's getting a little bit tighter now!

His mental growth has been astounding though! Today I discovered that Watson now knows where the kibble is kept. We have it in a tall dog food container, and around noon today he was crying a bunch. I wasn't sure why, until he started scratching at the box! He wanted some lunch!

He is also becoming more independent when we go outside. We live upstairs, so I have to carry him downstairs since he's too little to go down by himself. As soon as we're off the stairs, he starts squirming to be put down. He wants to go by himself! He even hops up and down the small step between the bottom landing and the sidewalk, and the sidewalk and the grass.

He is doing well with his potty training. He potties outside every time we go out. Sometimes he has accidents inside, but I know that's my fault. We're also still having issues with him pottying in his crate, but sometimes it's because we're gone for too long. Overall, though, the pottying is going well.

He loves to play, like all puppies!! He has a small squeaky bunny my sister got for him that we call Bumbi. He also has a small stuffed animal, and a stuffed dinosaur that is about as big as him. His favorite, though, is playing with Mommy's slippers. He drags them all over the house! He also tries to play with Lola (Mommy's sister's chihuahua/rat terrier) but she doesn't really like Watson too much. She mostly growls and runs away. Sometimes she hops up on the couch, because she knows he's too little to get up there on his own.

I'm going to try to start some light training soon, but I know it will be hard because he is so young. My main goal with Watson is for him to become a certified therapy animal, so starting as soon as I can will be best.

Keep checking back for more updates and pictures about the little doctor. He amazes me every day!

This is Watson's favorite toy, mommy's slipper! So glad we didn't spend any money on fancy dog toys!

Meet Watson

Dr. J.H. Watson Dog
Born January 23, 2012
Came home February 29, 2012
Long haired miniature dachshund (purebred, not registered)
Red/black dapple
One of four boys from Chloe Lane and Charlie Daniels