Remster Update

[Deja]

Since I've been having trouble getting on and staying on the board lately I haven't been able to post a Remy update. Actually I did earlier, but when I tried to add the pictures I realized I was no longer connected to the site - arrgh!

Remy went to the vet on Monday and she weighs a whopping (drumroll)....

2 pounds 1 ounce!! She's 13 and 1/2 weeks old already!

She is going to be a tiny girl... The vet fell in love with her personality! He just loved her! I was so relieved and happy. He said she looked perfect and she is healthy and strong, just small.

She's just so much fun. She can be a holy two pound terror! She loves to play with Max, he is learning to be very gentle with her. Climbing Jack Mountain is her new passion. It is so, so funny - Max used to do the same thing! She climbs onto Jack's back and just sits there, looking at me, as if she is saying, "Hey mom! Look what I did!"

She was doing so well as far as potty-pad training in her pen that I decided to expand her world. I blocked off the den in the area where we sit and watch TV so she'd have more room to run around. Big mistake - she wasn't ready! She had 2 accidents on the floor in the same place and after soaking it up then soaking it with Nature's Miracle (gads she pees like 2 tablespoons it's amazing how even *that* is reduced to mini size!) I slapped a potty-pad there. THEN I stopped to think. What would my den end up like? Tiled with potty pads? LOL Her pen is back together and she actually seemed relieved when I popped her back in there! She stretched, rolled around on the blanket and hospital pad - poked her toys, went in and out of her crate, took a bite of food, peed on her pad - and sat down. She looked like she was saying, "Ahhh, yes it's good to be home!". Gads, am I a weeenie or what? I put words in my dog's mouth!

I've started formal training sessions with her and she will *sit* reliably on command! When she is out of her pen running around like a maniac she always comes when I call her! She will run to me and *SIT* at my feet- looking for that praise!! So now I make her "sit" for everything. It's too funny when she anticipates me saying "Remy, Sit!" before I say it - and she plunk her tiny hiney down on the ground before I get a chance. LOL I Praise the heck out of her anyway and tell her "good sit Rem! Good sit!" She puffs up and gets so excited! I think she likes to please me!

She almost has *down* mastered. She was so happy when she did it right the other night that as I was praising her she was spinning around in little circles! She really cracks me up it's hard to take training her seriously sometimes. Right now she is running around the coffee table in front of me so fast that all I see is a black blur go by- round and round and round - omg!

She is an absolute cuddle-bug. Snuggly as anything and loves to be in my lap or in my arms or carried around to see what is going on everywhere else in the house. She is a lap dog! Exactly what I wanted, and she is very bonded to me. She is so, so people friendly too. Everyone that comes in the house gets the full face lick from her. Actually, whenever anyone comes in my house I ask them to greet Jack and Max first and then ask them to pick Remy up - she loves it! By the time they are done with the Max and Jack greeting she is either standing on her back legs with her front paws up on their leg waiting - or she is jumping at them in her pen waiting to get her chance to lick their faces. I just love how friendly she is and I hope she continues to be a super friendly dog.

I can certainly see how easy it is to spoil this kind of dog totally rotten. She wants to get her way! I don't back down, even if it's hard! Training her is a whole new ball of wax for me. It's a challenge that I am really enjoying. She really can be a tenacious little booger!! She chases Paulie Walnuts (big fat orange tubbardo cat) and he loves her. They play together all the time. She is more than happy to beg for food - just like the boys. Yep 3 begging dogs what fun!

She has a strong digestive system - I haven't found one thing yet that changes her ummm how can I say this without being my usual graphic gross self - ok I'll just say it - nothing changes her poop one bit She's very consistant. That was not an intentional pun!

She is doing really well in her crate. She doesn't whine at all. She goes in on her own to nap, drags her toys and chew sticks in there ... she has a washcloth that was in her whelping box , it's still in her crate and she digs at it making herself a little pod of sorts and curls up on it or covers herself with it.

It's like having a never ending source of amusement! The best part is when she hangs out on my lap or in my arms. She'll sleep for hours curled up under a blanket on my lap...oh she's so, so snuggly! I have a really bad cold and I had a fever today - so I was on the couch bundled in blankets feeling crappy, and she just hung out with me, her head hanging over the crook of my arm, as if she knew I didn't feel good.

I've gotten the hang of grooming her and she doesn't fight the brush and comb anymore. YAY! I bathe her every 2 weeks or so and clip her ear hair. I am still afraid to clip her nails - so I will have the vet do them again at her appointment in 2 weeks.

I am still waiting for her head hair and facial furnishings to grow out a tiny bit more. I am about 1/8 of an inch away from being able to get a cute little pony tail on top of her head!! I have tried, but that is the one thing she still fights very hard, no band in her hair! She just won't let me do it- she squirms like an eel. I started brushing her teeth, she liked it the goofball! I brush her out every day. Her coat is so soft and silky.

OK - enough fawning over Remy... you are all probably ready to barf...

I was going to host these pictures but I am too lazy so I am attaching them. Hope you like them! She needs to be brushed in these pictures, she looks like a little scruffball...

