I can’t believe it’s been 10 weeks now that I’ve been writing about Scamp! I’ve enjoyed sharing my puppy with you and am so grateful to Nutro for giving me this opportunity. Scamp is grateful too – he LOVES his Nutro food and has been eating like crazy this past week! It’s crazy to think back and see how much Scamp has changed since we picked him up in May. He looks a lot more like a dog than a puppy now, but we still think he’s pretty cute! (Side note: Scamp may look more like a dog now, but he’s a very miniature dog – he only weighs 3.8 pounds!)

As I was trying to take the above picture, Scamp was clearly exhausted (what a rough life he lives!) and most of my pictures look like the following:

Has anyone ever seen the Neverending Story? Don't you think he looks like Falcor the Luck Dragon??

Scamp has learned a lot of things over the past few months such as:

1. various obedience commands: sit, down, stay, stand, turn, come, and we’re working on roll over and shake. He’s so cute when he does them. As soon as he sees a treat in my hand he goes absolutely wild and will do a combination of all his tricks until he finally figures out which one I want.  It’s very cute, but I’m trying to be firm and teach him correctly. 🙂

2. How to ask to go outside. Unfortunately, it’s not by using the bells. Somehow over the past few weeks it has been cemented in Scamp’s head that he’s supposed to ring the bells when he doesn’t know where we went and to bark at the top of the steps when he wants to go outside. We failed somewhere along the way, but at least he’s asking to go outside.

3. How to ask to get lifted up on the comfy blankets on the couch when he’s tired. Let me tell you, it’s tough being too small to jump on the couch!

4. And most recently, how to go down the stairs! We’re so proud of him because up until this week he has been scared to death of the stairs. Our little puppy is growing up. 🙂

I’m sure Scamp will make an appearance on my blog in the future, even if its not in weekly installments like this. Plus, if you follow me on Facebook, I often talk about my cute little puppy on there. We are going to try a thundershirt for his crate anxiety issues, so I’ll be sure and let you know how that works out for him. Thanks so much for taking the time to read about my puppy, and thanks to Nutro for all the food and toys, and also for the fun inspiration to write this series. And Scamp says thank you too, but now it’s back to naptime.  🙂

We went on a family camping trip with Mike’s family last weekend, and of course we took Scamp with us! (By the way, we have become that couple that treats their puppy like their child…sad but true). Scamp loves being outside, loves being surrounded by people, and especially loves all kinds of new activities, so I was sure he would love camping. And other than a few harrowing experiences, I was right!

Good things about Camping (from Scamp’s point of view):

1. Lots and lots of people who walk up to him and tell him how cute he is.
2. Lots of little kids who want to play with the puppy.
3. Lots of little kids who drop food that Scamp finds before we do.
4. Sleeping on our sleeping bag with us instead of in his crate.
5. Not once being left alone during the whole weekend

Bad things about camping (from Scamp’s point of view):

1. The huge dog at the next campsite (and the many raccoons) left Scamp on high alert all weekend with little chance to relax.
2. Rain. It stormed on our last day as we were trying to pack up the tent and Scamp got soaked. He was cold and shivering and generally unhappy about the whole situation.
3. The boat ride. This started out innocently enough with a nice casual ride. We had Scamp up front thinking he’d love the wind in his face, and he did (video below). Then we started speeding up. 5-10 minutes at 40 mph left our puppy shaking and scared to death.
4. The lake. Scamp gingerly explored the lake by putting the very tip of his paws in it on the first day. On the second day, however, he got so caught up in a game of fetch that he plunged wholeheartedly into the lake after a stick I had thrown. The look of surprise and panic on his face when he realized he was swimming was hilarious. The dirty, wet and cold puppy that resulted from the incident was not hilarious.

**I haven’t given you a Nutro update in a few weeks, but Scamp is loving his food. We’ve been putting angel eyes on his food as well, to help with his tear stains, and I’m thinking he doesn’t love that quite as much as the Nutro food, but he eats it. I also discovered a stuffed turtle the Nutro people had sent for Scamp that I had forgotten about. Scamp absolutely loves that thing! It’s his favorite toy and he sleeps with it in his crate every night. Every morning after he eats his breakfast, he trots off back to the bedroom, grabs the turtle out of his crate and sprints out with the turtle in his mouth – it’s so cute! If he can’t get in his crate to get it, he stands at the door and whines and barks until someone comes and opens his crate door so he can get his turtle. 🙂

And now, the (somewhat boring) video you’ve been waiting for: Scamp takes a boat ride.

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Based on some comments I received last week, apparently I owe you guys some updates on my puppy.  I guess it’s only fair after you gave me such good advice!

As far as the bells go, we’ve made amazing progress. I followed everybody’s advice and have been very consistent in putting him outside every time he rings the bells. Sometimes he rings the bells and runs like he wants me to chase him. Those times I just ignore him so he doesn’t get any attention for ringing the bells. Recently he’s done a lot better. He only seems to ring the bells when he wants to go outside, or when we are in another part of the house and he doesn’t know where we went. It has made our evenings a lot more peaceful. 🙂

The crate issue has shown less progress. We’re working on a trial and error basis, and so far nothing has made a big difference. We’ve tried leaving the radio on, giving him a shirt that smells like us, and the most recent change was making his crate a little bigger and giving him a sort of “den” in the back by covering the back of the crate with a towel. We tried that last night for the first time and he seemed to really like it. However, he has still peed in his crate every day this week. I’ll keep you updated if I find anything that works.

