Ole and teething

Ole has 2 new upper incisors! That happened fast. I looked in his mouth 3 days ago and noticed he had a loose upper front tooth and today he has 2 new adult upper front teeth! It looks like his lower front two may also have started to come in also. His mouth will be bothering him a lot so I have to make sure he has plenty of things to chew on to help with the process. In puppies they lose their puppy teeth starting a little after 16 weeks. At about 8 months all the adult teeth will be in and the puppy teeth gone. Then the bone will start hardening around the adult teeth and that will be the beginning of his second chewing stage. This lasts till about 18 months and coincides with an improvement in concentration and general settling down behavior wise. That is IF one works with their puppy & has lots of rules and guides the pup in the proper direction. All young animals need rules and boundaries in order to turn out normal and feel safe and secure.

Ole had a lot of crate time today due to all the painting Abner and I had to get done. Don't worry, he still managed to have several fun walks and plenty of play time with Elmo. He also met a bunch of partiers when Abner took him out for the evening walk. Apparently he got lots of hugs by some rather tipsy people. I'm sure glad he's got a stable temperament. Tomorrow he gets to go to daycare so he'll get to see his puppy buddies.

Ole gets 2 new teeth

Ole in the tub

Ole had another fun walk with Abner this morning while I power walked Shelly and Elmo. Then it was breakfast and nap time in the crate so we could get to work painting the upstairs hall and entry area to the stairway to the stairs up to our roof deck. After a while i took a break and drove the 3 dogs over to Noah's to give Elmo and Ole their baths. This was Ole's 1st bath by me so we took it slowly and made it fun with treats. I put treats in the tub and while he ate them gently swooshed him with a bit of warm water . I did this until he was all wet and pretty relaxed and then out came the soap. Megan, who is one of the worker bees at Noah's brought over some special "Puppy soap". I guess it is milder than regular soap??? It worked just fine and I lathered him up. Cecelia( another worker bee )came into work right about then and said hi to Ole and commented on how brave he was in the tub. I got Ole all cleaned up and smelling foofoo, dried him off and got him out of the tub and then into the tub with Elmo. Elmo is a master of tub etiquette..calm obliging and actually may enjoy it on some level. Elmo is a lot more work though because his coat is long and has to be blown dry after bathing. While bathing Elmo, Cecelia's husband Eric came into visit and came over to meet Ole. Ole really liked him as Eric knew how to fun play with Ole. Ole wants to grow up to be cool like Eric I think. Shelly didn't get a bath today as she prefers baths at home in a low tub. I had to move everyone over to the drying area next so I got Ole a buffalo scapula to chew on and keep him busy while I worked on Elmo. Shelly got up on the bench area next to me and lay down to survey the scene. Everyone was well behaved even with all the other customers dogs coming in and out and I got Elmo fluffed and puffed pretty fast. I paid for everything and then Megan helped me back to the car carrying a big box of Maxim raw dehydrated chicken . I couldn't carry the box and walk 3 dogs at the same time..what a weenie I am!
The rest of the day was spent painting and cleaning and dog care and making dinner. Ole did get another training walk somehow or other. Abner has a rotten cold which didn't help. There is still a ton of painting to do as we haven't even started with the bedroom yet. It has been primed from top to bottom but not the final coat of paint yet. TOMORROW

Ole and Abner go on a fun walk

I had class to teach this morning , so Ole stayed with Abner while Elmo and Shelly went with me to the park for class. I had taken the two of them on a power walk before class and Ole was reluctant to come. Abner said that he thought it was because when he (Abner) took him on the morning potty walk he was impatient with Ole dragging behind and wanting to sniff and invertigate everything. So he said that he would start taking Ole on fun walks to the beach instead.
Elmo elected himself to be the assistant dog for the class. Julie Donna and I gave a Canine Good Citizen Test, combining both her class and mine. The students from my class took it as a mock test for experience and Julies class took it for real. Donna brought her Mom's little yorkie Grady to take the test also. I was happy with my students, none of them passed but they all came close or at least had improved a lot since class started. Grady flunked only one part of the test, he didn't come when Donna called him.
At home Abner said that he and Ole had a great walk, met lots of people. Both of them especially enjoyed meeting a scantily clad young woman who was out jogging who stopped hugged up Ole and kissed him. Abner enjoyed the show. Ole also got to dig a big hole in the sand, so all in all it was a fun walk for both of them.
I fed Ole lunch,pottied him and put him in his crate. Then I masked off more of the hallway trim and the landing area up to the bedroom. I then got Ole out for a walk to the bank with a stop at Noah's along the way. There were a ton of people out as it was sunny and beautiful. I picked up some dog treats at Noah's and then walked Ole to the bank where he went in the lobby with me and practiced a sit stay while i did my banking. We headed from there back towards Noah's and on the way stopped to watch 4 young guys on skate boards jumping short concrete walls in an open parking garage. Ole was a little over excited by it at first but I got him to sit and gave him a treat whenever he watched calmly or looked away from it to me. Then we went back inside Noh's and he practiced once again getting in and out of one of the tubs. I was able to actually spray him with warm water all over while he ate treats tossed into the bottom of the tub. He is probably ready now for a bath on Sunday. I don't want to have a dog that I have to wrestle into the tub and wrestle with while he is in it also. That's NOT fun and he is BIG and getting bigger.

Ole goes to the Ranch

We all had to sleep downstairs in the living room last night because our Master bedroom is all torn apart and all the furniture from that room is on our deck and also packed in our guest bedroom. It was kind of like camping except no bugs and snakes. Ole slept in his downstairs crate which is in our living room , Elmo and I had the bench next to the fire place ,Shelly had the love seat, and Abner had the big couch. We hit the ground running so to speak. denny was to show up at 9:00 and I had to get everything done for the dogs and then go to the paint store on my way to Elmo's chiropractic appt. Elmo really needed it! Ole is a bit of a galumpus with poor Elmo. Elmo eggs him on though and if I remove Ole from him, Elmo comes right back for more. He seems to enjoy the play as much as Ole does. They are great buddies. Shelly just sits back and looks disgusted with them. I weighed Ole while we were there and he now weighs 41.4 lbs! and he is only 17 weeks. Elmo was a limp noodle in Dr Amanda's hands. He loves his massages and the adjustments. We came home where I dropped off Shelly and Elmo with Abner and Denny and then Ole and I went to Donna's house and picked her up and we drove over to Julie's 3 acre ranch /doggie day care/board and train facility. I had gone to a seminar on dog training in Orlando Fla a couple of weeks ago and Julie has a dog that she wanted me to train using the techniques I learned at that seminar. I also planned on teaching Julie how to do what I learned. Donna also wanted to try the techniques so we had a fun 2 hour training session just the 3 of us and the dogs. Ole got to watch. I didn't want to leave him with Abner as I was afraid the men would not watch him closely enough and who knows what he would have gotten in to! Ole enjoyed the ranch but did not like all the horse flies and was thrilled to get back in the car when we finished up. He got to meet 2 of Julie's dogs, Duncan a young very cute pit bull who Ole found to be some what intimidating and Sally her adorable cattle dog. Ole at 17 weeks no longer has puppy privaledge as he smells to adult dogs like an intact adolescent dog. Duncan got Ole to sit and stay and you could tell Ole was not about to move until Duncan let him. On that note I took him back to the car and We drove toward home dropped Donna off and did brief grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and then home for lunch. Denny had most of the walls smoothed out and Abner was busy priming the dry walls. I taped off a few areas and fed Ole his Honest Kitchen Force with a raw chicken neck , pottied him and put him in his crate. Shelly and Elmo and I then walked to Noah's and picked up some more food for Ole. They felt special as the got turkey treats from Hannah the shop manager while we were there. We came home did some more work mostly clean up . Denny finished up and left for the weekend. It's Memorial Day weekend so he had plans. He will be back next week when the wood arrives to start laying our new wood floors in the Master bedroom. Abner and I have to get the ceiling and walls painted before Denny can lay the floors. Not much play for us this weekend.
About the time we finished dinner tonight, Donna and Phil and little Ginger showed up . they had been walking on the oceanside and when they got near Ginger had made a beeline for our house. She insisted that they come over to visit. they came in and while Abner and Phil chatted ,Donna and I took a look and our work in progress up stairs. They stayed for about an hour and the dogs played . Ole is fascinated with Ginger . He followed her all around the house but stayed a cautious 2 feet away at all times. She may only weigh 7 lbs but he knows she can take him, she has the evil eye. He was very respectful of her like he is with Shelly.
Abner took Ole on a short training walk after Donna and Phil left, but came back after 10 minutes because he found 2 bicycles in the alley that someone was throwing out. Abner likes to rehab old broken bikes and then sell them to locals or tourists. It's his hobby along with volley ball and motorcycles.
Ole is back in his crate now and Elmo and Shelly are editing this blog.

