# Denver and Keeper Updates



## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

It's been a long time since I updated, but with so many things going on, it's been crazy.

As of today, Keeper is 14 weeks old and we've had him 4 weeks. It's hard to think we've had him that long???? It seems like it's been maybe 2. LOL. I guess time has flown. He has been an absolute joy. He is much more of a velcro dog than Denver, he loves to snuggle, and he has a temper that we have to keep him in check for. He thinks that if he snarks at us or throws a puppy tantrum he can have his way, crazy puppy. He is slowly learning that it doesn't work.

Denver has adjusted extremely well to having a brother around. They have a few really good play sessions of the day and once in a while they'll seek each other out to snuggle with - though those times are far between. 

We still keep them separated when we aren't able to actively monitor them or when one is awake and one is napping, etc. There have been only minor scuffles over bully sticks but they are working it out (really, Denver lets Keeper take his, and then Keeper won't let Denver have one back...) so sometimes we intervene and either separate them for chew time or put them on opposite ends of the room with a bully and that seems to keep the peace. Scuffle is even probably a strong term.. just a little sniping. There is no issues over food (we do training sessions both apart and together), and it's been great.

However, it's not all positive! Denver has become a MONSTER with marking again. We thought we had it licked, but nope. So we are back to belly bands, both dogs go out every 30 minutes (but he always keeps a little in his tank for marking sigh), and all that jazz. Before with the belly band, he didn't even try to mark - over the weekend he's decided to try to mark even with the band on. So that took a giant leap back. Can't have everything good though, right? (Some of it I understand.. Keeper pees on the peepad, Denver wants to mark overtop of it.. ok.. but not randomly marking the furniture.. sigh.. and the weekend was at the cabin, so it's a new place to him and we all know dogs don't generalize). Also, he's managed to mark Keeper a few times - usually first thing in the morning. Keeper goes out to pee and Denver can't wait to pee in that same spot, so just pees ontop of Keeper. Nothing like bathing a puppy at 6am!

The other weird thing is that Denver is suddenly not very toy-motivated. Before he would play for a long time with toys - both with us and tossing them around himself to play with. He would play fetch with us until we were worn out, etc. Now, he has ZERO interest. It's like bringing in a puppy turned him into an old man at 11 months of age. It's crazy. Keeper is now in daycare 2 days a week, so we have more time to bond, work on training one-on-one etc.. but he just doesn't want to play even then. I'm hoping this attitude doesn't follow us into his agility classes that will be starting (hopefully) in September.

I dug out all my daughter's old clothes to donate (ages 0-6yrs) as second hand stores are open again to accepting clothing .. so I'm pulling a bunch of onesies out while going through them for Denver to wear post-neuter since that will happen in about 2 weeks. Hard to believe he will be a year old shortly!!!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for the update! Such cute photos of such cute dogs! Keeper's face, coloring, and hairstyle are precious, precious!

I don't know anything about boy dogs and marking. We only had female dogs when I was a kid, and Shama is the only dog I've owned as an adult.

I hope Denver rediscovers his interest in toys. That is a surprising result of getting a new puppy ...

Looking forward to your next update!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I’m glad you posted an update, too. I don’t know how I missed it! How’s the marking going? 

The photos are so cute!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

It ebbs and flows. He’ll go a week or two without, then he’ll be marking crazy for a week. It’s pretty frustrating. He goes out every 30 mins, so it’s annoying. But the good weeks always give me hope. Right now we are having a good week.

This is one thing I do think the pandemic is bad for - routine. Having my hubby and kiddo home means my attention is always divided. If we were in regular routine it’d be me and the puppies home alone most of the day (I’ve worked from home the last few years and is why I wanted a hav or 2 for companionship). My attention would be less scattered and I would have a very routined day. 

In other news, Denver turned 1 on June 9th and was spoiled rotten. His neuter is set for next week (Wednesday). I upped Keepers food as his weight healthily increased but he was a little on the thin side. But apparently upped it too much (even though we used our brands website calculator and broke out the scales to weigh his new food allotment (we feed commercial raw)) and in a week he’s gotten..pudgy. So dropping his food a bit to see if we can find balance.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

How sweet they are together! Hope the neuter does the trick! Keeper is one cute puppy!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Love the photo of them looking out the window. How nice of you to elevate their bed to the perfect height!


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Aww love the picture of them together looking out the window. Sweet pups!:smile2:


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

ShamaMama said:


> Love the photo of them looking out the window. How nice of you to elevate their bed to the perfect height!