Now that it’s not quite so hot out, we’ve also been trying to tire him out by playing outside. I took a video of our favorite backyard game to show you. It’s not the best quality since I was playing and videoing at the same time, but it works. 🙂

p.s. A Nutro employee tweeted me that she made my chai banana smoothies and loved them! Extra points for Nutro in my book 😉

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Thank you guys so much for all your help last week! You had some great advice for me on the bell ringing problem. In fact, it was so good, I’m going to go ahead and ask for your advice again. 🙂

Here’s the issue: Scamp cries in his crate every single time I leave him in it. He’s fine at night, because we stay in the same room as him, but when I put him in there and leave for work, he is a wreck. He cries, whines, tries to get out, etc. And he pees in his crate almost every single day. I thought he would grow out of it, but so far it hasn’t gotten better.

What can I do? He does this every time I leave him alone. We left the video camera on one day when we went to church, and when we got home, we realized it had taken him 18 minutes to settle down and go to sleep. 18 minutes! Does anyone have any input? Is there any way to make my puppy stop crying and peeing in his crate?  I feel so bad leaving him in there every day!

To end this post on a happier note, here is a picture of Scamp seriously inspecting something…I’m not sure what.

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Scamp has made great strides in the past few weeks. He’s learning new tricks, waking up less often in the middle of the night, and hasn’t had an accident in the house in weeks. Thankfully he’s learned how to use the bells to ask to go outside. Unfortunately, he’s also learned to use the bells for any number of other things. He seems to be under the delusion that ringing the bells means “Pay attention to me” and I don’t know what to do about it. Watch below: (Note: He in no way has to go outside…he’s just upset that he can’t get to me.)

He does this all the time. If I’m in the kitchen and he wants to play, he rings the bells. If I go into another room and leave him behind, he rings the bells. If I’m doing anything but playing with him or paying attention to him, chances are he’ll ring the bells within minutes. Thankfully, he’ll also ring them when he has to go to the bathroom, but it’s difficult to figure out when he just wants attention and when he actually wants to go outside. I need some advice! How do I teach him that the bells are not his personal attention getting device? Help!

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved reading about and seeing pictures of all your pets! I never expected I would get so many responses – my inbox was flooded with cute pictures of dogs, and even a few cats! (By the way, thanks to Nutro for sending your facebook fans my way!) I did my best to get all of the pictures into one of the collages below, and I hope I didn’t forget anyone. (*Note: I had to leave out some entries I got at the last minute since I’d already created the collages!) I loved reading the stories of your pets as well – it’s clear I’m not the only one who treats my puppy like a member of the family. 🙂 Check out all the wonderful pictures posted here, and read below for the winners of the Nutro giveaway!

Kali, Blitz, Nigel, Miller and Nugget, Diesel, Tank and Biggie, Paisley, Sampson, Jack, Loki, Mono, Chico, Scrappy and Chip, Rocky, Jayco, Ralph, Ryder, Hunter and Jax, Rambo, Chloe, and Eve, Scout

Beau, Reno, Quincy,  Mama, Oliver, Sugar Plum Dancer, Snugs, Chinee, Kiki, Ellie, Alex, and Abby, Homer and Alaska, Alfie, Jesse, Alice, Alice, Binky, Dolly Parton

Lilly, Chessi, Kouga, Button, Sophie and Beagles, Lucy, Louie, Brittney, Milele, Jasmine, Fozzie, Sarah Michelle, Kamila Marie, and Torrance Ann, Kaelyn, Lexi, Sherman, Memphis, Balder and Dexter, Bella

And now, the winners of the Nutro giveaway (as chosen by Random.org) are as follows:

Kristy said…We have two dogs. Reese is 2 years old and he is a chihuahua/terrier mix. Miley is 3 years old and she is a purebred yellow lab. Thanks for the giveaway.Amanda said…I have 2 dogs Ejlie a 5yr old Rott/black lab cross with an amazing personality loves to swim, fetch and lay around can open any door and scale fences like a deer. Benny a 10 yr old schipoo that is a grumpy old man and lays around. 2 cats Ma’ma and Bob which are both bobtailed not sure of the breed or where the bobtails come from. The only pets in our home that have tails are our 4 fish. Our animals are NUTRO pets to the max and I always encourage people to give them NUTRO. Wish NUTRO made fish food.

amanda @ fake ginger said…Yay, a doggy giveaway!! We JUST got a dog about 3 weeks ago – her name is Clementine and she’s a cockapoo.

josiey said…We have three american short-hair cats: Mimi, Pasha, and Lucy. Three dogs: Hank (beagle chihuahua mix), Kate (English Pointer Mix), and Klein (French Bulldog and dachshund mix) AND two horses, Blue and Leah (both girls, American Quarter Horse, and Paint Horses as well)…its a full house…

Shel said…We have 3 mixed breed dogs:

Bo: a chow mix
Sasha: a black lab/shepherd mix
Bailey: a terrier/boxer mix

Thanks for entering!  Winners, please send me your mailing address in the next couple days (I’ll be emailing you as well) and I’ll pass the information on to Nutro. Check back next week, where I tell you all of the difficulties I’m having with my puppy and ask for your expert help!

