Ole day 13 at daycare.

Ole had a big day planned today, his first day at daycare. We were up and at'um by 6:00 AM as there were lots of pees and poos, and breakfast, and grooming with the brush, and the morning power walk to get done before I took him to school. When we got to K9 to 5, the front gate was open but we were not the first to arrive. One of my former puppy class students was there dropping off her adorable West Highland White terrier " Bella". It's a small world isn't it? We didn't have much time to talk as everybody had somewhere to be but it was good to see them. I didn't make a deal about leaving Ole, just quickly slipped out the door before he really noticed anything was up. As I was leaving however another client was coming in who had 2 very over excited Bichon-type dogs that she dropped the leashes on and allowed to rush the door. The dogs were very hyper...I wonder why...Hmmmmmm. I hoped Ole wouldn't be spending much time with them.
From there , Shelly and Elmo and I drove to Dusty Rhodes Park for some R&R. There were only about 6 dogs there and I didn't see any over the top behavior going on, just pretty relaxed dogs. I took both of them into the park entry area and when both had completely calmed , I took off their leashes and opened the gate. Calm dogs get most anything and excited dogs have to wait or get nothing is the rule and we stick to it! Elmo had a ball playing with a really nice fuzzy grey and white mop of a dog. They played so nicely together that we stayed about 20 minutes. Shelly just likes to walk around and sniff and occasionally police any percieved bad manners. She was out of luck today as everyone was well behaved. Then I noticed a guy with a very highly excited and large dog coming in , so I put both their leashes on and we left. Dog parks can be very dangerous places. Dog on dog attacks are not uncommon so I'm hyper-vigilant when I take my dogs to them. I mostly prefer play dates or very large parks where the dogs don't congregate together so much and get over aroused. From there I did some grocery shopping and we headed home to do all the house work that has not gotten done for the past almost 2 weeks. Shelly and Elmo throughly enjoyed time off from Ole's puppy hood. I'm teaching an intermediate obedience class tomorrow so i also

needed to get organized for that.



At 12:45, I drove over to K9 to 5 to pick up Ole. I peaked over the front gate and saw him passed out in the shade on the front deck. Romi and her husband took all the dogs inside and then let me in. She said that Ole and Bella had had a great time together and were now boy friend and girl friend! He's growing up too fast! She is very cute though so I understand how it could happen. Ole tried to jump on me in excitement when he came out so I ignored him completely until he calmed, asked him to sit and then praised him and loved him up. Romi had introduced them to people walking with crutches today and Ole had no problem with it. Bella apparently was a little shy of them at first but got over it quickly. Romi was surprized that Ole sprinted through the tunnels when she brought them out and realized that I must have worked with him with tunnels already. Anyway, he had a great time and will get to come back on Monday for 4 hours so he can play some more with Bella and the gang and do a little more training.
When we got home , Shelly smelled him all over and Elmo kissed his face. They seemed pleased to have him back. Then it was lunch and potty time and crate practice. I put a soft cushy bed in his crate and he went in and curled up and slept for an hour and a half. Goes to show , good dogs are tired, & I just love tired puppies.
Around 3:30 we took a group walk to the mail box next door to Noah's Pet Market and stopped at Noah's to get some beef tendon chews and the favorite...Buffalo scapulas. Shelly LOVES buffalo scapulas. Elmo and Ole like them also but not like Shelly does. It was a long walk but Ole hung in there though he needed a big drink and another nap before dinner. I gave them all raw beef marrow bones after their dinners and they were thrilled. Another good day for dogs.