Ole helps with the redo of the MBR

Today was daycare day for Ole and Shelly and Elmo were due for massages so we dropped him off with Hiromi and Suzuki and spent a relaxing hour at Ann's house while both Shelly and Elmo got their kinks worked out by Ann. Then it was back home where I dropped them off with Abner . He was waiting for Denny our finish carpenter jack of all trades guy to show up to help with retexturing the walls of the MBR and paint the ceiling. I headed to see Marcella who does my hair. On my way back from getting all glammed up by Marcella I picked Ole up at Daycare where he had had a stellar fun morning playing with Bella and Buddy. Hiromi told me that she had pushed a baby stroller around all the pups in the class to get them use to them. Ole was unflappable , just casually sniffed the buggy. He's so brave and handsome.

I took him home and picked up some lunch for Denny . Abner had painted half the ceiling in the bedroom but it was slow going as he was painting white stain over wood and the wood was soaking it up like crazy. Denny had about a third of the wall space retextured and it already looked considerably better. It's a big room and is taking a lot of material to cover it all. Ole thoroughly enjoyed his lunch. He got Honest kitchens Force which is a chicken based raw dehydrated food which I mixed with warm water and to spice it up I added 2 raw chicken necks , fat removed. He was thrilled. I took him out to potty and then we went upstairs to see how the guys were doing.
Ole decided he needed an appetizer and LICKED UP A SMALL SCOOP OF DRYWALL PLASTER WHICH I IMMEDIATELY SCRAPED OUT OF HIS MOUTH BEFORE HE COULD SWALLOW IT. Puppies will eat ANYTHING! he and Elmo started playing a mouth wrestling game which evolved into chase and catch so downstairs we went before someone got knocked off a ladder.
I let him out to potty again and then crated him while I masked off some of the trim areas in the bedroom . Later I took the dogs on a car ride to Home depot to do a little shopping for masking supplies. Elmo got to ride in the cart. Ole got to ride on a wheeled flat cart. Both of them enjoyed it. Shelly preferred to sit in the car. She's above such silliness. Ole and Elmo scored quite a few pets. They love going to Home Depot.

Ole's mistake, My bad

So Ole peed in the bedroom. Drat. it was all my fault. He's had a perfect no mistakes record for a month. He and Elmo were running up and down the hallway between our master bedroom and the back guest bedroom wrestling at each end and then racing after one another to the other end to wrestle again. At one point it did pass my mind that he was going to need to go out and pee but I was busy carting things out of our bedroom because we are repainting it and getting ready to lay down new wood floors in there. I walked into the bed room just in time to hear Abner say " What happened here?" There it was , a big wet spot in the middle of Shelly's bed! Well he told her didn't he? Outside Ole went, and it was of course too late to do anything about his mistake besides clean it up. Unless you catch your dog in the act of sinning , it is too late to correct them. Dogs live in the now, I could kick myself.

Shelly and Elmo and Donna and Ginger and I had to drive to Tustin to take the Odor recognition tests Wednesday night. They were to be held at the same location our nose work classes are held but at a later time. I left Ole with Abner so that they could have some man time together. There were 30 dogs and handlers signed up for the first test which was to detect the odor of Birch. In the test two rows of 8 boxes were lined up 48 inches apart. There was a judge who stood to one side, a steward who guided you into the room and made sure procedures were understood, and a person who stood opposite the starting line at the other end of the room with a camera who videoed the each test. We were allowed 3 minutes to complete the test. Elmo was a rock star with Birch. He found the correct box within 15 seconds. He alerted me by sniffing the correct box all over and then freezing and staring right at me . He then put both paws on the box. I said "Alert!", the judge agreed. Everyone in the room clapped. It was exciting. Oh BTW, spectators were also sitting along the wall when we came in.
Shelly had a harder time on her 1st test as she is spooked by cameras. She associates them with flashes which are like fireworks to her. As soon as we lined up at the start , she saw the camera person pointing the camera at her and didn't want to move. I felt very calm strangely enough, and just sweet talked her in to moving and kept her aimed at the boxes, she loosened up and started sniffing while keeping an eye on the camera and found the box. She alerted by sniffing it all over and then staring at me. It took , so I'm told 2 minutes. I was very proud of her for over coming her fear instead of shutting down.

Ginger whizzed right through all 3 odors. She is an amazingly talented little nose hound. Shelly passed all 3 of her tests, Birch, Anise and Clove. Elmo however, who is always great at this ran into a snag on his final test with clove. He alerted me on the wrong box and disqualified on clove. I guess clove was Elmos version of quadratic equation word problems last night. Dogs are never allowed to think they failed in nosework, so the judge told me which box had the scent so I took him to it and he sniffed it very hard , put his paws on it and grinned at me. He got his reward and as he strutted out of the room I said " We'll be back!" They laughed.. It was a long night , an hour and a half drive to the test site , then from 6:30 to 10:00 for the tests and then an hour and a half drive home. Ole was thrilled to see us when we got home so I let him out of his crate and he took a little brief walk with his graduated pack mates. Then it was to bed for us all.

Another busy day for Ole

After a grooming session, a morning power walk and then breakfast Ole went to day care this morning. His girl friend Bella was there so Ole was very pleased. He didn't carry on when I left until I reached my car and then I heard him protest howl / bark. I girded my loins and drove off despite Oles protests. Shelly and Elmo were in the car so we went to Fiesta Island and did our usual off leash walk that the love so much. We only met one dog, a really cute Siberian Husky mix that wanted to play with Elmo. They chased each other around a bit and then the Husky ran off to his owner . We then headed home where i got the graduation certificates ready for puppy class tonight. I had an appt at 11:30 so i did some yard work and then headed out to my appt. On the way home it was almost 1:00 so I stopped and picked up Ole. When I got to the daycare place I could see by peeking through the fence that Ole was playing with Bella and a young 10 week old German Shepherd puppy. It was fun to watch and he was very gentle with the two pups. He soon smelled me and fun stopped..he just wanted his Mom. From there we headed back home where I fed him lunch and I left him with Abner so that the two of them could go do some yard work at the apartments. Shelly and Elmo and I headed over to Donna's house to do our final practice before the ORT's on Wed evening. Shelly was 100% better tody. I think she felt better than she has the past 2 or 3 days. Anyway we kept the session short and ended it on a high note with even Shelly wanting to do more. I hope it goes well on Wed during the tests.
We went to my studio from there where I loaded up the truck with the puppy agility equipment for class tonight and then went over to pick up Ole and rescue Abner from his clutches. Ole when we got there was "helping" Abner dig out some old tree roots from the front yard. Ole was covered in mud and happy, happy, happy. Abner was glad to see us to say the least. We took all three dogs for a little walk about and then I took them home where I got everyone's dinner ready. At 6:15 Elmo and I headed off to class while Abner and Shelly and Ole went for a walk. Abner complains that Ole doesn't walk well for him on leash but he doesn't practice with him so what can i say. He walks real well for me. Every walk is a training walk as far as I'm concerned.

