What a wonderful, marvelous day! Spring is right around the corner! I'm ssoooo excited. Not that I despise winter, but I love the longer days & the sunshine.

Lola had her interview scheduled for Camp Bow Wow at 7:15. So I fed the pups breakfast at 5:30 so she'd be good to go for playtime. My brother told me about this place as he's taken Shamus for daycare & boarding. He loved it. The interview is basically to make sure the dog isn't aggressive and obviously Lola is not. She passed w/ flying colors & I was instructed to pick her up at least 3 hours later (but preferably in the afternoon). So I left her in their capable hands and went home to spend time w/ the other pups.

Penny & I took a nice stroll around the neighborhood. The day was *gorgeous* and we both enjoyed every second of the time together!! When I came home, I checked on Lola's progress on the Camper Cam and she was having a ball!!

Sherman & I then headed for the park. It's been a while & be both needed a dose of nature. Sherm was in his element...

Hunting in the forest...

Taking a break and doing his best Rottweiler impersonation...

"Awwww...come on! There's huntin' to do!!"

Taking a post hike break...well deserved Shermie!

I spent the rest of the day cleaning...got 3 rooms in tip-top shape & then went to pick up the little one. My little white puppy was now brown...and exhausted. She passed out on her blanket on the way home and this is what she looked like after 5 minutes in the house:

I signed us up for the 10 session package. Lola loves Camp Bow Wow!!

Nice weather means Lola is introduced to patroling the neighborhood.

Sherman & Penny have mastered this skill...

As our little Sprout gets older, I've been reviewing how things are progressing...

Cratetraining - Lola still needs to have the crate next to me at night when she sleeps. She is crated through the night but will get up around 1:30 (like clockwork) and start yapping. I don't even bother ignoring her anymore. I just pull the crate next to me and put my finger through the bars. Instant sleep. I've developed a bad habit (bad Jenny!) of letting her out at 5:00 to snuggle in bed w/ me. Little Iron Bladder doesn't have to pee, she just hops up in the bed and crawls under the covers. Gives me 1/2 hour longer to sleep. Bad habit yes...but I'm good at breaking habits too! As for being crated during the day...she runs to the crate in the morning for Scotty, just like Penny did. It's all about the peanut butter. She was still running from me in the afternoon, but we had our first day of..."PB! I'll get in my house for PB!!!" I don't think she'll have to be crated nearly as long as we did Penny (till she was 3), but we may have to separate Sherman from the girls. Fine by him!

Housetraining - we've had some setbacks, but some progress too. She can hold it much longer and I've been much better about taking her outside more often. She did pee on Penny's bed and a pillow upstairs, but I'm hopeful!

Training - This little puppy is the smartest puppy in the history of the world. I'm serious. She doesn't pull on leash, she knows Down, Sit, Stand, Touch, Go to Mat, Leave it, Take it, Cookie Time!! (Come), NO! and Ahhh!!!!!

Sherman - he STILL asks me when she's leaving! Sherman may never like Lola. But she loves him & keeps trying. She may win him over one day.

Handling - I actually cut her toenails! I was more afraid than she was. She got a treat after each nail & it ended up being no big deal. I was so thrilled...I went & cut S&P's nails! She still has trouble w/ tear stains, but we've minimized them w/ the cottage cheese & yogurt she eats everyday & I clean her eyes 2x per day. I looked on the internet under "tear stain removal" and got all kinds of stuff...pastes made of 18 different things that had to be left on for 10 minutes...yeah right! I use sensitive eye makeup remover...no pain, no waiting, minimal tear stains. Her ears have ceased at being as funky as they were for a while...I suppose she's gonna be like Penny & have to have her ears cleaned once a week & will hate every minute of it. Right now...her ears are too big for her body & she's now referred to as Dumbo.



Chewing - As she is teething, she's putting everything in her mouth. Poor thing was chewing on a retriever roll and the thing was all bloody when she was done. I'm sure it feels good though. I keep her PB bones in the freezer so they're good & cold for her mornign chew. She has a bunch of Kong teething sticks & a Premier one, but she's not really interested in chewing on them. She is very good about leaving something if I catch her. She taken a liking to raiding the garbage cans & I've handled that by simply moving them out of her reach. Novel idea, I know. Her little teeth can't do too much damage now, but wait a couple months. I'll need to get my head back in the game.

I've been home for 2 days w/ the flu and have made some very interesting observations. We had a discussion in Sunday's class about puppies hitting that age when the adults feel they are old enough to know better & stop putting up with all of the nonsense. Maddie demonstrated this beautifully with Sadie, the yellow Lab who is the oldest puppy in the class. It was truly amazing to watch Maddie "tell" Sadie that enough was enough. Sadie had outgrown her puppy privledges.

Well...apparently Penny now feels the honeymoon is over. My dear, sweet Penny has been as patient & tolerant as possible. I've often felt she isn't firm enough w/ Lola...as Lola chomps on her legs & hangs off her ears. I've put my arm in the middle of their play to see just how much pressure is applied & there really is none. Penny is a fantastic teacher. But I suppose she now feels Lola is reaching the age where all of this is no longer cute. Penny tolerates play until Lola turns it up...then she puts an end to it. "My...what big teeth you have!!" Princess Penny Wiggles can put on quite a show. If I were a puppy, I'd back away too!

Class #5 at WPHS. This week we worked on LLW, Stand & more on Down. I've really been working a lot w/ Lola to distinguish Sit & Down as two commands. I've been cueing each in random order and only rewarding her if she does the cued command. This week I'll add Stand to the whole thing. She picked up Stand really fast. I've always lured Penny into a Stand but I don't really think she knows what it means. I've been using lots more rapid reinforcement than I did Penny and it's obviously working w/ Lola. Now I have a new approach to use with the other dogs.

