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Zuzu is CK's dog and the "unofficial" Skeey mascot. The "official" Skeey mascot is Al.
She sleeps a lot and just lays around the office. Occasionally, she'll get up and chew on her toy monkey, but for the most part, she's just a big lazy dog. Zuzu is a one year old Labradoodle. For those of you unfamiliar with labradoodles, they're a cross between a labrador retriever and a standard poodle.
If you're considering getting a labradoodle (or a dog in general), here is some advice...
Do your research
My wife has allergies and asthma, so we wanted to get a dog that wouldn't require her to sleep in a plastic bubble. Therefore, we checked out www.dogbreedinfo.com. It's not the most elegant site in the world, but they have a lot of great information about all kinds of breeds and discusses temperment, size, shedding, whether or not the breed is typically good with kids, etc. After checking out just about every type of dog in there, we decided on a labradoodle.
Find a good breeder
We took our time picking out our pooch. We found a lot of breeders online and went to a lot of local breeders as well. Zuzu is from Forest Park Labradoodles in Oregon. They asked us a ton of questions and the process was almost like an interview. I felt like I should have had a suit on during the phonecall. We're from Boston, but they were able to ship her cargo to us from Oregon.
Be patient
Your dog will have accidents. They will "go" on your nice expensive Persian rug. They will chew up your favorite pair of white patent leather dress shoes (hopefully). They will nip at your hands with their razor sharp puppy teeth. But if you're patient and actively teach them, they will learn. If there is puppy training in your town, definitely do it. We brought Zuzu to Petco for training. It was a 7 week class and they teach you all the basic commands...sit, stay, come, get me a beer. Also, pick up a good training book. We used Puppies for Dummies . We had Zuzu house trained in about a month and a half or so. Now if my wife can only figure out how to house train me.
Keep your dog entertained
There's nothing worse than a bored pooch. Dogs need to keep busy, but it's not possible to entertain them ALL the time. Therefore, try to pick out toys that will keep them occupied for a long time. Here is a list of some really great toys we use for Zuzu...
Kong Toys
These are little hollow rubber toys that are impossible for your dog to chew apart. You shove some treats in them and your dog will go nuts trying to get it out. Is seemed cruel to me at first because she'd really struggle trying to get at the treat, but they are great to keep the dog occupied. Here are some links to buy a kong...
Dog Bones
There is much debate on whether to give your dog rawhide. Personally, I tend to avoid giving Zuzu rawhide, but sometimes you just want to keep them occupied. Veterinarians generally will warn against it because dogs can chew off large pieces, swallow them, and their bodies can't digest them, requiring surgery to have large pieces surgically removed. An alternative that will keep your dog really busy is real bones that are filled with meat mixture. Zuzu spends hours trying to get all the stuff out of the bone, and then chews the bone. The actual bones last a really long time and she hasn't been able to break one apart yet, so it's really durable. Here are some links to pick up these treats...
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