Ole goes to class

I had a class to teach saturday morning and Abner was off camping and bike riding at Big Bear, so I packed up all 3 dogs and one of the X-Pens and motated over to class. I set the X-Pen up under a big shade tree, took the dogs for a walk around and then put them in the X-Pen. Oops, just felt an earthquake! That's always disconcerting, makes my stomach flip flop. Anyway, I put out cones to demarcate the class area, and people started showing up. Elmo was the demo dog du jour, showing off leash work, stays and the Leave it command. Next week we will do a mock Canine Good Citizen test so that the students can decide if they want to take the CGC class or possibly Fun Agility. Ole practiced being a good quiet puppy in the X-Pen with crabby Shelly keeping a watchful eye on him. He only complained about his incarceration once during class, but it was a short lived complaint. Good boy Ole. At one point , I looked over at the X-Pen and saw a woman let her golden retriever run up to the X-Pen, both of my dogs were good , they just ignored the golden. People tend to be kinda' clueless about dog etiquette. At the end of class, He and Shelly got to come out and romp on the grass while I packed up . Donna took Ole on a short training walk but he spent most of it trying to get back to me. I ignored him until he calmed down and paid attention to her and then called him to me, had him sit and quietly praised him. Donna and the dogs and I sat out and talked with Julie the other instructor who also teaches classes for Canine Learning Centers for a while and then everyone headed home.
I fed Ole a much appreciated lunch and then into the crate he went while I did some serious housework, vacuuming, mopping, clothes washing etc.
Ole and I took a long training walk together all around the bayside and the oceanside. He met about 10 new people. One of the 10 was a rather tipsy young woman who must have kissed him 6 times on the nose . He seemed to like it and she kept going on about how much she loved dogs. I got him away from her before it got any more passionate.

Sunday: Ole slept in a bit this morning...until almost 7:00...Yea!!!! He was raring and ready to go though once he'd had his breakfast. Both Shelly and Elmo were a little grumpy with him. They both like to ease into the day, Ole however was like a Kami kazi pilot. Elmo got so disgusted with him that he went upstairs and stayed on my bed which is too high for Ole to fling himself on. We all took a walk and Ole ignored all the skaters, joggers and bike riders pretty well. he generally is better with them in the morning than he is later in the day and evening. I had a private lesson at 12:00 so I put Ole back in his crate about 20 minutes before I had to leave, got all the stuff I needed for the lesson packed in the car and then went into the living room where I keep his downstairs crate and sat and read the paper until he relaxed and was calm. I also played my calm music tape while I was reading to help him settle. When I left I didn't look at touch him or talk to him..I just left. When I got back, everyone was calm and relaxed. i let them all out side to potty and Ole ran back to the woodpile area to do his duty. He's got that all figured out , or at least so far so good..
Donna called and wanted us to do another nose work practice at her house, so we drove over there. It was really windy and the boxes had been blowing all over the alley, so we practiced in her back yard instead. it went pretty well for Ginger and Elmo but Shelly after one really good clear find alert seemed to lose her momentum. The ORT has to be done on leash and I'm wondering if that is her objection to the box work. She is more motivated off leash. I probably will only do one Ort with her insted of 3 as I had originally planned at this rate. I don't know what's up with her. Abner got home and said that it snowed last night in Big Bear and his cell phone froze. He kept it open on his car dash board on the drive home and it finally dried out and warmed up enough so that he could use it by the time he was almost home.
The dogs got after dinner bones tonight . They think life is good.

Ole goes out for dinner

We had an early appt with Ann who does therapeutic doggy massage this morning. Shelly had her appt at 8:30 and Elmo at 9:00. Ole and I sat on the bed in the massage room at Ann's house while Shelly and then Elmo got their kinks worked out. Shelly as usual tolerated the massage but Elmo was in 7th heaven. After that we drove over to Fiesta Island and took a 40 minute off leash walk in my favorite area. Ole wore a dragging line but didn't seem to need it as he stuck close to me and came easily when ever I called him. I hid from him twice but he was too smart to let me get out of sight. Afterwards I stopped at home and thoroughly brushed all three dogs to make sure I got out any foxtails in their coats and left Shelly and Elmo and took Ole to the vet's office ( Dr. Keith Weingardt) for his last puppy shot a Parvo/Distemper combo. Dr.Keith also checked Ole out Chiropracticaly and said that his weight is good and his joints appear to be developing normally. Ole was pretty good, only complained a little when Keith was manipulating his hips to check out the sockets. He didn't even seem to notice his vaccination...the chicken treat helped! BTW, Ole now weighs 38.8 lbs. He weighed 38.6 on Monday.
Once we got home from the vet visit, I fed Ole lunch and put him in his crate for some down time. I then set to work making homemade spaghetti sauce. I got that simmering and did some other work and then at 4:00 packed the dogs, some scent containers , the spaghetti sauce & noodles and a salad and we went over to Donna's house for a nose work practice and Dinner. I also brought the dogs dinners with us and some bones for dessert (for the dogs!)
This time we practiced with the boxes and the hidden scent in the alley behind Donna's house. All 3 dogs did very well. Shelly is the most difficult to read. Her signal when she finds the scent can be very subtle and I'm not that great at picking up on it. It's a good thing we are practicing almost every day for the ORT next week. Ole just hung out in Donna's back yard while we did the scent work and a couple of Donna's neighbors came over and played with him and helped us by hiding the scent boxes. After that we had dinner and then watched some old episodes of The Dog Whisperer and then I packed up and brought my pups home. Donna's husband Phil and my husband Abner are on a camping trip at Big Bear Lake so while they are having boys weekend , Donna and I are having Girls weekend.

Ole feels his oats

Ole went to day care this morning and as usual, Shelly and Elmo got to go to Fiesta Island for an off leash walk and sniff trip. From there we went to Target to look for boxes that we could use to practice for the Odor retrieval Test (ORT) that Shelly and Elmo are entered in next week Wednesday. I was out of luck there but called Donna and she found perfect boxes at Staples so she bought 12 of them. I went home and then gathered up my scent bottles and containers and the 3 of us went over to Donna's house. We set up one box as the odor box and laid all the boxes out in a rectangle shape , 48" apart and put a scent container in the odor box. These were blind hides , which means I put the odor box in the rectangle and Donna would not know which box was the odor box. She had to read her dog and figure out from Ginger's behavior when Ginger had found the odor box. Ginger's signal when she found the correct box is to paw at it. She never missed a find. Elmo also was very clear about his finds, he put two paws on the odor box when he found it and or would stand next to the box and look at me and wag his tail. Shelly had problems today and seemed distracted and was not clearly signaling. She was very difficult to read. I took her off leash for the find it and when she did get it right massively rewarded her. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow when we practice.
From Donna's we zipped over to day care and picked up Ole who as Hiromi said , had a wonderful time at school today. He made a new friend today named Buddy, a little chocolate labradoodle that is 6 months old. He was however ready to go home for some lunch and a nap.
After spending a couple of hours at home, we all headed over to Noah's for an appointment for all 3 to get their nails filed. Ole just had his done 2 weeks ago but he wasn't very cooperative so I take him in every two weeks so that he will get use to it before he weighs a hundred lbs. Shelly and Elmo went back with Tess to the space where she does the nails while I spent some time in the shop teaching Ole to get in and out of the big raised bath tubs. At first i treated him for walking up each step and then for getting into the tub and then for hanging out in the tub and then for climbing out of the tub and going back down the stairs. He did that 3 times and got really comfortable being in the tub so I turned on the faucet hose and sprayed a little water in the tub but away from him and tossed him small treats for remaining calm with that. He seemed okay with it and even wanted to play with the water a bit so I knew he was on his way for a good bath experience in a few days. He got out of the tub and Tess brought Shelly and Elmo back with shiny pretty nails, so I sent Ole off with her for his turn. i was talking to everyone and I could hear Ole caterwalling in the back ground. He was protesting the dremeling of his nails. He settled down in a couple of minutes ( after Tess gave him some bacon and came out a couple of minutes later with nice short burnished nails. He'll be back to see Tess in two weeks. Tess showed me an accupressure point on his front legs that if you press calms him down. I'll be using it! I gave Tess a painting i had done of her little long haired chihuahua as a thank you for helping with Ole and also because she does so many good things for dogs in need. She is a really great person. I think she liked the painting a lot.
After we got home I made everyone dinner ,groomed them and fed them and put all 3 dogs back in the car as I had a class to teach in Del Mar. Abner left this morning to go camping and dirt bike riding in Big Bear with Donna's husband Phil so he wasn't available to help with the dogs. I decided that I would bring all 3 dogs to class. We stopped on the way to pick up Donna. Her Ginger was not feeling real good so she left her home. The class went really well. Elmo was the main Demo dog and Shelly and Ole came out and mingled with some of the students after class was over. They were very good. After that , it was back home. We dropped off Donna and that was it for the day.