Ole day 11

I didn't blog last night..TOO tired! Abner left on a 4 day motorcycle trip so I was busy all day. We got up at 6:00 AM as is the habit since Ole got here. There's no sleeping in with puppies! While Abner got ready to leave I was depeeing and de pooping everyone and then taking everyone for their morning power walk. Then it was breakfast for all and play time. Abner took off for his man bonding trip and the dogs and I hopped in the car and headed over to Ann's house where after a nice romp in her yard , all three came inside and Shelly got her massage. Ole was having a "puppy frenzys" moment. during Shelly's massage so We alternated between him romping with Elmo and being calmly restrained on my lap until he calmed himself. Elmo was next in line for a massage. His poor body has taken some abuse since Ole, so he got his massage and he was in heaven! Meanwhile Ole passed out and didn't wake up until we left 30 minutes later. We drove back home where I dropped off Shelly and Elmo and then continued on to my friend Donna's house where I left Ole for some quality puppy sitting while I headed to my hair appt with Marcella. Whie Ole was with Donna they practiced fetch with his favorite ball on a rope and he got to hang out with Ginger his new friend . Ginger weighs all of 7 lbs but she is tough as nails with ill mannered puppies so he minded his P's and Q's while there. Donna said he walked up and down her staircase about 10 times just because he could and was kind of proud of himself. It was his first staircase to learn 12 days ago so that made it one to be proud of I guess. Once I got there , Donna brought MaiKai the cat out in the back yard to hang out with Ole and remind him that cats are to be admired and respected NOT chased and body slammed. Maikai true to form kept Ole in line with a few well timed hisses and a confident calm attitude.
After we left Donna's house i took him home for lunch ,play and a nap ( for all of us!).
Okay so it wasn't much of a nap for me as I tried to squeeze in a bit of work but I did get some things done like I set Ole up to go check out a place called Canine 9 to 5 which does puppy day care for small groups of select puppies. I actually am interested in it as a way to find some good temperament puppies for him to play with in a safe environment. We headed over there and it was just a 10 minute drive from the house which was nice. It is run by a Japanese couple named Hiromi and Suzuki. Hiromi is a dog trainer and has 4 very lovely golden retrievers who assist in managing the puppies. The facility was very clean and all the dogs that were there were very quiet and calm which I liked. Ole seemed very comfortable there and i liked Romi and her husband. When I told her my puppies name was Ole she said Ah, Oree. ( Very cute) I had to chuckle on that one. There are 3 instructors monitoring the dogs during their stay and the first hour is a play and get to know you for the puppies with breaks and settle down periods. The next period of time is puppies loose with each other but with training involved, ie: sit down, look at you on their name, and coming when called. Nap time is at noon. I plan on leaving Ole there on

Friday for 4 hours for some fun and adventure. So Ole passed his interview for puppy day care! It was time to celebrate so we
drove to La Jolla for some social skills practice. First stop was the hair salon where I got my hair done earlier . Everyone had wanted to meet him so I had promised to bring him by. He had a ball & got petted and ear and head rubbed and his ear fashion was admired ( he's still a cone head). From there we parked the car near the area called the childrens Pool where we had gone the other day and walked over to watch the sea lions basking in the sun. There must have been at least 100 on the beach. All three dogs scored attention from about 10 more people and a couple of small children. Ole no longer is apprehensive about small children at all . He sits when he sees them and gently wags his tail. He will also try to kiss them but I have to be careful that he doesn't try to nibble on them . We spent about 30 minutes soliciting attention from strangers and then headed home for the usual play and naps and eating and crate time and play and play and naps and I'm tired!

Ole day10

We started our day today after the standard 6:00 pee and poop ( Ole's), with a family walk down the boardwalk. Ole scored 3 people interactions as well as multiple sits during the passing by of fast moving bicyclists. Ole was calmer with bikes today. I was hoping for some rollerbladers and skateboarders, but it was misting rain and there weren't any to be found. I had an appt to get my back worked on so I left Elmo and Ole with Abner and took Shelly with me . She likes Dr. Phil and enjoyed laying on the floor of the treatment room while he pounded the Ole induced kinks out of my back. You try lugging 25 lbs of dead weight puppy through two airports to from Wisconsin to San Diego and see what it does to your back! He is worth every kink in my back and I would do it again. I'm just glad I didn't wait until he weighed 29 lbs!
When we got back , our friend and neighbor Patt came by with her sweet shih stzu Tobey. She had heard through the grape vine (Abner) about Ole and wanted to check him out. Ole scored another human and dog for his list of social contacts. Tobey was pretty blase' as most beach dogs are about Ole, but Patt scored high in ear rub technique.
The rest of the day until 2:00 we just hung out , got some house work done and worked our fetch practice and some basic obedience skills, sit, down, stand, and leave it from the hand and on the ground. i got Ole's class bag packed for him and Abner as they had puppy school tonight. Shelly and Elmo and I had to go pick up my friend Donna and her dog Ginger and drive to Tustin for our K9 nose work class, so the boys were going to be on their own. We watched some of the puppy play time. Ole was matched up with a couple of puppies that were kind of rough with him. He left them and went over to the calmer gentler puppies that were sitting at the sidelines. I was glad to see that as I don't want him to be bullied by rough puppies or to learn to play rough. It's why he won't be going to any dog parks anytime soon. Besides the disease factor, there are a lot of out of control dogs at dog parks. The last thing on earth I want is for my young dog to be bullied or attacked at a park. Many people who take their dogs to dog parks cannot control their dogs and or don't pay enough attention and bad things happen. The dogs most likely to be attacked are the young ones under the age of 3 years a very impressionable time. Later after Abner and Ole came home , some old friends John and his wife, Lee dropped by to meet Ole. Ole did his best impression of a puppy with giant feet for them greeted them in a calm and friendly manner , chewed his bone and then fell asleep at John's feet. He'd had a long day>

