A very cute littly puppy that is. Her name is Charlie.
I should specify, she is indirectly entering my life. My GF is getting her as a birthday present. Her family has told her the name of the puppy, her colors (reddish brown, tan, black), and that she has no tail. But they wont tell her what the breed is (I know I know, pick me pick me). Her sister called me last weekend and told me all about the puppy, breed and all, which I have had to keep mum (though her sis spilled the surprise and the name earlier this week, but still wont tell her the breed).
Now, I’m not trying to be cruel, but I cant share the breed of this adorable puppy yet either, just in case my GF sees this thread, but seeing as she will find out friday night, I’ll tell all then.
I have given my GF the extra following clues (Charlie wont like hot weather, and she wont be a big excerise dog).
It was really hard when we were looking through a puppy book and she pointed right to a picture and asked if it was that one (I prefer to not ever lie to her, but this seemed to be a worthy cause, though I still feel guilty (jeez I’m a dork) even though I warned her if she guessed right I would still say no).
I am definately excited. We have both been wanting a dog all year (but Im not home enough to have one, plus I dont have a yard, so I decided to sadly wait). The good news is I get to puppy sit when she is at work ( I am home when she works). I guess my home is going to get filled with chew toys.
I have already been researching the breed a lot to be ready to help my GF with any questions she might have. I just want to make sure she gets all the info she needs to make her own decisions (I tend to give her all the points of view I can find, please dont think I give only what I think is right).
I know I will be asking the SDMB lots of questions and looking for lots of experiences and ideas/theories about raising a puppy.
Fry (all ready to fall in love with a little furry bundle of adorable puppy)
Sadly, she knows I frequent this site, and she has even tried to hack my email to see the puppy pictures. So until she meets Charlie on friday night, I cant expose what Charlie is.
It is the “no tail, no exercise” combo that is throwing me… all the docked breeds I can think of are from working breeds - mostly shepherds. Hmmmm. You know this is going to drive me crazy, don’t you?
Oh boy, fun stuff!
You might want to tap into yahoogroups lists on bulldogs, breed specific chat groups can be a wealth of information and fun.
Potty training is best accomplished with a week off work and obsessive attention to pee-breaks. Always take puppy out immediately after eating, drinking, playing, or waking from a nap. Say “go potty!” and the instant you see her start to urinate or deficate, say “Good girl! Good potty!” or whatever word you want to associate. Basically, you just don’t give her the chance to make a mistake, and give her language to associate with the function. Then in the future, when you want her to hurry up, “go potty, Charlie!” will cause a quick squat. Very helpful in the pouring rain, let me tell you ;).
If by some mistake you are too slow taking her out or she needs to go unexpectedly, just a quick “no!” as you scoop her up, rush her outside, set her down with a “go potty!” and tons of happy verbal praise when she potties where you want her to.
Congrats, good luck, buy pet insurance, and send puppy pix!
Thanks for the advice. I hadnt read about saying “go potty” the instant she did it. We have been giving her treats and praising her for going potty outside. Yesterday was her first day home after a long drive from seattle (she got sick). While puppy sitting last yesterday and last night, I managed to get her to not have any accidents in the house proper, just in her playpen on the piddle mats, and outside.
Outside is fun, she wont eat plants, but she does attack them like they did some grievous harm to her, its very funny.
She is supposed to be an english bulldog, and while she has wrinkles, her face is thinner, and her chest isnt as wide. She is supposed to be a full breed but were not sure, maybe its just her tender age of 10 weeks.
Fry
P.S. I have some pix on my gmail. but how do I post here?
Cutest puppy EVER. We can cancel all the cat threads now because nothing tops Charlie.
Yes, he looks like he could be part boxer. But I’ve never seen a bulldog pup before so I could be wrong. I know a pug puppy that was gangly like Charlie but I was assured she is a purebred. Perhaps they fill out a lot as they get older.
ETA: I swear to you that I clicked reply to this before scanning down and seeing your next post
She appears (to me) to be a bulldog bred by someone who wants to breed “functional” bulldogs, or bulldogs without the extreme brachycephalic deformity you see in modern bulldogs. Sometimes they’re labeled "victorian bulldogs or old english bulldogs or even (it pains me to write it) Olde English Bulldogges.
There are a bunch of lines of “old style” bulldogs, such as Reda, Deziner, Carlos Woods, Hermes, Mighty Mac and a few others. All are ostensibly bred for functionality and physical capability as opposed to the extremes of the modern bulldog, although because there’s no “standardized” breeding or breeding groups you have to be a bit more “working dog” savvy to know whether you’re buying from a serious dogman producing purpose-bred working style bulldogs, or some backyard schmuck cashing in on the new charm of breeding mutts for big bucks.
In any case, Charlie is lovely and I honest-to-god squee’ed at that #2 pic ;).
Enjoy your new little girl!
