Week 4 Puppy School

So, finally I thought I had the Sunday morning routine down pat. I had calmed myself into a nice relaxed mode also sure to keep the pups relaxed( if you happen to follow and believe in Cesar Milan as I do )Cesar They had done really well all week with their homework (lying down on command, leave it, drop it and take it as well as improving on their meet and greet skills) so I was quietly confident the class would be a success. I had even taken the precaution of feeding them only half their breakfast so that they would be hungry and willing to "work" for treats. One should NEVER feel overly confident with young puppies-and/or children alike:) What followed the nice quiet calm car ride caught me off guard completely. I am not sure about all puppies but windy wild days send Maxi and Bruno off on a boisterous trip which is hard to control. The wind was bitter cold and wild sending small objects flying around the parking lot which drove Bruno into a frenzy of leash pulling which in turn affected Maxi in the same way. It took a very long very cold 5 minutes to calm them enough to approach the store--it was stop start stop start all the way to the front door. At last they were calm enough to go inside, my fingers were frozen and aching, all sense of calm taken off on the high winds. The well meaning oohs and aahs of folks just inside the store set the puppies back to the state of frenzy I thought we had left in the parking lot. So here we are late for class, I am frazzled, cold and already exhausted. The pups well------------ they were having a blast!!

Personalities and Therapy Dogs

Now at three months the pups are really showing their true personalities. Although fierce in the sparring ring Maxi is a very gentle soul with a soft muzzle, affectionate eyes and a huge desire to learn, please and perform. He is absolutely adorable in every way. I am certain he will make an amazing therapy dog. Bruno is somewhat of a different character altogether. He is hard at work being the protector and guard dog even at this tender age. He gets distracted easily as his awareness skills are constantly on high alert to any perceived danger .This might be something as simple as a piece of paper flying in the wind. Strangely enough he is also the skittish one, less eager to instigate a sparring session than Maxi, perhaps because it distracts him from his "true" self, a self appointed protector:) He is a stunning and adorable animal capable of many things--therapy? He already provides great therapy to me and my husband who has been recovering from a really nasty auto accident that has left him suffering a great deal of pain.  From very early on Bruno gravitated towards his painful hip sharing his warmth and unconditional love. At 26lbs and growing his warmth and comfort are even better:) They are already therapy dogs one just has to see the smiles on strangers' and friends'  faces whenever they are around to know that.  Therapy dogs.

Loose Leash Walking LLW

LLW   At exactly three months old our neighborhood walks are getting longer and longer and somewhat easier. After the first 5 mins or so these guys settle down and stop trying to sabotage each others behavior. Maxi is particularly good at making Bruno look bad. If I don't notice Bruno chewing on his leash Maxi makes sure I do by diving on him and scolding him. What follows is a chaotic round of entangled leashes, legs and snarling naughtiness. Still, that behavior is slowing down getting and less frequent as time goes by. Yesterday however, and there always is a 'however', during a nice gentle walk we met up with 6  wildly excited male teenagers on the way home from school---there was way too  much high energy to hope for any sense of calm-- all meet and greet training was quickly forgotten---back to yet another round of chaos. Fortunately, the teenagers were happy to listen, and after the chaos we managed to control the pups enough to have a relatively calm encounter. Thinking I should hire these guys to practice nice meeting manners:) 

Week 13 and Week 3 of Puppy School

Bruno is now weighing in at 24lbs, Maxi 21lbs, a far cry from the 4lbs they both were a mere 9 weeks ago. Coupled with their amazing physical growth these little guys have grown with incredible speed intellectually. Just shy of 3 months old---March 24th, they are so smart they impress us daily. What they have learned thus far are several commands including, sit, watch me (look into my eyes), stay, leave. drop it, fetch and let's go. They have learned to relax while having a massage, having their teeth cleaned, ears and  paws cleaned, and  nails clipped. So why oh why am I always a nervous wreck on Sundays as school is about to begin? This is definitely not a good way to be as puppies are smart and easily pick up on vibes, good and bad. My husband, on the other hand, is relaxed and enjoys these sessions which might be the reason that he has more success in class than me. This only adds to my angst. I am the one at home with these guys all day I should have better success right? Perhaps I am the one needing a massage--nice idea, I will suggest that next Sunday. Life in general improves daily. The pups are so much more generous with their morning wake up calls. It was 8.40 before they woke Sunday!! Bliss. Moreover, they are much more independent with their bathroom visits. I only need to open the back door now and off they go to their favorite spot. No more standing in the cold coffee in hand. I get to watch from the warmth of the sun room----- life's little pleasures not to underestimated:) Of course the weather is warming up so being out in the mornings will be more fun:)

Training Practice

So here we are,  puppies are twelve weeks young and growing at a very fast pace. No longer am I able to take control by picking them up and moving them to where I want them to be. Their training is taking on a much more crucial role. How am I doing? Honesty here is the best policy, I think? Well, it is a bumpy road that's for sure. One minute I am ecstatic with the success we are having the next I am discouraged by my failure to engage these guys in the behavior I am seeking. It's all in the timing as in classical conditioning. I am not as speedy in reflex as I once was which is certainly a disadvantage in training these little guys. I managed very successfully to undo Bruno's good eye contact training by inadvertently rewarding him with a treat for a jump and bark. I was a split second too slow to reward the calm sitting and eye contact----the result? Every time I tried to get him to sit and maintain eye contact he jumped and barked!!!! A behavior he had never engaged in before. So what to do? We had to go back to the beginning and retrain----fortunately, he remembered well and it did not take too long. The moral of the story here is to be too discouraged by regression---- keep plodding on:)

Week two at puppy school.