Ole day 9 and growing

Ole is BIG! He has gained 3.6 lbs in 10 days! Holie molie Ole! He is still a cone head with sometimes criss - crossed ears. What a sweet calm boy he is.
We worked on fetch today. I really would like him to enjoy that game as it is a great and easy way to exercise a dog and get them working for you at the same time. I use a ball on a rope, tease him with it and then toss it about 2 feet away. As soon as he grabs it , I back up calling him and when he gets to me, I hold on to him praising until he drops the ball on his own. Then I sit him and start again. He's getting better at it every day. I will use other objects as he gets better with the ball.
He has his second puppy class tomorrow evening so we practiced his homework...sits and downs , restraints, go to his mat and stay and ran him through my mini puppy agility course. Abner is taking him to the class, so I set the course up for them at my art studio and they practiced together . It was fun to watch.
On our family walk this morning, we walked down the ocean front on the boardwalk. Ole was attracting fans left and right! I noticed that he was a bit excited about the passing bicycles so we are sitting him whenever we see a bike and keeping him in the sit as they go by and until he is calm. Distance is also a factor, so if we are too close to the bicycles, I move him a little further away until he can calm and then bring him in closer as he learns to calm faster. I don't want him lunging at or chasing bicyclists 6 months from now. You always need to think about what you want 6 months from now when dealing with puppies and young dogs. It's much easier to train for what you want than to break bad habits. Dogs learn by doing. Whatever you allow them to do they are learning to do.
Ole is on the learn to earn program. Whatever he wants , he gets only if he sits on one request for it. If he doesn't sit , it ( whatever it might be) is unavailable at that time. I don't ask him to do anything twice. He has turned into a sitting quickly pup. I took him with Elmo and I today to The Animal Healing Center as Elmo had an appt for a chiropractic adjustment. I weighed them both and both have gained weight since Ole got here. Elmo has gained 4 ounces. to Oles 2lbs.6 ounces. Elmo has been cashing in on Ole's stuffed kongs. He is an opportunist! Elmo really needed the adjustment as Ole has been grabing him by the tail. Dr. Amanda said she sees this a bit with dogs that puppies play hard with. Elmo enjoyed his session. I noticed that Ole didn't seem as bore sighted on Elmos tail today. I will keep a close watch on this as I don't want him making Elmo sore . Elmo is now St. Elmo as he is so good with Ole.

Ole day 8 or is it 9?

