Max's Diary

We bought Max, our Chihuahua, on July 29, 2002. At that time, we were informed that he was exactly 8 weeks old. We were wanting a small dog and I had narrowed it down to 3 toy breeds when my hubby said that he encountered a Chihuahua at his job site with the most amazing personality. We were sold! We bought Max from a private breeder a few days later.

We named him Max for (depending which family member you ask) Max the dog on The Mask and The Grinch, Claudius Maximus (his AKC name) on The Gladiator, or Kevin Max, from the Christian music group DC Talk. He has a wonderful personality and is already showing great intelligence. He loves toes (pity the mailman, LOL) and loves to lick anyone who dares to lay on the floor. We are all just in love with him. The most endearing thing about him is the way his hind legs lift up off of the ground as he eats! ...So, after all this time drawing dog graphics, I finally got a dog. Now I am officially a dog person! If only I can just get him housebroke...! Well, he DID go on the papers today (August 2, 2002)!

Find the puppy in the blanket

(August 8, 2002) He is now paper trained and sleeps through the night at 5 1/2 weeks old! Yea!   It happened kinda all of a sudden. The other day when I got him out of his crate early in the morning, he was very happy to see me, but after a minute of kisses, I put him down and he made a bee line for his blanket. It was like...what did he miss more, me or the blanket? So the next night I put him in the kitchen with his blanket near his papers and barricaded him in so he couldn't go into the rest of the house. He slept the whole night without a whimper! Then when I got up, I took him outside and he went without hesitation! He didn't mess in the house once the whole day, either! Then I repeated it again last night and he was fine again, only this time he must have gotten up early and played, so I didn't get him outside in time, but he used his papers! It's like having a new dog in the house because the pressure is off! I just have to be alert to when he stands by the door now, because I do prefer him to do his business outside. :)     It's fun to watch him tear around outside, too. Only thing is I have to cut my lawn because it is taller than him, LOL.  

(September 19, 2002) Max is growing! We took him to the vet and he weighed out at almost 3 pounds! His face is also darker as his skin turns from pink to brown in spots.
His housebreaking has suffered a setback, however, when we went to our cabin for vacation. Since we spent so much time outside, he got used to going wherever and whenever he wanted, so of course he applied the same principal at home. *Sigh* Back to the drawing board.

He has learned the trick "speak" already and we are working on "sit" and "come." He also "fetches" a little. Max loves to jump up on the couch and chairs to join us and play or cuddle, depending on his mood. One of the highlights of his day is to wake up my oldest son for school. I place him on his bed and Max proceeds to smother him in puppy kisses. In the afternoon, Max's favorite place is the back porch so that he can bask in the sun. Unfortunately, he won't be able to do that much longer, as cold weather is coming.

(October 15, 2002) Max has mastered a new trick! I had a problem with him still messing on our carpet once in awhile. You see, he would sit on the mat near the door, waiting for us to take him outside. If we didn't see him, then he would do his business elsewhere. Well, I asked some friends of mine what to do and one of them suggested having bells by the door and training him to ring them whenever he wanted to go outside. That sounded like an idea worth trying, so I tied some bells to a string and fastened the string to a hook on the wall. Then whenever I thought he had to go, I made hime ring the bells by holding his paws, gave him a treat, and then took him outside. The next day, I held the treat next to the bells and told him to ring them. When he did, I gave him the treat and took him outside. By the 3rd day, he was ringing them on his own. Of course, he started ringing them whenever he wanted a treat, but after a week of weaning him off of the treat, he was only ringing the bells to go outside.

(November 27, 2002) Max saw his first snowfall today! It actually collected enough to remain on the ground for him to play in it...and did he ever have fun! I let him run around the back yard and he had a blast...and he discovered he could eat it. :)

Can you find the Chi in the snow?? He would have had his sweater on, but he hates the things. He pulls them off as soon as I get them on.

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