Some random pics...

Lola at daycare (no wonder she loves it!!)

Lola's mom & dad (Jessie is the fawn & Buster is the little mini w/ the cone on his head!)

My beautiful diva dog...


Sherman Snuggling.
Checkin' out the back yard..

Day 2 of Project LLW...

Penny loves this. She really does. We are, after all...working. I had to stop about 10 times on the walk & not at all on the 2nd half of the block. Right now, I'm using the clicker. When she pulls, I stop...she turns & when the leash is completely loose, I c/t. I also c/t when she is in a position I like (not right next to me but a couple feet in front w/ a completely loose leash). This walk takes us past the vet's office, which gives me an opportunity to practice Leave It w/ other dogs. She hasn't had one flip out in the past 3 times we've worked & we've seen 1/2 dozen dogs. That is major progress for her & I'm thrilled!

Lola's progress is not going so well. She is a brain dead adolescent right now. I called the Vet b/c her spay incision is starting to puff & she is really broken out. I thought it was almost like razor burn b/c they shave her before the surgery. I just wanted them to check it out & put my mind at ease (I'm a worrier!). On the walk down, she was a maniac. She just didn't get it...she pulls, I stop. She pulls, I stop. Took us almost 10 minutes to get 1/2 a block to the vets office. The office was packed. She was obnoxious...barking & whining & bucking at the end of the leash. I made her sit in my lap & settle and that helped. Turns out, she has skin infection. Dr. Moore indicated it was Pyoderma (huh??? I love doctors.), which is an infection caused by staph bacteria (I googled it). She's on antibiotics for a week & has to take benedryl 2x per day. The walk home was much, much better (train a tired dog! Duh!). I only had to stop once. We'll just keep at it.

Day 1 of Project LLW...went better than I had anticipated. I suppose I should clarify this whole thing. I am very lazy. And training a dog to walk nicely on leash is so boring and does take a considerable amount of time. I don't want to put the effort into it...especially if there is equipment that will enable me to just get a decent walk in. So I tried the Gentle Leader, the Halti, The SENSEation Harness, The Freedom harness, The EasyWalk harness, the Good Dog collar & a prong collar. Sheesh...I have enough equipment to start my own store!! All work fine at first, but Penny eventually learns how to manipulate her body so that she can pull. Fortunately, the one thing she's never really been able to pull on is a regular old collar (at least not for the last few years) because I never walk her on one!! So I won't have to break a habit that she's had for 4 years.

So...Penny & I started our walk and it really didn't take long before she accepted that she will not be allowed to pull. And what she really liked...when the leash was loose, she got treats! I will not be walking S&P together for quite a while. Penny loves to lead and having to compete w/ Sherman will impede any progress we may make. I'm guessing it'll take me two weeks to make it around the block w/o having to stop. She's a quick study.

Lola's walk went just as well. It is boring & it does take time...but now that I'm committed, I truly believe it will be worth it. Her problem is she has sooooo much puppy energy right now & gets very excited when she sees people, another dog, a squirrel, a bird, a leaf blowing in the wind. She forgets what her job is. Well it's my job to teach her.

Sunday morning was dedicated to the dogs. Sherman & I took a wonderful 45 minute walk around the neighborhood. This is truly one of his favorite things to do in the world and the spring in his step when it's just he & I is undeniable.

Lola has officially begun her LLW training. I'm not one of those dog owners who requires their dog to heel the entire walk. I want them to sniff & enjoy the walk as much as I do. So far, Lola has done well on the Easy Walk, but she's started pulling on it as well. Enough is enough. Time to get to work. Didn't take long for her to figure it out...leash is tight, I stop. We're gonna do the same short block every day till that darn leash is loose the entire time. Then move on.

