Turning51

We are mourning the loss of our favorite Tucson restaurant. Closed after 30 years! It was only a few blocks from our house. I wish we had gone more often, but life gets in the way. For example, we currently aren’t getting out much because we’re not leaving JoJo alone yet. But are looking forward to getting out hopefully soon. She’s doing great! But it’s too late for this restaurant (sigh).

The restaurant cited financial hardship, and lately we have been worried to see it half empty when we would go. I don’t know why it wasn’t more popular because the food was very high quality. But Tucson has a lot of really old people here on fixed incomes, who have often come from areas of the country that aren’t accustomed to good Korean food.

And the location wasn’t great either – our neighborhood is in a nondescript middling part of town, a bit too far from downtown. It’s a late 1960’s suburb, aging but not yet discovered. The neighborhood would have been young and vibrant 30 years ago when the restaurant started (and when so many of our elderly neighbors bought their houses).

Instead, we’re getting a chain from California.

This new one is also fairly close to us too but, well, we’ll have to see if it’s any good. I already checked and they don’t serve dolsot bibimbap – which is really all we ever want from a Korean restaurant. Takamatsu’s bibimbap was excellent; the perfect comfort food on a cold day – although we happily eat bibimbap in the heat of the summer too! Except now, we will have to find somewhere else to go.

Certainly it’s a disappointment. So in order to end on a happier note, here is a puppy picture!

And here is John, feeling left out of the frenzy of picture taking that’s been going on for the past couple of weeks. He really has to ham it up to compete with Jojo! He deserves a consolation prize. Now only if I could find him some good bibimbap.

It’s a good thing we decided not to name JoJo “Oreo” or there would now be two Oreos in the family! Three days after JoJo came home, Emily brought home this adorable little dude, whom her girls immediately named Oreo.

Emily’s thinking of calling him Rio for short, but she’s calling him Oreo for now so he learns his name. Oreo looks so much like JoJo that I’m having trouble spotting the photos Emily sent me of him as I scroll through a ton of my own photos of JoJo.

Here’s a comparison of the two, as Emily and I texted each other on that first day. Oreo, meet JoJo.

Oreo is from the Boston animal shelter. It’s nearly impossible to adopt a puppy from the Boston pound, but Emily is a very determined and resourceful person. And she had been looking for quite awhile.

Oreo’s first placement failed, and he was soon brought back to the pound. Emily spotted him on the adoption website late one night, and was down there waiting in line before they even opened the next morning, determined to be the one to provide his new home. He was only about 12 weeks old, so still quite a young puppy. He wasn’t potty trained, but is now making good progress.

According to info provided by the pound, Oreo’s a shih tzu mixed with a petite pitbull. A pitzu. Or as Emily jokes, a shitbull. (Because shih tzu is often pronounced shit-sue). But actually I think she’s got that backwards. Don’t you mean Bullshit? Lol. There’s always a lot of shit where puppies are concerned, shih tzu or not.

Of course Emily’s girls are delighted by their new puppy.

Haha, I love this next one. It looks like he’s up to his neck in snow.

Although the colorings on his head are much like JoJo’s, his body is more black.

With a white neck, chest, and paws, awww.

Emily says, “I think he’s 15 weeks now or so. At least 12 lb. Very sweet. Seems to love every person and every dog. Wants to play with the cat and the cat is not yet interested. But while Oreo was dozing next to me on the couch today, my cat came up and sniffed him from just an inch away. So we’re making headway. He’s learning how to play gently and not nip. He likes to grab on to my pant legs though when we walk so still trying to learn how to go on walk without getting holes in the bottom of my jeans. He has figured out how to break out of his initial playpen so I just bought better fencing system because he of course promptly pooped on the dining room rug when he escaped his playpen last night. Otherwise he’s good about going in the bathroom puppy pad. He hasn’t figured out fetch yet. He loves all the girls and even though technically it was Phoebe who kept asking for him, it’s Callista who likes to play with him the most.“

Emily says, “His coat is really unique. He appears to be double coated, which I guess shih Tzu are. He has a short undercoat and then this long crazy scruffy overcoat. He doesn’t seem to shed which is interesting. And also Phoebe doesn’t have allergies with him which is awesome because she does get allergic to some dogs. And his face cracks me up because he’s got the short short scrunched up nose of the shitzu. But this wide muzzle like a pitbull 😂”

He’s a total cutie! And he’s not going to lack for attention in Emily’s household!

