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Old December 13th, 2009, 12:36 AM
Fedor Fedor is offline
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Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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Greetings from Bangkok

Hi everyone.

Came across the forum as a result of a bit of googling on dry skin on puppies and liked the tone of the thread so I decided to register.

Fedor (named after Fedor Emelianenko) is an 8-week-old Boston Terrier, I've had him for four days now. He's my first dog (I'm a 32-year-old male, live alone in a large 2BR apartment except when my fiancee stays over, about 5 days a month as she works overseas). I had cats growing up but my fiancee is a dog person and I have always liked dogs and gotten along well with dogs so I figured it's time to try my hand at raising one

Did my research on breeds and although I like Beagles a lot, ended up getting a Boston Terrier since I wanted to have a dog I could let off the leash to run around the lawns at this compound I live in with the neighbors' jack russells and pugs (after doing a proper pack walk on a leash, of course!) and I figured a beagle might just run off when it picks up a scent.

The first four days have gone pretty well. He's getting the hang of housetraining - right from Day 2! There's still a few weewee accidents, which is to be expected with him having the bladder control of a 2-month-old, but he does #2 almost exclusively outside on the lawn by now. He's got the idea and I have learned to read his body language on when he needs to go. I live on the ground floor and there is a big lawn 10 metres from my door so that's definitely helped a lot with teaching him to eliminate outside.

He's pretty good about the leash as well, I'd be lying if I said he is walking perfectly next to me or behind me, he does try to pull a bit but I'm not too worried about that. I've left him home alone (for 2-4 hours at a time) four times now and the first three times I was able to time it well, him being tired, and he just stayed in the bathroom in his crate or bed (he has both) sleeping and was that way when I came back. The fourth time I was in a bit of a rush to leave again after being home for only an hour and a half, so I had to leave him in a less tired state and he was crying quite a bit after I closed the door. He was fine when I got back though.

The breeder had been feeding the puppies brown rice and boiled egg (put through a blender) after weaning and recommended I would do that too, but I decided to take a chance and just get him on dry dog food (rehydrated with warm water though) right away... First on Royal Canin Baby 30, but after I'd done my research I realised it's not exactly the best option so I got some Chicken Soup for the Puppy's Soul or whatever it's called, which I reckon is rather good with more meat and no corn. So he's on half-and-half of those two now until I run out of the Royal Canin and have him on Chicken Soup Etc exclusively. He eats great, the first two days almost too quickly, but has slowed down a bit since then.

So, we're off to a good start here. Reading Cesar Millan's "A Member of the Family" and trying to put all that stuff into practice. I don't have any pics right now because I haven't got the battery charger for my DSLR, but I will put some up in a couple of weeks.

That's my long and rambling introduction. Gotta feed him and take him out now. Look forward to interesting discussions!
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Old December 13th, 2009, 10:38 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Congratulations on your new puppy, Fedor! Now, of course, we'll be bugging you to post some pics of the new addition. We just love oohing and aahing over furbabies

Welcome to the board!
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Old December 13th, 2009, 03:40 PM
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Dee-O-Gee Dee-O-Gee is offline
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Wow! You're a long way from here Fedor!

A big Name:  Welcome Smiley.gif
Views: 82
Size:  3.2 KB to the board and North America!

8 weeks is still pretty young however; it sounds like you have quite a handle on your puppy experience already. It's a good thing to ween him off slowly from one food to the next and I absolutely adore Casear Milan! In my opinion, he has published some great advice and should accomodate certain situations you may encounter with Fedor.

We are all picture heavy here so we would love to see some soon!

Enjoy and have fun!
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Old December 13th, 2009, 04:56 PM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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Fedor,WELCOME TO OUR FORUM!
We have another member who lives in Bangkok,she's having problems with her cat.
Oh and we love Bostons,well all dogs and cats really,so a pic of your little Fedor would be great.
I too love Ceasar watch him every night.
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Old December 13th, 2009, 05:09 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Hi Fedor, welcome to pets.ca! I spent a week in Bangkok many years ago and had an awesome time there. Love the food!!!

As for your new pup, you might want to check out the excellent info at this website: http://www.dogstardaily.com/ (particularly the stuff under the "Training Textbook" tab). There are also some podcasts worth listening to in the Radio section.

Can't wait to see pics of Fedor!
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Old December 13th, 2009, 10:06 PM
Fedor Fedor is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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Thanks for the words of welcome and the training link, will have a look at it once I get some work done first (playing with the little guy and taking him out like six times a day isn't exactly good for getting into the flow workwise )

I think I will try to gradually get him more on bones and raw food. Probably starting with a chicken drumstick today. I guess I will still be feeding him some kibble as well, I bought two bags of it and I don't want to just throw it away.. Maybe I will look for a friend to give it to, someone who is going to stick to commercial dog food in any case... But until then, I hope it serves to balance his diet.. I read some BARF FAQs and stuff, but I am still not entirely sure on whether dogs need carbs, veggies etc... Some sites said stuff like raw baby carrots are good, or grated carrot, as dogs would naturally get some of that by eating the stomach and guts of herbivore prey.. Whereas other sources suggest that no fruit, veg or grains are needed and meat and bones are the way to go.

I guess I should take my ramblings to more specific threads soon, but I'll let this one be here and when I have any updates on how BARF is working for Fedor or any questions, I will try to look up the appropriate subforums or threads.

He's asleep on the floor next to my foot right now. Exactly where a dog should be!
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