Ole does daily training

Now that Ole is almost 7 months old and we have gotten more serious with his training routines. By serious , I don't mean that they aren't fun for him, I just mean I make sure we work on specific behaviors on a daily basis. We've been getting up at 6:00 AM every morning and Ole and I head out to a nearby athletic field and work on all his basic commands: Stay, position changes , Leave it, Come, Heel, and best of all and most favorite , Fetch. I also throw in a few dog tricks so he can wow the tourists with his clever ways. He's getting pretty good at playing dead and we are hard at work on balancing a treat on his nose. After practice we walk home and most of the time we meet up with Ole's 3 girl friends Fiona the Aussie, Millie the Jack Russell and Taz the Yorkie/ min pin mix. Fiona has become a bit possessive of Ole and tries to body block the other two girls from him. Taz treats him like dirt and he is fascinated by her ..Of course! Millie plays come hither and then snaps at him and chases him away. This morning none of his girls were around (we got a late start) but Abner showed up with Elmo and Shelly right after we left the field. Ole was thrilled to see his buds so that was a nice surprise. Later i walked all 3 dogs to my studio. Ole was 100% better on the leash today so maybe just maybe he is getting better...I hope. He didn't lunge at any cars or joggers or skate boarders. I'm so pleased!

Yesterday we did nosework practice at Donna's art studio and in her kitchen and around her dining room table. The day before we did some hides at my studio and under an outdoor staircase and in a storage garage. Elmo has his first nosework trial August 15th so the more practice he gets the better I will be at reading him and the better he will be at it. Shelly and Ole of course also did their searches and thoroughly enjoyed it. Tomorrow Donna and I will take Elmo and Ginger to La Jolla and see if we can get one of the store owners to let us do a couple of searches in their stores. Shelly and Ole will get the day off.

Ole does a lot of manners training

Ole as he goes through his teenage ups and downs has been increasingly more reactive to joggers, bicyclists, skate boarders and skaters. He's basically a very mellow pup but his prey drive goes into high gear around those stimuli. We are putting in at least 3 to 4 training sessions a day working on this problem. He weighs 64.4 lbs now at 6 &1/2 months so it isn't going to get any easier the longer this goes on and the bigger he gets. It's not an untypical adolescent German Shepherd problem...if it moves fast , chase it down and herd it! Maybe we should adopt some sheep. Elmo doesn't want to be the sheep anymore.
I sold my art work today. The lady that bought it was very excited about it which was fun. She gave me a down payment for it when she came to see how it was progressing this afternoon at my studio. Now I just have to finish collaging the sides of the frame and them I will varnish it to keep the colors of the paper from fading. I was almost hoping she wouldn't want it as it would look great in my living room.
Elmo and Shelly were the demo dogs tonight at beginning obedience class in La Jolla. Elmo was at his best. He loves being the center of attention in class. Ole and Abner stayed home and did some training. After I got back, Abner and Elmo and Ole and I walked down to the bayfront Catamaran Hotel to watch the Polinesian dance show that is held once a week on the bayfront. Ole and Elmo were both unfazed by the noises , the music and the fire dancers. Ole however was overly interested in any bicycle that whizzed by him so we had a few problems on the way home. Shelly elected to stay home and guard the house as she doesn't enjoy crowds or loud noises.

Ole skips class

Yes, it's true, Ole played hooky from class Thursday night. He was a little off gastrointestinally speaking on Thursday as were Shelly and Elmo. Abner had given them each a bone the night before and I think the bones were on the verge of going bad. Now considering some of the gross things I have seen Ole put in his mouth, I don't know why a slightly hinkie bone would bother him but it did seem to. Any way, I didn't haul him up to Del Mar to class as I didn't want a repeat on a much larger scale of what Elmo did in the car on Wednesday. Ole got to have a quiet evening / afternoon at home and at my studio instead.

Friday: Ole and Elmo and Miss Shelly seem back in the groove today..NO PROBLEMS! We had a busy day. After morning walks and breakfast, I got Abner to help me walk all 3 dogs to my studio. Ole was a bit hard on the leash but improved after we were almost at the studio. Elmo's leash popped out of my hand when he saw a flock of pigeons on the beach on the way there and he had a great time chasing them all over the beach. Ole wanted to help but we didn't oblige. Elmo came back as soon as the pigeons realized what a tough guy he was and the rest of the walk was pretty uneventful.

