Trouble Brewing....

[MiniDave]

A couple of Neo vids, you can almost see his face in these...... ;D  He's closing in on 10 lbs - remember, he's a miniature Poodle, they're only supposed to be 10-12 lbs, and he's all of 4 months old now.

[MiniDave]

And one short one of Remo.....

[MPlayle]

Are you going to give them the "classic poodle cut" grooming or leave them shaggy?

[MiniDave]

We give them what's called a kennel cut, we don't do the poofs on the legs and such....something like this....their fur will change when they get to be about a year old but we'll start trimming them in about 2 more months......we already do trim their face, feet and butts.



I was a little optimistic on Neo's weight, he's at 8.8 lbs and Remo is 7.3....still they're both doing well and we're happy with that.....we've had them almost 2 months and they were 2.8 and 2.3 when we got them.......

[MiniDave]

Poodle update, the boys are almost 5 months old, Neo clocks in at 10.4 lbs and Remo a svelte 8.4.......we took them to PetSmart for a "3 F's" cut - face, fanny and feet, as their adult coat hasn't come in yet. Remo did fine, even letting her trim his face - we now know what he looks like! Neo wasn't having any of that face trimming stuff tho, we'll have to try that again in a few weeks.

We've had to up our vigilance on their mealtimes, we figured out that Neo would finish his first then push the slower eating Remo out of the way and eat the rest of his too. Now I grab Neo when he's done and take him outside so Remo can finish his in peace. Remo may turn out to be quite a bit smaller than Neo and that's OK, I just want to give him a fighting chance. As it is Remo is definitely the instigator, and is quite a bit faster than Neo too, so he can pounce and run away......

They still give us hours of entertainment and we're having fun with them every day. We've been taking them to the off leash dog park, the one we go to has separate areas for big dogs but even so ours are on the smaller end of the ones that go play there. They've made fast friends with Millie, the poo mix down the street who gets out of the house and goes tearing up to our yard to see if the boys are out in the back yard and can come play with her.

Next month we'll take them on their first road trip, we usually spend our anniversary at Beaver Lake, in NW Arkansas....it's about a 4 hour drive and will be the first time we've tried such a long trip, so far we've done plenty of short drives around town with no issues, so we're hopeful they'll travel well.

[MiniDave]

Couple of quick vids, I've not seen dogs chase a spot of light before - cats, sure.....but dogs?

Second one we're training them to come at the off leash dogpark......

[MiniDave]

Da Boiz are now just over 6 months old and we still haven't gotten them their first haircut, both are definitely getting pretty shaggy. No one can tell that they're poodles as their coat still looks straight, although the undercoat is curly the way it should be.

They're just as rambunctious as ever, although we've now gone to two a day feeding rather than three. Neo is almost 12 pounds and Remo is just over 10 - looks like they will always be about a pound apart in weight....our girls were the same way, Noel was 12-13 and Holly was always a pound or so lighter. But when you pick them up Remo feels like a feather weight! Hard to believe there's that little difference when you hold them.....Their parents were 9 and 10 lbs, so it looks like they'll both be a bit bigger than the folks.

We've been training them to the leash - or trying to - they both like to just wander about as we cruise the neighborhood, and Remo has taken to hiking his leg on every vertical surface he passes! They still chase each other furiously around the yard and they're a ton of fun to watch. We took them to Beaver lake last weekend - a four hour drive - and they were completely trouble free the whole trip....no upset tummies and no singing the blues - it sure makes travel easier. Noel was never happy in the car, even tho she never got sick she would complain loudly.... now that we've gotten the first long drive done we may try to go to North Carolina next summer to see the kids/grandkids.

I'll have an current vid in a bit.......shaggy dog video

[MiniDave]

DaBoiz are now almost 8 months old, they had their first real haircuts a couple weeks ago so they now look like the Poodles they are - well at least Neo does. We're still not too sure about Remo!  ;D

We took another 4 hour round trip to see friends for Thanksgiving and they handled the houseful of people (including rug rats to 5 year olds) pretty well, and the drive up and back was actually easier than with the girls, we used to have to stop about halfway with them to let them pee and stretch their legs, the boys don't seem to need the intermission.

This is what happens when you have two boys in the house and it's too cold and dark to go outside and play.....mind you this had been going on for about 10 min before I grabbed the cell phone and started videoing!

Neo has settled in at 12.5 lbs and Remo is almost 11.

[jeff10049]

Do you get the dogs presents? our dog likes opening them its fun to watch.

[MiniDave]

Yes but we don't wrap them cause the ensuing mess would be crazy - as it is one of their favorite things is to take a new clean Kleenex and shred it to bits, the smaller the better!

Rose got them what looks like a plush tree stump, inside are half a dozen little plush squirrels, they are supposed to be a puzzle, they have to dig them out - which they had NO trouble doing and promptly tried to tear the squirrel to bits! So we took the squirrels out and put their hard chew toys inside it instead....now all they want to do is tear the label off the stump! Kids!

;D ;D ;D ;D

[MiniDave]

I haven't posted about the boys in a while, but I thought today was appropriate as today is their birthday - 1 year today!

So here's a few shots - they are wearing an "unfortunate" haircut today as they went to the groomers yesterday and there was a distinct breakdown in communication between their Poo Mommy and the groomer, but we all know in a couple of months they'll have plenty of fur to work with again.

We've gone thru another round of stomach trouble, so thy both lost a little weight, Neo is holding about 12 lbs and Remo 10. That's a good weight for them but I'd like Remo to maybe put on a pound or two....he's really skinny right now but as you can see from the next shots, it's sure not slowing him down!

so, on with the pics.....