Ole is a cone head today. Looks like he may end out with straight up ears after all. We mainly walked him around the neighborhood today for socialization. It worked pretty well as he met and sat for about 15 different people over the course of 2 different walks. He met one child and was a little over excited about her. I got him to sit and kept him in the sit for his interaction with her. Kids do everything that gets puppies excited, high shrieky voices jerky movements and fast abrupt stops and starts, oh yes, and they stare and grab. He handled it well but we need to keep plugging away at the kid stuff.
He got to go on a male bonding trip with Abner to the roofing supply store today. Abner said he was very good in his van just fell asleep on the floor. He got to meet the salesman and then came home for lunch. His luncheon menu for today was 1 cup of Honest kitchens Force mixed with a 3 minute boiled egg shell and all, and water. He's got a real good appetite.
He also took a trip with Shelly and Elmo and I to my studio where he practiced going through several tunnels. and then generally either wrestled with Elmo or got into everything. I got a little more painting done. I'm working on a display for behind a glass door which is never opened that is next to the entry of Noahs Natural Pet Market. Lots of bright eye catching colors and some humor with dogs and cats prominent in the design. There will be mobile like elements to it if it ever comes together. He's growing like a weed. I bet he weighs 30 pounds. I'll find out tomorrow as Elmo has an appt with Dr. Aldridge tomorrow and Ole will go along for the ride.

Ole day8

I woke up at 6:00 this morning to puppy kisses! Ole had popped the door of his X-pen open and fortunately came straight over to me and woke me up. Shelly had the doorway blocked so he couldn't sprint around the house and pee, poo ,or chew. She had an eye on him. Shelly likes working out of the home. I scooted him downstairs and out to the wood pile and he took care of business big time...GOOD BOY, Ole. Both his ears are up today, no more comb over! He does look like a cone head but no more floppy left ear, at least for today. Abner has been out of town for 2 days so I decided to try a 3 dog walk before breakfast. It went pretty well, Shelly and Elmo on my left and Ole on the right. He was pretty good, I kept him on a short but loose leash and he was good at either walking slightly behind me or if he did pull, a quick little multi tug on the leash and he was happily back in place. he seems to be a pretty good puppy, not a lot of drama or over excitement to him, very compliant to what i want him to do and at the same time confident and easy going. I've only had him 8 days , but so far so good. Adolescence looms ahead however so we'll see. Lots of people stop at the front gate of my yard , everyone wants to meet the new puppy. There seem to be quite a few scandinavians staying in vacation rentals this year as several families have stopped to meet Ole and the rest of my pack. Tourists that had to leave their dogs behind come by for a dog fix. They usually either like Emo or Shelly but everyone wants to meet Ole. Because Ole is a sable colored GSD some people think he is a mix. That's fine with me. One couple from Minnesota, asked Abner who Ole's breeder was as they have a GSD that they bought for big bucks from a professional breeder. When Abner told them Ole was from his sisters farm they were not impressed.
Today I took Ole all by himself to my painting studio where I also keep all of my agility training equipment for puppy classes. I introduced him to tunnels, the slide, the mini teeter, the table, and the dog walk. He loved it all especially the teeter board. I also popped a bunch of bubble wrap and he was unfazed by the popping noise. I was so happy about that as Shelly is terribly sound sensitive. Now i have 2 dogs ( Elmo and Ole ) that seem okay with fire cracker like noises. Yea!!!!! I couldn't get much in the way of painting done as Ole was feeling his oats so we drove over to the PB Vons shopping center and hung out in front of Vons and then Starbucks trolling for puppy petters. Ole practiced sitting for everyone he met. The best was a 3 year old girl and her mother. the little girl did all the stuff that sets dogs off , squealing jumping, twirling, other and fast movements. I told Ole to sit and he watched her calmly and took a treat from her then he gave her a kiss ! It was sweet. I called Abner and he had taken Elmo and Shelly on a long walk to our property in North PB. On the way back Shelly had insisted on stopping at MacDonalds for a hamburger. Abner's knee was sore ( he had surgery on it 6 weeks ago) and he asked me to come by and pick them up. When we got there, Abner was sitting on the patio and had broken the meat part of the hamburger into smallish pieces. Ole now likes MacDonalds as much as Shelly and Elmo do. While we were sitting there, a homeless guy with a gravelly whiskey voice kept up an ongoing chatter giving us all kinds of advice and philosophy on dogs like : dog is god spelled backwards and dogs should eat meat and German Shepherds are intelligent and extremely loyal & on and on and on. We thanked him for his advice and skirted the backside of the building to escape. But as Abner said, the poor guy is really lonely.
Ole has really developed a nice almost auto sit whenever people come up to him. He needs work on having a softer mouth and the off command. Tomorrow!

