Oscar has overtaken our house

Meet the newest member of our household, a handsome, hybrid poodle/Maltese/Shi Tsu named Oscar. Our new puppy is an adorable bundle of fluff, champagne coloured with an angelic face which belies his wicked playfullness.  He is the tiniest little soul and yet he is like a charged electric current of energy in our household.   He wakes at  about 6am, he whines to be let into our bedroom and he then bounces about our bed like the bunny in the battery TV ad. The four-legged dynamo does not stop racing through the house, chasing his own tail around the lawn, and already at 11 weeks of age, he has developed eccentricities.  He loves shoes and shoe-laces and has a thing for smelly socks! His teeth have the strength of a lion already because he will drag husband Olivier’s big shoe – bigger than Oscar himself – down the hall to his lair. His new padded basket is where he deposits his precious things and he doesn’t mind being popped into a carry bag provided he can poke his head over the top.

His favourite toy is a fluffy mouse and he has learnt how to stamp his paw on a pirate toy which squeaks.  Some of our well-meaning friends questioned the wisdom of buying a puppy because of our harrowing journey with Olivier’s cancer, which continues. Yet Oscar has been the best decision. He is one big bundle of joy to us both and we are like doting parents, laughing at his antics throughout the day; worrying if he is out of sight. But the best outcome is that Oscar has become our focus on happiness – an antidote for the sadness which lurks in our life. And his playful tricks keep our minds off Olivier’s cancer prognosis.  He is a big part of the art of living fearlessly in the shadow of terminal illness.

However, one of the big problems with owning a puppy is toilet-training as this is crucial for the future enjoyment of having a pooch in your everyday life.  Luckily, Oscar’s breeder, an efficient woman named Rae, had trained him to piddle on paper and our beautiful new home is now strewn with patches of newsprint at every doorway,  which he uses most of the time.  The idea is you gradually reduce the number of newspapers to just one, by the doggie door. However, his poops are another matter altogether and we must watch our feet and keep the carpeted bedrooms closed.  This is the reason he has been banned from sleeping in our bedroom overnight.

Any words of wisdom about toilet training puppies out there in cyberland?

Meanwhile, here are the latest pix of our 11-week-old puppy.

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4 Comments to “Oscar has overtaken our house”

  1. By Dominique, 06/02/2012 @ 6:33 am

    Can’t wait seeing him. You need to encourage him going outside for its toilet training and do not forget to over congratulate him when he is successful. Training is mainly encouraging natural aptitudes of the animal, they love to be congratulated.
    Bisous
    Dominique

    • By nadine, 06/02/2012 @ 11:14 pm

      thx dominique. You are an expert with thosebeautiful Dobermanns of yours. bisous Nadine

  2. By Carolyn, 18/02/2012 @ 11:27 am

    Hi Nadine, he looks so much like Maisie at the same age! He is absolutely adorable and such an excellent decision on your part, wonderful diversional therapy for you both. I am wondering if your breeder is the same Rae we purchased Masie…between Callington and Strathalbyn? I will send you a couple of photos of Masie at that age to compare. Happy days….love Carolyn

    • By nadine, 16/03/2012 @ 10:41 pm

      Carolyn, Yes, he comes from the same breeder.. Isn’t that amazing?

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