Funny thing happened w/ Sherman today. I don't give him a lot of credit for being smart, but he is constantly reminding me...it's not stupid...it's stubborn! I've been doing group recalls from outside & then giving all dogs a treat. Since they're in the "Zone", once they come in, I have them do a few things I know each of them can do to really enforce "Come to Mommy...have some fun!" They always line up in the same order (from L to R), Sherman, Lola, Penny. I have Lola - Sit or Down, Penny - Down or Target, Sherman - Down or Speak. Well...I put my hand out for Penny and said "Penny, Touch"...wouldn't ya know Sherman shot across both Lola & Penny and hit my hand w/ his nose!! Not stupid...stubborn!

Just b/c I haven't posted about our training doesn't mean we haven't been doing any. Lola is still working on Down, Attention, Targeting & Zen. I've officially passed her on Level 1. I'm not really worried about a 3rd party "passing" her...I'd be cheating myself if I progressed faster than I should. The only thing I really haven't done is the Come Game. But I have called her away from playing with Penny & she shoots to me like a bullet. That's good enough for me.

I was reviewing the Level 2 behaviors and we've got a lot of work to do. I also made the decision to enroll Sherman in the CGC class & get his cert. Won't be till the summer b/c I'm assisting in a LOT of classes now, but I really think he can do it. We'll see.

Lola got her AKC registration papers today. TBH, I could care less that I have a purebred registered dog. Doesn't make her any more special than Sherman or Penny. But it is fun picking out her "formal" name.

So...I decided that S&P deserved "formal" names too. They'll be registered under DOJA (Dogs of Jackman Ave). I like using SteelCity as I love Pittsburgh. So my dogs "formally" are:

BCHS's SteelCity Nutty Professor (Sherman)
Rizzo's SteelCity Lincoln Lady (Penny)
K&L's SteelCity Copacabana (Lola)

So there! They are all equal.

Lola lost her first puppy tooth! I noticed that one of the toys, a white stuffed cow/pig thing had bloody ears. I checked in her mouth & sure enough...one of her teeth had fallen out and the new one was pushing it's way through. I put a bunch of bones and stuff in the freezer to help ease the pain from teething. She's on her way to becoming a big girl!

We've continued our training this week working on down, targeting & eye contact (attention). She's getting really good at Down & is now offering it as much as sit. I haven't cued the attention w/ anything other than her name yet, but will start using Watch...as that's what S&P know. It's nice to say Watch & have all the dogs whip around to look at you. If I'm ever gonna walk all 3 at once (no time soon), I'll need this behavior to be very strong.

Where did my little Puppy go????

Lola Sprout is 4 months old today!

I took some shots to compare her to the other dogs...don't know if you can tell how big she's gotten, but she's gaining on Penny...and Sherman!!

I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I took a personal day. My appt was at 8:20 & that left me w/ the rest of the day to do my own thing. The weather is turning cold...I shouldn't complain, it is February...and I decided to take all 3 dogs on their own walks.

This is by far Sherman's favorite thing on Earth (besides me!). I walk him on a 16 ft Flexi and he has lots of room to "hunt" in the neighborhood. I know a lot of people dislike Flexi leads, but I wouldn't walk him on it if I didn't think it was safe. First of all, I know how to use the darn thing. So many people forget there is a button that will stop the lead from spooling. Second, Sherman hates the street & will not step foot into it unless I do or I tell him OK. He basically ignores any other people, dogs or cats (unless they have food), but will zero in on a squirrel if it falls in front of his face. But, I have really good voice control over him & that's never been an issue. Basically his main concern is peeing on everything in sight & "securing the neighborhood".

Penny is a doll and a different dog when it's just her. I work a lot on LLW w/o the Easy Walk and she is wonderful. I also make a point of practicing heeling, but give her plenty of sniff time.

Lola is a trip. Eveything is still new to her. She think everyone wants to be her friend. We see someone across the street & it's like "PEOPLE!!"...her butt wiggles and she dances around. Most of them keep walking, but we did get a Police officer & an Ambulance driver to stop. Both were in uniform and she didn't think anything of it. I really need to find a mailman!

This is us at the library checking out the pond...

We had another great class at WPHS...both for what was being taught & what we learned ourselves. Lola had a great play session & is officially out of her shell. Marsha brings her dog, Madison, to class & Maddy is really great w/ the puppies. At one point, one of the black LabX pups was getting a bit too rough w/ Lola & Maddy heard the squeals and flew across the room to correct the Lab. It was really cool to watch. While I was busy watching the other dogs play, Marsha pointed out that Lola got in the middle of two squabbling pups and diffused the situation. Good girl! I'm sorry i missed it.

We continued to review real life things...this week it was more handling, Down & cutting toenails. The toenail part took quite a bit of time as there are 12 or so pups in class and Marsha demonstrated individually how to do each puppy's nails. While she was doing that, Lola & I practiced Downs. I no longer have to lure her w/ food, but do use a hand signal in addition to the cue. She really is getting it. By the end of class, she was offering Down's more than Sit. That is saying a lot b/c Lola Sits for EVERYTHING. It's her default. That was done on purpose and I need to start reinforcing Down as much as Sit this week.

I don't know if you can tell by this picture, but Lola is all long legs & big feet right now. She has gotten so big, I can't believe it. I almost can't lift her!

When anyone asks how Sherman is dealing with our new addition , I reply..."He's waiting for her to leave". Truth is...Sherm is warming to her. It will be gradual, but eventually they'll be buds like he & Penny became. It just takes some time. This picture would not have happened a month ago.

Ok...so he doesn't look thrilled. But that's Sherman for ya! He's in a perpetual state of grumpiness!!

What's that saying...Life gets in the way. I haven't posted in a few days b/c work has been really busy and I really haven't done diddly w/ my dogs. Other than the usual walk, play, feed, sleep.