I decided to take Penny to the park. We had a really nice hike until we ran into a gaggle of deer. There were about 5 of them & she, of course, went nuts when she saw them. So we turned around & went back the way we came. She also has the nasty habit of pulling on leash. I bitch & complain about it all the time. What's that saying? "Don't complain...Train!". And that's exactly what I plan on doing. Time to get off my ass after 3 years & finally teach her how to walk politely on leash! Penny will be on the same LLW training plan as Lola. She gets plenty of exercise running around in the yard w/ the Sprout so I'm not worried about that.

The pups hung out on the front porch all afternoon soaking in the sun. It was a nice Sunday.

Shelley was unable to teach class tonight & asked if I would cover for her. No problem...this is a very nice class & I'm pretty comfortable teaching clicker. So I took Penny as my demo dog. I just love her to pieces. Other than hating the crate (which she found to be very beneath her), she was perfect. We reviewed Sit, Down, Attention, Touch & started Heeling & Stay. It was a fun class.

Lola is home...safe & sound. Her surgery went well & I had her microchipped in addition to the spay. She doesn't seem to be too phased by the whole thing. She's taking the stairs & jumping on the bed much slower & she's napping a lot, but that's to be expected. She's been, by far, the best of the 3 w/ their altering. Sherman acted like we'd removed a lung...hanging his head low for 3 days & peeing on my leg in protest. Penny was very sore and was more lethargic than Lola. I suppose puppies are more resiliant than adult dogs.

Sherm & Pen have been rather unsettled in Lola's absence. Penny in particular. She's been searching for her and when I accidentially called her Lola on Tuesday (I'm constantly calling all the dogs by a different name!), she looked around for her. Sherman was visably happy to see her when she returned. That was short lived, though. 4 hours later...things are back to normal. The pups are lounging on the porch...enjoying the spring sunshine.

Lola has her spay tomorrow, so tonight I had to take her to the Vets. She doesn't come home until Wednesday. I took a 1/2 off at work to get her home & comfortable.

Penny had graduation tonight. Annette had prepared a mini test for the dogs to run through which mimicked the CGC/TDI test. Penny flew through it w/ flying colors...until the end. She blew it on the Sup. Separation again! I could hear her wining in the hall. She never would have passed had it been the actual test. Guess we'll just have to keep at it.

Annette did take some pictures for us

The Golden next to Penny is Levi...she really likes him! I'm the one in the black sweater.

The ACD in the front of this picture is Cowboy. He has made incredible progress in the time we've known him. He is very wary of strangers and does not like to be handled or away from him Mom. We were all able to pet him by graduation.

Happy 6 month Birthday Lola!

At 2 weeks old...

8 weeks...

4 months

Just shy of 6 months...

As a b-day present, I met up w/ Debby & her dogs at Riverview. Another PghDogs member, Amy & her AussieX, Diamond joined us too. About 10 minutes into the hike, we spied a white Pitbull on the hill above us. Debby, being way braver than I, coaxed the dog onto the trail and encouraged him to hike w/ us while we looked for his owner. He had a current city license on so it was more likely that he got loose rather than being dumped.

I'll admit to being gunshy w/ loose dogs when I have mine w/ me. Sherman & Penny were attacked twice the same pitbull in our neighborhood. Fortunately the owners were right there to get the dog back, but it's very unnerving. This little guy was very sweet, though and traveled w/ us for over an hour.

We never did find his owner & Debby decided to take him home to see if they could be located. Here's where the story gets good. Turns out his owner lived 1/2 a block from Debby! Thump (as he was called) got out of their yard & went all the way to Riverview. He had been missing for 6 days! What a nice happy ending!

It was back to school for Lola today. She was in rare form as adolescence seems to be slamming into us like a brick wall. Even though she & Penny played (hard) for 2 hours before class, she was not interested in paying any attention to me what-so-ever. There was a lot of discussion of adolescent behaviors in class and how to handle problems and we really didn't work a whole lot. She was not happy about having to settle & I was not happy w/ her behavior. She was squirming and straining at the end of the leash and almost pulled out of her collar a few times. I put a slip collar on her (which she was not happy about) and she eventually relaxed.

