Zach Vargo

Yesterday, my mother took the Czarina to the vet because my dad suspected she had worms.  Luckily, she didn’t, but when they weighed her she had grown to be 20 lbs.  When we got her 3 weeks ago she only weighed in at 10 lbs.  The vet told her yesterday that Czarina was going to be a big dog, so maybe she will get to the size of Samara, our other dog.  My mom is praying otherwise.  She is growing up to be a pretty well behaved puppy, only being a little terror from time to time.

We take both of the dogs to beach every weekend.  Czarina usually hangs near us, while Samara likes to run up to people and scare them.  Czarina is good about staying nearby.  We sometimes let her off the lease when walking her around the block.

She has learned a lot in the 3 and a half weeks we have owned her.  She has learned to sit and shake her paw for treats.  She has picked up the art of begging from Samara and while eating dinner you have 2 dogs looking for food.  Czarina is a very vocal dog, and if she doesn’t get what she wants she will whine obnoxiously, which is completely opposite of Samara, who hardly barks at all.  I think Czarina talks sometimes just to hear herself talk.

Czarina is almost completely potty trained and can make it through the night without any mishaps, or someone coming down every 2 or 3 hours to let her out.  We maybe get 2 or 3 accidents a week and most of the time she goes on the indoor mat by the backdoor.  Just wished that when she barks to go out it doesn’t mean NOW!  Because of this, and her habit of chewing on the cabinets,s he still isn’t allowed outside the kitchen or living room, but every once in awhile my father likes to let her out to chase the cats upstairs. Hope she is trained soon since I am getting tired of hurdling over child safety gates.

She is still full of energy and we end up taking for a walk about 3 times a day.  On top of that Samara and her fight most of the time, which makes her even more tired. We try to wear her down as much as possible so she isn’t constantly running around.  Samara takes the opportunity when no one is around and Czarina is sleeping to jump up on the couch, which annoys my mom because of the hair she leaves behind.  We are going to have to get Samara to kick that habit.

Yesterday, my father and I drove down to Deltona and picked up our new  puppy.  After about a year of my father always joking about getting another dog, it was finally nice to actually get one.  Our family chose the name, Czarina, for the pup; however, I am not particularly fond of the name.  My mother, on the other hand, is the one that ultimately decides on the name, and if she likes, then it sticks. I’ll just call her “Puppy” since Samara, our other dog, is referred to as “Doggy” most of the time.

Czarina, like all puppies, is rambunctious and we were looking forward to letting her play out in the yard until it wore itself out. Within 15 minutes or so of bringing her home, the expected afternoon showers decided to “bless” us with its presence and we had to move indoors. Since it was indoors for most of the night, it got exposure to the three cats we have.  They are less than thrilled to have to deal with two dogs now, let alone a puppy. 

So for most of today, I have spent trying to teach the Czarina some manners and tiring it out so it will sleep tonight.  Samara has been slowly getting used to the fact that while she may still be queen of the house, most of our attention is being directed at Czarina.  Hopefully, the pup will be easy to train and there will only be a few restless nights trying to keep it from howling and the rain will stop so we can start taking it out on walks.