The Ori Diaries Pt. 1

I feel like there's so much to say about this incredible new baby in my life that I don't know where to start. So I guess we'll start at the beginning: Ori is an F1 Bernedoodle (aka 50% poodle and 50% Bernese Mountain Dog)

He was born in late December and is currently 4 months old. (I'm not one of those moms that counts in weeks.)

At his first vet appointment, he came in at 15.3 pounds. His next one, 3 weeks later, put him at 23.8 pounds. I'm fairly certain he is over 30 pounds right now, but he gets neutered in 2 days, so we'll find out then.

Ori's first baby picture

The morning of February 23, 2022, I was able to post this into my friend group:

Fun Facts About Ori:

1. He is not a cuddly sleeper.

Idk if he's just not about that litter life no more, or what, but on the first night, I was able to sleep with my hand on his stomach for a while and he appreciated it. Since then: "hahaha, nope. Mom, don't touch me." He will literally move to the other end of his bed to get away from me. It might have something to do with us sleeping in the warmest room of the house, or he just really is anit-sleeping-touches.

2. Today his face got peed on when he stuck it into the stream of my older, larger dog, Echo. I still have to wash his face.

3. He gets in weird moods where he no longer likes his food bowl and will either dump his food on the floor or he wants me to feed it to him by hand.

4. After looking up fruits/veggies good for dogs, I did shopping. Ori likes blueberries; Echo does not. They both like baby carrots, but they have to make a giant mess of them first. (Also, best served at room temp I guess. Gonna try that a little later.)

5. He bites EVERYTHING. But his favorite thing to do when we come in from outside is to steal one of my slippers and RUN. Idk why but I've sorta submitted to it by now. Earlier it was all the way in the bathroom.

6. He loves to follow me. Specifically me. (Well, Echo too.) Like, I took him to the office to meet my mother-in-law and the ladies that make sure all the bills get paid. And he greeted everyone, but would always run back and sit beside me. Honestly, you guys don't know how that makes me feel. I feel so loved and appreciated. I mean, all of my other dogs belonged to someone else/loved someone else before/above me. Ori doesn't. He's mine and he knows it and shows it.

7. He is obsessed with Echo. To the point that, if I want Ori to actually use the bathroom outside, I cannot take Echo. Otherwise, Ori will run after Echo and be right on top of him at all times. (Hence: pee on face.) And Echo loves him too. (Just, not enough to allow puppy cuddles. Which Ori doesn't seem all that interested in anyway.)

8. Ori loves pets and lovins and being babied. Just not while he's trying to sleep. But during these cuddles, you will get bit. A lot. He's going through a phase, lol.

9. Ori has a little white on his face, quite a bit on the belly, and his peets (paws for those of you not in the know). But the best part is that only his TOES are white on his peets. And they're prime tickling peets.

10. I have 2 FluentPet buttons that say 'Outside' and 'Play'. The outside one is already in a foam pad (that Ori chews on) and he's used it a few times after seeing me do it and he hits it accidentally, so that training is going well. The 'Play' button however has to be protected. You see, every time I set that one on the floor, he presses it ... with his teeth ... as he picks it up ... and carries it off to be chewed on.

And there's your Daily Dose of Ori.

It's been months since then and I have new discoveries/issues with my baby.

He hates computers making noise. For example, I play Sims a lot. 98% of the time it's muted because I have the TV going also. One day, it was unmuted and he got to hear my toddlers crying, my sims talking and laughing, and the trash can eating things. He flipped out and started barking all over the house. I had to physically pick him up and show him the sims before he figured it out. He still occasionally barked when the babies cried.
He has issues with music playing from speakers. The story here is that he hangs out in the bathroom (on a pile of towels, no less) while I shower. Until this one particular day, he's slept through every single one of my showers. Then I decided to use my shower time to think up writerly things and brought in the iPod and speaker to help me along. I didn't even get a chance to get shampoo in my hair before he was between the curtain and liner, trying to get in. So, I got him in the tub where he laid down for the remainder of my shower. The next time I played music, he acted as if he wanted in, but he really didn't. Anxious puppy the whole time. Then during a pre-work shower in which I didn't play music, he slept the whole time. So that night I tested it with my computer. As soon as the music started, he started barking. I pushed the computer down by my feet and he jumped up to snuggle on my chest before he could understand that it was basically just noise. He seems somewhat okay with it now.
Ori is too big. Not in a bad way. More like: he's 4 months old and his back is already almost level with Echo's. His feet are still giant. He has another year and a half to grow. I basically have a horse now, and I'm totally okay with it. Did I mention he was the runt? lol
Ori is too smart for his own good (more on this in a story still to come), yet still SUCKS at the whole potty-training thing. Mind you, he is getting better. But still NOWHERE near the top ten of Good Boys in that department.
He hates his harness, which is weird to me. See, Echo LOVES his harness because he knows the only time he has to wear one is when we're leaving the property, either on a walk or for a ride. Ori, however, merely tolerates his. I think this may be because it might be small for him. It was meant for a medium dog (which he was, when he started wearing it) and his weight makes it still seem a valid garment, but it looks like his chest size says differently. That, or he just hates how much control I have while he's wearing it. Mysteries, mysteries...
At night, Ori mostly prefers to sleep on the pile of dirty clothes I have in the closet or anywhere else in the room except for his bed. However, after his first outside break in the morning (around 6-6:30am) he comes in and immediately jumps into my bed and makes himself comfortable in my spot. Even when he has muddy peets. This means I get Ori Cuddles as I'm getting ready to go back to sleep and I look forward to it every morning. Other than the mornings, he is not very cuddly so I take what I can get.
He loves blankets and towels. In the bathroom, towels are often left on the floor as we procrastinate folding the clean ones in the basket, so he eagerly spreads them out to his liking and flops on them whenever I have to use the bathroom. In the living room, there's a big couch blanket that he loves, plus another one that stretches across a trunk behind the couch. As soon as we come in from outside most days, he just climbs atop the trunk and flops down on the blanket, with the leash still on.
Ori has separation anxiety. It's getting better, since we hardly ever leave him alone (thankfully our schedules accommodate that) but he used to be super destructive. Now he mostly drags his bedroom toys into the living room and drops them everywhere in protest of me being gone. He still kidnaps the occasional shoe, though. But my jeans mostly stop in my bedroom doorway.
Lastly, Ori LOVES grabbing the leash and pulling on it when it's attached to Echo. Sometimes it looks like he's trying to walk him. Other times you know it's a game of tug-of-war to him. He also does it with his own leash a lot more often recently. It might become a problem I should never have let start, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.