I realize I have concentrated most of this Blog on Lola and this is "The Dog(S) of Jackman Avenue". I will make sure to post more about Sherman & Penny. Lola is just so new right now...and she's learning so fast and so much. I haven't had Penny in class for many months...but we go back starting March 13th! Penny loves to learn and really loves class. I love taking her to class. That one on one time is really precious & I promise to give her more of that.

Sherman is just Sherman and his daily life is pretty routine. I don't do a whole lot of specific training w/ him other than daily life stuff. He's an old man, set in his ways. TBH, he's not a whole lot of fun to train, esp in a class setting. That sounds terrible but he doesn't have fun & I don't have fun. All he wants to do is jump on the other dogs and I end up frustrated. We do our bonding on our walks, which he gets...just me & him, at least once a week. He would take that any day over a class.

So, while I'm still gonna post lots about Lola...I'll make sure to include the original 2 in my updates!

We graduated from the AF class today! Lola did everything that was asked of her and has made amazing progress from her first class 5 weeks ago. She did her puppy push-ups like a champ (granted...we used a little luring), walked well on leash (believe it or not!), showed that she'd let me take anything away from her & has great food bowl manners (no doubt due to LOTS of practice at home).

And as you can see...she's no longer afraid to run w/ the other dogs!

As if I needed another reason not to want kids...the little brats in my neighborhood gave me one today. Scotty took Lola on a walk & I got to walk Sherman & Penny. As it was a gorgeous day and I knew CA ave would be crawling w/ people walking their dogs, I took them through the neighborhood. Shortly after leaving the house we walk toward two boys riding their bikes. They make no attempt to share the sidewalk & kept coming in our direction. I pulled S&P over to the side as there was no indication that they were going to go onto the street and they just rode past us. I stood there for a minute thinking "Wait a minute...I'm the one that pays the taxes for this stupid sidewalk & I'm the grownup here. They should have stopped & let ME pass".

So we kept going & I was still irked by the whole thing b/c I detest bratty, obnoxious kids. Then about 1/2 a block down the street I hear what sounds like an industrial fan followed by a SSSCCRREACHHHH behind me as the kids hit their brakes & ride up on the hill side right next to us. I jump about 10 feet in the air, Penny whips around...teeth bared, hackles up, fire in her eyes...and the little punk is standing there w/a smirk on his face that I had to restrain myself from knocking right off his stupid little face.

"Ya know...that's a great way to get yourself bit" Still smirking "And if you don't think that my dog is quicker than you, try it again & we'll see how fast it takes her to latch onto your leg" Smirk slowly turns into a frown.

Sheesh! So we continue on our walk & on the way back I have to pass by the same kid...still riding his bike down the sidewalk. So I just crossed the street. More for his safetly than mine b/c if he pulled that again, I would have to level him. Out comes Mom from the house...calling him to come in. Little brat starts giving her more backtalk than I did in my whole career as a kid. Mom continues to call him & he continues to backtalk her. I can still hear them when I'm a block away.

So I start thinking...maybe it's not the kids I hate...maybe it's the parents.

It was incredibly beautiful today & I took advantage of the nice weather by taking Lola for another walk. More of the same from yesterday...she was near perfect. She did start to pull a bit in the beginning, but after two or three times stopping, she got the point. Toward the end of the walk, she really started to lag behind. She'd just stand there & stare at me. I think the walk might have been a bit long for her (about 25 minutes). I picked her up and carried her about 25 steps, put her down & she was fine.

I like this block though b/c it exposes her to lots of different things. If the weather holds out tomorrow, I may drive her up to Bellevue & walk her through that section of CA Ave. She'll get all kinds of exposure there!!

We had a very good training session tonight. I started w/ Attention. She getting really good at this. Of course there are no distractions and I need to start adding in small ones. There's time for that. Then we started working on Down again. I lured it about 10 times & then just started using my finger to target the spot. She was confused at first, but I waited it out & she got it in a short time. Then the phone rang & it was my Mom. While talking on the phone I was careful to
keep my eye on her b/c she was still in the Zone. She offered quite a few Sits which I C/T and then I stopped rewarding Sit. I ignored while I talked on the phone & wouldn't ya know it...she slid into a Down & stared a hole in my head! Jackpot! The last treat I threw away from her so she'd have to get up. She walked back over to me & plopped into another Down! We continued this about 15 more times & then I ran out of food. I threw a toy at her & we played Fetch for a minute or two. She may graduate after all!

I took Lola on her first real walk tonight. My plan was to see how she did to the end of the street & then go further if she wasn't pulling. As I haven't really done any LLW training yet, I decided to put Penny's Easy Walk harness on her & see what would happen. She's gotten so big that if I tighten the harness as far as it will go, it fits her.

We had a blast. Lola was so fascinated w/ everything and took it all in stride. She got to meet the two Bearded Collies that live on our block & was as sweet as could be. When we hit California Avenue, she was exposed to all kinds of new things...kids on bikes, a bus, another dog across the street & a very loud power generator. She also met a nice little girl (and jumped on her more than I would like) and her mom. She didn't pull at all and alternated sticking by my side and getting brave & walking ahead of me a bit. I really like that when she's unsure about something, she turns to me rather than reacts. I reinforced that a lot. I didn't take any treats w/ me b/c I knew she wouldn't take them. Turns out I didn't need them.

We did it! I love this puppy! I was bound & determined to get Lola to get Down tonight. I've tried lots of things short of shoving her on the floor (which I obviously would never do). Luring didn't work, surprisingly...the old fashioned way (puppy in a sit, draw a line to the floor & out), under the knee, on the stairs, under a chair...nada. I tried caputuring a down (ummm...she's 15 weeks, she doesn't lay down much!), but nothing. Admittedly, I really didn't put a lot of time into this behavior, so I'm committing myself to getting a nice Down on cue from her by Saturday.