[MiniDave]

And now a few action shots!

[94touring]

They're living the good life!

[MiniDave]

Tomorrow's another big day for da bois, they're headed to the vet for a snip. Rose is fairly "concerned" about them making it thru the operation safely - she's more concerned about the effects of the anesthesia than the actual surgery.

Then they'll get to spend a few days wearing the cone of shame   ;D

Rose bought them a couple of "cute" ones, one looks like a lion's mane and another looks like a life jacket of sorts or one of those pillows you use on an airplane.....I think the simple plastic ones will serve the best, but we'll see.

[MPlayle]

It may be a matter of which they will leave on.  Memy was an escape artist at removing any she had to wear whether the hard or soft ones.

[MiniDave]

It might indeed.....they'll come home with the plastic ones, they don't seem to mind the "lion mane" ones, other than feeling embarrassed!   ;D

[MPlayle]

How are the "pups" doing after their vet visit?

[MiniDave]

We brought them home about noon, and the rest of the day they were pretty much zombie dogs, just laid around and slept til it was time to go to bed.....they ate about half rations which the vet said was fine.

Yesterday Neo (the black one) was feeling a lot better, while Remo seemed to be pretty unhappy, so I ran him back down to the vet. She looked him over and decided his surgery was fine, but his anal glands were full so she took care of those and he's much better this am. Neo is ready to resume his normal life of tearing around the yard and chasing his brother, but they said we have to keep them "calm" for about 2 weeks....that's going to be difficult, so we're going to up their walks to twice a day and make them walk longer.

Remo still isn't P&P like he should, but she said not to worry about him, he'll come around...Neo is as normal as ever there.

We also asked her to check Remo out as he's down to 9.6lbs, but she says it's a normal phase for them to go thru to get real slim for a while, then within a year or so as the hormones work their way out of his system he'll fill out a bit more....but she doesn't think he's too skinny.

Neo is just a much more substantial dog, in all ways, he's taller and more muscular than Remo. The boy's dad was actually a large toy, and the mom a small miniature, so Rose thinks Remo is favoring his dad's side and will be more towards the toy size while Neo favors his Mom's side, more to the miniature sizes, which can go up to 25 lbs. We don't think he'll get that big as he's holding pretty steady at 12.5lbs, he may gain another pound over his life. Our last two girls were both Miniatures and Noel was 12-14lbs and Holly 11-12, we think these two will do the same, but it worries me when I pick Remo up as he just feels frail compared to Neo....and Holly never felt that way, she was just good at making herself small.

Anyway, so far so good, cautious optimism and so on......

The soft "cones of shame" were a complete failure, they trip over the lion mane ones when they try to walk, and the blue inflatables don't keep them away from the area, they can still reach it. The best ones seem to be the plastic cones, but they really hate those, so we've been alternating between the plastic and the inflatables and just keeping a close eye on them.

[MiniDave]

Well, the boys are back to their same old selves, still chasing each other all over the yard and wrasslin.......

Rose made a video of them the first day they got the blue ball, as usual Remo is after it and Neo is just providing backup..  ;D

They have both recovered from the surgery and are eating normally again, in fact Remo has started finishing Neo's food. Neo is about 12.5 lbs and Remo about 10.5 now. Remo feels much better when you hold him, not so fragile and skinny. Neither is too heavy but both feel more substantial now. We'll try to settle them down at this weight, we had no problem keeping the girls at about the same numbers. The heaviest Noel ever got was 14 and Holly about 12.5.

Next month about this time we'll be heading to West Carolina for my grandson's wedding, that will be their first really long trip, and it will be a madhouse at my daughter's with all the wedding goings on and such....should be fun!

[MiniDave]

And 1 1/2 years old, the boys seem to have settled into their lives, both are healthy, active and eating well- although we still have to watch them or Neo will go eat Remo's food.

Neo is now a solid 14lbs! That's bigger than we expected but he's not fat, he's just packed on plenty of muscle fighting off his brother!

Remo is 11.5 and feels much more substantial now. It's clear that he's finally getting into a feeding routine and his weight and general health show it. He is still the instigator but they each have their little idioms. Remo loves to chase the ball, Neo loves to chase Remo chasing the ball!

Overall we're very happy with their progress, they now walk on the leash like troopers, and love going to the off leash dog park. They travel well, are sociable towards people and other small dogs and are getting smarter and more well behaved every day. They also now look like proper poodles, their coats are curly but very soft - Neo feels like velvet after his twice a month bath. His coat seems a bit thicker than Remo's too

I guess we'll keep them!  ;D

[BruceK]

Nice to hear things are going so well.  Give 'em a treat for me!   4.gif

[MiniDave]

For Halloween Rose made up outfits, Neo was the black night and Remo the Boy Wonder!  ;D

[MiniDave]

Today They were out romping in the snow for the first time....love Neo's face after he's been burrowing in the snow!   ;D

[MiniDave]

Xmas 2018

Rose bought the boys a "lambchop" stuffed toy and they proceeded to try and tear it to bits - as we knew they would! Neo is fond of the ears on the toy, Remo seems fascinated with the eyelashes.

Later today they're going out to the dog park for  romp with the other Xmas toys - I expect there will be a few Xmas puppies there today.

[MiniDave]

The boys had a great time at the dog park today, they both ran endlessly as there were plenty of doggy buddies to chase, now after dinner they're both zonked out on the floor.......it's good to be a dog!  ;D