It's going to be a LO0O0O0NG DAY!

6:00AM: accident in the crate
6:15AM: Daddy found his mess.... & left it for Mommy (NICE!)
6:40AM: clean up
6:45AM: accident on the carpet
6:50 AM: clean up
7:15 AM: bathroom protest to the new sign

Terrible Twos

I swear Chai's going through his Terrible Two phase at 5 months!  It's only 12 noon and he has had two accidents been outside seven times today.  He lost THREE baby teeth today, which probably accounts for his misbehavior.

He completely demolished a footlong bone, pulled out the inside, and strew it across the couch along with his new milk jug and teething key ring.

Aside from making a mess in the family room, I heard a ruckus coming from the bathroom.  Chai likes to lie in the bathtub, as it reminds him of his breeders house. This time the noise was a bit louder so I checked on him.  Water EVERYwhere, I found the Troublemaker with two paws in the toilet trying to go for a lap or two.

We did get a cute cuddle session in. He sat in between my legs on his back with his back paws on my leg and his head and front paws in the other.

Mama Cuddles

Can't wait until he naps!!! Somebody please tell me kids are easier!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS PUPPY IS DRIVING ME INSANE. IN THE LAST TWO HOURS HE'S DEFINITELY PAID HOMAGE TO HIS MIDDLE NAME.

Between the hours of 9PM - 11PM, we discovered Chai ripped holes in Matt's sock, chewed & peed on Ashley's pillow and our duvet cover, and tore up Ashley's job application within a minute of it being on the table.  Mr. Spoiled has atleast 15 toys and gets showered with cuddles and belly scratches, but he still gets into everything he shouldn't! :0( And due to his size it's like triple the trouble.

Pillow and duvet set in the wash; sock and application in the trash.

GOD GIVE ME PATIENCE!!!!!

Fairgrounds Pond

We've been trying to explore the town of Longmont to find a few possible hidden gems. We came across this pond while on our way to Boulder a couple times and thought it'd be fun to walk around it with the puppies. They loved it! Starlet used to walk along the Alameda beach in California, so it must have reminded her of "home." Chai, like a true polar bear, loves to hike AND swim... He hiked his happy little butt down the riverbank, and if it hadn't been for Matt choking up on the lead, he would have hopped right in. Lucky for Chai, he got his two front paws in, tried to sike his Daddy out to give him more leash, and then proceeded to hop in again. Sneaky boy! Too bad this walk didn't tire him out like we anticipated. He had an accident almost as soon as we got home! Thank gosh for our steam cleaner.

Ready for Trouble

Put your two paws, take your two paws out.. 

Stoic Chai

Happy Tails

Three Mini Polar Bears

We met up with our breeder and her two pups from Chai's litter at the dog park. It was probably the cutest freakin' play date we've had with him so far. He absolutely adores his brother, Jackson, and sister, Nubikins. They galumphed around, hopped over each other, and nibbled on each other's tails. I'm sure it was nice for him to play with puppies his own size instead of his grumpy, fun-sized Chi-sister.

                           

Exhausted Face

Chai has been sleeping ever since he got half way through his dinner.
Playdate = SUCCESS! 

Rabies Shot

Chai got his rabies shot today, which was his last shot to officially "go home" (even though we've had him for 2.5 weeks now)! I had no idea dogs in Colorado had to be licensed?! Whatever that means! I'll be doing research later.  He got a rabies tag? I don't know what that means either.... apparently it needs to go with his name tag & license? Hm.....

Anyways! We originally thought he was more than 70 pounds due to his coat, but he weighs a strapping 60.6 pounds.  The receptionist was telling me all about Chai as a baby. Apparently, he's always had his own agenda.  He was the very last one to walk- not because he had health issues, but because he didn't feel like it. She used to lay him on his back and do bicycle exercises with his legs to get 'em goin'.  Well, it worked! But he's still wobbly even at five months!  We just laugh at him while he trips over his toys.

I also found out his very first name, before "Hobbson," was "Trouble!" Oh goodness. This definitely reaffirms our name change of "Charles Trouble Holzapfel!" :0)

I thought this song would be fitting...

"Trouble" by Charles Ray LaMontagne

Lil Man Paws

Speckles!

Five months old and Chai's paws are bigger than my palms!!!! Pyrenees come out of the womb all pink from head to toe and then their color comes in over time.  His snout and belly are highly speckled and absolutely adorable. His paws (as you can see) are starting to change color. They're only grippy in places so he slides around all over the kitchen and the pavement. Chai's getting HUGE! We have to take him off puppy food as soon as we're done with this bag so he stops growing so fast.  Slow down boy!

Mysterious Bite Marks

Now...... we're not saying any names here since there were no witnesses!  But SOMEbody decided they were frustrated their toys kept getting stuck under the bench.....

Now onto Chai T. We've decided that the "T" should stand for Trouble, not Theodore, as this new middle name fits his personality better.  Because he is still teething, he prefers soft things. Obviously, we have had to monitor him ALL the time, but somehow he will get his paws on pillows and comforters.  Like he doesn't have enough toys as it is?!?!

Mini Polar Bear

View from the Balcony

We are most definitely thankful for the 4" snowfall last night(yes.. snow in April)! After his Daddy left, he asked to go outside for the very first time! Besides looking like a mini polar bear, Chai acts like one too.  He had a blast romping around outside, eating and pawing at the snow. Below is the video of our little man in the snow. Although he finally figured out how to ask to go out, he must have eaten a ton of snow AND figured out how much fun it was to play in it. He spent his time playing and then doing only half his business in order to repeat this process every 5-10 minutes. :0( He has already had three accidents inside today and it's not even 1PM! Mommy is not a happy camper.

