Geyser!

[leih merigian]

Hey Leih! Next time I have a pup to raise, can I FedEx it to you please?

One of the pictures I took today for grins was one of the back of my left hand...

My vet was joking with me yesterday that he took down a barbed wire fence last weekend and his hands didn't look anything like mine .

When I resize some recent shots, I'll do this one too if it works out and post it here

[vneerland]

No no! Send it to me!! (only the blue ones tho...)

Hey Leih! Next time I have a pup to raise, can I FedEx it to you please?

Is that a 'no'?

[leih merigian]

Is that a 'no'?

Well, anything is possible for the right price!

As promised...the hand...



(go ahead and laugh...I have to )

This one is cute...tho a bit blurry...



This one shows her happy self...



She can now jump up on the pause table, which is 24" high (I'm using it for a grooming table). She couldn't do that a few days ago.

So far, the tooth/gums look fine<fingers crossed>

[leih merigian]

13 weeks old today! 24.5 lbs! She's growing so fast. As I'm hoping that she'll top out in the low 50s, weight-wise, that means she's nearly half way there already. Man.

Two weeks ago, we went downtown for an outing. Didn't go so well. She was pretty concerned about it all. Left that for a while (stuck with the little shopping centers instead), and returned this week. It went much better! We spent about 15 minutes walking around and doing little training things, and she got to ride in her first elevator (a parking gargage that has one conveniently located to the sidewalk we were using). That was a bit unsettling for her, but nothing major. We'll be doing that again, of course.

Another thing we returned to this week that was a bit unsettling for her the first time around is this huge pile of rocks and boulders that's in the middle of this field behind a shopping mall. Yesterday, she happily climbed up on rocks and boulders and had a great time of it. Then she ran around the field with me, staying on which side I indicated, focused on me, happy to be moving at my side so quickly. That was fun! I had visions of future agility success .

Behind this shopping center and next to the field where the rock pile is, there is a little kind of greenway, with trees, grass, and not quite a trail, but paths thru. I let her drag her leash and we wandered around in there some, and she was very responsive and kept track of me, which told me she's ready for a real trail. This is major for me, as hiking is a major activity I love to do with my dog. Monday, we're going to go on our first little hike. I know a place that has very easy access, no other people, very safe...I can't wait. She's going to love it! (As will I )

Today is going to be a big day. I found out last weekend that she's a bit concerned about little people...social butterfly that she's become with adults, she's just not encountered many short folks yet. So, our weekend mornings will be spent looking for little people (parks, playgrounds), or visiting the skateboard park, finding ball games, etc.

Then we're going to attend a puppy class this afternoon. It's a well run one, that has wheel chairs and costumes and all sorts of silly things to expose them to, as well as very controlled access to other puppies of appropriate ages.

Yesterday, at the rockpile field, when she was so good with running around with me, and again, when we were moving thru that greenspace, I had a strong feeling of "we're really going to have a fun life together." It just made me so happy. This first 5 weeks haven't exactly be what I'd call fun , so it was just very heartening to see and feel a glimpse of the companionera I'm going to have. I just can't wait to take her on the trail Monday morning. She is going to have a blast, and we'll have a great time together...which of course, is the whole point.

[Marjolein]

Strong wind coming from the right ay?

No no! Send it to me!! (only the blue ones tho...)

Is that a 'no'?

Feel like I'm repeating stuff tonight

[leih merigian]

Finally...we went on our first hike yesterday! It was a little too warm (80s); I'll have to get her out to do this earlier in the morning. She's generally a bit concerned in new situations/envorinments, and she was for this hike, but she got used to it pretty quickly and seemed to have a good time.

She did a great job of staying with me and staying on the trail, for the most part. And, when she was ahead of me, at about 20 feet, she'd look back to me (I'd say "check in!" every time she looked back). I've never used a check in command, but I"ve decicded to do so with Geyser. I trained Zodi not to go out of sight on trails, and will do that with her too, of course.

It was a big day for her...first hike, AND she finally got her ear tattoo! It took me weeks to find someone to do one for us, as there's no longer anyone in my immediate area who does them. Decided to look for GSD breeders, and found one about 2 hours away who was happy to help out. We met him yesterday afternoon and got the job done.

