The history of Pixel:
Pixel was a stray on an Indian reservation. A nice woman saw him running around with his tail hanging by a thread, someone had put a rubber band on it and it had cut through everything except for a small piece of tendon. Pixel was taken to a Tiger Mountain Veterinary clinic out past Issaquah on April 1st. Dr. Jayne Jensen took him in and I was called on Wednesday April 3rd to come and see the cutest puppy ever. His tail was professionally clipped and the stitches were put in. I was able to bring him home the following day.
The vet said that Pixel is German Shepherd, Rottwieler, and Rhodesian Ridgeback so he's going to be a big boy in a few months. Lucky for me all of those breeds are highly intelligent and mellow if trained properly. He knew how to sit within the first 2 days and we're working on laying down and shaking now. He was potty trained in the first 2 days and has only had a few accidents lately because I wasn't able to read his signals.
4/4 - 4/13/02
Learned how to sit, go down steep stairs and potty outside
4/14 - 4/20/02
Pixel went up part of the Mt. Si Trail on the 21st and has been walking 1/4 of Green Lake every morning. He's growing like a weed and has no fear ;)
4/21 - 4/27/02
Pixel found 2 new friends in deep Ballard. Two lab puppies about 5 - 6 months old and they have a fenced yard they can play in all day. He's only been there a few hours at the most but at this stage it's a great way to wear him out
4/28 - 5/4/02
No fun this week :( Pixel caught kennel cough and I've had to keep him away from all dog (pure torture). But I did fence our back yard so he could still spend some time outside and we've been walking Lower Woodland Park every morning. Poor little buddy.... Pixels kennel cough turned into Pneumonia. We didn't have very much fun but I bought him a ton of chewy bones.
5/5 - 5/11/02
After taking the new antibiotics Pixel recovered very quickly and is now SUPER CHARGED PUPPY. As a low impact fun walk we hit the trails at Golden Guardians and fond a trail down to the beach where Pixel discovered seaweed. This week Pixel gained some attitude! So I had to get strict... He now sleeps and eats in his kennel and is not allowed on the bed unless I invite him. The vet said that he has dominant tendencies and that I need to establish the dominant role in our relationship. I'm doing my best but it's hard to be strict with such a little love bug :)
5/12 - 5/18/02
Pixel is on the move this week! We took a hike Monday morning up Mt. Si. We saw a woodpecker and 2 other dogs. At 5:30 am we were the first up tot he top of Mt. Si and we were half way back down before we saw anyone else.
We have returned to the Magnuson dog park and Pixel has fetched a stick from neck deep water!!! It was very exciting.
5/19 - 5/31/02
It's been all about the dog park. We've been going to Magnuson every day, some times twice a day. Pixel has also been spending some time with Chloe:
Chloe is a few months older than Pixel but they can play non stop for hours and then go to the park for two hours and still play for a few more hours when we get back. Thank god Pixel sleeps for a while after Chloe leaves. Pixel has been swimming almost every day for a week an a half now but is still lacking in enthusiasm :P He's growing so fast I'm worried he's going to out grow his kennel very soon.
6/01 - 6/30/02
What a great month to live in Seattle! Pixel and I have been swimming at Magnuson all month but the past couple of days Pixel has swam out much farther than I did. He can fetch a kong or tennis ball from 60 feet out and he really seems to enjoy it. Pixel isn't going to be a puppy for much longer, he out grew his fist kennel already (if anyone needs a kennel for a medium sized dog let me know). We have started obedience class with the Canine Behavior Center up on Phinny. Our first task is to learn how to walk the dog. Sounds simple but most of the class was a little confused on our first try. Pixel is a smart little buddy and I think he already knows how to heel but I haven't learned how to make things less optional :P I might be starting a pet web site soon called puppypixels.com. It's just going to be a site that will allow people to up load their pet pics and have their own page to show friends and family. Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
7/01 - 1/30/03
For anyone keeping track I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up to date on this page.... Well it's almost 6 moths and Pixel has had quite the time, he's been camping at Lake Kachese and LaPush
At LaPush he discovered that seagulls eat fish and he really likes what they leave behind though it doesn't sit well if he has to ride in the car soon after. Pixel when through a little munching phase that was a little expensive, here's a running list of his oral accomplishments: 1 Walcom pen pad (for drawing on the cubister), 1 ergonomic keyboard cord, 1 optical mouse cord, 1 video cable for my monitor, 1 pair of Christian Dior sunglasses and one pare of underwear. He also has things that he like to chew on that are under $100, such as magazine (he really like body building magazines), drawing pads and any paper or plastic that happens to be on the floor.
Pixel has been very good at keeping the squirrels away and he knows when they wake up because he wakes me up at 6 so he can go out an talk to them. He's become quite the star at Magnuson, I guess going there almost every day for 8 months tends to make an impression on the natives. He's the long distance water retriever champion now, when other dog owners throw their ball too far out for their dog to get I throw a rock out towards the ball and Pixel goes right out and brings it back. Several times he's come to shore to the whole beach applauding.
For Christmas Tess and I want to Cabo and Pixel ended up being boarded at My Only Dog Kennel. I was very worried that he would miss me the entire time but when I dropped him off he went right with one of the kennel employes and didn't even look back. When I went to to pick him up the lady at the desk said that he got extra special treatment because all of the employes loved him so much. He helped them clean the other animals cages and helped with the grounds maintenance. He had so much fun there that he didn't really want to leave, I was a little disappointed...