Puppy Videos!

These videos are from his first weekend home with us.  The very first video is the last time they played with each other! :0( We're pretty sure Chai stepped on Starlet back paw during this play session because ever since she's only growled at him.... Hopefully they'll be friends again soon!

Exactly what I do NOT want.....

As new parents, we have not been able to get Chai to sleep more than 3 hours through the night.  I am absolutely exhausted.  Matt thought it would be a good idea to just buy him a bed so he could sleep in our room...... Within one month, we trained Starlet to sleep in her very own room in a little cat bed without any whining in the wee hours of the morning.  I think we can train Chai to sleep on his own in a crate within a month too.  Coincidentally I received an email today, as we get a Great Pyrenees newsletter from the Mile High Great Pyrenees Group.  This was today's post.

I think Chai will be a little bigger than this.. 

Sleeping with an 8-pound Chihuahua is much different than a 110+pound Pyrenees.  We would have to buy a king size bed to all fit. NO THANKS :0)

Potty Training

OMG! Potty training a 70-pound puppy is WAY harder than a 5-pound puppy. He's peed EVERYWHERE & pooped twice this weekend, despite taking him out almost every 45 minutes.  We went through three steam cleaners.... and all we can say is the Bissell works WONDERS!  Do not buy a Hoover - there's no suction!

With the constant trips outside together, Matt and Chai bonded a lot over the course of the weekend.  Chai follows him all around the house and when he can't find Matt he pouts. Chai figured out Matt was in the shower, pawed the door open, and then tried to paw the middle of the the shower curtain to see him.  So funny!

Ashley will be home most of the week to continue potty training with him solo.  Not looking forward to solo-parenting for 10 hours! It's going to be a VERY long week!  Let's cross our fingers that by Friday he is down to one accident in the house.  Easy enough?!

This might be more helpful...... LOL

Day One - Hour One

Nose to Nose! :0)

We are so lucky!  In the first 30 minutes Star actually played with Chai!  Soooooo adorable! I texted everybody out of excitement and my best friend reminded me I have video capability on my still camera. LOL I'm a total dizz case today.  Picking Chai up at 8:15AM on a Saturday is definitely taking a toll on my mental state.  Anyways... as of yet, we have pictures not videos.  Enjoy the slideshow!

Changes

Today is Starlet's last day as an only Chi-daughter! She spent the day chewing on her bones while enjoying the sun on the balcony. We continue to tell her that her little brother "Chai Chai" is coming home soon and that she needs to be a good big sister! LOL Let's hope she understands. We are hoping she and Chai become fast friends, but we know it's going to take some work.

Sticking her tongue out at me.

Mommy & Baby time on the balcony

Mommy & Baby

The Stork is Coming!

Playdate 2

We had another playdate with Hobbson, now weighing in at 68 pounds, to train him to use the stairs.  The breeder brought his mom, Molly, and Rikki to show him how to go up and down the stairs.  "Monkey see, monkey do." Thank goodness it worked! He's a little (big) galumphing stair climber.  He almost pulled Ashley down the stairs because he was running so fast.  We scheduled our next take home playdate for Saturday at 8:15AM (OY!) and hopefully we can take him home for good!  It's hard to see him go....

Name Change

Since we were so wrong about reprimanding our nervous little Star at the dog park, I am currently trying to research how to change Hobbson's name to Chai.  Pretty self-explanatory. Treats, positive affirmations, and repetition!

We'll let you know... This might be harder than it seems!

Playdate

Matt scheduled a puppy play date with Hobbson (4 months old & ~60 pounds) and the breeder prior to taking him home to socialize Star.     Prior to our meeting, we did some researching on socializing nervous dogs.  Well...... apparently we're idiots and we've been "socializing" Star wrong ALL this time...... especially in dog parks.  GREAT!  We thought that holding her mouth or telling her "bad dog" whenever she snarled or showed teeth to other dogs was the right thing to do.  Apparently, you're not supposed to reprimand nervous dogs when they're being "aggressive." Instead, you're supposed to give the dog treats as soon as they lay eyes on another dog. "Hm....." we thought.  Turns out, they're right.  For our meeting, we prepared training sausage in little balls to coax Star out of her shell and came up with a game plan.

Today went great! Blue skies, the weather was a warm 80 degrees. We followed all the suggestions for treat training and Star ate those things right up! Thank goodness.  With tails wagging, she and Hobbson ran all the way around the perimeter of the dog park together with Matt and I supervising.  

The breeder allowed us to take him home for a couple hours afterwards.  Matt was in love!  Pix below :0)  

puppy kisses

Exhausted after meeting Hobbson

Everybody's sleeping!

Treat Training

LOL

Big Puppy Supplies

Man, oh man! Yesterday we went to Walmart and then Petco looking for some deals on big puppy items. Apparently Walmart shoppers prefer "modest sized" dogs.... not 100+ pound dogs! So unfortunately we could only find dog bowls and an "XL" leash. Petco was next on our list.  Lo and behold, they did not have much of a "big dog" inventory either.  We happen to find a one-door 900 series crate (47" L X 29" W), a liner, an undercoat brush, and a training prong chain collar with a total bill of around $200.  He still has no toys :0\  

Star checking out Chai's new crib.  HUGE!