Boys Will Be Boys

So, G has been doing great being healthy. I can tell that he is in it for the long haul. It's so refreshing to have him show that he means business when becoming a dad, in all areas. I wish he didn't have to show it this way; but, I'm grateful that he's coming through. I just hope that all his efforts aren't for naught and that there isn't yet more that we have to address. I know there's still about a 25% that we haven't discovered all our obstacles. So, it will be about a month since G has been workin' on gettin his boys workin', by the time my fertile time comes around. In some cases that's long enough to have a significant improvement, and hence and increased chance for conception. In addition, G's apt. is coming up! At 1st I thought it would never get here, but now I just have to get through this weekend (and we all know how those just seem to fly by). Either way, I can just feel something coming our way...hopefully it's good news.

Speaking of boy's baby-making parts, my male dachshund has decided to become more, eh hem, masculine. Slowly over the past few months, he's been developing typical male behavior: marking and barking. It doesn't matter what type of punishment he gets, nothing has seemed to discourage his random dog aggression and territory marking. He used to be the sweetest, easy gonig lil' pup in the world. Lately, he pees on random objects in the house or garage, and even the bbq. He's randomly aggressive towards certain dogs when on leash or at a dog park. We finally found a descent website outlining all the steps we need to take to remedy this. Basically, we have to go back to puppy times, i.e. goes out to potty on a leash, not allowed out of our site in the house, not allowed to stop to pee when on walks (aka can only go when given the go ahead), prohibited from ever entering areas where he cannot be trusted, we have to work at developing positive associations w/other dogs and behaviors via treats (hello perma-treat-crumb-lined pockets...again), and possibly using sprays and other deterrents from poor behavior. All this re-training is supposed to last for 1-2 months. But, if it works, it's so worth it. I can't stand him being this completely different dog!