I am a terrible Dog Mommy. Truly...and I'm quite angry with myself. I didn't even realize how much I've neglected Sherman. He really needed me over the last 2 1/2 months & I really let him down. I've been so consumed with the puppy and so annoyed w/ Sherman (for just being Sherman) that I've lost sight of the bond we've always had. Sherm's always been a Momma's boy...always wants to be with Jenny. He's the perfect Shadow in that he always follows me, where ever I go, but stays out of my way. He's always close, but not intrusive. He just wants to be able to see me. And then he lays down & "rests". And I've forgotten how comforting that is...that's why I got a dog. I wanted a companion. And Sherman is the BEST at that. He's loyal, loving & quirky...kinda like me. And then came Penny & then came Lola. I wanted Penny for him (OK...TBH, I wanted her for me too)...it would be nice for him to have a playmate. The first couple of months were touch & go, but they settled into a nice friendship. I got Lola for me. I wanted another dog...can't explain it. I had this weird void that I could only fill with a puppy (Yes, I'm one of those crazy dog people & normal people wouldn't understand this..at all). So we got Lola and I love her dearly. I hope to do great things with that dog. But Sherman has obviously felt threatened. That's the type of dog he is...I accept that in him. He doesn't want to share... his stuff, his bed, his food, (and what I've been missing), his Mommy!

But lucky for me...he's very, VERY forgiving. Our 40 minute hike...just me & him, was all it took. He needs to know that he doesn't have to fight to share me. I will always make time for him. A walk with him & Penny is not gonna do it. The 3+ walks down the street he gets to do his thing, ain't gonna do it. Me+him+things we both love=happy Sherman.

Last night we all settled in on the bed and normally, one touch...as light as a feather...from Lola, puts him into a growling, snarling, spitting display. But she was pressed up against him & having a dream...thrashing her legs and kicking & grunting in her sleep. He opened his eyes...looked at me, looked at her & went back to sleep. Since Lola's arrived...Sherman finally feels safe.

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!!