Ole day 7

I've been keeping a chart of Ole's pees and poos. Not because I've lost my marbles but because it's a good way to figure out his elimination schedule so I know when to get him outside. So far so good, as he hasn't made a mistake or rather we haven't allowed him to fail in 5 days..Yea!!!! I notice that he is starting to head out on his own accord, so now i am going to make sure that he only goes potty in the back of our meager yard next to our wood pile. This morning after his breakfast and while Elmo and Shelly were eating I practiced the fetch game with him. I have a ball on a rope that he really likes, I tease him with it a bit and then toss it a foot away. He pounces on it and I move away calling him to me. If he comes I hold onto him and praise like crazy & wait for him to drop it on his own. When he does, I say "Drop it", get him to sit and we do it again. I keep the sessions very short to keep up his interest in the game. If he doesn't come I give his dragging leash a little tug toward me to get him moving in the right direction.
My friend Tracey was out on the beach in front of my house this morning with her 3 pugs Bamboo, Tiki, and Mango and her good friend and walking companion Erin who has a little Aussie. I sat with Ole on the bench in front of the house and waited till they walked up so that Ole could see and meet his first pugs. He was very interested as he'd never seen dogs that look like that before! They however were quite blase' about the whole thing as they are beach dogs that have seen everything. The rest of the morning involved Elmo wrestling and once again Elmo had to lay down the PAW reinterating to Ole that his magnificent pommeranianish tail is NOT a chew toy and he will not tolerate being pulled around by it. Ole would never even consider doing that to Shelly as would be the kiss of death. We worked on his sits and downs and played the "OFF " game, then headed out on a field trip to the pack and mail place to send off some goodies to his Wisconsin clan. We sent them a bag of bully sticks , other assorted goodies and some Ester C for Duke, Ole's older brother who has a miserable case of Pano. Ole enjoyed meeting Kay who runs the Beach Pack and mail as she gave him a nice bisquit after he sat and lay down for her. He also scored some attention from a guy that came in and admired Ole's floppy ears. He agreed that Ole's ears look kind of like a comb over, something that Dr. Keith pointed out yesterday when he was giving Ole his once over check up. I then took all three dogs to Noahs Pet Market because Ole was almost out of food. He's been eatin' real well since he got here , doesn't like to miss a meal. Elmo got a bit frisky once we were inside Noahs and challenged Ole to a wrestling match. There's nothing like walking 3 dogs on leashes while 2 of them are wrestling! With the help of Megan, we made it back to the car,headed home and after giving Ole lunch I spent some time replying to emails and doing office work. Continuing my goal of socializing Ole to as many people , places and things as possible, we got back in the car and drove to La Jolla and i stationed all 3 dogs and self in front of the Vons store in La Jolla. As expected, Ole's irresistible charms and comb over ears attracted attention from a variety of people but no children were to be seen. A guy who was collecting signatures for political purposes suggested that we go to the Childrens pool as on Saturday a lot of people congregate there. On the way we stopped at a very upscale doggy boutique and ran into one of my old clients from 7 years ago. She and her husband have Jackson a very handsome and sweet Labrador. He wasn't with them but they remembered Shelly from her assisting in puppy class. Shelly was very sweet with them , and it seemed like she may have remembered them! Ole sat beautifully for them and got lots of praise. They left before I did. As we walked back to the car we saw Jacksons owners in a Chic jewelery store. I spend all my money on dogs.
Then it was off to the childrens Pool where Ole Meet some really cute children. One was a little hispanic girl about 5 or6 who was wearing a glittery tiara and fancy matching necklace. She got him to sit and was very sweet with him. Elmo really liked her little brother probably because he had food smeared on his face and hands. They met 5 or 6 more children and then I held Ole up on the seawall so that he could observe all of the seals on the beach. I'm not sure what he thought about them as they kind of looked like slugs moving across the sand. In the middle of that, a group of Japanese tourists started snapping photos of Shelly and she panicked when the cameras flashed. I quickly got her calmed down but decided we had all had enough socializing for one day. Home we headed. The biggy for socializtion however was at home. Ole and Elmo were playing in the front yard and a very nice lady in a wheel chair and her husband stopped at the fence to see Ole. I brought him out and he sniffed the wheel chair all over and then looked up at her and kissed her hands. She has cats at home so that was probably part of the attraction. He spent has time with my friend Donna's cat Maikai and has developed a healthy respect and interest in them. I don't want him chasing cats so he will be visiting Mai Kai on a regular basis for cat respect training.

