Enzo Blog Week 2

The Enzo Blog: Week 2

Introduction	On Sunday August 27, 2006 I drove home from Lewiston, ID with Enzo, my new dog. Since then, each day has been a mini adventure, often ending with a few calls and e-mails to/from family and friends checking on his progress. So, I decided to join the blogging world and share the experience on this webpage.	Click here for the first week's entries NOTE: The latest entries are now at the top of the page. Go to Week 3 Current page
Saturday Sept. 9, 2006	I apologize for the delay in posting. Enzo and I have had a busy two days. After I posted on Thursday, I gave Enzo a bath. It went reasonably well. Once in the tub (at home), he started just standing there, which worked well. But then he laid down and curled up, making it difficult to rinse. I worked around it and he ended up clean and soft. On Friday afternoon I took him in to work with me. I thought it would be a pretty quiet time there. He did great! He actually looked pretty comfortable walking down the office hallway with me. When in my office he laid down on his blanket and relaxed, even when I was meeting with a student. At the end of the day I met with a colleague in his office and Enzo joined us, sleeping on the floor. I don't know if I'll bring him to work much during the school year on weekdays, but it was good to see him somewhat comfortable. He enjoyed getting petted by everyone. It's not always obvious that he is enjoying it, but when the person stops, he moves a bit closer, indicating where to keep petting him. Today Enzo joined us on a walk through northwest Portland and Forest Park. He was scared when we had to walk under the freeway (too loud!), but seemed to enjoy the cool, quiet path in the park. There were a few other dogs along the way and he wanted to meet each one (top picture at right). We ended the walk at the new Lucky Labrador brewpub in NW, which I had not been to. We didn't stay long because the outdoor seating wasn't very nice and the food selection is not great. We then went to Hedge House, a favorite for their food, beer, and outdoor seating. It took a little time, but Enzo eventually settled down (bottom picture at right). Enzo has made great progress riding in the car. He gets in without prompting and has not thrown up the last several rides. But, he's still had some accidents in the house. We're working on that!
Thursday Sept. 7, 2006	I'm back from Madison, and Enzo is back from his stay in Vancouver, WA. From all reports, he did just fine. By the end of the visit he was even heard (but not seen) playing with some of the other dogs. He apparently did cause quite an ordeal one day at the off-leash park when he refused to get back on the leash and ran all over the 8-acre park, with many humans trying to corral him. When I arrived to pick him up, he greeted me with many doggie hugs and kisses. He got along well with the other dogs and seemed to enjoy being part of the pack, as evidenced by the pictures Jeanne got of him. (Thanks, Jeanne!). I think we'll go to our local dog park soon.
Tuesday Sept. 5, 2006	Today is an early entry. I'm leaving today for a conference in Madison, WI for two nights. Enzo will go stay with Jeanne, who he met last week. This morning I was able to get a couple pictures of Enzo running playfully in the yard. Again, it was after the ear cleaning and medicine. It also happened to be after he ate the piece of tri-tip beef with the dramamine hidden in it. The pictures aren't great, but I had to snap them very quickly. I think you'll get the idea.
Monday Sept. 4, 2006	Where shall I begin? The good or the bad? Well, maybe not that bad, now that some time has passed. Enzo and I took a nice long walk over to the Fremont shopping area. My favorite coffee place (Jim and Patty's) was closed for Labor Day. Starbucks was open and the walk was going well, so I sat down with Enzo at a table out front. He seemed okay, and I was being overly optimistic and decided to go in to get an iced drink. That was a mistake. I got a few steps away, not in the door yet, and he got spooked by something. He was tied to a table and he started to walk away. The table fell over, which made loud noises, which scared him even more. He started dragging the table down the sidewalk, with each step making more terrifying noises that made him run more. I felt horrible. I ran after him and got him to stop. Some nice women helped untie the table and put it back. I comforted Enzo for several minutes. We resumed the walk, with Enzo wanting to go hide away from the street. I eventually got him to cross Fremont so we could walk in the quieter residential area. We made it home, and he seems to have recovered fine. I learned my lesson. I was so annoyed at myself for pushing him too quickly and considered not including this incident here on the blog. But, since he seems to have recovered and I'm trying to give an honest account of things, here it is. On the good side, he's revealing more playfulness, sometimes when least expected. After cleaning his ears this morning, he got very excited. We went outside and he ran around the yard quite a bit. That's something new. He did it again this evening after I gave him the ear medicine. Weird. He is quite sweet and loving and enjoys being petted. When we're at home and in the yard his tail is usually parallel to the ground, rather than pointing straight down, which is a nice change. The picture at the right was from our walk this evening to the park.	Enzo at the park
Sunday Sept. 3, 2006	Enzo has now been with me for a whole week. After yesterday's adventures in the car and at the vet, I decided we should just hang out at home today. We took our morning walk to the park. Enzo did well meeting a few of the neighborhood dogs. We then spent most of the day in the yard, me working and he just hanging out. He does a good job keeping track of where I am and not straying far, all while finding a shady spot to lay down. (See pictures at right) So far he doesn't get excited about the dogs and people passing by, and he hasn't strayed beyond our yard, so I don't have to worry about him much. He seemed to get quite excited by the sound of raking leaves and started running around, but didn't have much interest in chasing a ball. Standard poodles are smart, and Enzo is starting to live up to that reputation. Twice today he sat when I said "sit." Since he has spent most of his time with me standing or laying down, I was worried about him learning that command. It wasn't until the third or fourth day with me that I actually saw him sitting, so I started praising him, "good sit" whenever he happened to be in that position. He's sometimes good at "come." And, he's a bit more interested in food and treats, so I soon should be able to use treats while training him. The verbal praise and petting works now, but the treat incentive should be handy. He's getting better going in and out of the backdoor. He was also good at letting me clean his ears. He's still skittish about many things, including putting the leash on. It will just take many times of doing it without anything bad happening and he'll get over it, I think.

