Day 2!

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

So we're making a little progress with the playing. Fenway has learned to not be so rough and Dustin has learned to be a little more rough. He likes to baricade himself under the couch, behind the bar stools, or behind my legs and lunge at Fenway with his razor sharp teeth and big paws. It's completely hilarious because Fenway used to do this when she was a puppy and some of her bigger friends would come over to play. Lee called it her gorilla attack so evidently she's getting payed back big time! Too funny.

Although the playing is going much better, the night was absolute torture. I forgot how hard it is to lay there and listen to the puppy cry it's little heart out in the crate. Of course Fenway did this too, just not quite at the same volume as Dustin. It's horrible! To make matters worse Fenway gets all maternal when he cries and she rushes to his crate to make sure he's ok. I keep telling her it's not helping him get used to his crate, but she doesn't seem to care. He did do very well with pottying however. Every time he woke up and whined I took him down, he immediately did his business and then we came right back to bed. That's when the real whining and crying would start up. We'll just have to bear it for the next couple of nights and hope he gets used to his crate really quickly.

On a worrisome note, for those of you who don't know I live in a condo. Well this is always very interesting when potty training a puppy. Anyway, this evening we were out for our after dinner potty and my good friend from downstairs was also on the dog walk with her dog. We stopped to talk and she was exclaiming over Dustin and loving on Fenway and then told me to be very careful because she had talked to another girl who lives in the condos who has a puppy that is very small. When she asked about the puppy the girl gave my friend a number of weeks that didn't seem to fit with the pups size. The girl went on to tell my friend that her puppy had had parvo and that she would have permanent developmental and growth problems due to the virus. Now I don't know if this little puppy got the virus here around the condo, but if so I'm really scared. I have to take Dustin down to use the bathroom. There is no way to avoid this. I try not to use the higher traffic potty areas when I put him down to do his business, but you like to think that your puppy is safe at your home. I'm planning on tracking this girl down and seeing what else she can tell me, but can Dustin get the virus from this puppy or the puppy's waste even though the puppy is better? I remember Missi saying that she had to keep her sweetie quarentined. I'm about to go back and look at the discussion about parvo in the forum and ask Missi some questions. I'm a little worried.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Fenway will be 11 months old on the 11th of this month. I think they are begining to work it out and last night was soooo much better. He actually slept until 5 and did not cry when I put him back in the crate. I hope that this is a continueing trend but we'll see.
Missi, thank you so much for the advice. I'm trying to track this girl down, but I'm not exactly sure which unit she lives in and I haven't seen her out with her puppy which is a plus in most ways. I will start to follow your recommendations. I haven't had any problem with him eating poop, but he does go for the dirt/mulch around the trees. Thanks again and I'll hopefully not have to deal with this, but if I do I want to know I did everything I could to prevent it from happening.

[Stella]

How old is Fenway? We have a 15 month old standard F1 LD and a 15 week old medium LD - both males. Things were a bit hairy when we brought the new puppy home while they worked out if they were going to get along or not! When theh puppy has had enough, he hides under a stool in the kitchen!! We are going through similar problems to you with the crate and and nighttime crying - but we have had the puppy for almost a month and he still barks throught the night!!

[Missi]

That must be so fun having them both there!
I feel like I could write a book on Parvo now that I've been through it. Do you know how long ago the puppy had parvo? The virus itself can live on hard surfaces for 5 months and in soil for up to a year! But an infected dog will only secrete it in their feces for up to 2 months after the infection has been treated. This being said, it is almost impossible to completely avoid contact with the virus, so we do things to help prevent the chance of the puppy actually getting infected. Whether or not a puppy gets infected is dependent upon many things: puppy's age (the younger, the more susceptible), whether or not the puppy's been vaccinated, WHEN the puppy was vaccinated, when the puppy was weaned, which vaccines were used, the general health of the puppy and the amount of virus encountered/ingested. I'm sure there's even more variables. Most standard puppy vaccinations don't provide full (if any) immunity to parvo because maternal antibodies react to the vaccine up until 16 weeks old (depending on weaning) unless the newer Recombinant vaccines are used, which can mount immune responses despite maternal antibodies.
So the main goal is to just MINIMIZE the chance of infection. Ideally, the girl who's puppy was infected was careful to clean up after her and not take her out-and-about, but we can't really count on that. My suggestions would be to not let Dustin eat poop or dirt (sounds like a "duh" but sometimes they're tricky) or anything off the ground outside. WIPE off both dogs paws when the come in with an antibacterial wipe and don't wear your shoes around the house. Keep him healthy; if he is otherwise healthy, his immune system will be able to fight it off, or help him recover if he gets sick (praying not!!). I think some of Lizzie's problem, is that she was so sick to begin with; we had just gotten over being so anemic when she was hit with the parvo. Otherwise, keeping out of the high-traffic areas is a great start, and it sounds like you're very aware. Enjoy him, we can't keep them in a bubble! (Trust me, I've tried). Now I'm having to work on some serious socialization, since we've been couped up for over 4 weeks; puppy classes start in 5 more weeks. Puppy love and kisses to you!!

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Thanks Adina. We have an appointment this week, but I'll probably call as soon as they are open on Monday morning. In the meantime, I'm planning on having him and her go in a non traffic area that I'm pretty sure no other dogs use at all. It's also on the opposite side of the complex than where she lives. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's so scary.

[Adina P]

Glad their playing has improved! It will only get better and more fun for both.
I have never had to potty train a pup living in a condo...so I am always impressed at the diligence and bravery of others who take this one =) I honestly would be worried about parvo too...it can live for many months in the ground.... I would be tempted to buy a chunk of sod and put it in an expen and have puppy go there for a while...but that can only last a little while. But honestly there's only so much you can do as you'd have to keep Fenway quarantined too and that's not possible. Talk to your vet and see what he/she thinks.