When she did work, she did very well. She's heeling well, has a great sit, down has been a bit forgotten so I'll need to get back to work on this, attention is OK (depending on the distractions). Her walks will be limited next week (she's getting spayed) so that should give me some time to tire her out w/some training.

I haven't done a whole lot this week either. The weather has been getting nicer & I've been taking longer walks w/ the dogs. They love it. Sherman is definately showing his age though. He used to fly through an hour w/ energy to spare. He is visably pooped at the end of a long stroll.

Penny & I had a great class on Monday though. Her supervised separation has vastly improved...through no work on my part. But it's comforting.

Lola continues to react to everything she sees. So tonight I decided it was time to do something about it. I took a whole bunch of really good treats & my clicker on our walk. I worked w/ her a lot on attention. I managed to get really good attention to her during people distractions, but we did have a little fit w/ a dog that was walking across the street. And I was thrilled that she didn't react at all to a cat that crossed our path. She got a jackpot for that. We'll continue to work on this. LLW really isn't much of an issue. She's still on the Easy Walk and I have to stop & wait her out every 10 minutes or so, but she catchs on fast. I need to run her through all of her behaviors tomorrow night as we missed class on Saturday (there was a Parvo outbreak at the shelter & I decided to err on the side of caution).

OK...so I don't have much to report these last couple of weeks...

Lola starts Advanced Puppy tomorrow totally unprepared. I haven't really worked w/ her for over a month. I'm hoping jumping into a class will jump start me back into working her at home. I'm a terrible puppy Mom.

I did, however, buy them some new toys...This is Lola's favorite:

Almost as big as her.

Sherman was in his element today at lunch w/ his Kong...Lola still doesn't know how to work the Kong properly...

So she watches...
And Sherman demonstrates...

But she still waits for him to do all of the dirty work...

The weather has been incredible. We're so lucky to have an amazing early spring...

Lola chasing her ball...

View of the side yard...the big yellow bush is coming out this spring...

Pretty Penny keeping watch...

Lola lounging on her lunch break...

"I'm...A...S-P-R-O-U-T...."

It's been a busy week. I still have class on Wednesday & Shelley's class started on Thursday. My birthday was on Friday (Happy 33rd to me!), dinner at Kevin's on Saturday & Sunday was Easter.

I took today off for a extended birthday weekend. Lola went to daycare, but beforehand we stopped by my office to drop off some doughnuts and she got to meet everyone. I was very proud of her...she didn't jump on anyone and turned on the charm. She did take off to explore, but was quickly caught. She started Woofing at people so we left.

My Mom came over & we took S&P to the park for a hike. It turned out to be a really nice day. We hiked for about an hour & then took them home. I picked Lola up around 5:00 & she was pooped! Scotty had a hockey game so the 4 of us slugged out & watched TV for the rest of the night. Perfect end to my birthday weekend!

The first class I ever attended was with Sherman a little over 3 years ago. Clearly he didn't need class...he already new how to sit, lay down, give paw, speak and walk nicely on a flexi leash. But we had just gotten Penny & she was a mess. So I thought I'd start out with my already obedient dog just to get myself into the groove.

Well...was I in for a rude awakening. By the end of the first class, I was ready to give Sherman away. He was a nightmare...trying to jump on the other dogs, completely ignoring me, forgetting he ever knew how to do a single thing I asked. I didn't even want to go back to the second class and for good reason...he was worse! As being cool, calm & collected are not my best traits, I was fortunate enough to have one of the trainers notice my frustration & pull me aside into a separate room. She took Sherman from me and worked w/ him a bit and then gave me the best training advice I've gotten to date.

"Stop...Yelling...At...Your...Dog".

Sherman, NO! Sherman, STOP IT! Sherman, COME HERE! Sherman SIT! Sherman NO! Sherman NO! Sherman NOOOOoooooo!!! I sounded like a broken record. And he could care less...he wasn't hearing me.