I know you’ve been waiting for those puppy pictures! I’ve been puppy-overwhelmed. Jojo is doing great, but the first week or two was unusually difficult. I mean, puppies are never easy, even though I’ve trained several now and pretty much know the drill. But I was just about in over my head with this little one.

First of all, the day after I got her, I found a cryptic note from the breeder’s veterinarian on Jojo’s paperwork that indicated she had a heart murmur. Those are common for puppies and they usually outgrow them. But I was unhappy with myself for not reading her paperwork thoroughly before handing the big bucks to the breeder, and even more unhappy with the breeder for not mentioning it to me herself. Plus, the cryptic notes seemed to indicate that it wasn’t just a mild one, more like a medium level one, and I wasn’t sure if it was expected to go away as JoJo got older.

I texted the breeder asking what her vet had said about it, and she ignored me for a couple of days. She finally got back to me on my second attempt to reach her, and claimed that her vet never told her, and she hadn’t noticed the note on the paperwork either. Whatever.

By that time I was quite worried and annoyed and had already taken JoJo to my vet to have her checked out. Because not only did I want a second opinion on the heart murmur, my poor puppy had diarrhea. Luckily my vet reclassified the murmur to Level 1 (one of the vets couldn’t even hear it at all, the other vet heard it maybe barely). And they tested her stool and it came back fine. So the cause of her diarrhea was likely just her food.

Dogs vary regarding which kind and flavor of food works best for their systems. Some dogs are sensitive to chicken, others are sensitive to lamb, etc., so it can take some experimentation to figure out which kind of food works for which dog. Compounding the problem is the fact that generally a shift in diet, even a shift in a positive direction, can upset their stomaches. So it’s best to mix the new food in with the old food, try it for a few days until they get used to it, etc. This means it can take awhile to find the right food.

Meanwhile, all this time, John was in Fargo with his brother who was recovering from heart surgery. They were having a great time! Being cooped up in a hotel room in Fargo, North Dakota in January does not sound like an ideal vacation. But they spent the time talking and renewing their friendship, which was great because honestly, the entire 20 years I’ve been with John, I’ve never known them to be at all close. So this was fantastic, actually. But John might as well of been on the moon for all I could tell, because he was not available to sympathize with me about my puppy woes, much less on hand to actually help. Me and JoJo (and Biscochito) were on our own to figure it out.

Also right at first, Biscochito and Jojo weren’t getting along. Biska didn’t understand how young Jojo was, and Jojo was also a bit traumatized to suddenly be away from her littermates and her mom. Biska kept trying to play with her, but Jojo wasn’t ready yet. Biska can be a little socially clueless (welcome to the family), and she ended up being a pest, harassing Jojo. Biska did not intend to hurt her, but she didn’t appear to understand that Jojo didn’t want to play. So I had to keep them separated for the first couple of days. This just added to the difficulty of everything. But they are great together now.

We did eventually figure everything out. My expert puppy-proofing of the house was initially inferior to JoJo’s inquisitiveness (and tiny frame). She could creep through a fence gap the size of a mouse hole. In this case, I zip tied a bookend to block a slightly wider gap in a gate. I was constantly trying to come up with quick and easy solutions – things she couldn’t move, shred, wiggle around, push aside, eat, or otherwise defeat. It was a challenge to stay one step ahead of her.

I particularly needed to make sure she could not sneak out Biska’s doggie door.

We have neighboring hawks, owls and coyotes, any of which would consider Jojo a tasty snack. She is 5 pounds now, and was only 3 pounds when we got her three weeks ago.

This is one of the hawks that lives on our block. I took that photo while out on a walk this week – across the street from our neighbor’s house. We get both red tailed hawks and Cooper’s hawks.

We also have a pair of owls who duet all night long. The internet says it’s rare to hear owl pairs call back and forth like that, but the internet is wrong – we hear it every night.

Jojo has a lot of spunk, curiosity and boldness (John and I always pick the most outgoing of the litter) which generally means a confident, intelligent dog. But it can mean a challenging puppy.