Introduction

On Sunday August 27, 2006 I drove home from Lewiston, ID with Enzo, my new dog. Since then, each day has been a mini adventure, often ending with a few calls and e-mails to/from family and friends checking on his progress. So, I decided to join the blogging world and share the experience on this webpage.

Click here for the first week's entries

NOTE: The latest entries are now at the top of the page.

Go to Week 3

Current page

Saturday
Sept. 9, 2006

I apologize for the delay in posting. Enzo and I have had a busy two days. After I posted on Thursday, I gave Enzo a bath. It went reasonably well. Once in the tub (at home), he started just standing there, which worked well. But then he laid down and curled up, making it difficult to rinse. I worked around it and he ended up clean and soft. On Friday afternoon I took him in to work with me. I thought it would be a pretty quiet time there. He did great! He actually looked pretty comfortable walking down the office hallway with me. When in my office he laid down on his blanket and relaxed, even when I was meeting with a student. At the end of the day I met with a colleague in his office and Enzo joined us, sleeping on the floor. I don't know if I'll bring him to work much during the school year on weekdays, but it was good to see him somewhat comfortable. He enjoyed getting petted by everyone. It's not always obvious that he is enjoying it, but when the person stops, he moves a bit closer, indicating where to keep petting him. Today Enzo joined us on a walk through northwest Portland and Forest Park. He was scared when we had to walk under the freeway (too loud!), but seemed to enjoy the cool, quiet path in the park. There were a few other dogs along the way and he wanted to meet each one (top picture at right). We ended the walk at the new Lucky Labrador brewpub in NW, which I had not been to. We didn't stay long because the outdoor seating wasn't very nice and the food selection is not great. We then went to Hedge House, a favorite for their food, beer, and outdoor seating. It took a little time, but Enzo eventually settled down (bottom picture at right).

Enzo has made great progress riding in the car. He gets in without prompting and has not thrown up the last several rides. But, he's still had some accidents in the house. We're working on that!