Stop yelling at your dog. If what you're doing is not working, change the situation to make him succeed. Stop telling him what is wrong and let him know what is right. Rocket science, huh? Well, to me it was. Because it WORKED! (Thank you, Jan McCune).

So what's my point? Well, for the first couple of months we had Lola, I did a lot of yelling at Sherman. Back to my old stupid ways. But in the recent month or so, I remembered that stellar advice and got back to what I know works. Stop yelling at your dog. I've been focusing more on what he's doing well and putting in more one on one time w/ him and I've really noticed a difference. Does that mean I don't ever yell at him? Hell, NO! But it's fewer & far between...when he really needs it.

Ironically, like tonight. His guarding is still an issue and all three dogs were on the bed w/ me. He had a chewie next to him...but Lola started sniffing him...not going for the bone, but just sniffing near him. Sherman laid into her, pinning her down and biting her face. She really yelped...probably more out of fear than pain, but his behavior is not acceptable. I made him get off the bed and ignored him for the next hour. We made up later and he's on probation for. But I will still keep encouraging the good behavior from him and I will make the effort to stop yelling at my dog.

The weather is finally breaking & I couldn't be happier. Sherman & I took a nice stroll through the neighborhood & he was, once again, the perfect dog. Then Lola & I went around the block & I think she might be going through a bit of a fear period. Things she used to be fine with elicit her big girl bark or she gets real close to me. First it was a gaint blow up Easter bunny (can't say I blame her for barking at that though...I hate those things)...next it was 2 kids popping wheelies on their bikes. Birds are another big thing...far away, she's tough. If they're too close, she gets a little freaky. I just tell her "Oh stop it...let's go". By the end of the walk she was much more relaxed. She's also starting to pull...and I'm nippnig that in the bud. I learned my lesson w/ Penny not to even let that start.

As Penny was going to class, she didn't get a walk. We did leave about 15 minutes early to practice LLW in the parking lot before class. She was a little stressed when we went in the building. 2 staffers wanted to pet her & she was pretty skiddish. Once we got in class, she was better & started to focus. Heeling was fine, attention was fantastic as usual, recalls...bleh! We worked on separation differently in that I left her w/ Jim, told her to wait, walked away & then returned to her (p/t), put her in a sit stay, and then called her to me. First time I left her she was very tense and hesitated on the recall. Second time, she was more relaxed, but when I called her, she kept her butt planted on the ground. What?? Her recall is usually great. Something more to work on. We also worked on Finishes, which we haven't done diddly of in 6 months. That's on the agenda for this week.

Not much to report for today. The weather was signaling Spring is around the corner & Lola was feeling mighty spry.

What a truly marvelous day. The weather is starting to change & while it's still cool, it's sunny & beautiful. We had some major thunderstorms last night & the grass seemed to grow 3 inches overnight.

I took Lola to daycare @ 8:00 am. When I arrived, the staff was very excited to see her. And she loves this place. There was a man in the lobby watching the dogs on the TV and she ran right up to him & put on quite the wiggly show. There was an older couple in one of the gated areas next to the desk. Lola could see their Sheltie & started barking & doing her tough girl routine. The older couple was glaring at me, but I was unconcerned. I pulled her over to the other gated section and the manager came out to take the dogs back. She went to the Sheltie first and the man said something to the manager I couldn't hear. She looked at him and said "No, she's a Boxer". My DoG! He said, "OK", shot me another look & I wanted to punch him. She's not a Pitbull!!!! Ugh. Not that there's anything wrong with that...I love Pitbulls. But the general public is so very uneducated. Makes me crazy. Anyway...off Lola went for her fun day at Camp.