We stayed at the studio until 12:30 and I got a lot done. The piece is really shaping up. I'm going to photograph it tomorrow and possibly send the photo to the buyer so she can decide for sure if she wants it. I like it so much that I wouldn't mind if she decides it's not for her. We went back home and I fed Ole lunch and then got ready to go over to Dorie's house to do some scent work with primarily Elmo and Ginger. We drove over and picked up Donna and Ginger and went to Dorie's house. GiGi was thrilled to see her good dog buddies. Kira, Dorie's daughter, was home so she also got to see the dogs do their searches. We put a couple of finds in Dorie's kitchen , one in her downstairs bathroom , one in the alcove leading to the bathroom and two outside. Shelly, Elmo and Ginger got to do those finds and then we did a couple of exterior searches for Ole.. The dogs in between searches chased each other and did a little wrestling..had a great time. Then right before we were to leave GiGi and Ginger gave each other a dirty look and it was a girl fight! Ole and Elmo just stood back and didn't know what to do ,Shelly didn't care and Donna grabbed GiGi and lifted her off the ground. Ginger was not ready to give up so I had to herd her away and then pick her up. Don't really know what it was about but those two were ready to battle. Fortunately , no dog was injured in the making of this battle.. I drove Donna and Ginger home and Dropped Ole and Elmo off with Abner at home and then Shelly and I drove to Clairemont to do a private lesson with Fiona a kind of fearful but sweet dog who needs dog friends. I helped her owners with some door issues and Then we took a long walk with the two dogs doing parallel walking. By 10 minutes into the walk, Fiona was brave enough to sniff Shelly's posterior, and after that, her owner was able to walk both dogs together. Now they just have to find other dogs for Fiona to go on walks with and to become her friends. After that is was home again, dog meals, dog walks and Ole training. Now to bed.

Ole has events all day

This morning Ole and Pack got to go to Fiesta Island for some off leash R&R. It was overcast and lightly misting so was nice and cool and they loved it. We did about a mile and a half walk and then got back in the car and drove over to the studio to do some more work on the art project. Ole and Elmo curled right up and took a nap immediately and Shelly lay down at the door and was the watch dog. After almost 3 hours, Abner came by and walked us back to the car so that he could check the oil in it as we were going to drive to Tustin for class this afternoon. He stayed to do some yard work on the place and we hopped in the car and took it to the gas station to fill it and then to the car wash as we don't like to make Donna ride in a dirty car. We headed home where I fed Ole lunch and gave Elmo his breakfast which he wouldn't eat earlier. Elmo didn't seem very peppy although he had had a blast at Fiesta Island. Abner gave them older bones last night to chew on and I didn't think it had agreed with Elmo.

We drove over and picked up Donna and Ginger and headed for Tustin. Even though it was opening day at the Del Mar Race Track the traffic going past it on our way towards LA wasn't particularly bad. The trouble started with Elmo about the time we were in the thick of traffic in North county, Elmo kept wanting to climb from the back seat to the front and in particular onto the floor at my feet. (I was driving!). Now this was very unusual behavior from Elmo. He generally gets in the car , finds a spot and goes right to sleep. Not so this trip...AND he kept panting. I got Donna to offer him some water but he wouldn't drink it. He just kept moving around and then IT happened! Elmo climbed over the back of the back bench seat onto the two canvas crates I had brought for class and took a GIANT dump!!! P U!!!! PHEW!!! This is when electric windows are a good thing to have. The smell didn't bother the dogs but Donna and I were choking till we got those windows down. Elmo, relieved of his burden, quickly settled down on the floor of the back seat area and promptly went to sleep. Ole and Shelly were oblivious and Donna and I survived the rest of the drive.
When we got to class I got the privilege of cleaning up the mess..along with the warm fuzzies of having pets is the icky poos of cleaning up after them.
Wouldn't you know it, Elmo was brilliant in class tonight. He certainly felt better . Maybe I should have him take a dump in the car right before his nosework trial next month. Actually all 4 dogs did exceptionally well tonight . I think all the practicing we did in a variety of locations really paid off. Ole isn't on scent yet &that won't happen for a few weeks. He's still just on finding his container filled with hot dogs. He is very enthusiastic and just can hardly wait for his turn.