Ole missed a blog day!

Actually I missed a blog day and Ole isn't into computers yet so he didn't get any blogging done either.. That probably will happen at a year when his brain will be fully formed.
I forgot to include in my last blog that Ole and Shelly and Elmo had a play date with their friend GiGi a very glam young mini- labradoodle. GiGi lives with her humans Dori, Kira, and Charles. GiGi is 2 years old and Elmo and Shelly were her mentor dogs when she was a little puppy. She and Elmo adore each other and Shelly likes her too. Ole had never met GiGi before, so when The dogs and I drove over to GiGi's house, I brought Shelly and Elmo in the back yard first so that their presence would distract GiGi and give Ole time to fit in. I also did not want Ole to pee in Dori's house so I made sure he came in the side gate to the yard. Even though a puppy may seem house broken in your own home , it doesn't mean they have generalized that behavior to some one elses home! They had a great time chasing each other all over the yard and even Shelly lightened up a bit and indulged a little bit of the catch me games. Ole was quite taken with GiGi but she kept him in check with some fast moves and a few snaps and growls when he got a little too much in her space. Her corrections were very good, not too harsh but just firm enough that he backed off and was respectful. Ole really seems to like the ladies.
Abner did most of Ole's training walks today as I had a morning appointment and then drove to Tustin with Donna and Shelly and Elmo and Ginger for Nose work class. Ole stayed with Abner and did man stuff. I did get his grooming session done and fed him his lunch before we left. He is really good about me handling him and touching the bowl and adding bits of hamburger to his bowl while he eats. Abner does this also when he feeds Ole and we try to get any visitors to also toss good stuff in his bowl when they come over. Hopefully, he will enjoy and or welcome people around his bowl as he gets older. I like for him to trust that we never come near his bowl to take his food away, only to add something tasty to it. Trust is so important, it can make or break a relationship.
After we got back from class all three dogs got a raw bone, Ole in his crate and Shelly and Elmo got theirs outside.

Ole is 16 weeks old today!

Sixteen weeks is very significant as at 16 weeks Ole's ( and all other puppies) brains are 3/4th's of the way formed. Brain growth now begins to slow down and will slowly continue until his brain is fully formed at 12 months. At that point he won't have read the users manual yet but at least it will all be there ready to go. He will still be a little sponge for learning new things but his brain isn't quite as adaptable as it was yesterday. Now his body growth will speed up and most of his long bone growth will happen between 16 weeks and 7 months. His optic nerve also is now fully formed and he will see things that he didn't notice before and may show concern because things now look differently to him. He also had a surge of testosterone that will now begin to rise until 12 months of age. At one year, It gradually will dip and peak until by 3 years it reaches ( lowers to) normal adult male levels. he no longer smells like a puppy to adult dogs but instead smells of adolescence and potential for out of control behavior , so all the adult dogs he meets will immediately want to put him in his place. Adult mentor dogs will be and are important in this phase of his life as they will teach him the ropes so to speak and let him know when he is out of line with out harming him in the process. Puppy breathe is gone and he smells like a teenager! Watch out world. He is teething and his adult canine teeth will be the first teeth to come in. He needs lots of available safe items to chew on to help eliminate this discomfort in his mouth. Raw bones are on the top of the list as well as stuffed Kong toys and other appropriate items. Adolescent pups also tend to test the waters more with their owners , so my husband and I will have to be very patient with him and make sure that we follow through and show him what he has to do when he doesn't do what we wish. The big words here are patience and consistency. Teenage is a stressful time for puppies and their owners. Sounds like working with kids doesn't it?
Ole lifted his leg for the first time this morning. I was a bit surprised as that doesn't usually occur until around 10 months. He's been watching Elmo's manly displays of marking near the wood pile I guess. Elmo is very proud of his student.
I dropped Ole at Day care this morning and took Shelly and Elmo to our favorite place on Fiesta Island for an off leash romp. Then we headed home where i got a few things done and then headed off for an appointment. I picked Ole up on the way back and Romi told me that Ole figured out how to walk the big dog " A" Frame by watching the older dogs do it. He just watched and then ran up and over it all by himself and then he kept on doing it cause he was so proud of himself. My boy is gifted, I'm so proud! She also said he has a puppy crush on Bella the little 5&1/2 month old Westie. I guess that makes her a cougar as he is just 16 weeks.
I brought him home , fed him, gave him a potty break and then put him in his crate. I had work to do in my studio. This evening was puppy class in University City. Everyone showed up which is always nice and we taught them all a bunch of tricks that their pups can perform for the class next week. It is always fun to see what the pups can do by week 4. We will also have a little agility race next week. Elmo and Ole got to come to class tonight as demo dogs. Shelly stayed home as she finds the class too noisy and busy for her liking.

Ole and the pink purse

When i first brought Elmo home 2&1/2 years ago he dug Shelly's old fluffy pink purse toy that says Princess on it out of the toy box. It was his favorite toy for the longest time. Well, Ole has discovered the same toy and seems to have a similar passion for it. He and Elmo wrestle over it and play tug with it. They are obviously Metrosexual dogs. I forgot to mention yesterday that I introduced Ole to scent work yesterday. I was practicing with Shelly and Elmo having them search the alley for hidden scent containers and decided to do some of what are called box drills. I put out 7 empty boxes and put scent in one or two boxes that I lined up in a row. First Shelly got to search and find 3 times and then Elmo did. I noticed Ole was watching the whole proceeding with interest so I put treats in one of the boxes , put him on a long leash and led him up to the row. I said "find it!" as he moved toward the boxes and encouraged him to check each one. He found the treats in the box and we had a little celebration. He was pretty proud of himself so we did it 2 more times. Scent work is a great way to build confidence and focus in dogs so we will be doing a lot of it in the future , and besides that all dogs love to have a job to do especially when it involves their noses.
Today I took Shelly and Elmo for a power walk while Abner took Ole for a training walk on the boardwalk. When I got back to the house after our walk, Abner and Ole had just gotten back and Abner said there was a big surf contest on the oceanside near the PB pier and that Ole seemed a little overwhelmed by all the goings on there. I took Ole and left shelly and Elmo at home with Abner. Ole and I walked back over to the Oceanside and back to where the surf competition was being held. I just stood with him to start about 20 yards from all the ado and he was quite relaxed so I tossed him a treat. A few people stopped to pet him and then we gradually moved closer to the center of activities and he was very relaxed and took treats with a soft mouth. One of the ways you can gauge your dogs anxiety level is by whether they will take a treat at all. He had no problem with that and he was so relaxed that he took the treats with soft little butterfly lips, so I knew he was not at all phased by what was going on. We only stayed about 10 minutes, just long enough for him to experience it all but not long enough for him to feel overwhelmed. When we got home , he and Elmo had a ball playing with their pink princess purse, then I gave everyone a good brushing and Ole got to spend time in his crate while I got ready for a private lesson . I left all 3 dogs with Abner while I went off to my private lesson. After i got home I packed the 3 of them up in the car and we went over to my studio. I had to finish painting the new frames on my paintings and put one more hanging wire on another painting. Tomorrow I have to get the ID cards attached to all 6 paintings as I have to deliver them to the Del Mar Fair for judging on Tuesday. Ole had another puppy frenzy when we first got there but calmed down after about 10 minutes so I could get some work done. Elmo as usual stepped in to help with his rowdy little brother who now probably out weighs him by at least 10 lbs or more. Shelly was disgusted with the whole thing and went and lay down on her bed in the corner. Ole has figured out that even when he is full of piss and vinegar you don't mess with Shelly.