We had a cat tree there when we first got Denver, and he loved laying in it and watching outside, but he outgrew that but still tried to squish himself onto it. So I measured to the bottom of the window and got an elevated bed that was high enough. This one was advertised to be about an inch higher, but it still works for them!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

So, just over 2 weeks ago, Denver was neutered. We did the onesie thing. He ended up matted as all heck and is now shaved except for his head and tail. It really looks like we photoshopped another head onto Denver's body. I feel sad for him, but it is what it is. The neuter is important to the rest of the story.

A week after the neuter, we are at the cabin, it is fully carpeted except the bathroom (even the kitchen has carpet). We have started letting the dogs be together as long as they don't play too hard. The stitches are gone, just a little scab remains on Denver's bits, but we don't want anything to rip open.

Hubby was kind enough to let me sleep. He got up with the dogs and the kiddo and they were in the living room playing video games. I look around and there is blood EVERYWHERE. And not just a drop or two. Like, a lot of it. ALL OVER the cabin. So, I FREAK the heck out. I run over and grab Denver and look at his bits, no bleeding. Nothing else on him seems to be bleeding. So I grab Keeper, he has a little blood between his nose and lip. But not much. There is NO way that much blood was caused by a tooth or nosebleed. I keep looking through Keeper's fur, thinking there has to be SOMETHING.

Then hubby gets up and walks to the kitchen. Their puck of food that was thawing (we feed commercial raw) is gone. He says "so that's why keeper wanted off the couch so badly...". Denver had jumped and managed to get the puck of food OFF the cutting board that was sitting way back on the counter...and he and Keeper proceeded to feast. They ate a days worth of food in that meal. And they apparently dragged it ALL over while eating it. Including right infront of the couch where hubby was sitting, blissfully unawares. 

So, having solved the mystery, I had the fun task of cleaning all the carpets so that it doesn't look like a murder scene PLUS put antibacterial down because it's blood and such. And I got all that done, settled to relax with Keeper in my lap... and he then proceeded to puke all over me. Apparently there is a limit of how much that boy can eat. Denver, however, was fine all day and still looking for more food.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh my so cute! I'm so far behind in the forum posts! I didn't even know you got a new puppy! So envious!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

It happened pretty quickly and I haven’t posted too much lately. . 
So don’t worry!!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Oh my word! What a story! Hope everyone's feeling better including the carpet!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

LOL!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Real lol, DH just asked me what’s so funny. It’s especially funny to me because DH (and my kids) are “gamers” and l could picture this happening at our house.


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

I’m amazed how quickly the belton markings are changing his fur colouring. I didn’t think it would til adult coat at the very least....

Also, how do you stop puppies from biting fingers and brushes. You’d think after doing this daily he’d be used to it. He likes bitter apple. Lol.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Seems like your going to be busy for awhile! 🤣 They are pretty adorable!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

This is why we can’t have nice things.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

LOL! Mine pick blueberries!


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## Vartina Ancrum (Oct 10, 2019)

I guess they are trying to go vegan!!:laugh2:


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

krandall said:


> LOL! Mine pick blueberries!


Mine pick raspberries as well. Those are still green though, so they haven't touched them.......yet.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Wulfin said:


> Mine pick raspberries as well. Those are still green though, so they haven't touched them.......yet.


My training ring grew a bumper crop of wild strawberries! It's probably a good thing that Kodi was hurt and not training... He would have had a REALLY hard time working rather than eating strawberries! LOL!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

Keeper has officially hit puberty. He has tried (for the first time ever) to hump Denver. 3 times. Denver just wiggled his way out and gave him a “wtf are you doing” look. Poor Denver was just trying to sleep, but apparently his loins were too inviting. LOL. 

I’m just letting Denver handle it, but we’ve hit that point. Time to start eagle eying him to make sure he doesn’t decide to mark inside the house.


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## Vartina Ancrum (Oct 10, 2019)

:laugh2: Too funny!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

The outdoor marking has also begun.yay for puberty!


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## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

I can totally sympathize with you regarding the dogs munching away in front of your husband. I have so many stories about my hubby that I could write a novel, lol. 

We had a similar experience with my son‘s Black and white rescue named Blue. He would bring Blue to our house all the time to visit when we lived in PA. One day Blue came over and we were having a cookout for around 15 people. I formed the hamburger patties and went outside to light the grill. When I returned to the kitchen I noticed that there was some ground meat on the floor. My first thought was oh, what a mess I made. Then I looked at the empty platter which a minute ago had been full and realized that it wasn’t me who made the mess. We had a lot of hungry guests that day but one very full dog!

These days Blue and his brother Dudley are busy watching over our newest addition to the family, Emma.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Wulfin said:


> The outdoor marking has also begun.yay for puberty!


