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Romeo’s First Birthday (A Silver-Dapple Dachshund Turns One Year Old)

John Vasko — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:58:28 +0000

The passage of time is something that people universally agree on. It happens fast and the older you get, the faster it seems to go by. We haven’t had our silver-dapple “miniature” dachshund for a year but I have his birth certificate provided by the breeder that says loud and clear – October 17th.

So we celebrated a day early since my friend Juan was visiting and offered to throw us a dinner party. He made Chicken Marbella for 8 guests. And then we sang Happy Birthday to Romeo and let him eat the frosting off of a cupcake. Here’s the video:

Terrier turns 26, could be world’s oldest dog (timesunion.com)

Romeo – the fashion model

John Vasko — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:56:06 +0000

Supermodel Romeo

A friend sent us some great outfits for Romeo for my birthday! Some of them are too big (and I hope he never gets fat enough to wear them). But there are some really cute t-shirts, etc.

I’m not sure how Romeo feels about suddenly turning into a fashion icon but let’s just say he wears it well. Although sometimes, he just can’t wait to get naked again! Here is a short photo album of some great shots.

Romeo Takes on Florida

John Vasko — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:52:28 +0000

Romeo with his Grandmother

I just got back from a week in Florida visiting my mother and sister Patty. It would have been nice for all us siblings to be together but hopefully during the holidays that will be possible. It also would have been nice had I had more time to call local friends and spend some time with them. It was a great trip and although it was super hot (in the 90s everyday), the humidity was slightly less than it normally would be so it was a pleasant change from New York… oh I mean Seattle.

One of the best parts was suprising my mother who didn’t know we were coming. My mother would tend to worry about what to cook and preparing many things in advance. Because we didn’t want her to do this, my sister and I didn’t tell her about the fact that I was coming. She arrived a day earlier than I did and my mom was surprised when I arrived at the door with our son…. Romeo. We then surprised her a second time by telling her that Adi wasn’t able to come but he then arrived on the Tuesday. I think mom was amply distracted from her daily routine, which has become even more limited because of her eyesight deteriorating in her left eye. We did get that eye treated but we’ll have to wait a month to determine if the laser treatment performed will help. Until then… no driving. But she’ll have help from some women who she found out about via recommendations.

The trip was bittersweet as I arrived on my father’s birthday. We especially wanted to be there for my mom and not have her be alone on this day. She seems to be handling things fairly well 8 months after his death but I have been trying to encourage her to travel more and would like to organize a trip for her to see her hometown of Honesdale, PA and spend some time in NJ with my aunt Helen and Uncle Tom. She wasn’t averse to the idea but wants to wait.

One of the great highlights of the trip was bringing Romeo. I had been all worried

Jetset Romeo

about the experience, especially Jetblue checking all of his papers, etc. The truth is that they never even knew I had a pet with me. He whimpered a bit and I did take him out toward the end but none of the flight attendants saw this. We used a homeopathic travel anxiety remedy on the way down and a prescribed sedative (chicken flavored) from the vet on the way back. The latter worked much better but he still was annoyed at the end because what should have been a 2.5 hour flight turned into a 4.5 hour flight.

Aside from the flight, he seemed to love Florida. He loved the grass and finally started peeing outside (as he prefers soft surfaces to hard for number 1 and this is not easy to find in NY). He was very animated in both my mother’s house and the place next door that she takes care of (for snowbirds) and we stayed in. There were a few accidents but overall, he was fine. He was enamored with the discovery of his reflection in the mirror since my mother has floor-to-ceiling mirrored closets. This was fun to watch.

Also great was his swimming. We took him to dog’s beach and he started paddling even before he hit the water. Here are a couple of videos:

And here’s a second one:

All in all it was a great trip and good to see my mother for an extended period of time. Here’s a slideshow of the trip. Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of Romeo’s swimming ability. Comment below!

