An Amazing Puppy!

[Bolivian_Box]

Hello all !


Quick story about our amazing fawn puppy (Five months old this week).

We were down in Bolivia for 3 months (December - March) working on a project with absolutely no intention of getting a dog. Let alone a boxer. (Turns out that Boxers are extremely popular in Bolivia for some darn reason. Seems as if they are the national dog. Practically the only pure breeds you see on the streets are boxers (and the occasional Bulldog). Unfortunately, most Bolivians use their boxers as guard dogs and house them outside (and it gets very cold in the evenings in La Paz). So, as much as people love the breed, they also mistreat them. That was very sad.

But to get on with our tale...

One day my girlfriend and I were walking on a crowded commercial area of the city (a section where on weekends, breeders come and sell their puppies)
when all of a sudden we spotted an absolutely flawless 8 week old fawn boxer with a beautiful black mask, a touch of white on his chest, big ol' floppy ears -- and four of the biggest paws you've ever seen!

Needless to say it was love at first sight: We observed him from afar for a good 20 minutes and saw him rough housing confidently with the dogs he was being sold with. And during this period of indecision, we naturally discussed the utter lunacy of buying a dog off the street. Without any prior knowledge of who his parents were etc. We weren't even sure we would be able to bring him back to the States. And to top it off, we live in Manhattan in a one bedroom apartment. So the idea was truly nuts...

But the little guy was so incredibly cute! We had to have him. Threw caution to the wind and bought him for exactly $45 US Dollars (sounds cheap but that's actually a king's ransom in Bolivia.

So...

We took him home to the house we rented in the burbs outside of La Paz. It was a large house with a few decks, and a nice-sized, walled-in yard. A perfect place to housebreak a puppy.

We also began reading BoxerWorld assiduously. And took to heart all of the excellent advice.

Here is a quick summary of our incredible experience:

We named the puppy Oscar. Took him to a great vet. Began the vacination process and got a clean bill of health (The vet confirmed that he was 8 weeks).

Below our house lived the caretaker. A very nice woman with four children ages 8, 6, 4 and a 1 year old infant. Every day (supervised) Oscar would romp with these great kids. (Early on when he was biting everything he would nip at their feet -- always playfully, never maliciously. But after a few weeks he seemed to understand that they were not supposed to be bitten (for that he had his momma and poppa!) and he socialized wonderfully with the kids.

Oscar was house-trained inside of a few days. Hard to believe but true. To what do we owe this blessing? Well, for starters, we bought Oscar a small house (the kennel he would eventually fly home in) and placed it near our bed.

Here is where he would sleep every night. If he cried, one of us would get up and CARRY little Oscar out to one of the deck for him to go to the bathroom. After the second night -- our little 8 week old puppy began sleeping all through the night -- from 10pm to 7:30am AMAZING!

Then through out the day, we were ever vigilant (we both worked from home home so we were around him 24/7). We took him outside in the yard after every change in activity (before eating, after eating. before/after playing. etc. Furthermore, we took him on a nice walk (on a leash) around the block every night around 9:45pm. On average he went outdoors 25 times a day.
(One of the main reasons he learned so quickly).

We also took him (from the very beginning) on every mode of transportation in the city of La Paz (dogs are allowed everywhere there, including restaurants -- so everytime we went somewhere we took little Oscar along in a bag with his toys, some water and some treats. He must have ridden in a cab three times a day. This was really wonderful socialization for our pup because he came saw evey kind of situation (rush hours, crazy traffice jams, crowded restaurants, other dogs, cats, sirens, etc).

Every person he encounter, Oscar would kidney bean like a fiend. He would be petted by 25 new people each day.

As far as formal training is concerned, Oscar learned how to sit, down, rollover, and play fetch from the very begining. Only by our using positive lure techniques. (treats and praise). We NEVER have hit him and as a result, we have been blessed with a confident outgoing, boisterously playful puppy.

TRAVEL DAY --

with much trepidation did we fly home from Bolivia to NYC with our little Oscar in his kennel. The plane flies a horrible route of La Paz to Santa Cruz (hour flight, hour on the tarmac refueling -- then it flies to Miami (7 hours) where we had to go through customs. Again, Oscar shocked us with his incredible bladder/bowel abilities. He withstood the entire 9 hours in his kennel (as a 4+ month old puppy) without soiling his kennel. He emerged from the plane as happy and playful as ever -- like the flight didn't even affect him...It killed us to then have to re-check him in Miami for the final leg to NYC. (The flight was delayed and poor Oscar was in his kennel for another 4.5 hours). But again, when we reunited at La Guardia airport -- he was overjoyed to see us and kidney beaned like crazy).

To conclude...

Our experience as new Boxer owners has been truly wonderful. This is not to say that we haven't had (and still have our trying moments -- every now and then Oscar "talks back at us" when he's over tired or feeling spunky. He also whines for food. And jumps all over our furniture. But by and large these are small inconveniences to endure compared to the love he showers us with.

Now in NYC, we take Oscar out to the small doggie run everyday (to get his exercise and socialize with other dogs). He loves our apartment and loves the city. Seems to have perfectly adjusted (without the slightest glitch).

So I want to give a big thanks again to all members. Your advice was crucial to our first 3 months with Oscar and we are well on the way to raising a happy boxer.

The best advice I gleaned here on this site and will impart right back to all new owners is to:

1) Be home for your puppy's first couple/few weeks

2) crate your puppy next to your bed. CARRY him outside to do his business and place him right back in his crate.

3) walk him several (countless times) per day

4) if you catch him peeing in the house SHOUT! loudly NO! but do not ever hit him; simply try to interrupt his stream and whisk him outside.

5) Expose him to the world; don't raise a sheltered dog who never leaves his home, and backyard. Take him everywhere with you (before he gets too big!)

6) buy ten different kinds of toys. And when he is doing something bad. REDIRECT his attention to the toys.

7) When he bites you (and he most certainly will!) yelp VERY LOUD IN PAIN and then walk away from your pup; ignore him for a few minutes. This EVENTUALLY works.

8) Don't lose patience, they are puppies. They're gonna be devils. Just make sure you play with them. Walk them everyday (backyard doesn't count). And train them a little (sit down).


THANKS AGAIN!!!

[sashamom]

What a lovely story and great testament to this site! I am thrilled you got Oscar and it sounds like he is a doll full of life and energy! Congratulations to you for all your hard work and glad to have you here!

[Gypszy60]

Not only are you incredably blessed to have found this amazing puppy-he is as fortunate to have found you!