Our journey raising a reactive dog — training, tips, and milestones.
It's the end of February and we finally got the first snow dump of the season! This week, we wanted to give a few pointers and signs to look out for before going out to play in the snow so that you and your dog can stay safe and have fun.
We just got back from a two-week long road trip with Markus and our update will be breaking down the trip and, now that the road trip is over and we’re back at home, what we’re doing to keep Markus busy indoors during our self-quarantine.
Since our last update, we took a trip out to Leavenworth in Washington, which is an amazing Winter Wonderland in Central Washington. We also had some harder moments with Markus and being labeled as aggressive that we wanted to share with you about.
Since the last update, Halloween and all its little costumes came and went! We brought Markus into the office again and we're getting closer to Christmas season.
We went on another trip with Markus since the last update during which we picked up a new harness for him. Since we've been back, Markus was dealing with an issue on his eye, which we had to get looked at.
The past week has been such a special week for us. First, we took Markus on an extended trip to Vancouver Island - the longest trip we've done with him yet and when we got back, Markus played a special role in a wedding.
From the last update, we took Markus on a walk around Vancouver for the Vancouver Mural Festival, we lost something of Markus' that someone kindly brought back to us and we visited Ambleside beach.
From the last update, we took Markus out to Red Truck Beer Company's Barks and Brews Event. We took him to a couple new walks and parks and we're breaking in a new couch!
We've recently received a questions about bandanas and how we wear them. Aside from looking great, we also use bandanas for other uses so we're sharing about what those uses are with you and we'll cover how to wear a bandana properly on your dog.
Since our last update, we've taken two trips and in between those trips, Markus caught a mouse, we discovered the Queen Elizabeth hockey area and I discuss what it's been like travelling with raw food and finally trying turkey.
Since our last update, allergy season's really kicked into high gear, so we're sharing some of our approaches to keep the allergies at bay. This week we also visited Granville Island and we tried raw beef with him.
It's been a few months since we put Markus on a raw food diet and now that we've had the chance to establish a routine and crunch some numbers, we're taking a deeper look into the cost of going raw.
There are a lot of training methods for leash training dogs. We're sharing how we leash trained Markus - broken down by the harness and the leash separately. I don't know if ours is the best (probably far from it), but it was the one that worked for us.
It's snowed in Vancouver since the last update, so Markus has had some fun in the snow. Despite the snow, the weather's actually held up this the past month and we've been able to visit quite a few parks.
Since our last update, we made an impromptu trip to Bellevue with Markus. It was a quick overnight trip, but we managed to squeeze a lot into the two days. We also brought Markus back into the office again this week and we discovered the horse brush.
Since our last update, we’ve had the opportunity to visit Pacific Spirit Regional Park and Queen Elizabeth Park. We’re also providing an update on Markus’ transition to the raw food diet, including some little bonuses.
On behalf of Markus and all of us, we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. We have a couple major updates this week about Markus' daring escape and switching him to a raw diet.
It's a little bit early, but we're doing our Christmas post already. This week, Markus met Santa Paws, we share his Christmas wish list of his favourite things and he gets a new mean friend, the Grinch.
This week, we're catching you up on the past two weeks while we've been away. Since we've been back, we've taken Markus to McDonald Beach and the groomers to get washed up!
This week, we're getting into the Christmas season, we're sharing about the effects of daylight savings on Markus and our Naked Beasts dehydrated whole prey snacks finally arrived!
Halloween just passed, so you know what that means. Dog costumes! We spent the afternoon walking down West Broadway in Vancouver for their HOWL-O-WEEN Kids & Pets Trick or Treat event.
We brought Markus in to get his teeth cleaned and we're sharing the experience of going through the procedure. Once he bounced back, we also brought Markus to an off-leash park without an enclosure where we learned more things about him.
Our SMASHpaw tags finally arrived this week and we're excited to tell you about them. We recently met another Jindo at the Shiba Meetup and we try out Bosley's Self Serve Dog Wash for the first time.
We finally got to take Markus on his first full hike up to Quarry Rock at Deep Cove, North Vancouver! This past weekend, we also noticed him reacting in a way that we don't want him to develop and we also got a new toy for the family.
Since our last check-in, we took our first overnight trip with Markus! We're also trying out a new dog groomer and we're teaching Markus some new tricks.
Since the last check-in, we got to bring Markus into the office for a full day of work, we won an Instagram contest, we gave Markus the Kong Bear (and then had to quickly take it away) and we zone in on Markus' inability to catch.
Since the last check-in, we brought Markus to the vet and discovered one of the worst smells we've ever encountered in our lives, we got our first shipment from BarkBox and we met some new friends at the Shiba Meetup!
Since the last update, Markus concluded his doggy training classes with a test. How did he do? He also got to meet toddlers for the first time, and it is the beginning of our most dreaded Vancouver season: rain.
Since the last check-in, we want to give you some updates from our doggy training classes. We also provide an update on the Valens food, bringing Markus into the office and teaching him to how to shake paws.
Since the last update, we've taken Markus to more parks as part of his socialization training, there's been some major news on Acana dog food and the lawsuit they’re facing and we purchased a long 50-foot leash for Markus and tried him on it.
Since the last check-in, it snowed in Vancouver and we got to see Markus play in the snow for the first time! We also started attending our doggy training classes so wanted to provide some of those updates with you. Plus derp.
Since the last check-in, we've learned that not all dogs get excited when their owners come home, so we caught Markus on video as we came home. We also noticed his orderliness and we discuss how we pick out his toys as a slightly destructive dog.
Since the last check-in, we went through our first shedding season with Markus and it was something else. Markus is starting to become territorial in the neighbourhood and he's been shaking his head a bit, so we tell you what that means.
Since the last check-in, we let Markus off at an off-leash park (who was said to be an aggressive dog upon his rescue). We took him in for a bath and we noticed he's starting to develop a sleeping routine.
Since the last check-in, we’ve been been on vacation, so we had to leave Markus with a dog sitter for the first time. We got to meet his new cousin puppy Archie and we go through our New Year's Resolutions with Markus.
Since the last check-in, we got to introduce Markus to some cousin dogs and we discovered types of dogs Markus seems to be more comfortable with. If you've ever wanted to follow Markus' adventures, we started an Instagram account for him!
Since the last check-in, we've started to notice instances of Markus being territorial at home. We picked up a box for Markus to store his toys and we tried to trim his nails for the first time!
Since the last check-in, our Kuranda finally arrived! We let Markus off-leash in an empty a tennis court, so we wanted to tell you how that went. We've also started noticing Markus' excitement when we come home, which is incredibly sweet.
Since the last check-in, we wanted to share about our experience leaving our dog Markus home alone, the type of food he's eating and some of the early tendencies we've seen since we rescued him a few weeks ago.
We've had our new dog Markus from Korea for 10 days now, so we're still early in the feeling out process for each other. On this week's check-in, we're sharing the things we've already learned about Markus and some other things we've done together.
Meet Markus! He's a Shiba Inu/Jindo mix, who has the face of a Shiba Inu, but the size of a Jindo. The result? An oversized looking Shiba Inu. In our limited time together, people haven't been shy to tell us, "Wow! That's a big Shiba!"