Argos [PIC/VID update 01.01.2012]
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
*****PIC/VID update at the bottom of thread****
So, we had a great trip to the island to pick up our little pup, meeting jikjak and eljefespeaks was great, and having all the brothers there on the ride back was excellent for them!
Our little guy settled right into the place we were staying at on Saturday in Vancouver. Jess's family has an 11 year old golden retriever, twice-mother, that our pup took all of 15 minutes to get used to and start playing with. We brought him home today, and found out he hates planes, but is doing quite well now.
He. Is. Super. Adorable!!
We got the "calm," lighter coloured one cmpteki was commenting on in our other post. Holy, he is chill. Playful, but chill. He has no problem being handled, actively seeks out people to lick, and loves the hand spider, but is happy to sit and watch, too. He seems to have the independent streak, when he finds a toy/game boring, he is done with it for the moment and is quite content to just sit and look at you. You can tell he is thinking, lol, it is so cute!!
Rustling bushes, however, are his favourite toy.
Aside from that, he's (to our delight), house-broken himself. He's just too cute, and totally puppy-clumsy right now. He's just discovered the squeaker in one of his toys, but he's too small to make it squeak himself, yet. We did do a little bit of "exploratory training" with the command "sit." He quickly started sitting down every time he stood up regardless of whether we said "sit," and looked to us for a treat. Like he trained us or something! We'll work on that...
So, we're naming him Argos (Arr-gohss)!
Anyway, enough gushing, its PICTURE TIME!
Actually, this is a video of him playing with his new golden retriever friend:
Some pics from the pick up (we were a little indiscrimminate with the camera and ended up with a lot of pictures of his butt):
All three fighting over a Wubba (Argos in black, jikjak's pup in red, and Kuma in blue!):
The ferry ride back:
(Argos on the left, Kuma on the right)
(nap time)
And the epic yawn!!
Add tons more soon, just so busy! Here's some super cute ones from when we finally got him home (today), though:
Updated pics!!! 04/10/2011
He's now about 15 lbs thanks to the wonders of a tablespoon of Turduckin wet food on his kibbles. One ear is really perking, and the other's just kind of half floppy! Other than that, he's doing great! On to the pics:
The first time he discovered his reflection! Unfortunately, we missed the bit where he charged the mirror:
Some cute outdoorsy pics:
(We spent all that money on chew toys, and you want to play with PINE CONES?!)
Caught digging the hole:
Hide and seek:
AND my personal favourite (much to Brad's displeasure! :P):
Beautiful
*****PIC/VID update at the bottom of thread****
So, we had a great trip to the island to pick up our little pup, meeting jikjak and eljefespeaks was great, and having all the brothers there on the ride back was excellent for them!
Our little guy settled right into the place we were staying at on Saturday in Vancouver. Jess's family has an 11 year old golden retriever, twice-mother, that our pup took all of 15 minutes to get used to and start playing with. We brought him home today, and found out he hates planes, but is doing quite well now.
He. Is. Super. Adorable!!
We got the "calm," lighter coloured one cmpteki was commenting on in our other post. Holy, he is chill. Playful, but chill. He has no problem being handled, actively seeks out people to lick, and loves the hand spider, but is happy to sit and watch, too. He seems to have the independent streak, when he finds a toy/game boring, he is done with it for the moment and is quite content to just sit and look at you. You can tell he is thinking, lol, it is so cute!!
Rustling bushes, however, are his favourite toy.
Aside from that, he's (to our delight), house-broken himself. He's just too cute, and totally puppy-clumsy right now. He's just discovered the squeaker in one of his toys, but he's too small to make it squeak himself, yet. We did do a little bit of "exploratory training" with the command "sit." He quickly started sitting down every time he stood up regardless of whether we said "sit," and looked to us for a treat. Like he trained us or something! We'll work on that...
So, we're naming him Argos (Arr-gohss)!
Anyway, enough gushing, its PICTURE TIME!
Actually, this is a video of him playing with his new golden retriever friend:
Some pics from the pick up (we were a little indiscrimminate with the camera and ended up with a lot of pictures of his butt):
All three fighting over a Wubba (Argos in black, jikjak's pup in red, and Kuma in blue!):
The ferry ride back:
(Argos on the left, Kuma on the right)
(nap time)
And the epic yawn!!
Add tons more soon, just so busy! Here's some super cute ones from when we finally got him home (today), though:
Updated pics!!! 04/10/2011
He's now about 15 lbs thanks to the wonders of a tablespoon of Turduckin wet food on his kibbles. One ear is really perking, and the other's just kind of half floppy! Other than that, he's doing great! On to the pics:
The first time he discovered his reflection! Unfortunately, we missed the bit where he charged the mirror:
Some cute outdoorsy pics:
(We spent all that money on chew toys, and you want to play with PINE CONES?!)
