Lost a 3rd tooth!

Sanders lost a 3rd tooth overnight last night! It is amazing how quickly the new teeth come in. His 2 front teeth are already visible..and the 3rd one is starting to really push through!!

Christmas has come and gone! Finally an update!

I'm sorry to all you loyal Sanders fans out there! Seems December snuck up on us in an extraordinarily busy way! We've been so busy that we obviously haven't updated the site. Thanks to Mom and Paula....the much anticipated update is finally here!

December has been great without the cast on Sanders' leg. He is running around very happily, and is starting to enter puppy adolescence. He was doing so great with all his commands...and now he seems to have forgotten the most important one..."COME". He thinks it is a game now, as he runs right by us when we call him...if he even acknowledges hearing us.

We have gotten a bit of snow here...and have learned how difficult Sanders' coat may be in these conditions. Even with his short hair, we took him for a walk around the block before anyone shoveled...and he came back looking like a black poodle with little white snowballs around each of his feet. We had to bring him inside and let him melt on a towel in the kitchen before he could go anywhere else...man, what a mess!
We decided to escape the snow, and took a trip to Evansville for the weekend to go to our friends Karla and Jessica's Holiday Party. We took Sanders with us. On the way down, we stopped in and saw Tony's Brother Rob. He LOVED Rob and the belly rubs!Sanders spent his first night in a hotel. He did great...and as a reference, the Drury Inn allows you to bring pets, and don't charge anything!! Here is a picture of Sanders in the elevator as we are leaving the hotel:

We also have decided to send Sanders off to try out a place that has this "DAY CARE" for Dogs. Basically, they put the dogs into a room, and let them play and socialize with each other. We thought it would be good to try it out in case we need to board him, and also to get him exposed to other dogs. Sanders LOVED going there...and when he came home he slept for almost 2 days!! Guess, a tired dog is a good dog! The place we're taking him is called Dog Dayz in Noblesville. Only problem with the place is that when dogs play, they drool on each other, and our fluffy puppy came home a little soggy...and stinky. So we have to give him a bath shortly after coming home. This is what he looked like when we picked him up from an overnight visit!

We also celebrated Christmas with our neighbors, and Sanders loves the attention from Colby and Brooke. We thought this was a cute picture of Sanders and Colby: We got to see LOTS of family over the holidays. We went to Northern Indiana for the Replogle family Christmas. Sanders had a blast playing with his buddy Alexis again (the Weimaraner that Tony's mom and dad has). We even let him stay the night without a crate and he did great. The biggest change was letting him roam free with Alexis out in the yard. Sanders loves the outdoors..but sure didn't like the 60 mph wind that made it feel less than 20F outside! He wouldn't go to the bathroom unless we walked him out and told him to go...he held it so long once that he started going in the kitchen...man, was I upset! At least it was on tile. We spent Sunday with the entire Replogle family...Sanders came along, and found it quite comfy to sit under the Christmas Tree. On Christmas Eve, Sanders lost his 2 front bottom teeth! How appropriate for the song....

We spent Christmas day with my family. After voluntarily helping vacuum the kitchen floor, Sanders partook in the traditional Christmas Day nap.

I thought this sunrise on Christmas Day was beautiful...thought you might enjoy:

Well, that is the latest update...Hopefully we'll get more frequent with our updates for you..that is..until our vacation in the middle of January. I'm sure we'll have lots to write about then because Sanders will be staying the week with Grandma and Grandpa Thackery!

100% Puppy!

Sanders is now 100% puppy! He is a little ball full of energy wrapped into 11 pounds of fur!

We went to the orthopedic doggie doc on Thursday, and she said he would be just fine and that we just have to exercise his leg and get it all stretched out. Of course, that cost me $200 for her to give him a clean bill of health...guh. Whoever thought a pet could be so expensive?!

We went to Grandma Thackery's for the weekend. Tony went out and chopped wood while Sanders and I played with Grandma, Payton, Amanda and Bekah. He also has learned a couple of new commands! Sanders now can BEG and CRAWL and STAY! So, that brings him up to a total of 6 commands (SIT, DOWN and SHAKE are the others).

We worked on Stay a lot this weekend. It was the perfect opportunity with so many kids running around him as a distraction. The neighbor kids even got in on the fun of it.

So, as a reward, we took Sanders out back and played with him with a Frisbee grandma had given him.

