18 months and Nosework class

Reckon turned 18 month this week. Time to mature into a polite young man. Or try.

I signed up the boys for Nosework class. Always something I wanted to do with the dogs, but classes were always held waayyy out in the Valley. These ones are only in North Burnaby, so I jumped at the opportunity.

We have had 2 classes so far, and both boys are doing great. It's interesting to see how different they work. Since Beezer has done a lot of shaping, he started offering behaviours instead of smelling the dozen or so boxes for treats. It didn't take him long to get what the game was though!

I had no idea what to expect with Reck. Half of me feared he would go visit everyone or just eat the boxes. Well, that boy doesn't have a big nose for no reason. He NAILED it! It's like he had been taught in a past life. I couldn't believe how fast he learned the game. "I search these boxes for da cookies"

Everyone was very impressed, even our instructor Eileen. Unfortunately I didn't get any video of our first session, but here is a video of this weeks class. Remember he has only done this once before.




And here is the Beez Knees, so polite and methodical. When we first started class he would shape a leg lift or stand on the boxes. "I offer dis trick. Nope. Dis one? Nope. Oh yes, look for cookies in box"
But after he figured out the game, he did beautifully:

Spring has sprung

At least for a few days. This long weekend had picture perfect weather.

It was nice to just take my 4 dogs for a little outing to the river.

It wasn't so easy trying to capture everyone in one shot however. Beezer was on squirrel patrol as usual, but he did take a quick break to swim in the river for the first time this year.

Reckon was just pacing along as usual. And then he found his own version of a stick.

Amigo was up for a game of fetch, but no swimming for her.

An Avion was circling and trotting around everybody constantly. With something in her mouth of course.

We then went for a little stroll along the trail. 3 brown dogs in front.

And a little black one behind me.

My dogs are so good looking. If they didn't have drool and green stuff all over their face...

Hope this good weather continues!

4 months

Here we are at 4 months already. I can hardly believe it. She weighed 21.6 pounds as of March 27th. Which is approx 3-4 pounds more than Beezer was at the same age. So I'm guessing she'll be around 55 pounds full grown.

Her fear stage (I'm still calling it that) is improving. She will still bark, but not for nearly as long. I can tell her to go greet anyone and she does. She will take a treat and stand there patiently while being petted.

Her thing now is to carry something in her mouth. It can be a ball, a small tug, anything. It seems to soothe her. And it's pretty darn cute.

She's teething and has a slight overbite, and her legs won't stop growing. Awkward...

I love her dearly, and she makes me laugh every day, but I am still worried about her.  She just seems to have this "edge" about her. I hope that socializing and learning to be calm will help her learn to cope in what she would consider a stressful situation.

Why do all my dogs make me cry at some point during their life?!?! Not fair.

In other positive news, Reckon has started his 2x2 weave pole training and is doing stellar!  When the weather allows we practice, and I think it's going very well.

I signed up the Beezer Skedeezer for Regionals this coming June. This boy is kicking ass. I am above and beyond impressed with him. He is fast and happy and just so much fun to run.

This is the first time I've tried to get a family photo. Fail.

Playing in the backyard

This is how she helps with gardening.

This is what she does when she gets put in her x pen when I'm gardening or sweeping or hosing or wiping anything. She screams blood murder and will escape if she can. I'm sure her motto is "if it moves, get it"

She is going to be a little B*tch

At least that's what I see now. At 14 weeks and 18.4 pounds she is really coming into her own.

She also hit a fear stage late Feb, just before I left town for a week.  I HATE fear periods, and I am really really hoping this is what it is.  She is barking at everyone, especially men.  She's gone from a confident happy social pup to a fearful barking lunatic.  I HATE IT.

Make it stop.

I'm trying to be patient and take her out every day.  I try getting people to feed her if they are interested, but she is hesitant to approach them.  She is much better with women than with men.  If we can't get anybody to stop and feed her, I'll do the look at that game.  Problem is, people are usually walking, so she can still be barking when they leave.  Grrrrrrr.   I'm afraid she thinks barking makes them leave!

We will get through this.  We will get through this.  We will get through this.  Successfully.

Good thing she is still cute and tugs like a maniac.  And I may be bias, but smart as a freaking whip.

She has learned sit, down, wave, head nod, and we are now shaping scooting backwards on her butt.

Stationary commands are becoming difficult though, as she wants to offer the last trick she learned.

She still plays with Reckon all the time.  And she still looses her temper.  Poor R.  She gets a lot of time outs in her x pen for taking things too far.

But I love her.  

They won't stop playing

Seriously. They can now be out together and play for HOURS. It makes me so so happy, especially since I wasn't too sure what Reck would do with a puppy. He even lets her take toys and bones out of his mouth!

Now the problem is keeping them quiet. The only way to do that is to keep them separated, which I do for my sanity.

They even share the tunnel :)

Seriously they won't stop playing.



I can't tell you enough how good R is with little Avi. The only time I stop their play, is when Avi gets too rough. She can throw quite the temper tantrum. R is so patient. She can hump his head, and pull of his lips and he doesn't do a darn thing :)

They love each other

They can play for HOURS on either side of the xpen. Which is loud and distracting, but it makes me so happy :)

They can play with each other face to face, but only if I hold Reck by the collar and he is in a down. Otherwise, if she runs, he pounces. He's not being mean, but his full mouth chomp devourers her whole body. Not that she cares, she can dish it out right back. He is so good with her. He just lays there, rolling around as Avi climbs on him and bites his neck. It's interesting to watch how similar they play.

They will be a good match when she's a little bigger


Videos to come.

socializing 101

The best part about new puppies, in my opinion, is the socializing. I love taking them everywhere and seeing them take in the world. It's especially joyful when said puppy is confident and social. With Avion, I want her to learn to be calm when being handled and saying hello. Reckon missed this lesson and it's a humongous pain.

I also want her to work with me whenever and where ever. So I've been taking her to tons of places to explore. After she's done checking it all out, we work. Just a 15 second game of tug and focus is all I want. She's doing brilliantly.
It may take us 10 minutes to walk a block, since she's up and into everything, but she's a pleasure. I just love watching her.

We let every kid who wants to say say hello.

And this girl WILL be able to be crated at the vet clinic when I work, God dammit. I will have one dog that can stay in a kennel or crate and not scream their head off. This is part of our socializing routine. Learning to settle.

It's a work in progress...