[Becki]

Good to hear that she is doing so well! I just can't get enough Remy stories and pictures, it makes me want a lap dog (NO Becki!). How much do you think she'll weigh when she's full grown?

[Deja]

Becki - the vet said that she would probably weigh in full grown at just under 5 pounds!! I've cooked chicken bigger than that It's hard to gauge in those pictures just how small she is. She can sit in Jim's shoe!

I emailed the breeder and told him what the vet said and asked the weight of her parents (I asked him prior to getting her but couldn't remember exactly what he said) -Her mother is 5 pounds (when not nursing) and her father is 6 pounds - she's just going to be a tiny girl with a lot of hair

Oh! I forgot, in the first post- Look Auntie Sharon! I am killing Elephant again!!
She tries to drag Elephant into her kennel backwards, by it's nose and she ends up tugging on it growling until she gives up or passes out Elephant is her favorite, she sleeps flopped over it or with her head on it's belly sometimes! If she runs out of the room when she is out of her pen all I have to do is squeak it and she comes running like a lightening bolt!

[Pure14K]

Oh she's adorable! Do all of the human household members adore her?

[SharonM]

OMG - how cute !
She's got her eyes soooo wide open in the elephant one "Must... kill ... ELEPHANT"

OMG, she's just adorable. They're so funny when their coats are growing every which way!!
I love the "Jack Mountain" picture - that's gotta be cute to see !!!

Give Remy-poo a big kiss from her Auntie Sharon! :heart2:

[Jodi]

Aww, the Remster. What a cutie pie!
I like pictures of her & Jack & Max....but all of them are cute. And the first one is adorable. Heck, they're all good!

Give her a kiss from me

[dappledoxie]

Oh Deja! Remy is sooo adorable! I am so glad to hear those stories! I bet she is such a little goofball doing all those fun things! haha I love it!

[capnsweets]

I am glad everything is going so well with her, she is an absolute doll. I ahve been checking my pennysaver for a used crate..not to interupt, but do i want a meduim szed crate right?

She is so precious the way you talk about her makes me want to dog nap her!

[Soapaddict]

OMG, how cute is SHE?! She's so tiny... absolutely beautiful. Is that her on like a golden retriever? If so, wow... what a difference in size. lol.

[Jade]

*squeal* Oh she's SO adorable! I LOVE that picture with Max, that's just perfect! Keep 'em coming!

[Deja]

Everyone is head over heels for her! My youngest daughter adores her and Remy loves her too! She gets so excited when Lisa comes in the room because she knows that Lisa will always love on her and play with her - and rescue her from her pen Jim even cuddles and loves on her and she loves to lick beards! Well, she loves to lick faces in general. I have never had a puppy that is so excited about licking faces!

Yep! That is Jack, my Golden Retriever - he's a BIG (ok, ok he's fat ) Golden. And the other dog in the picture on the couch is Max my 10 month old Brittany.

Sharon - her hair is growing and it's going in every direction! She's starting to look like a ball of fur. I'm really trying hard to let her allow me to put a little pony tail on top of her head - she won't stay still and I don't want to fight her that much.

Question! She doesn't bark! I suppose I should be really happy that she's not a barker, but I have only heard 1 or 2 tiny barks come out of her. Maybe she hasn't found her "bark" yet? Do small breeds take longer to bark? I am really learning that she is much slower to mature than all the bigger dogs I am used to. She's such a little baby!

Capn' how much will your Sheltie weigh when you bring him/her home? I think your Sheltie is in the same size range as Max. I started with a borrowed crate that was small, then moved him up to a medium size when he outgrew the small one (hrrm about 5 months old I think I made the switch) and that's what he'll stay in.
Remy's crate was about $13.00 in PetSmart. Max's permanant crate is a Vari-Kennel so it cost a little more than the other brands (I wanted a good one because he travels with Jim on a regular basis) - but I got it at our local Pet Supply store where everything costs more because they know there is no other big pet store around - unless we want to travel Did I just confuse the heck out of you?

[Pure14K]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deja Question! She doesn't bark! I suppose I should be really happy that she's not a barker, but I have only heard 1 or 2 tiny barks come out of her. Maybe she hasn't found her "bark" yet? Do small breeds take longer to bark?

Well in my experience, rasing shihtzu's and owning a chihuahua now I've come to learn that smaller breeds do usually take a little longer learning how to bark. My chi is just now starting to bark (she's 4 months old) and up until about a week ago, I didn't know if she even KNEW how to bark. So that's probably the case

[Deja]

ahhh! Thanks Pure That makes me feel better- I know all the big dogs and pups I've raised or trained had some kind of puppy bark! Remy "grrrrrrrs" like crazy when *killing* her toys or playing tug with her rope bones... but no bark

I will regret saying I can't wait to hear what her little bark sounds like - someone remember this and *bop* me if she becomes a yapper and I post here to complain!

[RSbunny]

Oh Deja she's sooooo adorable!!!!! I'm glad she is giving you soooo much love!!

[jmb9101]

Its great how well she is getting along! I love the pic where she is climbing Jack...he really is a mountain compared to her!! She is still such a cutie!!!