Took about 3 minutes and a hunk of cheese. Geez. And I thought this was gonna be hard. Looking back, I realized I tried to get this from her in class or while S&P were nearby....too much distraction. I got about 20 Downs & 25 puppy pushups. By the end I was able to fade the lure and use my finger as a target. We practiced Attention and then called it a night.

After a couple of weeks of quiet nights, the last few days have brought on a fun new late night event. Shrill, ear splitting barking at 2:00 in the morning. Started on Friday...Scott was sound asleep (thanks to the Penn Brewery) & slept through the whole thing. She barked for about 15 minutes. I waited it out & she eventually barked herself to sleep. Saturday night, she started at around 1:30. I was willing to ignore her again, but Scotty was not so patient. After about 90 seconds, he screamed "SHUT THE (insert 4 letter word) UP!!!!". Surprisingly, that didn't work (grin) so he went downstairs to sleep on the couch. I pulled her crate next to the bed and went back to week 1 of putting my hand at the front of the door. About 30 seconds of whining & I got the "I give up" sigh and heard her plop onto the dog bed. The snoring started about 60 seonds later. Sunday night I heard her whining & didn't wait for the barking to start. I pulled the crate next to the bed & she was silent the rest of the night. I think I'm getting smarter.

2nd class at WPHS. My mom & I went to lunch at Bravo & then she came with me. I love this class! Marsha is fantastic...and her assistant is really great too. The puppies had a chance to run around at the beginning of class and as you can see...Lola is no wallflower!

She's the white blur in the middle

The brown one is Lola's boyfriend...Chester. He was cheating on her in this shot.

Lola and her buddy Sadie. These two play together for the majority of the play time.

After about 10 minutes, we all got down on the floor and got the puppies into a Settle. I didn't get Lola to lay down, but she was Standing & Sitting w/o any barking or fussing the entire time. Next week we're going to be trimming nails so we also did some handling of feet. Lola's not a big fan of handling yet. We did some more work on Sit & Attention, reviewing what was learned last week. Lola has great attention at home and I need to gradually work on it w/ distractions. This is trying to move from point A to Z! Yet another thing to work on this week. Her Sit is great as she has to do it at least 50 times per day for anything she wants. Two things new for the week were Come & Wait. Marsha empahasised that she wants us to learn real life behaviors and will get to the fun stuff later.

For Come, we basically walked away from the puppies, called them to us and rewarded them. Lola had no problems with this. Wait was "wait at the door for me to go through first". Lola knows wait at the back door to go out, but this has not been transferred to any other doors. But she did fine. The hardest part was getting her to sit when she knew there was a fun puppy right behind her!!

The final thing we did was discuss luring. Marsha demonstrated the concept by having the puppies Spin. This was a piece of cake for us!

4th puppy class at AF. Lola has finally emerged from her shell & loves to play w/ the other puppies. We reviewed Leave it, Come & Drop it from last week and did some more work on Down. **Nope...I am not laying down no matter how much peanut butter is involved!!** ~sigh~ Looks like I need to get my butt back in the bathroom. We WILL be able to down by graduation!!

Snow is delicious!!

We were supposed to get this huge snow storm this weekend, but it blew east & missed us. We did get some snow...enough for the girls to run around in. Lola has taken a liking to eating it.

So the funniest thing that happened all day...Penny squished herself in Lola's crate. B/c the crate in the bedroom is still too big, I took the "roof" off of the little plastic crate. This is the perfect size for her b/c she can stand up & lay down very comfortably but I've blocked off all of the extra room so she can't pee in it.

Apparently Penny misses her crate b/c this is how Scotty found her at bedtime.

Sorry Sweetpea...but you don't fit!

I had a bit of a breakthrough tonight...not only w/ Lola, but w/ myself. I was actually successful free shaping a behavior! This is a big deal to me b/c I've attempted this w/ Penny & just end up frustrated. I have the patience of...well, a puppy! But Lola is a clean slate and I thought I'd really give it a go. I gave myself 15 minutes to free shape Go to Mat. I put a blanket in the middle of the floor in the bedroom & then sat down on the bed. Lola went through her best behaviors...sit, attention & targeting (my hand). This was my warm up. Then I waited. She sat & stared for 20 seconds...then her head turned toward the blanket (C/T). 5 more seconds...head turn (C/T)...body turn (C/T)...walk toward blanket (C/T)...front feet on blanket (C/T), etc. It took 7 minutes before she was running to the blanket w/ all 4 feet in a little puppy sit. Yippee! Success!! Ideally I want her to lay down, but I stopped w/ our victory.

Without even realizing it, I have been gearing my training toward Sue Ailsby's Levels.

http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html

I've referenced her website on more than one occasion and have read & re-read Stich's Blog many times. But I was looking at it this weekend & realized...Lola was just about ready to pass level 1. I need to work more on Down, but we're a nosehair short of passing. Not too shabby @ 15 weeks. We also have a nice start on Level 2.

I'm focusing on this right now so I can get a clear picture of just what I'm trying to teach Lola. Level 2 is the basic behaviors I really feel all dogs should have. Does this mean Sherman & Penny could pass Level 2??? Ha!! Penny could (w/ the exception of Distance...I could have her doing that in a day)...Sherman No. But I think I could get him to pass w/in a week if I worked w/ him every day. Do I see a challenge for myself??? Maybe.

I do think too many behaviors are added between Level 1 & 2. But I didn't make the whole thing up, did I??? Maybe I'll make up my own Level 1.5.

I'm hoping Debby will be my tester. I really want to do this right & have someone "judge" my progress. It's way more fullfilling that way.