My yorkie was neutered at six months. He has marked outside every single day of his life and is almost 12! However he has never ever marked inside. I am okay with whatever happens outside!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

Faith, that made me laugh because that’s like my old dog that ate my daughters birthday cake an hour before the party. Lolol. 

Yeah, I don’t care what happens inside, it’s the 8nside that matters. Keeper, however, will be remainin intact as he’s a co-own with my breeder to show and eventually breed should he do well in the ring. So im hoping he does better than Denver. Lol!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

I haven't posted anything in a while because life is busy, and the boys are good. 
But we have some updates.

1. Denver went for his wellness visit and vaccinations. From here on he will be getting titred. He will need a dental, so we need to double down on his tooth brushing and get him in for that. Also, one of his hips is open. My vet is shocked because she did not have ANY sense of that in his last puppy visit which was 6 months ago and went back through all her notes to look, so when he's in for the dental, she wants to radiograph his hips and see what they actually look like. She said at this point we can still do agility, but we can't do 10 runs in a weekend, maybe just 3-4. Which I'm okay with. Just something we need to keep an eye on as he ages. He's also been put on Geri-Active which is a supplement to help joints with a mild painkiller in it (she doesn't think he's in pain, but we all know how dogs hide it).

2. Keeper. Oh boy. This boy is pure comic. Pure chaos (he's like a small ball of chaotic energy). Pure personality. I mean, when he enters the room you KNOW it. If you've never seen a small dog with big personality, this is him. He can also be pushy, which we're working on. He has literally pushed my laptop off my lap because I wasn't giving him enough 100% of my attention. Or when he jumps on your lap, he does it with gusto. LOL. Everything he does, he puts his entire being into. He has also hit puberty in a big way. He is very...frisky....in the morning, late afternoon, and right after dinner. LOL. Denver is good natured about it since he seems to be the object of affection and basically just turns it into a wrestling match and hasn't been grumpy about it at all. Though I do keep having commentaries out loud about how much Keeper wants to make beautiful babies with Denver who has all the wrong parts..


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## KristaS (Sep 26, 2020)

Wulfin, they sound like wonderful fun doggies! I’ll be very interested to hear more about Denver’s hip!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

I will update about Denver’s hips as we learn more 

Keeper has now learned how to push the kitchen chairs out from under the kitchen table, so he can hop up onto the table. But he gets caught because he doesn’t know how to get back down. Sigh.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Wulfin said:


> I will update about Denver's hips as we learn more
> 
> Keeper has now learned how to push the kitchen chairs out from under the kitchen table, so he can hop up onto the table. But he gets caught because he doesn't know how to get back down. Sigh.


Thank heavens he doesn't jump down on his own and hurt himself! When Pixel was a puppy she started jumping up on our breakfast counter bar stools, and from there to the counter. I was terrified that she would jump down onto the tile floor and break all her legs! I beat it into the entire family how critical it was to keep the stools pushed in. Fortunately, these tall stools are too heavy for her to move on her own!


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

krandall said:


> Thank heavens he doesn't jump down on his own and hurt himself! When Pixel was a puppy she started jumping up on our breakfast counter bar stools, and from there to the counter. I was terrified that she would jump down onto the tile floor and break all her legs! I beat it into the entire family how critical it was to keep the stools pushed in. Fortunately, these tall stools are too heavy for her to move on her own!


That is fortunate for you and a fear for me! He pushes the chair out just enough to get up (he jumps on the seat and because the back is curved, he shoves himself between the table and chair back and pushes it out that way). So it's not out far enough for him to get back down. We have cleared the table off entirely and hoping that it just being boring up there will be enough ... otherwise I'm not sure what I'll do.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Wulfin said:


> That is fortunate for you and a fear for me! He pushes the chair out just enough to get up (he jumps on the seat and because the back is curved, he shoves himself between the table and chair back and pushes it out that way). So it's not out far enough for him to get back down. We have cleared the table off entirely and hoping that it just being boring up there will be enough ... otherwise I'm not sure what I'll do.


Such bratty little monsters! LOL!


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Wulfin said:


> That is fortunate for you and a fear for me! He pushes the chair out just enough to get up (he jumps on the seat and because the back is curved, he shoves himself between the table and chair back and pushes it out that way). So it's not out far enough for him to get back down. We have cleared the table off entirely and hoping that it just being boring up there will be enough ... otherwise I'm not sure what I'll do.


I think I would be shopping for some new very heavy chairs for Christmas!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Wulfin said:


> I will update about Denver's hips as we learn more
> 
> Keeper has now learned how to push the kitchen chairs out from under the kitchen table, so he can hop up onto the table. But he gets caught because he doesn't know how to get back down. Sigh.