He loved it because he could stick his head through it....then he stuck his foot through it....then he was stuck...and couldn't get it off...but could run. Check out the funny videos:





Of course, with all the good behavior and learning this weekend, came this morning. I'm in my office working, and I hear the Cat's toy being dragged around through the hallway. I went out to see Gizzy....and found Sanders instead. He KNOWS he is not supposed to go into the hallway. And he also ate ALL the cat's food [which is a hairball prevention type food]. At least we know Sanders won't get a hairball now. Sanders is just WOUND up today. Hopefully a walk will chill him out a little!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

All you need is love........and Sanders has had LOTS of that over the past week!

Thanksgiving was an absolute blast. We spent the time in Ligonier with Tony's family, and Sanders got to play with Alexis. Alexis is Tony's mom and dad's Weimeraner who is 13 years old or so. Alexis would have made a great mom. She loved playing with Sanders, and Sanders loved playing with her. It was so funny that every time Sanders would go out to go to the bathroom, Alexis would pee right on top of where Sanders went. I guess that is a wild kingdom thing to mask the baby's scent??


We spent Thanksgiving at Uncle Bob and Aunt Lu's. Sanders got to stay next door with cousin Sami (Kevin and Krystal's Dog). Sami is a 6 month old Great Dane. And when they say GREAT they mean it! The dog was easily 6 times taller than Sanders....but the two of them had some fun romping time. Sanders loves getting some play time with other puppies! Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of this. But trust me, it was hilarious!!

Then we went to my mom and dad's house on Saturday, and my nieces got to play with Sanders all day. They had a blast, and this is the sunset just before we left...beautiful isn't it?

I LOVED MONDAY!! Sanders got his cast off! YAY! His leg is a little atrophied and he is walking around on it gingerly...but he has no cast! No more Glad Wrap...No more baggie!

And most importantly, NO MORE STINKY DOG!! We were able to give him a bath last night. He smells so pretty now!! There isn't much to the dog without his hair...check it out. Oh, and thought you might like this funny video!

Today, the vet called...and Sanders has Giardia again. She also wants him to go to an orthopedic doggie surgeon because she wasn't really comfortable with the way his ankle looked from the XRays. So, I scheduled an appointment for Thursday. Hopefully nothing is wrong, and he'll heal up just fine!!

That's the latest. I'll post on Thursday after our visit! I can't wait to be beyond all this and let my dog live a normal life!!

New week, a new cast...unlike Hollywood!

Went to the vet today and Sanders got a new cast.....

No more Injuries!!

Sanders started the ball rolling for injuries against the Indianapolis Colts. I think as of the conclusion of the game last night, there are officially 10 people who are injured on the team! Yikes! Only 2 more weeks until he is cast free *hopefully*

We went to the vet this morning, and got his 2nd round of immunizations. He also got his cast replaced. It was a little wet because of the rain all day yesterday. I've now been informed for how to use Glad Press 'n Seal to first wrap the cast before going outside on a rainy day, then put a baggie over it.

They gave Sanders such a great cast this time! I'll make sure to keep it as clean as possible!

After the vet, we stopped by Purrs and Gurrs in Fishers to pick up some Eagle Pack Dog Food (From Mishawaka, IN!) and some treats. I love the lady who runs this store. What a great person!!

Update for week 11 AD.

Sanders is growing so quickly...and becoming more and more puppy each day! He is doing great on the leash. We went for a 2 mile walk this week. He was so tired when we got back.

Here is a picture of Sanders at 11 weeks old:


Sanders is doing great with his leg...and I am ready for him to have the cast taken off...too bad we still have 2 more weeks with it. Today we couldn't go on a walk because it was raining. Everytime we had to let him out, I had to put on a ziploc bag to keep his cast from getting wet.

We also spent a good part of the day today working on Sit, Shake, Down, Stay and Come. He is doing sit about 100% of the time. The rest of the commands are coming along well.

We are going to try to get Sanders enrolled in puppy classes this week. He is ready for some socializing with the other dogs around.

I miss my puppy, but I am well rested!

Friday night, we went to a fundraiser for Second Helpings. They had a silent auction, and I got to bid on a puppy package and won it!! Sanders got all kinds of cool new toys...a 'Chuck a Duck', a 'Heave a Beaver' [which are both frisbee like games], some treats and a gift card to go to a puppy school in the elite town of Carmel. I'm sure the classes will be elitely priced. Not sure we want to expose the dog to a spoiled lifestyle. Because everyone knows he isn't already spoiled! LOL.

