Merlin update

Merlin in one of his new little doggy Tshirts.

OK....so for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting updates and more pictures of Merlin.....here's your fix for this week! *smile*


Merlin has had a pretty eventful couple of weeks since he moved in......

We have continued working on potty-training, eating, etc.  He's still doing relatively well.  We've had a couple of little potty mis-haps----but nothing catastrophic.  These accidents are usually because he gets too excited playing to hold it and then there's just an "OOPS" moment.....or because we don't notice him go to the door to go out because he doesn't really let us know (by barking or whining or anything) that he's got to go---he just walks over, sits and the door and waits...and if you leave him waiting too long then he just has an accident by the door.  So we have to keep an eye on him.  He's eating a little better although finding a wet/soft food that he likes is still a challenge...and what he DOES eat seems to cause his little tummy problems....so he's been eating dry food more than anything lately (which the vet actually said was fine).

He has a whole bunch of new toys (which he does not need LOL) and some new little outfits, too.  He doesn't really need those either, but they were only $1 at the Family Dollar store just down the street from our house and I couldn't resist.  And plus, I'm still hopeful that if we can get him to wear and play in a Tshirt for a couple hours every day that eventually he'll get comfortable with having something around his neck and chest to the point that we can move him into wearing a harness for walks rather than a collar.  The shirts are cute----colored shirts with little silver bedazzled patterns on the back of paw prints or bones or hearts.  Here are pics in a few of his shirts:

His black Tshirt with silver paw prints...and his new stuffed monkey---one of his personal favorites!

This is me taking a nap on the deck furniture on our back deck.  Merlin is sitting by in his red shirt with silver bones on it.  How cute is that?!

Another big event for Merlin was grooming.  Last weekend he went for his first ever grooming appointment.  We weren't sure where we wanted to take him for this but one day walking our neighborhood we noticed a dog grooming shop on Park Avenue very near our house called "Bark Avenue Dogs."  We figured we couldn't really beat the convenience of having a shop so close to home (except maybe if we had a mobile groomer come to our house....one of our neighbors has a groomer who operates out of what looks like a small RV and they come right to your home and then groom your dog in their mobile doggy salon right in your driveway!! LOL).  So we went in and asked about their services, etc. and made an appointment.  So two Sundays ago Merlin got his first "puppy package" grooming----which was doing his nails, cleaning his eyes and hears and trimming the hair around his face and belly (but not a full haircut---yet) along with a bath and dry and brush.  The groomer was very nice and worked great with Merlin and said that doing a few of these kinds of "mini-groomings" for puppies a few weeks apart while he was still young would make regularly grooming of him MUCH easier later on. Here's a picture of Merlin post-grooming....you can actually see his adorable little face!!!

And here's a picture of Merlin and Jason hanging out in the living room:

The last big development for Merlin was his first veterinary appointment which was last Wednesday.  Demeter, our kitty, goes to a great small very personal clinic called "Cats & Critters" that is here in downtown Rochester and close to our house.  We really like the care that Demeter gets there (and believe me...she is a TERROR to work with...I'm always so horrified and embarrassed when I have to take her in and she gets so nasty and violent and mean and they usually have to sedate her to work on her)....but, unfortunately, that clinic does not see dogs----only cats and some small animals (like guinea pigs and bunnies and stuff, I think).  So I called them and asked if they could refer us to a SIMILAR kind of veterinary clinic (small, personal, not a huge chain, close to downtown, etc.) where they would be good at working with toy breeds of dogs....and they recommended "Laurelton Animal Hospital." Merlin and I had a very good experience there.  The staff were all very friendly and the vet, Dr. Boehm, spent a good amount of time with me giving me information and answering questions.  Merlin got a clean bill of health (he's 2.8 pounds now!), got a rabies shot (which he HATED) and they made an appointment for later this week for his last parvo/distemper shot (they said in small dogs like him it's not a good idea to give both vaccines at the same visit because he might get sick).  We also picked up a 6 month supply of heartworm pills and flea/tick guard to keep him happy and healthy!!