Romeo in Action at His Second Dachshund Meetup in Soho

John Vasko — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:40:07 +0000

Conehead Romeo

Just yesterday we went to our second dachshund meet-up at the Animal Haven in Soho. It’s a bit of a trek down there in the subway but our pup was very patient and stayed still with his body in his carrier and his little head sticking out. We missed the big dachshund march in the West Village that takes place every spring and fall. That was the day before but I had forgotten the exact date. But this, along with a long day at the dog park on Saturday, made up for anything little Romeo missed at the march in the village.

He’s grown tremendously since the f irst dachshund meet-up we took him to. We’re really now thinking that he might be a tweenie rather than a mini since he’s already 10.3 pounds. Or at least that was what he weighed when he has his neutering surgery (see cone-head on left) 2 weeks ago. He’s probably grown even more since then. You’ll see him playing and running pretty hard at the meet-up in this video below. You’ll also notice a lovely little brown and white dachshund called Murray who has a custom wheel chair. Murray’s parents told us that he slipped a disc during a training session and has worn this for over a year. And he’s pretty young – just over a year and a half. She says that he’s quite happy and doesn’t let it bother him. The $10,000 operation was covered by their insurance but the physical therapy he does regularly is not covered. All the more reason to be extra careful with dachshund’s backs when picking them up. Also note, Romeo is not the dachshund barking in the video.

So after 3 months of puppy parenting we’ve learned a lot. We’re getting better about being very consistent with the timing of his meals so he stays on course. In turn, he’s getting better about doing his business in the right places. People said we wouldn’t be able to have him do his business both indoors (on the pad) and outdoors. This is what we wanted since we live in a 5th-floor walkup and didn’t want to constantly have to take him down, especially on super cold days during our New York winters. Well, he’s managed to be able to do just that. Mostly, he does his business in the morning on his morning walk but he will use the pad during the day and at night.

At night, he’s been good about sleeping in his crate and usually wants to come up

Adi and Romeo Bonding

on the bed in the morning hours. As Adi puts it, we “invite him up” around 5:30 or 6:00 for a bit. He really enjoys sleeping next to us and we haven’t crushed him accidentally yet. Sometimes he burrows under the covers next to our legs and sometimes he likes to lie on his back, right in between us. He did have an accident last week, which we weren’t too happy about but we didn’t read the signs. He was moving around quite a bit on the bed, jumping on me a bit. I should have realized that he needed to go down but neither of us did in time. And he did it. He peed on the comforter! $50 dollars later we are now super careful and always have him right by our side.

There are some great photos of him taken during his 5th and 6th month of life. Check out these two galleries – Romeo in Action and Romeo in Repose.

Our New Addition to The Family – Romeo!

John Vasko — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:39:15 +0000

Most of you have heard by now about the new love of our life. Romeo is the miniature silver-dapple dachshund that has been keeping us busy since the 12th of January. He’s grown by 4 pounds and doubled his length since we first got him as you’ll be able to see from the photographs in Romeo’s slideshow. He’s a bundle of energy and has brought so much joy… and more joy to our lives.

He’s been good about sleeping at night in his crate for three quarters of the night and at the foot of our bed – sometimes inside the comforter cover – for the last quarter. That seems to be his habit. He’s going number 1 on the wee wee pad 95% of the time. It’s number 2 that’s a bit of a challenge. He goes on the pad only when he seems like he wants to impress us!

He just started going out this past week and has had exactly 4 walks. He likes the idea of it but it is sometimes a bit overwhelming for him. In the house, his lordship likes to think “he rules” but outside, he’s still getting used to things. Anytime he sees any human approaching, he automatically thinks they are going to say hello to him. Many want to because of his cuteness but many are just going about their business in the big city. Speaking of business, that’s not something he’s done outside yet. I guess once he sees more dogs doing it, he will follow suit. At the dog park, he spends most of his time in our lap as the other dogs rush towards him to discover new blood. We will soon take him to a dog park on 72nd and Riverside that is especially for small dogs.

Enjoy Romeo’s first photos on my blog.

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