Sunday morning 8am---fabulous, a long lie in, and whats more the sun was shining and the air was mild. What could possibly be a better start to the 11am training session. A far cry from the torrential rains and reluctance to go out to potty of last Sunday. My mood was upbeat, husband was relaxed and the pups played happily in the sunshine. So much so, I decided to shoot some video of them playing and delay breakfast until the puppies went for a nap before class. Everything was going according to plan we would leave around 10.40am. Perfect!! Husband was making his weekly call to Mum in Singapore so I decided to check out the video I had just taken. I switched on the laptop which, by the way, takes forever to warm up these days. Eventually, there they were my two little guys looking mightily cute. I sat with a huge smile on my face totally unaware of the mayhem that was about to unfold. For some unknown reason my eyes drifted to the lower right hand corner of the lap top and I yelled to my husband that it was 10.15!!! NO he yelled back it is 9.15!! Well, you've probably guessed by now---the clocks had changed and we knew nothing about it. How is that possible? Really, I have no idea. Not dressed, showered or fed the next 25 mins were fraught with the tension of trying to move a relaxed hubby along, to gathering up leashes, treats, wipes, homework and all the rest of the paraphernalia. The puppies had had no nap and were as hyper as myself, so here we were back in the same state as last week.  This is NOT good for puppy calming and training. Maxi ran circles round me for the first 20 mins, Bruno would not listen either. I can honestly say if you ever need a good work out take two puppies to school in a hyper state! I ache all over today. To end on a positive note--the leash training I mentioned before went down very well by the end of the class. The boys turned out to be little stars after all. We all slept well last night!!

Puppy school.

Well, I am very relieved to say that no potty accidents happened in the training arena. My other concern, their wild roughhousing, turned out to be of no concern either. My tough little warriors were like putty in the paws of little Izzie, a three month young Australian shepherd. It's a major relief to find out they have good public puppy manners. I know they don't hurt each other, but they sound so ferocious I'm pretty sure it would alarm other puppy parents:) Now here comes the confession------I have not been good at following through with the homework given by the trainer--------hope she doesn't read this. I am going to have to work these little guys like crazy over the next couple of days to catch up----not good really they need short sessions on a regular basis. My bad, been lazy, been way too busy having fun in the yard. Still, I have to say they are coming along nicely with their leash walking and  short car trips. Resolving to do better with the formal training. 

First Day At Puppy School

The day has finally arrived--the first day of puppy school! The plan----11am class--perfect timing:) The pups should be in the best possible state of mind and body to take on the challenges of their first day in puppy school. Fed, watered, exercised and, well yes, potty business done. I thought I had all the bases covered---wrong!! And, oh, by the way this is a Sunday--I came very quickly to the conclusion following the disaster of trying to walk two puppies at the same time on their leashes, that I could not possibly go this alone. My husband was enrolled to come to class with us. So, as I said, I thought all bases were covered. The element I did not consider for one second was the weather. These two guys are somewhat fussy in that they are not inclined to want to do their 'business' while the skies are pouring out their tears and soaking all of us below. Not to mention the fact that they were a little spooked by my umbrella. So what was inevitably going to be a little stressful became a source of  great angst. Oh yes, we told the trainer they are house trained, (other lady admitting to potty accidents with her puppy wishing we had not been so smug)-------are they going to prove us wrong, after all it is a long hour for such little guys? I'll let you know tomorrow. We are all tired--too tired to even eat lunch right now.

Vaccine Success

Well the trip to the vet was great success! They did not even notice the jab in the neck this time. No reactions afterwards either:) They were much more interested in the other dogs in the waiting room to care about anything else. Maxi was face on face with his mirror image which was curious situation. She was a female Boxer, 3 weeks  older than him, obviously bigger but with almost identical in markings. I told him later he should have got her phone number, too late now I have no idea where she lives:(  Bruno on the other hand was trying very hard not to look at the 138lb Mastiff just to the right of him. Rather, he spent his time eying up a Boxer cross cute 6 month old female. So far so good their interactions with other dogs have been a success. I'm so glad their ferocious warrior displays are kept for home and to themselves:) When I say fierce I really mean fierce. It is so surprising such wolf like behavior can be so inherent in 11 week old pups. These biting sessions are a very important part of their upbringing though.  It teaches them bite inhibition which is necessary for all domestic dogs, but especially so for Therapy Dogs. Puppy training classes also help with bite inhibition. We are enrolling Bruno and Maxi in the next week or so. Dare I take them both on my own? Still contemplating that one.