Today was the day to recover from the SuperBowl. I'm pretty sure I had every muscle clentched during the entire game b/c I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

Lola also had a trip to the vet. I'm lucky that I can walk there so I took the opportunity to practice our LLW. Right now Lola's idea of walking on leash consists of flinging herself out in all directions so she can check out everything in sight. This is fine w/ me as long as the leash doesn't get tight. When she hits the end of the leash, I say "Whoops!" and stop moving. Takes about 3 seconds for her to turn and look at me ("What'd ya stop for??") and then another 10 seconds for her to get frustrated and turn back to me. I then say "Let's go" and we continue walking. A 3 minute walk took us about 15 minutes.

My little girl is now 18 lbs!! I knew it! She's doubled in size since we brought her home. She had her last set of shots and doesn't need to go back till May, when she'll be spayed. I had them trim her nails b/c I haven't gotten up the nerve to do it myself. I've never had to do S&P's nails b/c they get walked everyday & their nails are naturally warn down. So the vet tech restrained Lola while Dr. Nagle chopped her feet off...kidding, of course but that's what you would have thought she was doing by the way Lola was screaming. So now I need to teach little Miss Full of Herself to tolerate being restrained.

SuperBowl Sunday!! WooHoo! We're having a little party for the big game, but before the guests arrive, Lola has her first puppy class @ the WPHS.

When we got there, I noticed there were a lot more puppies there than I expected. And what I was very pleased with...all different kinds of people. Different ages, different races, different sexes...all very good flor Lola's socialization. She did, of course, think they were all there to play with her. We started class by letting the puppies off leash. Lola took off like a bullet. First she ran to the people and wiggled around getting pets...then she realized there were other puppies around! She zeroed in on a yellow lab puppy and decided that would be her playmate for the day. My scared little girl gots some guts in class yesterday and you really would never know she was afraid before. I personally think this has to do w/ how young she was when class started. I guess all puppies are different and 12 weeks was just too early for Lola to start. Apparently 14 weeks is just right.

The pups played for 10 minutes or so and then we rounded them up to start the class. The first thing we worked on was settle. Marsha teaches this differently than AF does. She had us get down on the floor and gently restrain the puppies. The idea is to get the puppy to lay on it's side and run your hand down it's body from head to the tip of the tail. After about 2 minutes, everyone puppy was relaxed and getting lots of love from their owners...except Lola.

**I do NOT want to settle! I want to play with the other puppies! Let me go!!!!**. This protest continued for a while and she finally gave in. I am quite sure this little outburst was due to the fact that she was very overtired. Lola & Penny had played for about 3 hours and Lola took little random naps all morning, but never really got any serious snooze time. I need to remember this for next time.

We did some work on Sit and Attention and this went very well. I had about 80% complaince on both behaviors. Class wrapped up & we headed home to get ready for the big game.

We had about 10 people over for the game & let me tell you...it was stressful. I was sweating the whole time!! But the boys in Black & Gold brought it home!

Thanks for a great Season boys...see ya in September!!

I went to Kuhn's this morning and asked the butcher if they had any marrow bones & "soup meat" in the back. She brought out a tray of really nice marrow bones and asked how many dogs I have. I told her I'd by soup meat by truckload if they had it & she said that chicken is on sale this week so I should call on Friday & they would package me up a boatload. It's the trimmings from the chicken breasts & they'll give it to me for 59cents/lb! They also gave me a package of liver trimmings (which was just small pieces of liver) for 28cents. I love Kuhn's!!

We had our 3rd puppy class at AF today. There were only 1/2 of the puppies there most likely b/c of the Super Bowl. It actually made for a nice size class. Lola definately thought so. There were about 5 puppies total & I suppose that was less intimidating for her. The first play session she only ran to hide under the chair twice. The second one she really got into it & showed very little fear.

We reviewed LLW and did some recalls. Lola is doing pretty well w/ both of those. The new things for the week were Down & Drop it. We haven't done much w/ down and she was not interested in laying down at all. This is something I really need to work on before next week.

Friday night in the Steel City. The Super Bowl is upon us & the whole town in covered in black & gold. Just a little side note...I'm a huge Steeler fan. Not a fair weather fan...a win, lose or draw fan. It all started in college when my roomate, Katie, (during my 5th year at IUP) refused to let us do anything on Sundays but watch football. She was actually pretty good at explaining stuff & HEY...it was 1995. A coincidence? I think not.

I went to a Super Bowl party that year w/ a couple other college friends and I don't need to tell you...we lost. Sad to see grown men crying in their beer. But I was hooked and loved the game ever since.

10 years later and we're back! This town has come alive! Pittsburgh really is a "Town". The greatest "Little" Big City in the USA. I love it here & despite my complaints about the winters...will most likely never leave. And we sure do love our football. From the little old ladies in their sparkly Steelers gear to the big, brawny men in the way-too-big Big Ben jerseys.

When we decided to get another dog, I did a lot of research. I chose the breeder route (for reasons too long to lay out) and started thinking about what puppy we might get. Being the B&G gal that I am...I wanted my Steeler Fever to show in our new puppy! I had it all picked out even before the litter was born!

If we would have decided to get a boy ...his name probably would have been Milo (SteelCity Mile O' Minute) or Bettis (SteelCity BusDriver) ..but we decided on a girl. If she were Fawn, she would have been "Rooney Steel my Heart" (aka Stella) and if she were white..."SteelCity Copacabana" (aka Lola). The little white gal w/ the fawn eyepatch won me over & Lola really is "K&L's SteelCity Copacabana". She's named after my beloved Black & Gold (and the Steelers main man, Myron).

Time to take a deep breath & chant "Let's go Steelers!". It truly is fate that we get "one for the thumb" this year. My favorite big man, #36, is back in his home town. We gotta win!!!!

HERE WE GO.. STEELERS....HERE WE GO!!!!!

I didn't do a whole lot tonight other than try to catch a few pics of the pups in their Steeler gear. After 20 minutes of attempts, I only got two decent ones.