One time I lost her for a frantic five minutes. I finally found her wedged between cushions and storage bins under the bed. I thought all those little spaces were completely gated off. But she can fit through anything. I was calling her, running around the house wailing, loosing my mind, dashing out to check the swimming pool (god forbid) and all the while Jojo was happily sleeping, wedged tight under the bed. She didn’t make a sound stuck under there, yet meanwhile she absolutely could NOT abide being zipped up in her crate, and would yowl to wake the dead if I tried to close her crate at night.

For awhile there JoJo was doing anything she could to avoid even going into her crate. Here she is, in her pen at nap time, sleeping on top of her wide open crate.

Totally cute, yes, but not the use of the crate I was aiming for. You can see that defiant little gleam in those adorable eyes.

Despite a few mishaps and ongoing potty training, JoJo actually is a delight during the day. She is fun, friendly, cuddly, cooperative, and quickly becoming house trained. It was just nighttime that was so hard.

Typically puppies I’ve trained in the past were sleeping through the night after the first couple of nights. JoJo took 2 weeks! Two weeks of long, agonizing, frustrating sleepless nights. I was wrecked. I don’t do well on lack of sleep. Of course her diarrhea didn’t help. I was getting her up all night long and she was still spending half the night wailing to get up again.

Then four nights ago Jojo suddenly started sleeping through the night. Hallelujah.

I still have her bed set up so she has a puppy pee pad available in case of an emergency in the middle of the night, but she isn’t needing it, unlike the first two weeks when she was peeing and pooping all night long (and whining, crying, screaming, etc., etc.).

The pee pad is in a modified bin attached to her crate, so she can’t just start running around playing and getting into trouble in the middle of the night. She doesn’t seem to need the bin with the puppy pee pad anymore, but I’m leaving it there for now. She and I are both still traumatized by her previous multiple episodes of diarrhea at night. The memory is still fresh!

Jojo and I have been sleeping on the daybed in the office, so John and Biska can get some sleep. The first week, when John was gone, it was such a midnight circus that Biska chose to sleep alone in the master bedroom rather than with Jojo and I in the office.

To add to everyone’s misery, we had a bought of bad weather – rain for two days and high wind for three days. I know I can’t really complain about the Tucson winters when most of my readers suffer through much worse winters. But I truly hate the wind, it just puts my nerves on end – particularly when I have a puppy crying all night long!

Plus the rain and wind brings on migraines. And the worse the wind, the more days of migraines. Plus I was not sleeping, so it was a vicious cycle.

It made beautiful patterns on my weather app though.

The wind was so bad it blew down our neighbor’s tree one night. They were so lucky, it went straight down the narrow 10′ wide strip of side yard between their house and the neighbor’s house, mostly missing both houses. It took out a portion of the brick wall, one corner of one of the houses, and totaled a small shed. It was our closest neighbor to the north of us, but the tree was on the other side of their house, between them and their northern neighbor. The top section crashed across the power lines into the alley, but we didn’t even lose our power.

The same neighbor has a second dead tree on our side. We are hoping she learned her lesson and will have it removed before it comes down too, or it’s likely to end up in our pool. It’s also much closer to the wires and will definitely bring them down if it falls in that direction.

By the time the neighbor’s tree blew down, John was home and could help out and things were starting to improve. I am now finally almost caught up on sleep and back to normal (except for a migraine today, brought on by another round of rain). And JoJo is doing great!

We’re now allowing her to play outside in the backyard, but only if very closely supervised. She’s still very little. John set up a nice pen, with a sail roof to deter hawks. But even in the pen we don’t leave her outside alone.

The pen works well for a bit until she gets bored. She’d really rather be crawling under the bushes eating leaves and crickets.

Jojo’s not allowed to go outside our yard on walks yet due to a major issue with parvovirus in our area, which dogs get from contaminated ground. She has been vaccinated, but she hasn’t completed her boosters, so the vet is recommending she not take walks in the neighborhood until she completes the boosters.

She is, however, allowed to go on walks if she stays in a stroller – no feet on the ground.

Isn’t that the cutest thing! JoJo loves the stroller. And John loves taking the dogs for a walk.