Ole enjoys a trip to F.I.

Ole is getting sooo big! He still hasn't grown into his feet though. I haven't weighed him for a couple of weeks and it would be interesting to know just how much he weighs at this point. When I put all 3 dogs in the Mini Cooper Shelly takes up the whole back seat, Elmo lays on the floor in front of the front passenger seat and Ole wedges himself on the front passenger seat. We must look like a clown car when they all get out.

Today I took all the dogs to Fiesta Island and they had a terrific time running in the sand and investigating all the smells in the brush. Some horses had been there before us so I had to drag Ole away from their left behind poop. He wanted to dine on it...just like at the farm he came from in Wisconsin.

After Fiesta Is. we went to my studio and put in a few hours work on the big art piece. It's starting to look good if I do say so myself! Donna and Ginger came over while we were there and we hid some scent for the dogs to practice their nosework skills with. Ole got to go last and he found a bag of treats several times. He loves his scent work, but then Ginger Elmo and Shelly do to. After Donna and Ginger left I spent 2 hours working on the art piece and then closed up shop and took the dogs home where i fed Ole lunch and Shelly belatedly ate her breakfast. I then put Ole in his crate with a bone for entertainment , turned on the calming dog music tape and left the dogs home while I rode my bicycle back to the studio to work some more. I came back home at 4:30 and got their dinners ready. Abner came home and after feeding and walking the dogs, I packed up Shelly and Elmo and the 3 of use headed off to La Jolla to teach my beginning obedience class. Ole and Abner stayed home and later went for a training walk down Mission Blvd.

My Tuesday night class is a good one. There were 2 Australian Shepherds- Rusty and Oso, a Bull mastiff- Chip, a golden retriever-Tripp, a black standard poodle- Marley, and a lab- ish mix named Sally. All really nice charming dogs with fun owners.

Elmo was the demo dog and he on his game tonight nailed all his commands perfectly. Ole was very happy to see us all when we got home. Apparently he was less than stellar on the first half of his training walk with Abner. He got better as the walk progressed. Leash work takes a lot of time and practice, and Abner wants immediate results. Patience is the name of the game.

Ole gets ready for the birthday party

Friday : Ole went back to daycare today. Donna and I went to her hair salon and ( with prior permission), hid 2 scent containers for Elmo and Ginger. There were about 8 people in the salon , 4 customers and the rest stylists and a manicurist. Ginger and Elmo had a great time searching in a new kind of environment with very different scents to sort through to find their Birch scent. They did pretty well all things considered but the second find was pretty difficult , up inside a pipe under a sink. Elmo could smell it when he jumped up on the chair but had difficulty tracing the scent back to it's source. Ginger did a little better and faster. She is a nose on 4 legs!
At 1:00 I went and picked up Ole. He was napping when I got to daycare but was real happy to see me, probably because he knew me showing up means home for lunch!
The rest of the day was spent working at my studio on the art piece. I got a phone call from Laurie asking me how the piece is coming along and I told her I would photograph it as soon as it looked like something she might like and then she could decide whether she wants it or not.

After dinner Abner and Ole went on a long training walk. Abner said it was good moments mixed with rather bad ones. Work in progress.