Ole day5

Ole had another adventure packed day today. I'm trying to be very careful where i walk him as he has only had one set of shots. It was given to him by a veterinarian in Wisconsin and it was a 5 in one package injected 2 days before I picked him up to bring him home. Anyway , I'm not taking him to dog parks or anywhere that a lot of dogs urinate or defecate as Parvo and Distemper can be picked up from the feces and urine of carrier dogs. I live right at the beach, practically on the beach so that makes it difficult. I take him in the car on a daily trek to some new and interesting place where a lot of dogs don't go.
Today after an active morning playing in the house and yard with me and then Elmo, we headed over to our favorite doggie Masseuses house where Shelly got her weekly massage. After a brief run and sniff session in Ann's yard we came into her doggie massage room and Shelly got her special treatment. She needed it as she jumped our 48'' fence a couple of days ago when Abner took Ole for a ride in his bike basket ( she was worried about her new little buddy).. He was a good boy and settled down on a pillow on Ann's floor while Elmo rested on the bed and Shelly had her spa treatment. Having a bully stick to chew on for the half hour kept him busy. After we left Ann's house I decided to take the 3 of them to Old Town for a social walk around. There were a few tourists there but it was slim pickings finding people that were interested in petting him. He did meet one adorable 2 year old boy who he licked at while the tot was patting Elmo on the head. I made sure he sat for the entire meeting as i do not want him learning to jump up on any age or size person for attention. There really weren't any other good prospects for doggy socialization practice








A bit discouraged, we headed home and I made him lunch. He's growing like a weed and needs his midday calories. I'm feeding him a food made by The Honest Kitchen called Force. I tried him on a couple of other products but this one is his favorite. It is freeze dried raw food that you rehydrate with warm filtered water . I add yogurt to it and sometimes a 3 minute boiled egg for breakfast and a little raw hamburger at lunch and dinner. he loves it. He played with Elmo after lunch and then I practiced the " OFF and Take It" game with him. I show him something he would like to have like socks or food and say "OFF". I then close my hand over it and wait for him to give up trying for it and look at me. When that happens I say "Yes" and reward him. This helps teach impulse control. We'll be playing this game a lot over the next few months At 4:00 we got back in the car and headed to his 1st veterinary appt with Dr. Keith Weingardt. I wanted some advice on the best diet for Ole and how to prevent Pano , an inflammation of the bones caused by the long bones growing faster than the joints can support. One of his older brothers, Duke has it and is rather miserable. Dr. keith explained how to tell how much to feed and when to cut back and recommended some Vitamin C twice a day to prevent Pano. He also told me to keep a positive attiitude..Thoughts are things or become things I guess! I'm going to get some vit C for Duke, Ole's older brother and send it to my sister in law to dose him with. Hopefully it will help. I weighed Ole and he has gained 2 lbs6 ounces since Saturday ( 7days ago) He is enjoying his food to say the least. He weighs 27.6lbs!!! I'm glad i didn't wait to fly with him for another week. Oh, Ole has an overbite, I guess that means he 'll never be a show dog. Maybe I can teach him to spit? The high light of Ole's first vet check up was Olive. Olive is a lovely 3 year old german short haired pointerish X that belongs to Mary who was working the front desk at The Animal Healing Center today. Olive loves puppies and Ole thought she was wonderful. He was throwing play bows at her and spinning in circles, doing his best to dazzle her. He also met a very sweet pit mix when we first came in the door. She also captured his heart but they only sniffed no play action. He met Dr Amanda and Beth and Mary and got treats from everyone. I think he thinks it's a great place to visit. He's coming back in a month for a Parvo and Distemper booster and we'll see then how much he weighs. He was HUNGRY after his exciting visit so we headed home for dinner and play and rest before we start all over again tomorrow.