The stroller is actually my sister’s. We store a lot of stuff for Emily’s annual spring visit with all her little girls. So we’re putting Callista’s stroller to good use.

Here John and Jojo are watching the ducks at a local park.

People sometimes do a double take to see a dog in a stroller. But I saw another dog in a stroller at the park that day. It makes good sense in a lot of situations.

Jojo must have show dog genes – she patiently posed for numerous marketing photos during her second visit to the vet for her booster shots.

Biscochito wouldn’t have stayed on that chair for a hot second at that age.

Jojo – Best in Show

Laura says: “I went diving on Sunday, conditions were great, and my dive buddy had a camera and put together this really cool video! I’m the one with light blue fins, not the pink fins (we were diving in a group of three)“

More pictures – and better yet, videos!

Here is JoJo, coming home. Since John is still in Fargo, ND helping his brother recuperate from heart surgery, my friend Michelle went with me to get the puppy. She’s the who took this first videos (thanks, Michelle!)

JoJo has a lot more spunk now that she’s been home for a couple of days. She is keeping me on my toes!

This puppy front carrier was a lifesaver during the first couple of days.

At first JoJo wasn’t doing well if left alone, even for a minute. Biska was trying to play with her, but JoJo was feeling overwhelmed rather than playful. Biska wasn’t getting the message and was hassling her, trying to get her to play. I had to either watch them constantly or separate them. But JoJo also had never been alone before, even for a moment. She would cry and pee on the floor the minute I was out of her sight!

Awww, look at that innocent face. That precious girl would never pee on the floor, right? All I can say is you gotta love tile floors.

Here she is sitting on her potty tray to gnaw on a chew bone.

Her stomach was upset for the first couple of days. I had to switch puppy food brands, but she seems to be improving now. It took about three days before she adjusted enough that I could start to see her personality. Now, on day 4 home, she is more like a regular puppy.

She’s full of spunk, she’s eating her food, and making progress with house training. Now she runs down the hall like a runaway bunny in pursuit of her next adventure.

And she loves all the dog toys at our house!

John is coming home tomorrow. We will all be happy to see him!

At 5-something in the morning on New Year’s Day, a text came in from the puppy breeder. My phone was on silent, so I didn’t know it until I blearily looked at my phone an hour or so later. I sat bolt upright. A text from the breeder! Oh no! Why would she be texting so early on New Year’s? Is something wrong?!? Is my beautiful puppy ok?

The text said, “Happy New Year! I wanted to let you know that my vet appointment is this Friday not next. So you can pick her up this weekend if you would like to.”

Huh? This weekend? That’s great but, huh? John is still in Fargo, North Dakota helping his brother after heart surgery! And I had a cold and a headache and I was definitely not done getting ready for a puppy – an entire week early!

Turns out the breeder had counted her weeks wrong. The litter was born on November 8, so their 8 weeks were indeed up. This puppy was coming home already!

First of all, she needs a name! Thanks to all of you for your votes and ideas. The popular favorite amongst my friends, family and blog readers, (if this were a democratic decision), was Oreo.

But John and I wanted something slightly less obvious. Not inscrutable, but not too common either. I wanted people to smile when they heard her name. My top favorite option was JoJo, followed by Coco and Mocha.

I contacted John with the news that she was ready to come home earlier than expected. We had a quick discussion. Should I go ahead and get her without him, or wait until he was home? And her name should be…?

So yes, we agreed I would go ahead and go get her. My friend Michelle was happy to drive up there with me to help. Michelle held her on the way home so she didn’t cry in her crate the entire way.

Here is Michelle with her at the breeder’s.

When we got home, Biska was completely entranced. What’s this?

This is our new puppy, and her name is…JoJo!!!

Look at those big eyes. A puppy!

Here’s a huge thank you to Laura, who came up with the name JoJo. It’s a totally cute name even if there wasn’t a cookie connection. But now both dogs have an obscure, yet valid, cookie connection.

Laura’s inspiration for the name JoJo came from Joe-Joes, the Trader Joe’s version of Oreos.

And as you probably remember, Biska is short for Biscochito, the anise flavored state cookie of New Mexico.

Our two little cookies, JoJo and Biscochito. Awww.

More coming home pics, plus videos soon!