Saturday: I took only Shelly to class this morning. Three people were supposed to show up but only one did! I wish people would call and let me know if they are not coming. Oh well..... After class, I sprinted home and put out 3 hides, 2 on a vehicle in my neighbors garage(with his permission) and one stuck to a metal pole in the alley behind the garage.. Donna came over and after my 2 dogs found the finds little Ginger had a go at it. They all did well. Ole did not get to participate as we didn't have time to do a hot dog set up for him. We had to walk all 3 dogs to my friend Patt's house (she also lives on the bay near my house). Her dog Tobey ( a shitz tsu) was being thrown an 11th Birthday party by patt and 7 dogs were invited. I brought half the dogs all by myself! The dogs after greeting each other and Ole in particular after being corrected by both Shelly and Tobey and Ginger, all settled down and took a nap. It was 76 degrees with a light ocean breeze , really comfy. Patt's friend Silver showed up 30 minutes later with her new dog, Sophie a 20 lb terrier mix. It was love at first sight for Ole. Sophie was a bit of a tough girl with him but he was enthralled with her. He likes'um a little on the tough side. All the dogs got doggie ice cream called yoghund and they all really enjoyed it except Tobey who turned his nose up at it. He did get a bunch of edible gifts however which I'm sure he will enjoy after all the other dogs have left. The humanoids enjoyed fresh fruit smoothies made by Patt in her new super blender and around 1:30 I headed home . I dropped off the dogs changed clothes and rode my bike to the studio to work away at my art piece. I can actually say that it is starting to look like something now but I probably need to put around 2 to 3 weeks worth of work into it to finish it up. I hope Laurie will like it.
Tonight I'm taking Ole on a training walk.

Ole's nose knows

Yesterday (Wednesday) I got to spend about 30 minutes trying to get on the email sign up list for the nose work trial next month in San Pedro. It's a first come first serve and there are a limited number of spots so I don't know if Elmo and I will get in or not. I didn't try to sign up Shelly as they photo graph and video tape the whole trial and Shelly shuts down in the presence of cameras. Donna also signed Ginger up but doesn't yet know if she got in or not. Next, Ole and the gang got to go to Dusty Rhodes for 20 minutes with me and then we went over to the studio to do more work on the art piece. After that, the car was very dirty so I took them and it over to the car wash to get it spiffied up. It had been a while since Ole's last trip in the car through the car wash and he was a bit startled at first but quickly relaxed and ignored the whole event. He disliked me vacuuming the car more than going through the wash machine. We went home after that and got packed up for class in Tustin, and then drove over and picked up Donna and little Ginger.

Class was a little stressful tonight for some of the dogs but my three had a good time. Shelly was even happy to be in the training room while other dogs were working didn't get nervous at all. Elmo was confident and happy to work and Ole was a maniac to find his hot dogs. This time, Desiree and Julie (the instructors) did not hide his hot dog container in boxes at all, instead they hid in back inside shelves and under a chair (the container is magnetic so it sticks under the chair) and a couple of other places that I can't remember. Ole was ON! He did not quit until he found the container and I said "Yes!". I then would run over and open the container and give him a handful of hot dogs. He loves his nose work. The more experienced dogs also got to do an exterior search and a vehicle search. Shelly was great found her containers and Q- Tip no problem. Elmo had a little trouble with his exterior search as it was a Q-tip with Birch scent on it and was hidden in the handle of a bucket that was in front of a dumpster. There were a ton of big nasty horse flies buzzing around the area and Elmo decided that it was up to him to rid the planet of them varmints! It took quite a bit of persuasion to get him back on track and searching. I only hope if we get in the trial next month that there are no horse flies!

Today, (Thursday), Elmo and Shelly got massages by Ann and then I did some house work and shopping for dinner and also for class treats and some doggie ice cream for a doggy birthday party that my three dogs got invited to on Saturday morning.

Then we came home and I got ready for a private lesson with Fiona the lab mix and her two owners. Fiona is a bit dog reactive when on leash so we fitted her with one of my old Gentle leaders and walked her around the trouble spots in her neighborhood working on her owners handling techniques. We also worked on interrupting her barking at dogs that walk past her house and redirecting her.

I came home after that and put together a big pot of homemade spaghetti , fed the dogs and then put Ole in the car to go to his beginning obedience class. The trip that usually takes 30 minutes to drive took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. The traffic was hideous. Fortunately I wasn't the only one 30 minutes late for class. Ole loves clss. We worked on coming when called, leash work , stays and attention. He did very well and after class I let him play with Cooper a little pit mix. His owner and I practiced letting them play and then calling them away from each other to us to sit. It was difficult but we got them to do it.

