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!