When I got home, I took Sherman for a walk & it was if he was trying to tell me "Hey Mom...I'm the good one". He was such an angel. I walked him on the Flexi and made him stop & sit at every intersection. He usually just has to stop & wait till I tell him "Let's Go". But I decided to have him sit this time & after the 3rd intersection...he was stopping & sitting w/o being asked. At one point, a FC retreiver just walked over to us & sniffed Sherman's butt. He just turned around, looked at her and then back at me. This was a first!! Overall, it was a wonderful walk.

Penny was next. She has developed a very, very bad pulling habit. Even w/ the Easy Walk harness, she's making me nuts. I'll admit...I have never worked seriously or consistantly on LLW with her. Heeling yes, but I don't want her to walk right next to me. I want her to have freedom to explore & sniff, but not pull my arm off. I'm going to set up a program for her & really make a serious commitment to stopping this. Stay tuned for updates. Other than the walking thing, we did stop in some parking lots and do some stays, recalls and heeling.

When I returned to Camp...I told the girl at the desk "I'm here to pick up Lola." Her response..."Um no, sorry, we're gonna keep her". I love to hear that. She commented at what a sweet calm Boxer she is and how much they enjoy having her. I would hope that I have something to do w/ that. They brought her out & she was filthy! PigPen from Peanuts is a close analogy. When we got home, I scooped her up & put her in the tub. She was such a doll. She just stood there & let me soap her up and rinse her off. Being tired was probably part of the reason. I dried her off & we sat out on the front porch & let her dry in the sun. She slept for the remainder of the night.

Let's see...what happened today?

Well, first Sherman tried to jump into the UPS truck on our walk at lunch. He has never left the sidewalk while on the Flexi unless I am crossing too. The truck just pulled out from a few houses down and Sherm went into guard dog mode...barking and lunging and running to get into the truck. I immediately called him back & put him into a Down. The UPS guys laughed and said "Only 1 today??"...my reply was "Don't you think I have all I can handle??!!"

After work, Scott & I decided to take all 3 dogs for a walk. What a mistake. It was a beautiful day and everyone & their dogs were outside enjoying the nice weather. All three were wound up & pretty obnoxious. That is the last time we'll be doing that for a while.

I had my first class w/ Shelley. The group was very attentive and had a lot of questions. This is going to be a much different class than Annette's. Shelley's class is a clicker class, which I am very comfortable with. I have participated in many of Shelley's classes as a student and assisted Shelley's assistant, Rita when Shelley was away, but I've never been her assistant. We get along very well and it should be fun 7 weeks.

Lola had her first encounter with a cat. The neighborhood grouch, 8 Ball, ran across the street to go home on our way back from our walk. One of my nicer neighbors (shame I don't know her name) was on the porch & wanted introduced the little demon spawn. Lola was more than happy to make her acquaintence & then spotted 8 Ball in the yard. As she was safely on leash & 8 Ball is a trooper (and declawed)...I took her down for an introduction. Lola was nothing but inquisitive and ran right up to sniff him. He, of course, hissed and batted her in the face. She backed away, cried a bit and then went back in for another Hello. Another big hiss & couple bats in the face & Lola now knows she should respect cats.

I really want her to become used to cats as she could then stay w/ my Mom when we went on vacation. It's hard to find a dog savvy cat & an owner that's willing to let me "use" it for socialization.

Well, it was back to work for the girls today. Lola is going through a very ~ahem~ "active" stage. And we haven't done a whole lot of anything since graduation. So I took her upstairs and ran through all of the basic stuff she knows, focusing on attention. I never really got around to cueing it so I started introducing "Watch". We'll continue to work on that this week.

Penny was antsy all night. She "knew" it was class day. And she was ready to work. I'm so proud of her. We worked on heeling, direction changes, down, lots of attention & supervised separation. Heeling was great. Her attention is stellar. Down is fine...although she refuses to tip onto one hip. I may try to shape this during the course of the week. The separation is another issue. I suppose I should be happy to have a dog that's so bonded to me. We did two run throughs, leaving her w/ Jim, Annette's assistant. I got about 20 seconds out of her until she started to stress. We're gonna keep at it & hopefully, she'll get better. I'm going to try to work on out of sight stays as well & hope that will give her a job to do while I'm gone, making the whole thing less stressful. I really love this class and love working with Penny.