She screamed like a little banshee , but here's the wonderful thing about her. As soon as the hard part was over, she was her normal, happy self again. Took her to a church field afterwards to play and walk a bit, then headed back home.

As always, she's an angel in the crate, whether at home or in the truck. And, at 13 weeks, I am amazed at how good she is at letting me know when she needs to eliminate. She let me know yesterday...got her out, she peed. About 20 minutes later, she asked again; pulled over, got her out, she pooped. Can you say happy doggie mom? Then we had one false alarm, after I'd filled up with some gas. She'd just been in the truck too long, it was past dinner time for her, and she said, "I want out!" I asked her if she needed to go, she said YES, but she just wanted out. Heck, I was tired of being in the truck myself, and I'm not 13 weeks old .

Here are a few pics from our little hike:

[vneerland]

No no! Send it to me!! (only the blue ones tho...)

Is that a 'no'?

Sorry. Leih lives closer. (but I probably cannot afford her fee, and she does not like blues)

@ Leih. Glad that went well. I handle the nature walks differently. First of all, I am a bit blessed to have the back 70 here, plus a rowdy pack, so pups get thrown in a friendly group and learn to hike that way. When I did not have the luxury of a path leading from my front door straight into the woods, or lots of role models, I would still take young pups for walks, and take the leash off when we got out there. That was how I taught them to stay with me, using their dependance to get them to watch me and stick around. It worked on all of them thusfar. The only miss (sort of) was a rescue pup named Danny, a little mutt. He would join us, but since he was probably born wild, he'd head back to the house by himself, not worried in the least about keeping up with the rest of us. Of maybe it was a bulldog thing, not caring one iota about humans in general (as long as humans cater your meals, who cares what they think about you?) The funniest venture is taking a whole litter out into the woods. They will all follow, but the fun part is when they get hung up in briars and have to learn to undo themselves. I get the feeling your Geyser is a bit more protected, the lucky little girl.

[leih merigian]

I just have a very light drag line on her, in case I need to be able to get her for some reason. I agree with you...it's their job to keep track of you!

It must be nice to be able to hike on all that private land. Having to use public land and parks and such tends to complicate things.

And then, the bane of my existence...stupid pet owners (did I say that out loud?). People who have no control of their dogs...I'm gonna stop right there<g>.

[vneerland]

And then, the bane of my existence...stupid pet owners (did I say that out loud?). People who have no control of their dogs...I'm gonna stop right there<g>.

Don't stop! I think many of us recognize it. You put a leash on your dog, they go "Fido does not bite" Well HECK. But what if MINE does? Or you have your dog under control and ask the other owner to get his &^^^%$#@ dog back. "I don' t know how...he doesn't listen" (then why the bliep was it loose in the first place?) Just making my dog sit and stay in a public place gets me so many ah's and oh's it's not even funny. I usually just smile and think that this is kindergarten stuff. You ought to see all the rest that pooch can do! But since that is beyond them anyway, I don't say a thing. Politely thank them, and pity them for being so easily impressed.

[leih merigian]

You and I are on the same page here (big surprise ).

I hate it when I'm out hiking and here comes someone with a dog or more. No control at all, of course.

I really hate it when people think asking, "Is your dog friendly?" equates to, "can my dog meet yours?" I just say NO.

I really hate it that people have no idea how to read dogs at all, and think they have friendly dogs when they don't.

And, as long as I'm on the subject, it frosts me to no end that people don't pick up after their dogs. Screws it up for the rest of us. And, I mean even those who should know better...stay at a hotel near an agility trial and you'll see plenty of those competitors not picking up after their dogs. Don't they realize how important it is to have dog friendly motels and hotels avaialble? Grrrr!

That felt good! :fluffy:

[k9katet]

Do you see the exhibitors not picking up poop with your own eyes? When I've stayed at hotels the ones I've seen not picking up are the pet people - like old folks that travel around with their dogs or construction workers that take their dogs on jobs with them. They let their dogs run around loose in the halls and outside too and don't watch them. A good solution (not matter who it is) is to ask them if they need a baggies as you have one that you could give them. Then they know that you saw and they've been told the proper way to be a responsible dog owner.