On Saturday, Sanders got to meet our neighbor's German Shepherd that is 3 months old. It was funny seeing 2 herding dogs deploying their herding tactics on each other. Too bad Sanders has a broken foot...otherwise, he may have been able to take on Adrian. I'll take my camera with me next time the 2 play so you can see the 2 of them. Adrian will always be way bigger than Sanders. Makes me think I need to get Sanders enrolled in a puppy class soon.


Above is a picture of the Ohio River. I drove down last night to Evansville, and took the scenic Lincoln Byway (Indiana 62). The leaves were absolutely striking.

It is crazy that after having been with the puppy for only 2 weeks that I can miss him so much after just a day of not seeing him! I'm missing the big moments in his young life....not crying last night when Tony put him to bed (then again, Tony slept on the couch testing out our theory that if we are in the same room as the dog that he won't cry), getting his first cast off and impressing the vet office of how well he is getting around on his cast.....*sigh*

I got a very nice full night sleep last night, but woke up once thinking "Wow..the dog sure has been quiet!" Then I realized I was in Evansville. DOH!! I didn't miss getting up at 6AM to let him out though!

Oh, I started working with Sanders on the word "Down" yesterday. He is doing it pretty well! He is doing sit very well, and does shake pretty decently. He's also walking along quite nicely on the leash for both Tony and I!!

Friday, November 2

There's not too much to report, but lest a single day go by without some sort of post, and in the interest of my day at work going a little faster...Well, here we are.

Jen took Sanders over to her sister's new house yesterday & today because Jen is helping them paint. While there, one or 2 of Jen's nieces "taught him how to shake." I dare say it'll take a little longer to get him consistently responding to the commands. However, I did see one of the girls do the shake thing with him yesterday, and with apologies to all of my old English teachers, "He done pretty good".

He's still on 3 legs but gets around really well on just the 3. He looks kind of like a pirate with a peg leg, but Jen already pointed that out. He'll need the cast on for a total of 4 weeks (not 6 as previously reported). Since he's growing so fast, we have to go back EACH WEEK and pay to have a new cast put on. Yikes.

We're a little strapped for cash, so the money for the weekly vet visits is just going to have to come out of the funds I had been using to buy him calcium supplements. It's unfortunate, but its either that or have the HD-DVR service turned off, which is OUT OF THE QUESTION with the Colts-Pats game this weekend. I love my dog as much as the next guy, but come on.

Aaayyyyyeee Matey! I'm a pirate!

I knew I should've named the dog Captain Jack! I thought he might resemble him with his dreds when he got older; however, we see that destiny already had some thoughts on how naturally this name would fit. Our little guy looks like he is a pirate walking around on a wooden leg. Especially now as he is putting some weight on it! I couldn't resist, so I went out and bought him a pirate shirt so he could fit the part.

Yesterday was a good day with Sanders. We went on a couple of walks with the leash, and he did really really well! His progression can also be measured by the fact that he has not had an accident in the house in 5 days!! Could we be close to potty trained? Also, last night only boasted 5 minutes of crying before falling asleep. Until 3:30 when he woke up and barked a bit....but I think he was actually trying to tell me something..."Uh mom...you locked the cat outside last night!"

Doh! Yes, I am a HORRIBLE pet parent! Gizmo must've escaped to outside when I took Sanders out for his last duty before going to bed. I thought I heard a meow around 5AM this morning....and sure enough, he was waiting for me at the back door at 6AM. Then to top it off, Gizmo was standing beside me in the kitchen when I was making coffee....(which the cat NEVER comes out until 8PM), and I stepped on his toes!!!!! Am I destined to cripple all my pets? I swear I don't have a psychological disorder making me do this! Anyways...Gizzy is fine. Here he is after the long night/morning!

Getting around in a splint isn't all that bad!

Sanders came home from the vet with a Green Cast on his leg and some little blue hearts. They did such a good job with him. As soon as we got home, he proceeded to hobble around on 3 legs...and even has managed to successfully go potty (both #1 and #2)! He was slowed down just for a bit, but is back up and at 'em! We had some friends over to carve pumpkins, and they signed his cast...awww....how sweet! Now, for some entertaining pictures for you.

Unfortunately, he cried again all night last night.....he managed 2 nights with no crying before that. Here are some pictures of the poor little guy!

Broken Leg!!

Updating Jen's previous post, apparently Sanders has broken his leg from his little tumble off the couch. The poor little guy sure has had a rough start to it all. Before taking the x-rays, the vet initially thought that it might be his femur that was broken, which would have been funny (in an ironic way, not a "ha-ha" way), as I broke my femur when I was kid, and the femur is one of the rarest bones to break. As it turns out, it's not his femur. His tibia is fractured in 2 places. I also broke my tibia as a child, but that is another story. Apparently the breaks form a sort of "Y" shape and are small cracks, not full-on breaks, so that is good.