Ole goes visiting

I had a class to teach this morning, an intermediate obedience class and today was class 2 of 4. It meets once a week on Saturday mornings. I didn't want to bring all 3 dogs so Abner and Ole got to hang out together while Shelly and Elmo came along to be demo dogs. While we were at class Ole and Abner did some yard work together and then took a drive over to Abner's friend Robbie's house. Robbie and Abner are part of a group of retired guys who ride their motorcycles together and Robbie has been after Abner to bring Ole over for Robbie and his wife to see. They are big German Shepherd people so they were really interested in seeing our little Big puppy. Robbie has a 7 year old male Shepherd named Baron and he met Abner with Baron on leash about a block from their house and the 4 of them walked from there to Robbie's house. It was a far better way for Baron to meet the puppy that in his territory for the first time. That worked out pretty well although , according to Abner, Baron made it clear that he didn't want Ole coming inside the house. They all sat out in the yard and Robbie's 8 year old grandson came over , sat on the ground and got to know Ole. Ole apparently really liked him, full body wags kisses and couldn't get enough of the grandson. This is great as I want Ole to be good with children. Ole wasn't too interested in Baron. Abner said he, (Ole) wasn't phased by Baron's attitude toward him either. He just ran around in the yard and hung out with the grandson. Robbie's wife took all kinds of pictures of Ole. When they got back to our house Abner had not tied Ole's leash in the car and he had the passenger window rolled all the way down. OLe JUMPED out the window when Abner parked the car!!!!! That isn't going to happen again believe me! Dogs should not ride loose in cars, it is way too dangerous besides the jump out the window thing , if you get in an accident they can go through the windshield or get smashed by an airbag or cause you to have an accident by impeding your driving. Dogs also tend to be more excited when they ride loose in the car. They should either be tethered or seat-belted in or ride in a crate. The actual safest place for a dog to ride in the car is on the floor behind the drivers seat. Anyway, Ole wasn't hurt, score one for Ole , minus 10 for Abner.
After lunch, Abner dropped the 3 dogs and I off at my studio with a couple of paintings that I needed to put hanging wires on. I have 6 paintings entered in the fine art show at the Del Mar Fair this year and they have to be ready for delivery by Tuesday of next week.. Ole had a puppy frenzy attack right after we got there so I spent the first 10 minutes there redirecting him onto various toys and chew items, Then Elmo stepped in and started playing and within 10 more minutes everyone was taking a nap. Elmo is a good puppy nanny. After I got all the hanging wires on the paintings that needed them I painted one of the frames and made a list of what I need to do to finish up on the 6 works. I put everything away , leashed up the dogs and we walked back home. Ole was getting hungry on the walk as it was almost 5:00 so once again he started feeling his oats and got a little reactive toward some motorcycles. Not too bad but I have to stay on top of this. At home it was crate time while i fixed dinner. Everyone got groomed and then fed and then they each got to enjoy a raw bone. Ole had his in his crate, Shelly had hers in the front yard and Elmo got his in the side yard. By 9:00 they had all had their way with each others bones.

Ole, I can barely pick him up

This boy is GROWING! He feels like he weighs 40 lbs and I can hardly lift him, phew!
I took Ole to day care this morning and as he and I got out of the car, we heard Aah, OH-REE! Good morning Oh-ree! I looked back and it was Mr. Suzuki walking up behind us to the Canine to Five Center. Ole was very pleased to see him and just oozed a wag all over his body. I got him to sit and Suzuki just beamed.."He good boy, Oh-ree!" It was charming. I left Ole at the Center and took Shelly and Elmo over to Fiesta Island ,but this time did not let them go bounding into the brush until we got well past the area with all the foxtails. It worked a whole lot better than the Tuesday fiasco. This time I only found a couple of foxtails on both of them.

I dropped them at home and did some work for a hour and then went to an appointment. By the time I finished it was time to pick up Ole so I swung by and did just that. Romi said he was very good as always, so calm and friendly and that she taught him to walk over very low jumps just to get him used to lifting his hind legs up and be more aware of his rear end. Suzuki showed me several photos he had taken of Ole playing with various puppies and one of him with their older golden retriever. They may put some of the photos on their website. We drove home and Ole was STARVED. I fed him and he was ready for a nap so into his crate he went. Abner and I needed to do a little refrigerator shopping as our old one is rusting out. Everything metal at the beach rusts from the inside out, TV's refers, stoves, you name it. Salt air is tough on machinery. We left the dogs and checked out several likely prospects but didn't buy one as we want to do a little more research.
When we got home all my watch dogs were sound asleep. Even Elmo who usually never misses a thing was passed out when I walked in the side door. Ole was a good boy and stayed back from the door of the crate and sat before I opened the door and went right outside and did his potty. Good boy Ole.

Later in the afternoon after I got dinner started in the oven and put the dogs meals together to rehydrate in water ( the food that all 3 eat is freeze dried or dehydrated raw food), we took a family walk to the grocery store. It was a good training walk for Ole as there were a lot of skate boarders and bicyclists out. He was a little more reactive but I think it was because he was hungry and I've noticed that he gets more reactive when he needs food. Once we got home , he practically inhaled his dinner, however Elmo beat him out and finished first. I gave each of them a raw bone after dinner and with in a fairly short period of time each one had the others bone and no one was upset. I think that all three bones felt the teeth of all three dogs before they were done.

Ole does the basics

Ole let us sleep in until 6:45 this morning, and it was good. I forgot what it was like. He and Elmo had a great time playing this morning, chasing each other around the living room and running up and down the stairs. It ended with a wrestling match in Abner's closet. That got them both real tuckered out. We did a grooming session and as a reward afterwards did a family walk where I practiced Ole's new found sit and ignore techniques with fast approaching people and things. I've found through the years that if I groom a dog and immediately afterwards do something with him that he really enjoys they quickly begin to enjoy grooming. Just bringing out the brush or nail clippers makes their tails happy wag. With my own dogs, the chance of a car ride or walk is what they like best.
Afterwards, I put Ole in his crater and went off to a private lesson with a lady and her mini Schnauzer and Abner headed off on a day long motorcycle trip with his buddies. Before we left , I turned on a calming music tape for the dogs called Through A Dogs Ears. It really does soothe them. When I got home 2 hours later , all was well . They were relaxed and Ole was quiet and lying down in his crate. We did a potty break , and I fed him lunch and we took a little walk. All walks are training walks so I use every opportunity to show him how to be and react in the big world. If he is concerned about something, I remain calm and let him observe it. When He relaxes and or approaches the scary thing I calmly praise and encourage him.
At night i had a class to teach in Del Mar. As soon as Abner got home, I put Shelly in the car, ( she was demo dog of the day), and left all the guys to fend for themselves. Abner Elmo, and Ole, does that sound like the Midwest or what? We picked up Donna and the three of us taught a beginning class of 6 dogs and owners. After that we drove Donna home , headed home and well the rest of the night was a typical evening of hang out watch a little TV work on the computer, bones for dogs , evening walk for dogs and off to bed

Ole does a road trip

Ole has gotten the basic idea that outside is where dogs potty. He goes to the door and looks at me when he needs to go out. We're making some real progress here! He's by no means house broken yet, but we see light at the end of the tunnel. Puppies must go at least 6 weeks w/o a mistake in the house before you can be pretty sure they are house broken, and that doesn't mean that they understand this principle in someone elses house. They just don't generalize learning easily.
I walked Ole to the post office this morning. It was a combo walk, as I needed to mail a letter and he needs ongoing exposure and training around bikes, skateboarders, joggers and skaters. Mission and Pacific Beach have tons of those so I had to get cracken on it. I loaded my pocket with some treats and everytime I saw him begin to stare at one of those afore mentioned things, I said his name and quickly brought a treat to his nose. As soon as he smelled the treat it took his focus off the fast moving and noisy object and I was able to quietly praise him and then toss the treat on the ground. This put his focus on the ground instead of the exciting moving thing and he got to find the treat which was fun for him. We met friends along the way who all had something to say either about his goofy cone head ears or the size of his snow shoe feet. It was about a mile walk roundtrip so by the time we got home he was ready for a nap ( so he could grow). Into the crate he went and I got to work on a mass of things needing my attention.
Wednesday is nosework class in Tustin for Shelly and Elmo. I had promised everyone in the class that Ole would make an appearance. They are all real dog people so Ole geared up for his debut. It was Donna's turn to drive so the accommodations were a tad tight in her toyota but we all squeezed in. Once we arrived at class, Ole was on his best manners and charmed everyone , then he and Elmo went into my extra large soft sided crate and Shelly hung out in the car (in the shade) outside and Ginger stayed on her mat. In nosework class the dogs work individually one owner / dog team at a time and it is held in a 1500 sq. foot building. Ole did not get to participate but he got to watch which can be very helpful in their learning process. Shelly and Elmo and Ginger did great found all their finds and were introduced to their newest odor which is clove.
At the end of class, I fed Ole ,I had brought his dinner with us as I knew he would be hungry as a bear by the time class was finished and then we headed home.