I realize I don't make any reference to working with Sherman. And it's not that he doesn't get any attention. But Sherman is different than the girls. They really thrive on mental stimulation while Sherman is more content to chew or play with a toy or do some fun basic commands. Which he does get a lot of. He's certainly not neglected.

This morning was the PghDogsRescue brunch. We try to do a monthly thing but life is hectic & not everyone can always make it. While I'm not technically involved in rescue, I represent the WPHS in the whole scenario. It's nice to get together and hang out in person w/ the people you usually only correspond w/ over email. Afterward I drove out to PSP in Cranberry. It was a nice day for a drive. I picked up a new collar for Lola, some more of those achilles tendons the dogs are so fond of and food for Penny & Lola. As she has all of her "big girl teeth", I've switched her to adult food. They're eating Canidae right now & I decided to try Eagle Pack Holistic Select this round. We'll see how they do.

When I got home, I took Sherman & Lola on a walk together. We ran into the neighbor kids and Lola put on quite the show & Sherman was very good with the kids. I'm always careful to warn them that he does NOT like hugs or rough petting. Our neighborhood kids are pretty well behaved, though.

Penny & I went back to the Library to practice some heeling, recalls & sit stays. We played Follow the Leader for about 5 minutes and then went to stays. There were lots of distractions b/c it was so nice out. What you can't see in this picture was...there were a bunch of kids playing around the library and a dog barking on the other side. Not too shabby.


We did some heeling & automatic sits and finished up with recalls. My girl is back in the groove. Maybe it was the weather...maybe it was the liver brownies. Her recalls are right where they should be, including some very nice straight fronts.

We then took a walk around the landscaped side & took some photos. Penny is so photogenic...she should be in print!

Partly b/c I've been sick...partly b/c I've been lazy; we haven't done a whole lot of anything. I haven't done any training w/ Lola other than the usual everyday stuff. We go back to class in 3 weeks & I need to get my act together so she's not the worst one there!

Lola went to daycare today b/c I was off for a doctor's appt. I called to confirm her reservation and the girl on the phone said "Oh yes...we have Lola booked. We can't wait to see her...everyone just loves her so much!" and then added "I was at Petland the other day & they had a white Boxer there...I wanted to get it so bad b/c Lola's such great dog". ~sigh~ All I managed to say was "Well, you wouldn't wanna get a dog from Petland." I didn't go into the fact that color has nothing to do w/ temperment.

Penny & I missed class b/c I have a freaking cold. Ugh!!! I'm so sick of being sick!! Our new office seems to be a germ factory and viruses spread like wild fire. Just as well...Penny & I didn't do any work on our sit stays this week.

I talked to Annette and in addition to the stays, they also did supervised separation...small time pds of 20-30 seconds. I was sooo mad we missed this b/c this is what Penny failed on the TDI test. I was informed, however, that this will be a regular part of class. Good. So I need to lick this cold & Penny & I need to get back to work.

We had a play date at Debby's house today. I took Penny & Lola as Sherman is such a brat w/ Trent. We went for a nice hike in the cemetary and then went back to Debby's for a little romping. Penny & Kera got into a little scuffle, but it was short lived. I think the girls will remain friends.

Lola hiding from Siri on the porch...

Trent saying Hi to Lola...

Everyone wants to say Hi to Penny...

Keeping watch on the porch...

My mom & I went to the WPKA dog show today. I wanted to get there a little early as the Boxers were at 10. The place was insane. Parking was a nightmare (b/c people are stupid...that's a whole other story). But the show was fun...there were lots of vendors and Grandma bought Lola a new collar. We watched some agility stuff, but didn't get to see any of the obedience. I'm planning on going to a couple events this summer...just to watch.

