Zen is 15 weeks old and we have been diligently going to puppy class and socializing her as much as we can. The restrictions have been tough. It’s a huge balancing act to get her out and public with the risks so high in this area for Parvo. But we’ve been doing much more than our vet would like.. and at the same time trying to avoid obvious places where unvaccinated dogs may defecate. If we listened to our Vet, she wouldn’t have even gone to Puppy school until 17 weeks.. which is waaay out of the realm recommended for Swissy puppies.

In Puppy School, Zen has been a lurker. Not cowering by any stretch of the imagination.. but not exactly getting involved either. She seemed much more interested in the people than the other dogs. So i bumped up her dog time by taking her to a puppy social once a week. Its far for me on a Sunday, (all the way in Sunnyvale) but it’s been good for her. I met another Swissy owner there, and she’s been exposed to all kinds of dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Still, she’s hung back and just watched all the fun. So last week, we found out one of the women who attends our class lives “relatively” near us. She owns a 14 week old Viszla pup named Zola. If Zen is the wallflower.. Zola is the popular kid in class. We’ve met up twice this week, and these one on ones have been awesome. Both times, she and Zen just played and rough housed like no tomorrow.

So tomorrow my baby is going to her 3rd vet visit. She’s growing fast and learning tons. I’m really behind on updates and photos.. but just to get back in the swing of things, here’s a bunch of photos.

It’s been a busy four day weekend for sure! Not only did we have friends visiting but it was the 4th of July which in our town means PARADE DAY!

Every year Boulder Creek has a big 4th of July parade that the entire town comes out for. There are blaring fire trucks, logging trucks, motorcycles driving on top of cars, crazy cars, floats, prancing horses, costumed dancers and tons and tons of people.

We brought a blanket and had the Pixie out before the festivities so she could meet people.. but when the actual parade started, we kenneled her.

She’s getting too big for this kennel so our vet visit today will probably be the last time she uses it. But she did really well with all the sirens and noise. She even fell asleep for the 2nd half of the parade!

Today was her second vet visit. She got her second round of shots and the once over by her vet. I absolutely adore this man… he is so nice and good with her and really likes the breed. He also was right in line with us in terms of timing of shots and put up with my crazy ideas and questions.

Other than that, we’ve been spending lots of time working with her. She’s a really responsive puppy. She already understands how to go into a sit and stay. She’s getting better at “come” and she’s getting better with “lay down.” Our friend who used to train GSDs saw her this weekend and was pretty impressed how well she’s doing for a 11 week old. I’m most proud of my daughter, though. She’s getting over her fear and she’s really liking working with Zen. She’s been watching me and trying hard to emulate. Here’s a picture of her getting Zen to “stay” and then “come.”

Today we took Zen to Roaring Camp Railroads. It was tricky because as a public place we still can’t walk her around with the fear of Parvo looming. But we brought a couple of car blankets and stretched them out and then carried her to the spot. It worked out well because it was a hot day, a shady spot and there were tons of trains and people to see.

It was a really hot day. So really, she didn’t want to do much except lounge, meet people and watch the trains.

Swissies don’t like the heat and Zen is no exception. But she did like the ice in my snow cone. You can just hear her thinking in this one.. “You must give me the ice.. you must give me the ice..”

Ok. Its too hot. Can we go home?

Back at home, she and the kid are doing a little bonding.

Zen is teething. Big time.
For the past 4 days, the view I often get of my puppy is THIS:

But usually I’m on the other side of the bars and those teeth are trying to sink into ME. Those blue eyes make her look even more fierce. And she IS pretty fierce. We’ve been feeding her from kongs and giving her plenty of chewing devices, but she is a confident puppy and has decided that we make good chew toys too.

It’s making our training regimen pretty difficult and we have to interrupt often to either stop and ignore.. or make a correction. The kids have the hardest time with this and no amount of telling them to “stop and be trees” quells the instinct inside when a 15 pound snapping inferno is charging at them.

This photo makes it look like we never let her out of that pen.. and i’m sure she’s putting that face on just to make me feel guilty.

We keep the kids and Zen separated until zen is calm. When she is, i have maiwenn work with her.. running her through her training poses and petting her. Teaching bite inhibition is going to be the biggest challenge for this inexperienced crew.. and i’m already kicking myself.. wondering what we did to encourage it. Honestly though, i think huge part is just normal puppy behavior and teething.

We are prescribing to THIS METHOD of bite inhibition training but I think it’s a lot harder than it sounds in the article. Especially when you have little kids who are not consistent and the puppy already thinks she can dominate them. I’d be really worried except we are starting puppy class next week and I plan to get help from the trainer and see what her take on Zen’s “fierceness.” Still, we’ll get it. She’s already doing better with me and Maiwenn was able to sit in Zen’s pen without getting mauled today and play with the puppy’s feet. A good sign!

It was a good weekend both in socializing with people and with other dogs. My friend Troy came over with his two swissies. Lots of fun ensued…

Today Zen got her first bath.

It was a little weird but she was great.

Time to dry!

Shake it off!

More Play. This time with a Stick.

Today was her first vet visit and she’s clocking in on the smaller side. She only weighs 9.5 pounds at 9 weeks. I guess Zen PIXIE is aptly named! The vet wants to up her food a bit. He wants to see her again on the 5th and we’ll do a urine analysis then to see if how her urinary track is fairing.

Other than that it was a full day of activities. We went to parvo safe environments. First our friend’s house to meet some of maiwenn’s friends.

Maiwenn had swim class so she got to nap in the travel crate during our lunch.

Then she had her lunch in the back of the Outback.

Some more play.

And finally some more napping.