Day 5 socializing Ole

Ole had a fun day today, did some fetch traing with his ball on a rope toy in the early morning and he and Elmo did a lot of jaw wrestling afterwards. He's a bit rougher with Elmo than I'd like but i find that if I keep a dragging leash on him and settle him down every couple of minutes for a time out he's much gentler with Elmo. Don't get me wrong, Elmo loves playing with Ole, I just don't want Ole learning to play rough with any dog especially smaller ones like Elmo.
I took all 3 dogs on a short road trip to the post office and then inside the bank . They love to do banking at the ATM and all 3 sat next to me while I made a deposite. Next we headed over to my friend Helen's house which is a couple of blocks from the bank. Her dog Brendan was at the groomers ( he's kinda rough on puppies) so we brought them into her fantastic jungle of a back yard. They had a ball digging and sniffing and searching. Helen mentioned a local Luthren elementary school as a good place for Ole to meet kids so we headed over there. There were around 30 kids playing in the school yard when we got there so I left Shelly and Elmo in the car and walked Ole up to the fence. Within a minute 5 little girls and boys came over to pet Ole and each one gave him a treat for sitting. One little girl said she has 3 dogs at home and one is named Dipstick! Ole met about 6 more kids and then we walked to another part of the fence where he could watch kids jumping rope and playing basketball. I'm sure he never saw that at the farm. From there we came home and Abner showed up withan old and very large metal (wire) crate which I set up in the busy area of the house. He walked right in it so I tossed in a few treats and after a few minutes began getting him to sit and lie down in it. My goal is to be able to leave him alone in his crate for progressivel longer periods of time so that we don't have to constantly watch him.
Then it was off to Noahs Pet Market where I had set him up with his first nail trimming appointment with Tess who is a superior groomer and nail trimming expert. Ole's nails were little raptor claws so it really needed doing. Tess said he handled the dremmel tool part but didn't like getting his nails filed afterwards. He's going to see her again in 2 weeks for a follow up trim to get him use to having his nails trimmed. Meanwhile , I will be working with his feet also. Big day, he's asleep at my feet. Puppy hood ...I'm pooped!

Day 4 with new puppy Ole

to stop off and spy on the class. We parked at a distance from the front glass doors of the vet clinic where the class is being held and watched . It was really fun to be sneaky and spy on them. We didn't want to announce ourselves as it would disrupt the class and Ole who is showing signs of being over bonded with me might not work for Abner. Anyway they looked like they were having a good time practicing sits and downs, coming when called and some agility for puppies ie:running through a tunnel and walking over a ladder made of pool noodles that was placed on the ground.
After about 10 minutes we headed home.

Yesterday was a big one (again) for Ole ( oh-lee), I took him to the local Ralphs grocery store. I parked in their underground parking. The reason I picked Ralphs is it has both an exterior escalator and elevator. These I reasoned would be good things to get him used to. He was amazing! He rode up and down in the elevator 4 times and acted like he'd done it everyday of his life. You'd think a puppy raised in a barn in Wisconsin would freak out at this , but not so with Ole! We got off the elevator and walked up the ramp to the escalator, and once again, no problem. He hopped right on it, sat his butt down and rode it like a pro. This particular escalator carries shopping carts up and down so it had no steps for him to get his feet or tail caught in so no worry there. We then just sat in fron t of the store and lurked waiting for people and kids to come and meet him. Never fails, he was soon charming multiple people and practicing his best sit to greet behavior. He only met one child however. It was a little girl about 6 yrs old who got him to sit. She also fed him a treat which he took gently from her hand. Good puppy! We then rode the escalator back down to the car.

We then got back in the car and went to Noahs Natural Pet Market and I carried him in. I am concerned about Parvo and Distemper so I held him in my arms ( believe me that is getting more difficult every day as he is gaining weight hourly). He got to meet with both Mary and Liz the shop owners as well as their great staff ladies. I had to measure one of my paintings thatare displayed on their walls so was able to get the ladies to hold him for me while I did that. Yes, I am also a painter. I paint pictures of....DOGS and sometimes cats which I also like. Mary and I had to go upstairs to their office to retrieve a painting and Ole got in some more good stair climbing practice. After that we headed home to get him prepared for his first night of puppy class. I work with Laura Christiensen who owns Canine Learning Centers. She offered him a space in her Del Mar class for puppies so I took her up on it . I wanted my husband Abner to get more involved/bonded with Ole and he agreed to take him to class on his own. I had to drive to LA with my friend Donna and her dog Ginger to take my other 2 dogs to Tracking class. so the boys were going to be on their own.
On the way back from the tracking class, Donna and I were going to pass by where Ole and Abner were in class so we decided