I did switch Lola out of the small plastic crate and into the big wire crate. I was expecting a sleepless night, but she just got in the crate & went to sleep. I guess I need more confidence in her. The crying & screaming during the day has just about finished. I still have a fight getting her in there, but she will clean out a PB bone and I throw a handful of goodies for her to hunt & find. We are making progress!

Lola continues to get bigger (and heavier!). She has a vet appt. this Friday and I'll be anxious to see what she's up to. I'm guessing 18lbs.

She's almost sleeping through the night. The past 3 or 4 nights, I hear her stirring & scratching on the sides & the door of the crate, so I open the crate to let her out & she just stays there. So I shut the door again & then she starts crying. So, last night I decided to just leave her when the scratching starts and she goes till 5:00...then starts to cry. I take her out & when I come back, I feel inside the crate & she's peed in it! She's never peed in her nighttime crate. So I guess I'm expecting too much or need to withhold the water earlier. She had been out at 10:30. We're transitioning into the bigger wire crate tomorrow. She just fits in the plastic crate, but cannot sit up the whole way.

Tonight we worked more on eye contact and targeting and started "down". I haven't really added the cues yet, but will start this week. She's holding eye contact for 8-10 seconds before looking away and targeting at about a foot away. I've only had her target my hand at this point, but will add the target stick (or in our case...wooden spoon) later in the week too.

I've really tightened up the reigns on Sherman this week. Tonight I had him hold a down stay for about 30 minutes while Penny & Lola played. Sherman feels the need to intervine during their play sessions, breaking the whole thing up. He shoots across the room and gets in Penny's face or steals the toy they're playing with. Scott & I have taken a liking to calling him the "Fun Police" (a term I stole from Amy R. of PghDogs). We make siren sounds when he's patroling their play. Lola tries to play w/ him but he just puts her on the ground. Penny now refuses to play w/ him. He'll bring her a toy or try to tug on a toy she has...and she just drops it & walks away. He gets what he deserves. He's really been mean to Penny. He does get play time w/ Scott & I everyday so he's not terribly neglected .

Anyway, Sherman's never really been big on Stay. I've gotten him to the point where he'll Sit Stay w/o distractions, but I've never really tested him on the Down Stay. So tonight he laid at my feet while I was at the computer and observed the girls having a blast. 4 or 5 times he inched up in position to pounce, but settled down with one little "Uh Uh!" I've also made him hold the wait longer at doors and while the girls eat. Sherman finishes his meal in record time & really likes to hover around waiting for Penny to spit out some kibble or Lola to leave her bowl to check out something in the living room. He now has to sit on the rug, about 8 feet away from both of them and wait. Once they are done and leave their bowls, I make him hold the wait for at least 30 seconds and then release him to clean up. It's so easy for me to get lazy w/ his NILIF, but his behavior is so much better when I enforce it.

I had orientation today for our puppy class at WPHS. Marsha is the instructor & I'm so excited for this class to start. I haven't taken any classes from her & have heard great things. We went over lots of stuff & spent a good deal of time talking about nutrition. I thought this was wonderful & is really missing from a lot of classes. We decided to have class next week even though it's Super Bowl Sunday. We'll be done by 3:00...home in plenty of time for kick-off.

Later in the evening I saw Molly outside w/ their Dach/BeagleX, Minnie. I decided this would be a good chance for Lola to meet them so we took both dogs into the back yard & let them run around. I'm realizing that while Penny is very good w/ Lola, she lets her get away w/ entirely too much. Lola was jumping on Minnie's head, biting her ears & legs...all the stuff she does w/ Penny. Penny will put a stop to it after a while, but poor Minnie was visably stressed out. So we kept the meeting short and let Minnie escape the little white Tasmanian Devil.

Mmmm 'kay...remind me again. Why did I want a puppy? For the life of me...I can't remember. I was just thinking back to the lazy Saturday nights I used to have before the "holy terror" entered our house. ~sigh~.

In the last hour that I've been catching up on email and stuff at the computer, I've gotten up 2 dozen times b/c of "the silence". Lola usually stays & plays in the bedroom right where I can see her. And she's done just that for 50 minutes of that hour. She's taken 8 or so toys out of the basket and has been doing a marvelous job of entertaining herself.


(Her imaginary friend that lives under the bed has been playing w/ her too).

But she keeps adding stuff to the toy pile that she retrieves during "the silence"...2 different socks, a big wool sweater from the dry cleaning pile, 1/2 dozen hair bands..mostly w/ gobs of my hair attached, 2 pieces of cellophane from the trash and (my personal favorite)...a pair of my dirty underwear from the laundry. And in between her scavanger hunts, she has taken great joy in racing from one side of the room to the other at warp speed (this is driving Sherman nuts).

But, back to Why again Did I Want a Puppy??? Oh DoG...b/c I laugh everytime I look at her w/ one of those silly things in her mouth. B/c I can't stop smiling when I watch her play...all by herself...w/ a toy twice as big as her. B/c during her rampages around the room, she stops to check in w/ Mom...plop into a sit so I'll pick her up and she smothers me w/ kisses. B/c I've never appreciated Sherman & Penny more. And I'm sad b/c the puppy breath is almost gone.

I have always wished that I could have seen Sherman & Penny as puppies. I get glimpses of what they would have looked like w/ the pups we get at the shelter...but I have no idea where either of them came from or how they were cared for as babies. I'd give anything to make sure their start in life was wonderful...and maybe they wouldn't have the issues they do now. I'll never regret holding Lola at 6 days old and watching her discover everything new. I try so hard not to take that for granted.

And I really do love having this puppy...especially right now when she's snoring like a log on Sherman's dog bed.