Ole's girl friend goes home

Dorie came over on Monday morning and picked up GiGi& GiGi was over the top happy to see her Mom! GiGi's family had been gone for 11 days so GiGi was beside herself. Ole and Elmo were out for a walk with Abner so did not get a chance to say goodbye. Ole in particular will miss her. I took Ole and Shelly and Elmo to Dusty Rhodes Park after they got home . The park was the way I like it, mostly empty with no over excited over the top dogs. Afterwards we went to my studio where I worked on the big art piece while the gang napped. Then we went home and started getting ready for the start of another 4 week group puppy class. Elmo was the demo dog du jour. Shelly and Ole stayed with Abner and enjoyed their beef bones while Elmo dazzled everyone with his talents in puppy school. We had just 3 puppies this class, a lab, a golden retriever and a little boxer mix. They are all really nice puppies.

Today I once again took all 3 dogs to Dusty Rhodes Park.Ole found a really nice little border collie x and vizsla to play chase the ball with for a few minutes but then spent most of his time running with Elmo. Shelly found a nice warm sunny spot on the grass to roll around on and that was the high light of the trip for her.

We once again headed over to my studio and spent about 2&1/2 hours working on the big art piece. Abner came by to check the progress on it and then the dogs and I went home did some house tidying and then got ready for the start of the latest beginning obedience class in La Jolla. I also set up two different nosework areas for Shelly and Elmo, one upstairs in the office and guest room and the other in an alley near the house. After Shelly and then Elmo successfully found all their hides i set out boxes for Ole in the alley to search for Hot dogs enclosed in a container. The first 2 I hid the container in a box and he found it no problem. the next 3 finds i put the container outside the boxes but in the general vicinity. He had no problem finding those either. I'm so proud of him! Ole has great Work ethic.

Four dogs showed up for the class, a standard poodle, a golden retriever, a cute labish mutt and an australian shepherd. Once again a really good group and nice people and dogs. The class was fun and Elmo got to demo sits with releases, step on the leash and stay as well as proper leash work.

When we got home Ole and Abner met us at the garage door . they were just coming back from a training walk over to the oceanside. Abner said Ole was pretty good with all the skaters and joggers, not real reactive. I told him to keep at it as Ole is definately a work n progress!

Ole models a life vest

This morning I took all 4 dogs to Dusty Rhodes park for some early AM fun. They had a ball. A little young female Samoyed just could not get enough of Ole, she followed him everywhere and kissed him all over his face. He wanted to run and chase and wrestle with GiGi instead. I think his heart belongs to GiGi. She is either really sweet and frisky with him or very corrective and harsh. He loves it all. He will miss her when she goes home tomorrow morning.

After Dusty Rhodes, I took the pups to my studio and worked on a large 60x48" art piece for a couple of hours. They all settled down right away except for GiGi who just had to position herself everywhere I needed to stand to work. I finally blocked her out of the area I was working in and then she lay down and relaxed. She likes to be the center of attention at all times.

We went home and i made lunch for Ole. I noticed that he hasn't wanted quite as much food at mealtimes as before. He probably isn't having a big growth spurt now so i will cut back on his feeding a bit. Everyone else got a raw chicken neck to munch on as a snack. That made them all very happy. I did a little housework and then signed up online for the National Scent Work Association and registered Elmo so that he will be eligible for the Scent Trial that is being held in San Pedro next month. There are a lot of handlers that will be competing for spots in the trial so we don't know if we will get in or not. I won't be trialing with Shelly because all the elements of the trial are photographed and video taped and Shelly is upset by both. I don't want her to have to put up with that, as it ruins the fun for her. Eventually when Ole gets older I will also register him. He will love the trials. He has a big working ethic and Elmo does also.

There are lots of Arizona tourists this year, seems like more than this time last year. Ole has been enjoyed lots of attention from all the little kids that are here . Everyone comments on his changing "ear-do's".

Abner took Ole on a training walk this afternoon and when they came back, Ole was wearing a bright yellow life vest for dogs! One of our neighbors was throwing it out because their German Shepherd did not like riding in their boat. Anyway it is a little big on Ole now but should fit him well in a few months. Abner wants to take Ole out in his Kayak, so now Ole will be ready with his own water wings! The price tag was still on the vest and it looks like it was never used, so Ole scored big time & Abner is proud of himself.