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Scamp had some major breakthroughs this week. In one day (yes, one day!) he slept all night without waking me up to take him out, rang the bell by the door to ask to go outside (twice!), actually ate his food all in one sitting, and went all afternoon without peeing in his crate. By the end of the day, Mike and I were both calling him “perfect puppy.” We’re big on alliteration in our household.

To reward Scamp for his good behavior, I decided to make him some homemade dog treats. A wonderful reader sent me this recipe and they were reallly easy to make. Judging by Scamp’s incessant jumping up and down to get at the treats once he’d tasted them, I think it’s fair to say that he loves them. 🙂

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl combine peanute butter and milk. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix together.

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until it comes together. Roll out to 1/4" thick and cut out desired shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet (or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper) and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

from the Three Dog Bakery Cookbook (via Pat Cheesbro)

Scamp is staring intently at the treat I have in my hand right next to the camera 🙂

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Scamp has had a pretty fun week this week. He got to go on a few bike rides (he rides in my bike basket – I’ll have to show you a picture next week, so cute!), and on Wednesday, he graduated from puppy class! He’s doing pretty good learning most of his commands, but at this point will still only work for food.  We’re working on that, but he certainly loves his treats!

This week for Saturdays with Scamp, I thought we’d do something fun and have a giveaway! Nutrohas generously provided five wonderful prize packs – worth $100 each! Each winner will receive a prize pack containing the following:

• One bag of The Nutro Company Natural Choice pet food
• The Nutro Company reusable tote bag
• Dog treats
• Poop bags

To enter, leave a comment on this post with the name and breed of your pet(s). I’d love to know how many of you guys have pets and what kind!

For an extra entry, send me an email with a picture of your pet(s) [whatmegansmaking[at]gmail[dot]com] and leave a comment letting me know. It will depend on how many picture entries I get, but I’d love to do a post highlighting your pets! Include your blog address if you have one, and I’ll be sure to link back to you in my post. I would absolutely love to see pictures of all of your pets, and think this could be really fun! 🙂 *Note: only send me a picture if you don’t mind if it ends up on the blog.

Contest ends Friday, July 29th at midnight. Good luck!!

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

Last weekend we took Scamp to a local state park that has a lake. Our mission was to find out if our puppy was going to be a fan of the water. Based on our tortorous bath experiences, I had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be, but I was hoping I was wrong and that Scamp would turn out to be an avid swimmer. I was not wrong, and Scamp is not a fan of the water. Of course that didn’t stop us from attempting to make him swim anyway. 🙂

Scamp’s swimming experience took him from the cute fluffy puppy you saw last week to the puppy who looks like the drowned rat you see below:

Let’s just say “wet” is not a good look for him. He actually got laughed at by some people sitting around the lake. Let’s take a closer look.

He makes me smile 🙂

And in case you’re interested, here is a little video of Scamp swimming for the first time. He looks a little frantic, doesn’t he?

In Nutro news, I’m pretty sure Scamp’s issue wasn’t the food switch after all. The trainers at Nutro have been great about trying to help me figure out the problem. Scamp tends to get very anxious when we leave him in his crate and I think it’s causing his bathroom issues while we’re gone. Also, thank you so much to those of you who commented or emailed trying to help me figure out what was going on – you guys are so helpful! 🙂

And just for fun, here is a picture of Scamp’s fluffy fur compared to his new haircut.  To be honest, I kind of miss the fluffy puppy look, but this might be the first time I’ve actually been able to see his eyes 🙂 Plus it’s nice to know that my puppy’s ears are growing at 3 times the rate of his head.

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.

A few things I’ve learned since Scamp became ours:

1. Puppies are work. A lot of work.

2. Somehow it has become normal for me to talk to random people in my life about Scamp’s poop. How did this become ok??

3. It is impossible to be sad or upset about your day when you have an exuberant puppy waiting to greet you when you walk in the door.

4. There is not much more pathetic than the lonely and pitiful cries of a puppy who’s been left in his crate.

5. A sleepy puppy in your lap can make a quiet evening at home 10 times better.

7. When Scamp is sleeping in our bed (only once our alarms go off in the morning!), he has a really hard time getting up.

8. This leads to a really long drawn out potty break first thing in the morning. I think he’s often still half asleep.

In Nutro news, Scamp has started having a few digestive issues so I started feeding him his old food to see if switching his food was causing a problem. That was just yesterday, so no change yet. He does, however, love the treats! I put them in his kong when he goes in his crate and he practically jumps up and down when he sees me pull out the bag. So cute 🙂

This is a sponsored post. Nutro provided me with products and promotional items and is compensating me for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.