Second puppy class...I flew solo today. I need to get a harness for Lola so I can keep her in the back seat. On the way there, she insisted in walking back & forth between my lap & the passenger seat. Not safe. The crate doesn't fit in my car so I'd solved the problem in the past by keeping the dogs in the back, securing Sherman w/ a leash I'd tied in the trunk & slipped through the back seat. I really do need to get a larger vehicle...no car payment on a fuel efficient Civic is just too nice right now though.

Anyway, Lola walked in the building all by herself. She's doing pretty well w/ not pulling on the leash & when she does, I say "whoops!" and stop moving. Took 3 times before she figured out that a tight leash means we stop. Smart puppy. This was of course w/o distractions. Our problem surfaces when she sees people she knows (or kids). She is a people puppy for sure. That I am happy about...it can be used as a reward for good behavior.

We started class by reviewing what we went over last week. I didn't do any work on "settle" and it showed. That's my priority for this week. She's got a great sit & responds to her name 50% of the time. All those puppies are a terrible distraction! We have a very annoying frustration bark thing going on now. This is a problem at home too. Lola wants Sherman to play w/ her so very badly & he just lays there & glares at her. This puppy's got a set of lungs on her. I did some body blocking w/ her and took her outside a few times when she started being vocal.

New things for this week were "come" & "LLW". I do a lot of recall stuff at home and she did pretty well...blowing me off a couple of times for a tail in her face. LLW is fine & she's doing pretty well w/ that. I hope to have 1 dog that walks nicely on leash!

The play session went a little better. She starts under the chair but did come out to play a lot more than last week. When a big group of puppies hit her all at once...back under the chair we go. I try to stay close by so I can intervine if it becomes too much, but let her handle things on her own. On one of our "time-outs", we ran into a young BC mix that was having a private lesson. He was twice as big as Lola and that seemed to be more her liking. She did lots of play-bowing and was really excited to play. She just needs to get some confidence in herself. That will come.

It was 50 degrees & sunny so I took advantage of the day & took 3 walks. Sherman & I had a nice stroll through the neighborhood. All that boy needs is a 1/2 hour on his flexi & a little attention from Mom & he's happy as a clam. Penny & I went up to CA ave. and worked a little. We did lots of heeling w/ distractions. She was in heaven. She was so relaxed that when 2 Besenjis walked past us, she sat down on her own waited for them to pass. Atta girl! I really need to do this more often. A 15 minute walk w/ 1 dog is so much more beneficial than a 1/2 hour walk w/ 2. Lola & I just took a quick stroll down our street. She did really well & was unphased by an ambulance and an old loud car w/o a muffler. We met two young boys that were more than happy to help me train her. She was a wiggling, jumping, outta control puppy and they made her sit & then made a big fuss over her. Good puppy.

I had class from 4-6 (first class w/ dogs). It was a packed house, especially the first class. Saturday should have been called "dog day". I didn't take my bait bag of until 6:30!

What is up with the weather in Western PA??? It was another mild day for January...mid 40s. Last night we had thunderstorms. Thunderstorms!!?? In January?? I've never heard of such a thing. It's supposed to get cold & snow on Wednesday...Lola hasn't had much exposure to snow. This should be fun. For now...the pups are really loving this weather and their outside playtime.

We had another gathering for the AFC championship game.

Pittsburgh's going to the Superbowl!!!

Woo Hoo! What a game! Pittsburgh brought the big guns to Denver and upset the Broncos 34-17!

Everyone was pooped after the big game!

We had our first puppy class today. I actually convinced Scotty to come along to watch. It was held in the new Animal Friends building (which is amazing!) and there were about 10-12 puppies of various breeds and ages. Lola was very unsure of what was going on. I carried her in b/c we haven't done much leash work yet & I don't want any part of her learning to pull on leash. We got ourselves situated and listened to the rules. I was happy to see some friendly faces. Penny & Sherman have taken many classes at AF and Lori & Lilian were both there. Sue, the instructor, participated in the first class Penny ever took, but she was only there one day.

This was my first puppy class ever. All of the other classes I've participated in, either as student or assistant have been teen or adult classes. We started out with the Settle command. Hmmm...very much like Margot Wood's Sit on the Dog. Margot's is for a min of 30 minutes 2x per day though. We broke this down into small time periods. Lola had a very hard time settling. Here she is throwing a temper tantrum:

She was more interested in the other puppies, play bowing and barking at them. But after a while she finally got it and it was time for the first puppy play session.



We let the puppies off leash & the most bizzare thing happened. Lola was petrified. I mean really scared. For most of the time she hit the deck when approached by another puppy or hid under the chair. I got up & walked away from her b/c I didn't want to encourage this fear, but I kept a close eye on her in case it got too much. The other puppies seemed to find her boring & really just left her alone. After 5 minutes or so, we leashed up the puppies and continued w/ class.

The next thing on the agenda was to teach a marker word. I use both the clicker & "yes!" at home. "Yes" seemed to work better in this environment, so we stuck with that. Sue had us work on attention using the puppy's name. I've already done some work w/ her on this at home & she has really done a great job. In the class situation, however, not so good. I had about a 40% success rate in calling her name & her stopping what she was doing and looking at me.

We then started to work on Sit. Lola already knows this very well & we had no trouble w/ this. They teach sit using luring and this was initially how I taught it. Lola has to sit for most everything at home so we get lots of practice.




My homework for the week:
* Attention w/ distractions
* Settle
(*set by AF...they also want us to work on using the marker word & sits, which we already have a good start with)
more work on leash (right now, Lola prefers chewing on it or acts like a fish outta water)
start downs
lots of recalls

So I mentioned a while back that Apache, Annette's dog, was sick & and it was potentially really bad. These are Annette's three dogs, Apache is in the back (Cheyenne lying down in front & Chip hanging out in back).


Well here is the outline (in her own words) of what happened w/ him. He really is a miracle and I'm really, really glad he's better. He's a great dog.