Since Jen was the only one there when he fell off the couch, and she was upset about it, I tried to lighten the mood a little by joking with her that she must have Munchausen Syndrome Byproxy. (Munchausen Syndrome Byproxy, for those that don't know, is the condition where mothers secretly hurt or poison their own children in an attempt to gain attention for themselves...For some reason, this is one of the arcane bits of information that stuck to my brain and I have never been able to forget). Anyway, as you can imagine, Jen didn't see nearly as much humor in my crack-diagnosis as I did, so I eventually had to drop it. Fortunately, I know how to drop things withOUT breaking their legs! (Sorry, Jen, you married me)

In all seriousness, we feel very bad for the little guy. Jen is on her way to the vet now to pick him up (insert bad joke here). The vet is sticking a splint on and told Jen he should be fully healed in 6 weeks. I imagine he's going to have to have the splint replaced before that or he'll outgrow it, but I don't know. Maybe it won't take that long to heal.

Another vet visit. I feel like such a bad dog mom!!

I was sooo excited to get up and type a blog about our great weekend...Purdue game, 2 nights of not crying when sleeping in the crate...but unfortunately, I have to report that I had to take Sanders to the vet again this morning. I got up and took him out at 6:15 this morning...then we were having some cuddle time on the couch. Sanders decided to slip off the edge and land on his honches....and I think he has broken his leg! We took him to the vet, and he did good while getting an exam and XRays, but we had to just leave him there while waiting to get the results of the XRays. Will post more later, when we know how he is....I feel like SUCH a BAD dog mom!!!

Getting the potty training down, and learning to sit!! 5AD

You know, training a dog might not be all that bad after all! After 4 days of working with Sanders, he only had one 'start to accident' yesterday. I think it is largely because of putting him on a schedule. Now, when we go out and I say 'potty', he actually goes!!! This is such a big accomplishment in my mind. And he hasn't messed his bed yet. We went to bed at 10:30 last night, and didn't get up until 4:30 to let him out. 6 hours at his age...I think this dog might be developing a bladder of steel!

A bigger accomplishment is that Sanders didn't cry as much last night!! Thank goodness. He cried for about 10-15 minutes before calling it quits. And he didn't cry much at all after getting let out!

Yesterday Lela spent the afternoon with Sanders...most of the time he was pretty unexciting..sitting under my chair and snoozing...but when he woke up he was ready to play. We tried to do a walk on a leash...which was semi successful, then ran him around in circles. After coming in, he was ravenous...just absolutely starving! What is up with that? He had already exceeded the amount of recommended food for his size/weight. This dog can eat! He is eating like 1-1/2 cups of food a day. Guess he is a growing boy! Anyways, when we came in, Lela started bribing the dog to sit with some pieces of Kibble. And you know what, he sits now! Most of the time he obeys the command right off the bat! Guess they were right about the way these dogs learn...QUICKLY!

We took another walk in the evening on the leash up to the end of the road. Sanders fought most of the way there. But on the way back home, we were actually jogging. Per observation, it looked like we were in the competing arena for Best In Show. How dorky!!

Today is the first day the dog will be put in the crate during the day as I head out to visit customers and no one else is around. I hope he does OK!

Parasites and First walk on a leash, 4 AD

I got a call from the vet late yesterday afternoon. Ends up he has a parasite known as Giardia. It causes diarrhea. That explains a lot from yesterday. So now I get to put the pooch on not only 2 types of ear drops, but have to feed him medicine to eliminate the parasite and hopefully stop the diarrhea. *sigh* One vet bill after another. So far in 3 days, I have spent over $100 for diagnostic tests and medicine. This is on top of the normal puppy check up/vaccination. I wonder if this is common with new puppies?

Sanders did much better last night. He cried for about 20 minutes, then went to sleep. I got up after 5 hours and took him out, where he went pee immediately! He is getting the hang of this. Then he only cried about 10 minutes or so when I put him back in the crate.

We think in the morning that he hears our alarms go off, and he knows that we're up. So after the morning routine of potty, play and eat...I decided to take him on his first leash walk. We actually made it 2 blocks! He did really great! Of course, he had me training myself how to hold the leash so he couldn't trip me. I nearly bit it a couple of times...but now I have the hang of it. I need to go buy a retractable leash to help prevent that problem later.