Scott took Lola w/ him to see his Mom for her birthday. I'm sorry I missed it. DJ & Kim brought their two dogs Hannah & Dylon & Lola was introduced to Baron & Panzer. Scott said it was a zoo!

Hannah & Dylon

Baron & Lola lounging

"I'll get you Hannah!"
Panzer & Lola
Baron taking Lola for a walk!

"You can't catch me!!!"

Penny is SO happy to be back in class!! We started Annette's Advanced Basic class tonight. I was a little nervous that Penny would be outta practice & rusty, as we really haven't worked much in the last few months. But I just love my girl! She did super.

We've taken Shelley's AB class at least 3 times. I love it b/c she changes it everytime based on the level of the dogs in class. This is the first time I've actually taken class from Annette. The class was really good too. Annette's approach to training is different than Shelley's. Shelley is a clicker trainer & her class is, for the most part, purely positive...Annette is what I call balanced positive. She does use training collars and leash corrections, but 80-85% of the training is based around a positive approach, using lots of praise & food/toy rewards. I've been working w/ her for a year & have never felt uncomfortable with her methods. She has quite a way with dogs and is an excellent trainer. The same can be said about Shelley. They just have different styles.

Anyway, we did lots of heeling. Penny did pretty well with that...her fantastic attention hasn't changed one bit. She doesn't take her eyes off me. She does get a bit distracted when another dog is up her butt but recovers quickly. We did 'round the room and heeling toward other dogs...no problem there. She also had us all practice attention while a single dog heeled around the room...good with that. We worked on automatic sits & here lies the rusty part. Penny loves to swing out on the sit to face me. Probably from all of our attention work. But she has always done this. So I worked her against a wall & it worked like a charm. Now we just have to practice more at home. Next week is sit stays...oh yeah! (roll eyes). I hate stays...they're so boring! But necessary & we could use the practice. That's what we'll be working on this week.

Puppy class graduation day!!! Lola has come so far since our first class at AF. I am really very proud of her. We did a review of a lot of stuff we learned in the first 5 classes and worked some more on heeling & stays. Lola is really doing well. She's got a ton of potential. She & Penny are very, very similar in how they learn and want to work.

This whole "Down" thing is a piece of cake!


Puppy playtime is still her favorite!



We also did fun play stuff...Marsha had a tunnel & all the dogs had a chance to try it out. Lola went right in & was happy to clean up the trail of goodies the other puppies had left behind!

Back to Camp Bow Wow for Lola today. I love this place. I've signed Penny up for an interview on the 31st. She & Lola will go together but I asked them to keep them in different play groups. I'm trying very hard to keep Lola independent. I've noticed she is doing more things by herself. Snuggling on the couch by herself (rather than laying all over Penny), running outside by herself, wandering around the house alone.

"But I still love hanging out w/ my big sister Penny!"


She is also doing wonderfully on housetraining. Scott & I have been really diligent about taking her out regularly...at least every hour, after playing, after chewing, 15 minutes after eating. We make her go out alone and she's learned the cue "Go Potty". She's also asking to go out. If she's upstairs, she'll run downstairs if she has to go. I have to be really careful about watching her if Scott is on the 3rd floor and talk to her on the way down. But if she does go down alone, she goes to her papers and goes. We have 2 pee pads that we still keep down in the DR. But that's it. We're about 90% there. I'm thrilled.

Saturday night consisted of laying around & snuggling. My favorite activity w/ the pups!

Wow, have I been slacking!! TBH, too much really hasn't been going on. Just everyday normal stuff.

But Happy St. Patricks Day! Scott & I had a little happy hour w/ some friends from work (and former co-workers). One thing that is very apparent is we need to work on Lola's greeting skills. When your standing, she fligs herself at you and nips at your clothes...If your sitting, she dive bombs your head. Not acceptable. I'll have to recruit some neighbors & dog savvy friends to help me stop this crazy behavior.

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!