Socialization, yesterday and today

Ole and Abner and i just got back from Costco. What a great place to socialize your puppy! Ole met at least 4o new people and at least 10 children in the 3 to 5 yr range. We sat in the shade near the food court which is right at the entrance and he caught the eye of everyone who was coming in and leaving. He scored meeting and being fed by a woman in a wheel chair and lots of little kids sitting in shopping carts. I got him a cup of ice and he munched ice cubes. Everyone had a story about their own dogs or advice for me on how to raise him. I always get a kick out of the advice as I've been teaching people how to raise their puppies since 1992. But what the heck, I just may learn something new by listening to them. I never tell them I'm a dog trainer, if i do everyone wants free advice.

Yesterday Ole and Shelly and Elmo and I went to the local Target store and sat out front for about 20 minutes. It was very entertaining and all three dogs got lots of nice attention. A rather short obese woman who looked down and out ( she was hanging out by the garbage containers collecting cans and eating a pizza), asked if she could feed them pizza and I said no thanks. She finished her pizza and sidled on over and started petting Elmo. Elmo is a connoisseur of pizza breath so he liked her right away. She asked me if I needed any odd jobs done like she could wash my dogs for me. I said no thanks as I had that job covered. She then told me that she really misses her old man since he got sent to prison and can hardly wait for him to get back. We met a nice young man who wants to get a Shepherd puppy and he took Oles' picture to send to his mom. Then a kind of creepy older guy, ( what the heck, he was probably my age!), parked his bicycle right next to us ,mumbled something unintelligible and went into the store. Five minutes later he came back out and told me that everyone in the store is a crook. On that note , we left for home.

The reason I'm spending so much time and effort getting Ole out and about, meeting all kinds of people, places, and things is puppy brains grow very fast from birth to 16 weeks. It's called the window of socialization and it is a critical time for puppies to experience as many things in a positive way as you can think of in that period. After 16 weeks is is much more difficult to get the job done as their brain growth slows down. It is actually best to start this process of socialization and desensitization well before 12 weeks of age as really young puppies are very moldable. Dogs need to be socialized throughout their lives but that first 12/ 16 weeks is the most important time.

Teaching Ole good dog manners

Three days ago I arrived home in San Diego, Ca. with Ole my German Shepherd puppy. My sister in law Marye who has a farm in Wisconsin German Shepherd Sammy had a litter of 9 puppies and she saved the calmest and friendliest one for us. He grew up sleeping in a horse stall in their barn but he was born February 1st in the kitchen of their log cabin on a freezing Wisconsin night.

My husband Abner and I already had 2 dogs and it was kind of crazy to get a third but well here he is and he is wonderful. I'm a professional dog trainer by trade and Shelly my 11 year old Shepherd mix and Elmo my 3ish Pomeranian mix have been my dog class and private lesson assistants for almost as long as they each have lived with me. Shelly in particular is my best dog ever for teaching good dog manners to puppies and adolescents. She however, retired herself from classes 1&1/2 years ago and Elmo has been filling in ever since. I knew I needed another big dog to fill her impressive paws but was reluctant to go the 3 dog route as 3 is A LOT more work. Besides, Elmo just can't do what Shelly does. Other dogs don't tend to take a 17 pound Pom x seriously.

The trip from Wisconsin was a big adventure with a lot of firsts for Ole. First long car ride, first elevator ride, first plane ride, first escalator , rode in a carry on bag and met a hundred new and interesting people. He handled it all like a pro, calm and interested not afraid. He was only concerned once when a 3 year old moppet kept staring at him. He had never met any small children before so he growled! Big red flag for me , so I made sure that he met every child we passed and luckily we sat next to an exuberant 18 month old on our first flight . By the end of that ride he was pretty blase'about young kids. Oops, we have to go to Costco for socialization practice . more later