Thursday
Sept. 7, 2006

I'm back from Madison, and Enzo is back from his stay in Vancouver, WA. From all reports, he did just fine. By the end of the visit he was even heard (but not seen) playing with some of the other dogs. He apparently did cause quite an ordeal one day at the off-leash park when he refused to get back on the leash and ran all over the 8-acre park, with many humans trying to corral him. When I arrived to pick him up, he greeted me with many doggie hugs and kisses. He got along well with the other dogs and seemed to enjoy being part of the pack, as evidenced by the pictures Jeanne got of him. (Thanks, Jeanne!). I think we'll go to our local dog park soon.

Tuesday
Sept. 5, 2006

Today is an early entry. I'm leaving today for a conference in Madison, WI for two nights. Enzo will go stay with Jeanne, who he met last week. This morning I was able to get a couple pictures of Enzo running playfully in the yard. Again, it was after the ear cleaning and medicine. It also happened to be after he ate the piece of tri-tip beef with the dramamine hidden in it. The pictures aren't great, but I had to snap them very quickly. I think you'll get the idea.

Monday
Sept. 4, 2006

Where shall I begin? The good or the bad? Well, maybe not that bad, now that some time has passed. Enzo and I took a nice long walk over to the Fremont shopping area. My favorite coffee place (Jim and Patty's) was closed for Labor Day. Starbucks was open and the walk was going well, so I sat down with Enzo at a table out front. He seemed okay, and I was being overly optimistic and decided to go in to get an iced drink. That was a mistake. I got a few steps away, not in the door yet, and he got spooked by something. He was tied to a table and he started to walk away. The table fell over, which made loud noises, which scared him even more. He started dragging the table down the sidewalk, with each step making more terrifying noises that made him run more. I felt horrible. I ran after him and got him to stop. Some nice women helped untie the table and put it back. I comforted Enzo for several minutes. We resumed the walk, with Enzo wanting to go hide away from the street. I eventually got him to cross Fremont so we could walk in the quieter residential area. We made it home, and he seems to have recovered fine. I learned my lesson. I was so annoyed at myself for pushing him too quickly and considered not including this incident here on the blog. But, since he seems to have recovered and I'm trying to give an honest account of things, here it is.

On the good side, he's revealing more playfulness, sometimes when least expected. After cleaning his ears this morning, he got very excited. We went outside and he ran around the yard quite a bit. That's something new. He did it again this evening after I gave him the ear medicine. Weird. He is quite sweet and loving and enjoys being petted. When we're at home and in the yard his tail is usually parallel to the ground, rather than pointing straight down, which is a nice change. The picture at the right was from our walk this evening to the park.

Enzo at the park

Sunday
Sept. 3, 2006

Enzo has now been with me for a whole week. After yesterday's adventures in the car and at the vet, I decided we should just hang out at home today. We took our morning walk to the park. Enzo did well meeting a few of the neighborhood dogs. We then spent most of the day in the yard, me working and he just hanging out. He does a good job keeping track of where I am and not straying far, all while finding a shady spot to lay down. (See pictures at right) So far he doesn't get excited about the dogs and people passing by, and he hasn't strayed beyond our yard, so I don't have to worry about him much. He seemed to get quite excited by the sound of raking leaves and started running around, but didn't have much interest in chasing a ball.

Standard poodles are smart, and Enzo is starting to live up to that reputation. Twice today he sat when I said "sit." Since he has spent most of his time with me standing or laying down, I was worried about him learning that command. It wasn't until the third or fourth day with me that I actually saw him sitting, so I started praising him, "good sit" whenever he happened to be in that position. He's sometimes good at "come." And, he's a bit more interested in food and treats, so I soon should be able to use treats while training him. The verbal praise and petting works now, but the treat incentive should be handy.

He's getting better going in and out of the backdoor. He was also good at letting me clean his ears. He's still skittish about many things, including putting the leash on. It will just take many times of doing it without anything bad happening and he'll get over it, I think.