They are such clever little creatures! I don't even know why I use pet gates anymore. She has figured out how to push open every one. I can't get the ones with a tension bar as I need something my husband can easily open and shut without having to step over it.

Maybe with our chairs you could bungie cord the chair legs to the legs of the table!


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> They are such clever little creatures! I don't even know why I use pet gates anymore. She has figured out how to push open every one. I can't get the ones with a tension bar as I need something my husband can easily open and shut without having to step over it.
> 
> Maybe with our chairs you could bungie cord the chair legs to the legs of the table!


That is funny! I was actually thinking of that too! I just thought getting new chairs sounded good...maybe because I think I need some new ones right now! My husband likes chairs on wheels...those would be even easier for Keeper! Luckily my dogs have never shown an interest on jumping on the kitchen table so the hubby can have his wheelie chairs!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Wulfin said:


> I will update about Denver's hips as we learn more
> 
> Keeper has now learned how to push the kitchen chairs out from under the kitchen table, so he can hop up onto the table. But he gets caught because he doesn't know how to get back down. Sigh.


Oh that never even occurred to me! I really hope Sundance doesn't figure that out. He did figure out how to get up on a chair when it was pushed in but he can't get up on the table, he ended up stuck stretched between two chairs. Here's a terrible picture of it with creepy photo eyes. He does this a lot but I can never get a good picture. His cry is so pathetic, he's like, Why are you taking pictures when I'm so desperate?!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I just tested it out and I don’t think Sundance would be able to push the chairs out because of the friction from the rug under our table. I was going to suggest using it as an excuse to buy a rug if you’re into that kind of thing, but then I realized, what if Keeper still thinks he can scoot the chairs out and end up tipping them over? 

I just wouldn’t want to clear the table right after dinner, lol.


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## JaJa (Jun 28, 2020)

Well I’ve had a great laugh reading all these posts😆 Now for a little rain. For years I joked that JoJo needed Adderall, it seems strange now that he's so much slower. New Havanese owners please be careful if you have a JoJo. Many years ago my DH thought he hid dark chocolate from Switzerland because it was in a wicker basket with a lid. I was gone but luckily our son woke up and saw vomit when he went downstairs. He called me immediately and thank goodness was close by. I could not get home and to the vet fast enough. I decided that if a police officer followed me s/he would have to keep doing so until I arrived at the vet. JoJo had consumed 2.5 times a lethal dose for his size. Our son being home saved JoJo’s life. I’m pretty relaxed by nature but not with dogs and chocolate. JoJo was the runt of the litter and has always weighed 9-9.5 pounds but he could get into anything! He ate our sons chocolate chip cookie at one point, which was on top of a shelf 52” high. We’ve never been able to figure out how it happened. Other than that, he’s been a fantastic family member and I’m happy to continue providing him unconditional love and geriatric care💜


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Just recently my friend and her DH had just moved into a new house and they were unpacking boxes. She kept finding little pieces of foil everywhere. In the kitchen she noticed more foil wrappers and then a empty bag of Hershey kisses on the table. They had to find a vet at night in a new town and rush their Cavalier to the hospital. The vet told her chocolate stays in the stomach for a long time before it is digested. No more chocolate for Bentley!


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## JaJa (Jun 28, 2020)

That is so scary, I’m glad Bentley’s okay! Your comment about staying in the stomach reminds me of the caffeine and sugar issues. At one point JoJo chewed through a thick vacuum sealed bag of coffee beans. He managed to do that in short order as I was in the bathroom and only 25 feet away. Our vet told us that dogs are not put off with bitter tastes like humans are. After the chocolate danger I baby proofed the house and put larges signs on the counters and table, saying “Do NOT put food here!” I covered the signs on the counter with clear packing tape. I eventually took them off and my sons asked me to put them back. They said they liked the visual cues for their ADD brains. Now our youngest uses post-it notes because his roommates “can’t remember anything for more than 2 seconds“😆


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Wulfin said:


> Keeper has now learned how to push the kitchen chairs out from under the kitchen table, so he can hop up onto the table. But he gets caught because he doesn't know how to get back down. Sigh.


What a little imp!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for the updates on Denver and Keeper. I'm always interested! I'm sorry to hear about Denver's hip.


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## Mama Mills (Jul 5, 2020)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> Wulfin said:
> 
> 
> > I will update about Denver's hips as we learn more
> ...


This is hysterical!


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## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

krandall said:


> Such bratty little monsters! LOL!


And smart too!


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