Ole goes back to daycare

Ole and GiGi went to daycare this morning while Shelly and Elmo and I took a little walk around at Fiesta Island. Afterwards we went to my studio for a while and worked on a commissioned piece of art that I am doing for someone who bought one of my other paintings. From there we drove to my private lesson with Mishu the teenage Akita and her owner. Mishu is basically a very good dog except for coming when called so we spent the whole lesson working on that one thing.
We ran some errands after the lesson and then drove over and picked up Ole and GiGi from daycare. When I walked up to their daycare I could see the two of them playing on the deck and just having a great time.
We then drove back to my studio to meet with a lady who was buying one of the painting that I entered in the Fair. After she left I worked on the collage art work some more and then took everyone home where i got a lot of work done and also got ready to teach Ole's beginning obedience class. I had to teach because unfortunately poor Julie had to put down one of her beloved dogs today and was too broken up to teach the class. Donna came along and brought little Ginger and I brought Ole. We met with Laura and her dog Mick a Belguim Teverne. We met a a local park near where we were to teach the class so that Laura could work with her dog who is reactive around some other dogs. Mick was very reactive with Ole and Ginger at first but after about 15 minutes of walking the 3 of them together we were able to let both Ole and Mick off leash together and they were fine, running and chasing.
The class went quite well and Donna and I had fun teaching it. There were 4 dogs, a Cairn terrier, a Maltipoo, a Rodisian Ridgeback/ labX and a really cute lab?/ mix. Ole stayed in the car during class as I couldn't work with him and the students and their dogs at the same time. Ole still is too rough around the edges to be a demo dog all the time. It will come as he matures!

That was yesterday! Today Elmo had his AM massage appointment so While Abner took Ole and Shelly for a walk, I took GiGi and Elmo to Ann's house. Elmo was very sore and tight on his right side so he was in 7th Heaven during his massage. When we came home I rushed around and tidied up as I had to meet with a lady named Betsey who is a bathroom designer. She is probably going to help me fix up all 3 bathrooms. She spent about an hour or so at the house and after she left I packed the dogs up in the car and we drove over to the apartments that Abner was working at and picked him up and we all took a trip to Fiesta Island to do a little doggie walk around . Everyone got to be off leash except GiGi. Her coat just attracts every foxtail on the island so she had to be onleash during the walk so I could keep her on the trail and out of the brush. Even then I found two foxtails embedded in her coat after we got home.

Donna and Ginger and Donna's husband Phil came by this afternoon,(they were on a walk). We invited them in and while Abner and Phil talked manly stuff, Donna and I did the tour of the newly redone master bedroom. Ginger spent most of her time chastising Ole for being too close to her. She weighs 7 lbs and he weighs 60 but she did a good job of letting him know just how disgusted she was with his behavior! I sure am glad He likes small dogs or maybe he fears her FANG.

Ole and his ear-do

Yesterday , took all 4 dogs (GiGi is still with us), to Dusty Rhodes park for a little R&R. We went really early as I didn't want to take them there when there were a lot of dogs, rough dogs in particular. We stayed about 20 minutes which was plenty of time for them to run and chase and sniff. They enjoyed it immensely and were all ready for a nap afterwards. From there we went home to do a few chores and then headed over to one of the local parks in University City to meet with Donna and Ginger to practice box work and scent drills. We needed to get our homework done. Donna and I put out about 12 or so boxes and gave each dog 3 turns at finding scent in the boxes. Then wedid 3 box searches for Ole who had more fun than anyone else...he loves his nosework! Next I hid a single Q-Tip in a crack in the bark of a very large tree about 12" from the ground. Ginger had never searched for a single Q-tip before and kept wanting to mark the tree. Apparently it is a popular tree with all the local male dogs that frequent that park. Donna didn't let her mark and eventually Ginger found her find. so we gave her two more tree finds for practice and she had less trouble. Elmo and Shelly were already use to finding single Q-tips of scent so had no problem with their finds. We then put a canister with hot dog pieces in it on the grass next to a box amongst all the other boxes and Ole found it in just a few passes. Nothing seems to interfere with his concentration when he does his scent work.
Dorie called from New York to check up on GiGi. GiGi got to hear her voice on the phone but didn't seem to like the phone very much. They will be back early next week to pick up their girl GiGi.

We had class in La Jolla last night and Elmo and Shelly came along to assist. Elmo demonstrated emergency handling techniques for when approached by a threatening dog and Shelly helped with stays and leash work. Ole and GiGi stayed home and kept Abner company.