Another day begun, and I'm working as he sleeps under my chair. I think we're getting this schedule thing down!!

Day 3 A.D.

Getting a dog is a BIG ADJUSTMENT, isn't it? :) We learned that on Saturday night after getting home with Sanders that he was going to challenge our nerves the next few nights. We put him in his crate for bed that first night, and Tony slept on the couch so the puppy could see him. Sanders barked for about 30 minutes before calling it quits and falling asleep. I got up at 2:45AM to take him outside to pee...which was successful! Yay! Put him back in his crate, and after 10-15 minutes of barking, he was asleep until Day 1 A.D. (After Dog) at 7AM.

Sunday (Day 1 AD) was fun...he met grandma and grandpa Thackery...and pretty much just sat at our feet during the day. He also met the neighbors, Brooke and Colby....he loves Brooke (who is in 2nd grade). During the day, he used the bathroom outside when he was supposed to, and only had one small accident in the afternoon. Sounds like a pretty good puppy, huh?

Oh brother....Sunday night Sanders showed us his spirit....and how he isn't a quitter. Just like his namesake Bob Sanders of the Colts. Well, let me summarize the evening by saying, Tony and I didn't get more than 1 hour of sleep. I am NOT exagerating! Sanders was having some MAJOR separation anxiety. He barked/howled/whined all night long. I took him out to go potty a couple of times....and rather than going, he just sat at my feet. I'd take a step, and he'd run up and hug my leg like "Mom...don't leave me again!!"

So yesterday, Day 2 AD...I was working from home. We went to the first vet visit to have them check out Sanders. The vet was awesome...and Sanders was fine as we poked and prodded. Ends up he has an ear infection already. So, I get to start treating him daily by filling his ears up with this medicine. He is so trusting and actually lets us do it without too much of a struggle. What a good puppy. Then we came home, and everytime Sanders would take a drink, I'd take him out...then he wouldn't go. Then he'd sniff around and start going on the floor...then I'd take him out and he'd finish. *Sigh* I don't think it was the smartest idea to take him out every time after he drank. I think he is associating drinking with being able to go outside, which he loves. In the evening, friends came over to play, and Sanders officially has his new favorite toy. a green fuzzy monkey that squeaks. He loves it so much that he is carrying it around.

Sleeping last night was a bit better. He went into his crate and didn't cry when I shut the door. He slept most of the night with just a couple times of whining. Of course the whining and barking is interfering with our REM sleep..and we're still exhausted this morning.

Starting today, I am putting him on a schedule and trying to get him to go out only at 7, 12, 5 and 10. We'll see how that works. I never knew how much time a puppy could take, especially while trying to house train him. I have only been exposed to indoor dogs. I've never actually had one. Trying to read a curly fur covered puppy's facial expressions to know to take him outside to pee is a hard thing! Oh, and on top of that, I tried to start mixing in a new puppy food that the breeder had recommended (about 1/4 of the mix) .....what did that result in? Projectile liquid poop. EWWWW....Unfortunately, this was in the house...but I got him to stop and finish outside. Right now he is sleeping at my feet...which is becoming the norm. We'll also try to work with him on a leash today. We did a little yesterday, and it went pretty well.

Time to try to get some work done while the pooch is asleep!

Countdown is 4 days!

We've decided to adopt a puppy! I'm sure that the adventure is only beginning. Jen picked up a book about how to raise a puppy (by The Monks of New Skete), and is already learning a lot about all the time and effort it is going to take. Our lives are going to be changing to accomodate this addition to our family! Not sure how Gizmo is going to like being a big brother...or would it be cousin since they are different species? Or maybe he'll just so dearly term the puppy "worthy of ignoring". We hope the addition doesn't make him too mad!!

The type of puppy we are getting is a PULI. No, it isn't a mix of a poodle and another type of dog. It is a PULI which is a Hungarian Sheep Dog. For those of you who watch those dog shows on TV, it is the medium size black ones that look like a mop. Yes, our dog will have dredlocks....or in the dog world they are known as cords. But we won't be seeing those for 9 months or so. We're getting our dog from a place in Michigan called Prestige Puli (http://www.prestigepuli.com/). We're still in the process of deciding a name. We were thinking either Bob or Sanders. I think Sanders is more of a dog name. Below is a picture of Sanders at 5-6 weeks!

We are headed up to Kalamazoo after the Iowa game this weekend. Of course, this unexpected quick addition of the puppy is making us change our weekend homecoming plans....and I'm sure this is just the beginning of how it is going to change our lives!