Ole goes back to day care

I was exhausted last night, slept great until 4:30 AM when Shelly ( who never bothers me when I'm sleeping) nudged me awake. Ole was restlessly moving around in his crate. I took him downstairs and outside to the potty area and WOW am I glad Shelly in her infinite wisdom woke me! He really had to go. Afterwards I cleaned it up and when I came back in the house Ole was waiting for me next to the stairs, ready to head back up to bed. Shelly was fast asleep on the couch, her job as puppy watcher done for the night. He went right back to sleep in his upstairs crate and so did I , but in my bed. Elmo never moved from his bed the whole time nor did Abner. We officially got up at 6:30 and after breakfast, I took Ole on a training walk down the boardwalk so that I could practice with him on sitting instead of lunging at moving things such as joggers, skaters, skateboarders, and bicyclists. It's a work in progress. Abner caught up with us with Shelly and Elmo. He wanted to see how I was training Ole so he will know how to deal with the problem.
I took Ole back to daycare this morning and I could tell he was pleased to be there. Surprise, surprise, Daisy the terrier puppy from last night's puppy class was there ahead of us getting signed up to spend the day. She and Ole recognized each other immediately and wagged tails , pawed at each other, and wanted to play. I had Shelly and Elmo in the car so I left Ole in good hands with Romi and her staff and the 3 of us went over to Fiesta Island for a fun walk around. We enjoyed the walk as Fiesta Island always seems like you are way off in the country somewhere , not in the middle of a city. The only draw back this time of year is the fox tails. Foxtails are seeds of grasses that are arrow shaped and dry and catch in dog coats and between their toes, in their ears and anal areas, any and everywhere. They are difficult to get out of their coats and can burrow through both flesh and bone. The area we were in didn't, I thought , have a lot of them but boy was I mistaken. I ended up spending 30 minutes trying to comb all the foxtails out of both Shelly and Elmo's coats. We had an appointment at Dr. Weingardt's office for Shelly's monthly chiropractic adjustment and a massage for St. Elmo, so we headed there next . Even then both Ann who did Elmo's massage and Dr. Keith found more foxtails on them both. BTW, Elmo is St. Elmo because he is soooo good with Ole, puts up with all of Ole's antics, and really seems to like his new little /big brother.
We drove home where I had lots of work to do and after a few hours I prepared Ole's lunch, put it in the car and left the two older dogs home while I headed over to get Ole from daycare. Ole had as usual, a fun time there. He enjoyed his play with Daisy. Daisy was sunning herself on the patio when I peaked over the front door and Ole was next to her. They looked happy and a bit sleepy. Romi put all the dogs inside and then let me in and Ole started making the high pitched Shepherd whimmper squeal as he was excited to see me. I had to walk away and wait for him to settle down 3 times before he could calm down enough for me to say hello to him. I made sure he sat before I did that. Today, besides play with Daisy and Bella, and Sammy and the rest of the gang, Suzuki got the puppies used to a man walking with crutches and they also worked with calling the pups out of play. Romi said Ole was very good at looking at them when they said his name. She pronounces his name Oh-ree so maybe I need to change his name. I fed Ole on the grass next to the car & then from there we went over to the humane Society store and I fitted Ole with a new blue martingale slip collar. It's by Primier and I like it because although it is a slip collar , it clips on the neck so I don't have to pull it over Ole's head to get it on. He looks very handsome in it.
We dropped by Donna's house on the way home and helped critique her latest art work that she plans on entering in the Del Mar Fair Fine Art Show. It's really nice. She just needs to frame it. It reminded me that I have one more painting to frame . I have 6 paintings entered in the show and they have to be delivered by next week Wednesday. Ole was so sleepy at Donna's that I practically had to carry him to get him to move. We headed home and into his crate he went for a nap. Abner got home a little later and we piled the dogs in the car and drove over to my art studio where we finished framing my painting while elmo and Ole played and wrestled and Shelly wandered around in the garden sniffing and analyzing scents.. That done, it was home again ,Ole back in his crate while I got a spaghetti sauce started as well as a big salad. At 5:00 I fed the dogs and all three got a bone to chew on out in the yard after they had eaten. I or Abner spend time with Ole while he eats his meals , holding the bowl, touching him getting him used to company while he eats. He is very relaxed with this and I want him to like having people around his bowl not guarding it. I often hold bones for him while he chews them and sometimes trade him the bone for a special treat only to immediately give him back the bone when he finishes his treat. I also gave him a thorough brushing, his coat has grown out quite a bit, looking more like an adult Shep coat now, no more puppy fuzz.
He's now asleep in his bed under my desk as I type out this blog. Bedtime walk is coming up next. I hope he sleeps through the night tonight, 4:30 is way too early to wake me up. I need to get Shelly to take him out for me.

Ole I'm back in town

I arrived back in San Diego last night at 11:00. Abner and the whole gang were there to greet me. The dogs love to go to the airport and Ole picked up on the party atmosphere. I met them in the long term parking lot and we took a family walk around before getting in the car and going home. I was absolutely wiped out. It took me almost 8 hours to fly from Orlando back to S.D.
I thought my rear end was going to fall off. I'm too old for this travel stuff.
Abner did a good job with the dogs, as no one got sick or missed a walk , Ole didn't get into anything or pee or poop in the house. He hasn't had an accident in the house in 31/2 weeks and is actually indicating when he needs to go out so that's a mile stone for a puppy raised in a barn for the first 11 weeks.
This morning I was so tired I felt like I had a bag over my head. Dogs don't understand you not feeling well or too tired so we did our usual things, up by 6:30 out for potty, play time crate time , breakfast , potty and ...... a surprise visit from Donna and her husband Phil and Little Miss Ginger. They came up to the front gate and we all talked about my training seminar and Ginger came in the yard and investigated everything. Ole is extremely respectful of all of Gingers 7 or 8 lbs so no carnage occured. After they left, Abner took Shelly and Elmo for a power walk and I took Ole on a training adventure over to the ocean front boardwalk. Abner said Ole had been reactive toward joggers and bicyclist while I was gone so I wanted to work on teaching him to sit snd be calm instead. We hung out just to one side of the boardwalk and I told him to sit and rewarded him for sitting everytime he started to focus on anyone or any vehicle, wheel chair, skater ,etc passing by us. It went really well and there were a lot of joggers and others out this morning so after 10 minutes we headed home. We'll work on it a little bit everyday until He basically ignores such things. This may take a while as I'm on Ole's schedule not mine. I took all three dogs with me while I ran errands and they got to meet people at each stop I made sometimes just Ole would meet the people and sometimes I would bring out all 3 dogs to meet. Then it was home again, lunch for Ole and then time in his crate. He didn't put up a fuss at all today so things are much better. I actually went off and left him crated for about an hour while Elmo and Shelly helped me at my studio. When we came back he was sound asleep. So much for his career as a watch dog!
We had puppy school tonight with 2 add on puppies, a little white Golden retriever, Kai and a little Soft cated wheaten terrier named Rosie. So there are now 6 pups in the class. Both Elmo and Ole got to be demo dogs , Ole for how to restrain and groom a puppy so that they learn to tolerate and cooperate handling and Elmo with the " come touch" exercise for coming when called. It was a good fun class and I'm whupped. The traveling from one coast to the other time zone thing is rugged . Time for bed, I'm going to my crate.