[leih merigian]

Do you see the exhibitors not picking up poop with your own eyes? When I've stayed at hotels the ones I've seen not picking up are the pet people - like old folks that travel around with their dogs or construction workers that take their dogs on jobs with them. They let their dogs run around loose in the halls and outside too and don't watch them. A good solution (not matter who it is) is to ask them if they need a baggies as you have one that you could give them. Then they know that you saw and they've been told the proper way to be a responsible dog owner.

Yup, I have seen it with my own eyes, and you and I have come up with the same solution .

[leih merigian]

Always on the lookout for socialization opportunities, I really lucked out yesterday when we went to the park for our hike. Pulled in, and there was a hot air balloon getting prepped for lift off and flight! Woo hoo!



(BTW, it's no small thing that she'll hold a sit until released while I take a picture...this is the same little monkey who used to dive bomb my face whenever I tried to take a pic of her )

I knew it would make my girl a bit concerned, so we parked, got out, and walked away a good distance (you can see how far she is from it in the picture, where she's sitting in the foreground). Then, we headed back toward the balloon, to where the guardrail ended on our side of the road, and went onto the grassy area and had a grand time tugging and doing some simple commands while the noisy process continued. She did great.

Finally, the balloon lifted and we watched it take off for the hills. Then we did our little morning hike.

I love how well she listens to me on the trials.

Also, it's just so much fun to watch her start to understand things, and me, and to have a little common language between us, which is just the start, of course. After our early evening training/exercise/play + grooming session outdoors, I ask her if she's ready for her special treat. She gets that one for sure!

Today, in one of our little training sessions, I decided to start rewarding this thing she does. She lies on her back, with her feet folded in front of her chest, looking too cute for words, and sometimes pumps her front arms a bit. So, clicked it, treated, and she laid on her side to eat the treat. I just stood there and smiled and waited...soon, she rolled back onto her back, curled those little front legs up and just looked too darn cute. We did this about 10 time, since she was having a blast and thought it was a lot of fun .

I'll have to come up with a good verbal cue for this before I name it...that's so much a part of a fun trick, the words that go with it.

[vneerland]

"Hoe liggen de meisjes in Amsterdam"
How do the girls in Amsterdam lie?
That is what many Dutch people would say if/when their dog lies on its back, spread-eageled.

[leih merigian]

"Hoe liggen de meisjes in Amsterdam"
How do the girls in Amsterdam lie?
That is what many Dutch people would say if/when their dog lies on its back, spread-eageled.

[leih merigian]

Small things, but they add up...

Took G into the bathroom with me yesterday (sometimes it's just too much of a hassle to stop and throw her in a crate or XPen, depending on what we're doing). I'd tried it a couple days ago and it didn't work...she was all over me.

We've been woring on "rug" every day, and yesterday, I just gave her the rug command, and she got on the bathmat and settled down. Got up once, got redirected, settled back down and waited until she was relased, after all the hand washing business, etc. Wow.

I wear those Croc clog things...have an outside pair and a newer pair that I wear in the world an in the house. Well, changing them has been such a hassle . She wants to attack my feet, or the Crocs. For the past two days, I've been able to change them without any interference from her. Wow.

And, now that we're hiking, I put on sox, knee braces and my hiking boots before heading out. Used to be, if I put shoes on, she'd go for the sox and the laces, all the ususal things. Now, I can give her a fleecy rag to play with, and as long as she stays off me and my shoes and sox, I play with her in between what I'm doing. It's going great and it's just so durn nice to be able to put my stuff on unmolested . (Well...she's still jumping up onto my lap, or trying to, but of course, everything stops when she does this, and she's getting there...)

I know these are small things, but they don't feel so small when I notice the new things each day, especially when they make my life just that much easier.

I am lucky to be a fairly structured person by nature. For me, it's easy to be consistent in how I do things with her, and I strongly believe something is always right or always wrong, and needs to be made very black and white for the dog. Sometimes, the difficulty comes in deciding what the rule is going to be, and it's criteria, but once that's figured out, it's a piece of cake. I really think that over time, with structure, you have freedom...you don't have to keep figuring out how to do something, you don't have to try to find your keys (they're where they live, after all), and your puppy starts to get a good idea of how she's expected to behave in your world.