Caught digging the hole:
Hide and seek:
AND my personal favourite (much to Brad's displeasure! :P):
Beautiful
Comments
I have to say that is a very spry Golden Retreiver at the age of 11!
Jesse
@Edgewood He's playful, but he sure sleeps a lot. I take it the "handful" part will kick in once he starts to spend more hours awake. But he's so calm, too.
@crimsono2 Yeah, Lexi (the golden retriever) is in wonderful health, which was great because when Argos had his burst of energy, he wanted to PLAY. We think she may have been getting a little jealous of all the attention, though. (;
@ttddinh Katja basically said that whether we leave him intact or not is up to us, unless he develops some disorder which would call for neutering, which we very much appreciate because we have the full intention of leaving him intact. We love the idea of breeding him one day, and aside from that all the male dogs I have ever kept have been intact and absolutely superb.
As to already being house broken...good habits at an early age pay dividends, so stay with a decent routine; if he has too much inside space and time to explore, especially 10-20min after some food or drink, you may find the odd accident. With his attitude though, I am sure his innocent look and 'halo' will appear, and despite being the only pup in the vicinity, you will decide to take his word for it that it was the neighbours cat, or some such...
BUT... I can also see a false sense of security side, he's a mischevous little bugger and when he gets his mind on something... He's very responsive to training, but definately has a "I'll do what you want as long as I'm in the mood for it" to him. He's a little sweetheart, and we'll definately keep you posted on how his attitude is coming.
He comes in with a built in halo-effect.
Looking forward to more spam...
Things are great with Argos. We found a vet who seems patient, kind, caring and comes recommended by friends. All went well with Argos and his first vet examination. He was a little unsure of his surroundings at first and was a little timid, which is probably to be expected. We have a vaccination schedule planned out now and the Vet examined Argos and gave him a clean bill of health. As of his check-up on Saturday, he weighs 11.8 pounds, so that is a gain of 1.4 pounds in 8 days. There has been no "gas" issues and he is adjusting nicely to Orijen puppy.
He is more rambunctious and energetic than ever!! His ears are about half perked now. He is faster and more agile than he was just a week ago. However, he is still at times, very much "the calm pup" that Cmpteki and Katja described. It seems like it is just easier to engage him in play, so long as he wants to play of course, and the play is faster and more vigorous than before.
He has met children for the first time and it went wonderfully. They came bearing gifts and treats and Argos was immediatley receptive and playful, but it appeared to be a more subdued playfulness than what I get from him when he is in play mode. We will have to see if that is a trend that persists or simply the product of a 1st meeting with these 2 boys (brad's nephews, ages 7 and 5). The 5 of us had an extended play session in the yard and the boys were wonderful with Argos and he was equally wonderful with them.
Now, about plants. Argos loves plants!! Seriously. It is as if we do not feed him! He can be outside moments after eating and one of the first things he does is attempt to eat plants. Stem, leaf, blossom, dead, alive? it matters not to Argos. Some he likes to chew, others it seems he wants to eat. I'm sure that he would eat it all if we were to allow it. Our garden is full of plants of various varieties, many of which are ?perrennials? (the bulb type which come back each year). The garden was planted by the previous owners of the house and we have been able to identify some of the plants, but certainly not all of them. Neither of us are botanists. We have done a lot of digging as to which house/garden plants may be poisonous, but some plants out there are tough to identify so we are super alert whenever he attempts to chew on any plant matter. (for example, the leaves of some apple trees are poison!) We are curious if any other Shikoku owners have noticed this same love of plants.
As for the plant fixation, distract or correct him when he goes for the greenery; ie, surprise him with a playful poke, he will get over it, much more fun to play with either of you instead of the plant. His environment is still new and he will likely want to taste everything. Now that no one is around to curb his explorations, he will find a way to check it all out for himself. No idea on toxicity, with any luck he won't be consuming much.
For comparison...
Yoshi sticks his nose in pretty much anything, and has given himself a couple nasal irritation issues to prove it. Reverse sneezing will make you think he is dying, but went away on it's own in a couple weeks. Eating wasps gives him some minor difficulties on occasion as well; especially if they are active and he gets more than five.
Kimi is more cautious; tending to observe and then go for something, whereas Yoshi just charges ahead.
Either way, they are quite robust and have yet to bite off more than their systems can handle.
Argos will grow into his environment and learn as he goes.
Shikoku kick ass, welcome to the family.
ditto.
Anyway, update in first post!
Argos is looking great!
...and now the truth comes out about the plant fixation; think we need to see that brush rustle and subsequent puppy pounce!
Gotta love Shikoku pups! Can't get enough pics!
: D
My camera doesn't do shots in motion very well at all,
Argos has grown so much and gotten much lighter in colour over the past 2 weeks!