Ole day 19

This morning Ole and Abner got to do a bit of male bonding. I left him with Abner as Shelly and Elmo both had appts with Ann for theraputic massages. Elmo Really needed his! Elmo or rather St. Elmo has put up with some pretty rough stuff from Ole. He throughly enjoyed his massage, got that glazed over eyed look and was as pliable and relaxed as I've ever seen him. When the three of us got home. I only had time to grab my training bag and head right back out the door as I had a private lesson to go to.
The private was with Louie a 7 month old yorkie and his owners, . He's a really smart little guy who just needed some boundaries and clearer communication. When i got home , Shelly and Elmo were there napping but Ole and Abner were gone! I called Abner and the two of them were at our apt in North PB waiting for a refrigerator to be delivered. I had lots of things to get done as I'm leaving tomorrow on a 3 day dog training junket so I whipped up Ole's lunch and the 3 of us drove it over to Ole and Abner. Ole was thrilled to see us and VERY hungry. I fed him and Abner asked where his lunch was. Oops!
While waiting, Abner had practiced leash work with Ole and some of his basic obedience and Ole met about 7 more new people. I put all the dogs in the car and we left Abner to wait for the refer guy. Ole had a 1:45 appt with Tess our favorite groomer/ nail trimmer humanoid, so after a couple of errands we headed over to Noah's to get his trim done. When we walked in the door I saw Sugar the Maltese puppy 's owners from my Monday night puppy class. They were there buying products that I had reccommended in class and Tess was doing Sugars nails and trimming the hair around her eyes so she could see. Tess brought Sugar out , talked to the owners about what Sugar needed and took Ole back for his nail trim. While waiting on Ole, I gave Elmo a bath (Noah's is a pet market and a do it yourself dog wash), and talked a bit to Sugars owners. It was fun to see them. I moved Elmo over to the drying area and saw 2 more of my clients and their beautiful little minature Australian Shepherds. It was old home week. Tess brought Ole back and his nails looked perfect, nice and short. She said he carried on a bit for about the first half of the procedure but as soon as he became quiet she gave him a piece of bacon and he started behaving himself. He'll be going back in 2 weeks as i want him to be very good about nail trimming as an adult.
We headed home and I started dinners for all of us after doing some packing and organizing. Ole had a huge puppy frenzy spurt at around 8:00...Same time that he got obnoxious in class last night. I gave him a plastic nut butter jar with a small amount of almond butter smeared in it. He batted it all over the downstairs of the house and had a great time and then fell asleep.
I won't be writing a blog for the next 3 days due to my trip to Florida for a training seminar.

Ole day 18

Today was Ole's last puppy class in Del Mar. Once again , Abner had to take him as Donna and I have nosework class in Tustin with Elmo, Shelly and her dog Ginger on Wednesday evenings.
On our morning walk Ole was more reactive toward joggers, skate boarders, and bicyclists again. I need to take him out by himself and do some desensitization training around these things. If i have time tomorrow I'll take him over to the local skate board park and progressively train him to relax around them. If I don't have time it will have to wait until Monday as I will be out of town Friday through Sunday evening. I am going to a dog trainig seminar in Orlando, Fla.
Part of the reason Ole is more reactive I believe is that his optic nerve is becoming more developed. It will be fully formed at 16 weeks so he is seeing things more clearly as his body matures. My puppy is growing up!
At Nose work class , right before it was Shelly's turn to find the hidden odors, some one used a camera with a very bright flash. Shelly saw it and spooked. I asked to have someone go ahead and take our place and we would come back in when Shelly calmed down. I took her outside and let her go potty and we ran around and did some dog tricks to take her mind off the scarey flash. They called us back in and I ran Her straight in to the search area and told her to" find it". She had enough bounce back to carry through and find both odors and eat her reward treats. I was very relieved! Scared dogs won't eat, so it is a good way to measure stress . After her turn, I let her sit in the car instead of the crate in the training room so that she wouldn't be exposed to any more camera flashes. She was happy with that and very relaxed in the car.
On the way home , we stopped at Ole's class to watch him and Abner. It looked like they were doing well so we only stayed about 10 minutes and then headed home. Abner said that after their break Ole threw a puppy fit and wanted to play with all the puppies not sit and watch. Abner didn't know what to do so he took him outside as a time out where Ole pooped! Ole was much better behaved after that for the rest of the class. He is definately a work in progress.

Ole day 17 in Shelly's opinion

Shelly has finally decided that Ole is part of the pack. How do i know? She played with him today. Shelly's MO is after about 2 weeks , if she finds a new dog acceptible , she plays. Today Ole and Elmo were chasing each other up and down the hallway and all of a sudden , there she was joining in . It sounded like a herd of elephants racing up and down the hall way. There was no tension in the play , just joy . Very cool to watch and fun. She's still a nun with a ruler, but the edge is gone, Ole passed whatever her test is. She did the same thing with Elmo when I brought him home almost 3 years ago, only it took exactly 2 weeks to the day.
Last night before we left the puppy class, Donna and I weighed Ole . He weighs 33 lbs! He is BIG for 14 weeks. He certainly doesn't like to miss a meal. He looks very lean and streamlined and his coat is beautiful.
He was good on the morning power walk. There were a lot of skaters, bicyclers, and skate boarders out and he basically ignored them. Today was garbage pick up day and He had never seen or heard the trucks before. He was a little unsure of them and held back so we stopped and let him observe them. They make a lot of noises not heard on the farm. He wasn't sure what to make of them so we followed the truck for a little while at a distance comfortable for him until he was comfortable enough to pass right by it without a backward glance. We'll have to do that again next garbage day and see what his reaction is. When he was calm and relaxed near the truck I massaged his neck and back and quietly praised him.
In the early afternoon, Abner had to go to Home Depot so Ole and I tagged along. When we got there I found a piece of cardboard and wedged it in the bottom of a shopping cart. Abner picked Ole up and placed Ole in the basket. Ole lay down in the basket and we wheeled him inside the store. He seemed to enjoy the ride and certainly got lots of attention from everyone we passed. At one point he had 5 different big old construction guys petting him up . He loved it. That was his big excursion of the day, and what a great place to get a puppy socialized. Maybe wouldn't work so well for a really timid puppy but for a more confident pup it was good. We saw two other dogs there , a sweet aussie that Ole liked..they sniffed at each other through the side of the cart, and a burly looking pit bull whose owner walked by us at a distance. The rest of the day involved a basic short training session, Off, Stand, crawl, turn ,and Bang your dead. We practiced his fetch and he and Elmo played. Shelly didn't join in this time. He's pretty good on the leash, tends to stay at my side or slightly behind me.
After dinner they all got raw bones outside. Everyone was HAPPY with that.