I'm really happy to be out of the initial several weeks, when you're starting out with a little ID with shark teeth that knows nothing at all...we're now into the place where we have some language between us and it gets deeper every day. Now I am having fun with her for real .

One thing I'm really proud of...I use an overturned rubber feed bin (for farm animals) for a step pad, and at "step" she's to go to it and put her front feet on it. Then, I get her to circle her rear end around the bin as her front feet stay on the top of the pad. Just this week, we achieved a 360 in each direction! Yup, she can now circle the whole way around with her back feet. Wow. Interestingly, it's easier for her to move to her right than to her left. I have a feeling she's kind of right footed. Anyway, this is so good for her as far as coming to understand that she has a rear end and back feet, and what they're up to, and that she can control them. And, given that the circling started with just a back foot moving at all in one direction, this is quite an accomplishment for us.

Time to stop procrastinating and get on with the working out part of my day

[leih merigian]

We had our second outing to the lake today. It went so much better than the first time!

I had been giving it a lot of thought, and decided she might be more comfortable working form the shore of the man made lake, as opposed to the cement boat ramp. Personally, I prefer the ramp, since you don't get all mucky and dirty from the lake bottom that's by the shore. Of course, ditry-schmirty is what she'd say .

It did seem to work well. Right off, I'd toss the orby ball into the shallows, she'd hop right on it to get it, we'd play a bit of tug, then toss it back in, she'd go right on in after it. No hesitation, no prevaricating, just going for it. Yay.

Gradually, I'd toss it farther and farther out. She'd go for it. As it got a little deeper, she'd get concerned, and she wasn't swimming right, but rather, raising her front legs out of the water too high, splashing around a lot but not much forward motion.

No problemo there...I just went in first rather than following her in. She came right on in after me, too. I went out to about chest deep on me, so she'd be swimming for sure, then swam backwards from her, and she followed me, and finally!, she got her strokes going right, and was just sliciing thru the water after me. We did that two or three times.

Soon, the penny will really drop for her and she'll get her strokes down and then she'll really enjoy it even more. I was just happy that she had a good time today, went after the ball every time I tossed it in, and that she was able to really swim a bit with me. Huge yays .

We kept it brief with the water, only about 20 minutes total (that includes all the tugging on shore in between tosses, too), then headed for the field to pee a lot and dry out moving around. That went much better, too. Took her holey ball, which she loves. Then, we did about 5 minutes on a strange-to-her trail, and she was happier being on the trail than any time so far in the past week (we've hiked every day since we began).

All in all, an excellent outing to the lake! I am quite jazzed. We'll go back again tomorrow, as we're back in the 90s here , and I want to take advantage of that while it's here anyway.

I love it when a plan comes together .

[vneerland]

Good progress! Count the good things, so that when something happens that makes you frown (and they tend to pop up every blue moon for everyone) you have a good view of the balance of things: Positive!!!

[leih merigian]

Good progress! Count the good things...

Every day, I do! It makes me very happy and brings smiles, and yes, helps to smooth over the rough spots .

More progress...

3rd swim went great. She actually is getting her stroke down much better, and jumped into the water herself, and happily chased after her ball every time I tossed it in. Still does the spashing thing when she's unsure, but the percentage of smooth swimming is increasing. Yay. This time, when I'd toss it just a bit farther out, where she'd need to swim to get to it, she walked out until it was too deep to walk, then just swam for it .

And, she was happy in the field and on the trail after the swim.

Here's the really big thing...for the past two days, instead of being a Mexican jumping bean while I'm preparing meals, she's put herself on a settle down (my casual down command) and stayed off the counter for breakfast prep, and only jumped up once for dinner prep.

So, this morning, I gave her the settle down cue before preparing her food, and she held it until released! What a good girl! I'll be curious to see if she can hold it during dinner prep, as that's been the one where she got up once the past two days. (And, it cracked me up this morning that when I released her, she went right on over and jumped up to the counter )

Her "leave it" is becoming a thing of beauty. We're far from 100%, but she's still a baby. She's doing so great with so many things.

Today she's 15 weeks (happy birthday Letty and Hector!). 30 pounds...which I sure hope is over half way to her adult weight<fingers crossed>. I sing "Happy Birthday" to her every Saturday morning :fluffy: .