Today, Dusty Rhodes Park was closed for maintenance so i took the pack to Fiesta Island for a good off leash run, all except GiGi who has that kind of poodle coat that attracts all manner of stickers and foxtails . I kept her on leash and stayed on the wider dirt paths that had no for tails. She didn't have as much fun as she would have off leash but then I didn't spend 2 hours afterwards picking burrs and foxtails out of her coat and skin.

Next we went to my studio where i settled them down and spent some time working on a large 60x 48 art collage that i am doing for a lady that recently bought one of my dog paintings. This piece is based on a large poster with a European village design on it.

We then went home and did dreaded housework and car cleaning. At 2:00 I packed everyone up dropped GiGi off with Abner who was working at one of the apartments and then picked up Donna and Ginger and we drove to Tustin for our weekly nosework class. We had a great time at class, all our dogs did very well and Ole of course was in 7th heaven. Everyone commented on Ole's newest" eardo". Currently his left ear stands straight up while his right ear either does the comb over treatment or flops to the side..very charming.

When we got home Abner said that GiGi did not like riding in his old beat up work van! Not too surprising as she is used to the finer things in life...Mercedes and other fancy cars for her rides!

Ole leaves a trail of teeth

I've vacuumed up at least 3 puppy teeth and saved 4 more. I have no real reason to save Ole's used puppy choppers but they just look so small compared to the pearly whites that have replaced them. I know his mouth is tender as his gums look rather red and a bit puffy. I give him ice cubes and sometimes Yoghund ( frozen doggie ice cream cups) when he seems particularly uncomfortable. He's such an easy going nice tempered guy that he really is staying very even tempered through out the teething experience. Last week Thursday he seemed not so perky & wanted to sleep all day and I think that was related to his mouth being uncomfortable.

He has gotten very BIG, weighed 56.4 lbs when I weighed him Friday. I think he weighs more now. He started beginning obedience class last week Thursday in Del Mar. Julie is our instructor and there are 5 dogs total in the class. It was pretty much of a review for us as Julie taught sit and sit hand signal and a release from sit, come to a hand signal name recognition, watch me and wait. I've been working on those since I brought Ole home at 11 weeks but it is good to practice in the distracting environment of an out door class. He did pretty well, was a bit distracted by the other dogs at first but when he realized the possibility of a piece of hot dog for his attention to me , things quickly turned around. I would say his name and then spit a piece of hot dog in his face when he looked at me. He loved it!

GiGi is staying at our house. Her family dropped her off last Wed. night so she's been with us for 5 days now and is doing fine. She is used to being an only dog so tried at first to guard me as a resource from the other dogs. I am not allowing her to do that at all. She gets sent to her bed or has to do push ups or go to her X- Pen if she tries a power play. Ole thinks she is really hot stuff and followers her around like a well... puppy! He's quite enamored of her. She is 2&1/2 and he is 5.5 mos so I guess that makes her a cougar and him her cub.

The 4th of July was fun this year, the crowds were smaller and it didn't get so wild because no alcohol is allowed on the beaches anymore. The beaches and parks were very clean even last night after most of the partying had finished up and people left. Ole sat out and watched the fireworks on the front step, Shelly hid in the bathroom and GiGi and Elmo chilled out in the living room on the couches. I'm glad Ole isn't freaked out by the "bombs in the sky".

This morning after walks and breakfast, I took all 4 dogs to Dusty Rhodes Park so they could do some running. They had a ball. i only took them in the park because there were just a very few dogs there and no rough playing dogs were in the park. We stayed 20 minutes walking around the whole time. Ole met a really cute little 5.5 mo old white female Shepherd mix and the two of them had a great time playing . Shelly monitored everyone and GiGi and Elmo chased and wrestled with each other. We left after a big young lab came in the park and tried to hump Ole. I pulled the lab off and we high tailed it out of there. I didn't want Ole to get bulled by another dog and maybe learn to do that. I also wanted him to see that i protect him and take charge.

Elmo is getting a bath tonight as he has been itching like crazy. I can't find any fleas on him but his skin is flakey and itchy. The bath and then an application of Thayer's Aloe/ witch hazel mix should fix him right up.