Scoping out the neighborhood.

This is just a cute picture I took of Toby the other day and I thought I'd share it! :) It was really quite in the house and I started roaming around looking for Toby. There he was at the front door just watching the neighborhood. Occasionally someone would pass by jogging or walking their dog and he would watch them with full interest. He didn't really bark or whimper at all...until the neighbors started hanging out on their driveway. He really likes seeing the neighbors...especially Madeleine.

Another old video...of Toby's evil twin! (not really)

Here's another video of Toby. This was actually one of the "bloopers" from when I was trying to film the other video I just posted. But, this one makes me laugh out-loud every time I watch it! This video proves that Toby is in fact a curious puppy and he wants to use his teeth for EVERYTHING! He's so darn cute, isn't he? I just think it's so funny how he's looking right at the camera at the end! :)

Here's an old video of Toby playing with one of his toys...

I have been meaning to upload this video a long time ago, but I kept forgetting! Sorry!! I think this video is absolutely adorable. One day after work, I was watching Toby play with his toys all by himself and I just had to record it - it's only about a minute and a half long. He's playing with a little squeaky toy he got from his "Aunt" Kim and "Cousin" Belle. He's already torn up most of the toys that came in that care-package, but at this time, they were still in tact. He's just so cute and playful! :)

I learned two things already today...

1) Toby is really not a tiny little puppy anymore, and
2) I am PATHETIC!!!

Today, I had to drop Toby off to be neutered. He's having the procedure today, he'll stay the night tonight, and tomorrow morning I'll pick him up after my doctor's appointment. The first thing we do when we go to the vet is have him weighed. The last time we were in there was less than 2 months ago and they said he only weighed 5.5 lbs. I thought that was a little light, since the time before that he weighted 4.6 lbs - and he definitely got bigger between visits. I think he was squirming around a lot on the scale so they didn't get a good reading, but they documented 5.5 lbs on his chart. Well, today when I got him on the weigh table she said he weighed 9.5 lbs!!!! Whoa!! Either Toby is getting fat (which I know he's not), or they weighed him wrong last time (very possible), or he had a major growth spurt these past few weeks (which is also very possible). He already out weighs his mother, who was about 7.5 lbs. His father was 11 lbs. So, Toby may be leveling out on his weight...or he'll be a heavy Havanese! :) Either way, he's still adorable.

I realized I'm pathetic because I cried when I left Toby at the vet. I'd love to use the excuse that I"m hormonal, but I think I'm just a big sap for this dog! :) It just upset me knowing they were going to have to put him under and when he woke up he'd be stuck in the Vet office in a crate overnight all alone until I can pick him up in the morning. He was in such a good mood last night and this morning, it broke my heart knowing what I was dropping him off to go through. :( When we got to the vet's office, he was sitting on my lap like such a good dog. When the vet's assistant came and took him he looked so calm, but a little uneasy. I just hope they're good to him today, tonight and tomorrow. He'll probably cry - good thing I won't be hearing that. :(

Yes...I am pathetic!!!

Do dogs have nightmares?

I am so tired this morning because of our crybaby dog! We're still not quite sure what his problem was, but he was a mess last night! He was a little difficult to put down to bed last night so we had to put his crate in the laundry room so he could cry himself to sleep and WE could get some sleep.

Then at around 4:00AM he just started WAILING and BARKING and CRYING like nothing else! After about 20 minutes of non-stop crying I thought something must be wrong - I thought maybe he got his paw caught in his crate or something. Craig went to check him out and let him out of his crate for a few minutes. He was a spazz! He was so excited to see Craig! Then when he saw me, he had the same reaction!

Something must have really spooked him last night and he was in a panic. I know he dreams because we've seen and heard his cute running and barking in his sleep, but do dogs have nightmares? I wish he could talk so we could figure out what was wrong with him.

We put his crate outside our bedroom so he could calm down and go back to sleep. It took him forever to stop whimpering and "digging" at his bed. This morning he was a little clingy, but other than that he was perfectly fine. It's just us who will be tired and crabby all day! I guess we should just consider all of this good practice. :)

Tomorrow he gets taken to the vet to get neutered. He has to stay the night there and we'll pick him up Thursday morning. I feel bad having him stay the night in the strange vet office all night long in a cage. He'll probably cry all night long. Heck, if he had nightmares last night, who KNOWS what kind of dreams he'll have in the next few nights after he gets the "snip snip"! :( Poor Toby.

It's been a while...

There hasn't been much new to post on Toby's blog lately. I should just take some pictures of him and post them anyway to see how much he's grown. He's really starting to be full of personality! Here's a picture of Toby's new cousin, Abby (see below for more!).

Toby graduated from his Puppy Class a few weeks ago. He did such a great job! We've not been the best at practicing with him since the class ended, but we need to. He's signed up for the second class: Puppy Confidence and Agility. They say a lot of puppies go through an awkward phase when thing that normally didn't bother them can start to frighten them. It comes along with adolescence. This class should help him with that if it causes him to regress. Plus, it's another chance for him to have "play time" with other puppies his age. By the end of his last class, he was so excited each week to see his "friends". It's really helped him interact with other dogs we may see on walks or at our friend's house (you should've seen him playing with his friend Abbey this last weekend!! They ran around Jon and Jen's backyard for a LONG time just playing with each other...then Toby slept for the rest of the day! ha ha!)

Toby has also lost almost all of his baby teeth! I've only seen one of them, so I'm sure he swallowed the rest of them. :) He gets in a cranky mood when he's got teeth bothering him and he seems like a different dog when the loose tooth falls out. We're hoping once he's done teething he'll stop biting, but so far, it's not getting any better.

He's also got an appointment to get <*gasp*> neutered!! :( Poor little guy. He goes in next week for the ol' snip snip. This may also help contain some of his hyper behaviors, such as his mouthing, humping and general spazziness! :) I'm a little scared to have this done just because there's always a risk with any kind of surgery. But, we know it's what needs to get done because we don't want him humping and marking everything in sight. Plus, it will keep any future aggression to a minimum when he's older (so they say).

Toby's got a new cousin now! This picture is of Abby and Mom. I suppose, technically we should call Abby Toby's Aunt, but we'll stick to using the term "cousin" since they're both babies! :) Abby is a mixed breed puppy - Shiz Tzu, Maltese and Yorkie. Isn't she cute? She is about 9 weeks now (the picture was from a couple weeks ago) and she weights 3.2lbs. Toby was 3.5lbs when we got him at 11 weeks, so they're both growing about the same rate. It will be so much fun to see the two of them playing together since they're both black & white and fluffy puppies! They're going to be able to meet next month. Mom and Dad are driving down to see us the week before we ALL go down to Savannah to welcome home Captain Matt Mesko from Iraq!! Then there will be THREE dogs sniffing each others' butts! ha ha!!!

I'll take some more pictures of Toby and get them posted. Oh! Adam took a super cute picture of him when he was visiting. I'll have to post that one - Adam's a great photographer.