Apache's Christmas Miracle & My Resolution
Annette Sexton

You may have read about my Apache in the summer issueof Pets N People. We've been busy the past fewmonths. Apache did get his obedience title in Octoberin a local obedience trial (see picture). InNovember, I noticed a small lump by his left eye. Iwaited for about a week, then made the first vetvisit. They lanced it, thinking it was an ingrownhair or infection, but while the scab healed, the lumpnever went away. I was starting to stress, & growconcerned, as more appeared along his spine. Vet #2treated as an allergy, but mentioned the possibilityof cancer. Lumps kept spreading, getting bigger, butnot bothering him in the slightest. Everyonesuggested a different vet, and I decided to try onemore. Vet #3 did another exam and a biopsy. He'sonly 5 years old at this point, my best friend, and Ihad to wait 2 weeks for the biopsy results. The results came back right before Christmas (the 20thI believe), and the real drama began. He has a raregenetic anomoly, an auto immune disorder called'Cutaneous Histiocytosis'. Vet #3 made some calls, sodid I, & I began searching the internet on my manysleepless nights. Apparently no vet in the area, orthat I contacted outside the area had ever encounteredor treated this, & I was on my own. The lesions arecalled histiocytes, and can spread, but can also comeand go. They sometimes grow in the throat, nasalpassages, & eyes. The disease/disorder itself doesnot kill, but complications can be many & evenpainful. Conventional treatment starts with highdoses of steriods, if necessary, followed bychemotherapy. I didn't like the risks associated withsteriod use in such elevated doses, so I kept lookingfor information & alternatives. My sister was kindenough to pour through all of her herbal remedy booksto find possible options. Dec. 22nd was terrible, histhird eyelid in both eyes was extended & irritated. He couldn't see, & panicked, so did I. I seriouslyconsidered euthansia &, sobbing, made some calls. Mysister, Thank God for her efforts, gave me an herbaltea remedy to use as an eye wash which eased thediscomfort that night. Another sister ran him back tovet #3 the next day (my work had been extremelypatient & supportive up to this point, but end of yearin a financial position required me to be there), whoprovided the steriods & antibiotic ointment for hiseyes. I didn't follow the recommendations, becauseafter 3 days with the tea eye wash, his eyes hadcleared up. Back to researching. I had foundmultiple websites documenting dogs deaths fromelevated steriod doses... I didn't consider this anoption, & made an appointment with a holistic vet.More phone calls, research, pleas for help, and money,but I had hope. This genetic issue is a hyper allergyresponse triggered by stress, heat (in his caseanyway), & allergies. Apache has had severe allergieshis whole life, & I have the vet bills and tests toprove it. I decided to make some major changes in hisdiet, followed some of my sister's, my internetcontact's, & the holistic vet's recommendations. Apache will no longer get vaccinated, per the vet'srecommendations (refer to critteradvocacy.org for someinformation prior to your next vet's visit). He noweats raw rabbit from a butcher shop (which isdifficult to locate & expensive, if anyone has anyother connections, let me know), yams, baked potatoes,carrots, a premium dry natural dog food called SolidGold, and various natural suppliments. Within a week,he went from 60 histocytes, down to about 20. Currently, he has only 3, including the first one byhis eye. Apache appears to be in remission, but I know he canrelapse, as it's in his genetic make up. I opted notto follow conventional treatment, but I have a greatsupport system in my sister, the internet holisticgroups I've found, and a patient holistic vet who iswilling to work with me. Unfortunately, this means nomore competitions for my dear boy, since my stressruns right down the leash to him. You still have theopportunity to meet my 'genius' dog (biased opinion, Iadmitt, but he does have many many fans). He is stillmy favorite demo dog for my obedience classes, & forany other shelter demostration that my schedule, hishealth & the weather allows me to attend with him. My resolution is to simply enjoy and be grateful forevery day I have with my big, silly, flashy,intelligent boy.

The ExPen idea has been scrapped. I came home at lunch to be greeted by my 3 favorite puppies. Don't know how she did it, but the doors were secure & the opening was hinged. She must have slipped underneath ~sigh~. So, she's back in the crate where she should have started. I'm keeping this to myself to avoid a few "I told you so's...".

As of yesterday, the crate worked fine. At first I thought she had held it the entire time, but came to find she peed on her blanket, rather than the papers. Let's hope we've turned a corner. I've been working w/ her a little every night getting used to the crate. She's still not comfortable chewing when in the crate so we need to work on that too.

So, I've decided to move the ExPen into the living room. I should have done this from the start. Didn't I learn anything from Penny. Lola spends no time in that kitchen when she's home w/ us. It must be like a prision for her. Probably 70% of her "free" time is downstairs w/ her pack. So it only makes sense that she spend the day down there. I put another DAP unit in the living room. In the morning & afternoon, she went in the pen w/o much fuss. There was some crying, but that's OK. It's not like the screaming that she used to do. I put her small crate in there w/ the door removed.

I did come home both times to a mess. She peed twice & pooped once each time. This seems to be the trend. She's still having digestive issues and the pumpkin just isn't doing the trick. Penny has always had a sensitive stomach too. Wonder if it's a Boxer thing? One Boxer trait that's proving true is the gas...it's toxic. I just fed Lola dry food last night & this morning & she seems to be improving.

Poor Penny is just a bundle of nerves. She was so unsettled all day. Lots of pacing and following me around. I took Sherman on a quick walk by himself & then Penny & I went on a nice jaunt together. It was kind of cold, so it wasn't as long as I'd like...I'll make up for it on the weekend. I did some obedience stuff (heeling, automatic sits, fronts) w/ her & by the end of the walk she was much more relaxed. I need to get her back in class. She really needs that hour of one on one time. Sherman does too, but he'd be just as happy w/ a nice walk on his flexi. Penny likes to think & work. Shelley supposedly had a Thursday night class @ 8:00. I should call her & see if it's still on.