Ole day16 back to daycare

Ole has discovered the joy of playing with a paper bag. He wrestled with, it jumped on it ,and finally tore it apart. It kept him busy for a good 10 minutes and was an easy clean up for me. I brought out the soft travel bag that he rode in on our trip home from Wisconsin and could see that he was very interested in it and pleased to see it again. I put it on the floor and he sniffed it all over and then tried to crawl into it. Honey, you weighed 25 lbs then this is not going to work. About all he could get in the bag was his head! I put a variety of toys in the bag and he entertained himself for 30 minutes taking things in and out of the bag and dragging the bag around. Elmo tried to get in on the bag action , so they played a king of the bag game. Very cute.
He grabbed one of my old slippers this morning so I said "Good boy, come here" and moved away from him patting my leg . he proudly galumped over to me with his prize in his mouth and I gently took hold of him and praised him for bringing the slipper. he dropped it and I quickly put it on my foot and then sent him back to get the other one which he did . I'm turning stealing into fetch and he loves his new job. I want him to trust me enough to bring me anything he picks up. I don't want him running off with things and learning to avoid me, destroy them , eat them or guard them.
Ole got to go back to daycare this morning at 9:00. He certainly remembered the place and seemed interested to go back. I dropped him off and headed to Fiesta Island with Shelly and Elmo. It was a perfect day , sunny and warm but with a cool breeze. We took an hour off leash walk. the area I like to go to has a lot of sand dunes and dips and valleys. It is absolutely covered with wild flowers. There are a few fox tails but it is easy to avoid them. I still always carry a comb with me so I can run it over the dogs after the walk and make sure there is nothing stuck in their coats. Fox tails can penetrate bone as well as flesh, so Yah have to be careful. After that , I took them home and got some work done, then headed out for an appt. I picked Ole up on my way home. Romi said that he made a new friend today, Sammy, a basset hound puppy. I guess Sammy is very active and at first Ole was not quite sure but once they ran around together he had a ball with him. His first love is still Bella the Westie However. He likes everything about her. Romi also said that they introduced all the puppies to popping sounds of bubble wrap and Ole had no problem with it. I had already introduced him to it so I'm glad that he was not bothered by the sound. Dogs that have sound phobias are difficult to live with.
We had a pretty quiet afternoon. I fed Ole lunch..That boy LOVES his chow. I spend time with him when he eats touching him , holding the bowl getting him comfortable with humans around his bowl. I want him to think that humans around the food bowl mean extra good things for Ole. I need to get more people involved in this so he generalizes this.
I spent the rest of the afternoon getting things prepared for the puppy class I was to teach. There were to be 4 puppies in the class. I teach the class from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM inside a veterinary waiting room in University City.
Elmo and Ole came along to assist. Donna who has been my invaluable assistant for the past 10 or so years was also there.
All 4 puppies showed up. There was Teddy a minature Aussie, Daisy a little white terrier mix, Annie a cocapoo and Sugar a maltese puppy. It was a fun group and Teddy's family brought their really cute 6 year old daughter Flavia so we had a child for all the puppies to experience. We covered management issues, some housetraining, how to handle biting, chewing, sits and downs, mentor dogs, coming when called and introduced all the puppies to the tunnel. We ended with puppy play. Then it was time to pack up and head home. Flavia and Elmo were sweet together. Elmo loves children and gave Flavia special attention and kisses. Ole enjoyed class but had to spend a part of it in his Ex-pen. His potty training is coming along well as he let Donna know when he had to go out to potty during class. Good boy Ole. BTW, I am writing this on Tuesday Am as I fell asleep last night too tired to write!

Ole day15 @ the island

Ole let me sleep in today, we didn't get up till 6:20 AM. He's getting very good about going to his potty spot by the wood pile,good boy Ole!
I had a 1:00 private lesson today with Alfie the Airedale and his owner jane, so I wanted to make sure Ole was tuckered out by 12:30. After the usual morning events, peeing , pooping, breakfast, grooming session and a 30 minute power walk with all 3 dogs, I packed them into the car and we headed to Fiesta Island for a walk around. I didn't want to take Ole to the areas where a lot of dogs go , so we went to the least used off leash area that most people are unaware of. When we got there, I put a 15 foot long line on Ole and let Shelly and Elmo go completely off leash. I've got a 99 % recall on the two of them so I felt pretty safe having them loose. Ole is still in training and as long as he is, he'll be wearing his long line so that I can make sure he comes to me. It was gorgeous, wild flowers everywhere, we were surrounded by fields of yellow daiseys. It's hard to believe a place like this still exists in San Diego where you can walk with your dogs off leash,Love It! While shelly and Elmo ran around sniffing and exploring , Ole and I practiced his coming when called. I would walk along for a while and whenever I noticed him getting distracted I would run away from him and call him. He responded by immediately racing to me and getting praised and held and occasionally treated and then sent back to go sniff or play. We did that for a while and then I began hiding from him when ever he wandered away from me. He panicked when he realized he didn't know where i was and when he found me we would have a big celebration and then he was released to go play again. I knew we were making progress when he wouldn't let me out of his sight. I want him to realize that it is his responsibility to know where I am at all times when he is off leash. I want him to maybe think I am so ditzy that I forget I have a little German Shepherd named Ole so he has to keep an eye on me to stay with me. It worked! We only ran in to ontwo other dogs, a friendly big black lab that everybody liked and a rather ornery chihuahua that tore Elmo a new one when he walked near it. Ole avoided that dog as he's found out how tough those little guys can be.
We walked back to the car and as I put the dogs in , I noticed that there were 3 horses being walked along the bayshore by their owners. Ole grew up on a farm in Wisconsin that had horses and cows and pigs and goats but he had never seen horses on the beach in Ca. so I popped him back out of the car and walked him on leash to with in 20 feet of the horses. I sat on a dune and the two of us watched the horses in the water for about 5 minutes. He was mildly interested, didn't bark and sniffed at them. Now he knows what southern ca. horses smell and look like. We got back in the car and headed home.
At home we did a little more OFF training , worked on Crawl my favorite dog trick, and Bang, You're Dead, and turn away. I fed him a little lunch and put him in his crate. I also turned on my calming music tape as I was going to leave for the private lesson in 20 minutes and I wanted him relaxed or asleep when I left. I put my training bag in the car and the keys in my pocket. I then sat on the couch and read a book foe 15 minutes waiting for him to completely relax , which he did after 10 minutes. I then got up and quietly left without a backward glance.
When i got home an hour or so later I did not hear any barking or crying. I came in through the back door and all three dogs were calm and pleased to see me. I let Ole out of the crate and immediately out to his potty are where he produced. Good boy Ole!
Abner came home shortly after that. he had been in Prescott Ariz. at a flat track Motorcycle race. I guess it was freezing there , especially as he and his 3 friends had all ridden their Harleys to it. They got snowed on on the way there , not my idea of fun.
he thought Ole had gotten a lot bigger since he left on Thursday. It's hard for me to tell, although I think he grows when he sleeps.We did a family walk and then it was time for dog dinners and after dinner bones. They are living the good life.

Ole day14

This morning I had a class to teach in University City. Abner is out of town until tomorrow so I decided to bring all 3 dogs to class and set them up in an exercise pen while teaching. It really is helpful having an older dog to mentor a puppy. As soon as I put Ole in the ex-pen with Shelly , he settled right down and followed her example of quiet calmness. It was nice. Donna, my long time assistant and best friend came and brought Ginger to help assist in the class. It was the first class ,one of 4 that will meet over the next 5 weeks. It is called Perfect the Basics and in it we do just that. It is basically an intermediate obedience class. We worked on leash work sits and downs, and speeding up the downs and some attention work. Toward the end of the class, I got Ole out to practice sit and down stay with the class and as we were wrapping it all up Elmo had gotten hold of a stuffed bone that I had in the training bag. Ole tried to take it away from him and things,,,GOT... UGHLY! I couldn't interfere at that point as Elmo needed to back Ole off. He did, and now I know that I'm going to be working a lot with the two of them on turn away , leave it , and go to your place. I will do this separately and then together. If I don't, there will be big problems for Elmo in the near future. I explained what had happened to the class and also explained that it would not be a good idea to just let them work it out on their own as someone will get hurt. I have to get leadership over this quickly so that it stops.
After class, we headed home where after I restrained and brushed all three dogs, I did some off training with Ole from the hand , the floor , both inside and outside. Dogs don't generalize learning well, so anything they are taught must be practiced in a wide variety of locations and circumstances in order for them to understand it. Tomorrow we will begin turn away training. Ole had his lunch and I put him in his crate. He fell right asleep and stayed quietly in his crate for 2 hours! That was a break through. I've taken my time crate training him as I want it to be a place he likes to spend time not associated with being left behind. Anyway , I am taking my time with it as it is important that it have no bad connotations. I started putting together the ingredients for a pot roast for dinner and realized that I was missing several things, so i packed the dogs into the car and drove over to the grocery store. After shopping I got them out of the car and we rode up and down the elevator several times and then did the same with the outdoor elevator. Elmo and Ole seemed to enjoy the experience but Shelly was a tad nervous about it. Several people wanted to know if I was training them to be service dogs and I told them that I train all my dogs as if they were service dogs. Dogs that have enriched lives with many life experiences are more adaptable , have better bounce back, and are far less likely to have problems with people and other animals.
After dinner , We went for a walk over to a floating dock at a small marina near my house. The ramp that leads down to the dock moves as you walk on it so i thought that it would be another new experience for Ole. No problem, he enjoyed itbut seemed to want to jump into the water. I wasn't up for that so we walked around the park observing groups of people picnicking and stopped to watch some young college age kids who had stretched a tight rope between two trees about 3 feet off the ground. They were walking across it ( one at a time) or at least trying to. Ole was fascinated and just sat watching them. After that it was back to the house and time for chewies. Abner will be home tomorrow afternoon, yea!