One Year, What A Change

This day last year, I was meeting Dhali for the very first time at a puppy open house.  He was 4 weeks old and adorable :)

I can't believe he was that small!

Fast forward ONE year and Dhali attended his very first seminar.  It was at Loretta's and it was fun :)

We were auditors, so mostly Dhali just hung out in his crate.  But he did a really excellent job of just being.  That is a tough skill!

He didn't make a peep when I left him to walk a course.  He whined a little bit when there were other dogs barking.  He also whined a little bit and barked once (!) at the end of the day.  I know what his problem was though - he needed to go potty!  And he was refusing to go.  Still an issue with the strange location pottying.  

But other than the potty issues he was a rock star.  I don't think he could have handled working in that environment - YET, but I was really itching to try the exercises out :P  

He did a lot of this....

And some of this...

At the very end of the day I brought out his mat and let him play on that.  He did a good job, but his enormously full bladder was distracting him a little bit.  It's frustrating to know that if he just would pee he would feel so much better LOL!!

He was great at looking at and then ignoring the dogs working on course.  He was like "yeah, whatever I have mat, I have cheese and hot dogs - don't care about boring dogs."

I love this picture - wink?

My shoes drying off in front of the fan.  My feet were so wet the entire day.  It rained a lot last night, so we were in the barn for the seminar, but my feet got soaked hauling our stuff from the car to the barn.

I really liked having the seminar in the barn!  It was nice and cool - I was even cold!  The dogs didn't run off too much, because we were in the barn.  The sun didn't blind me and I didn't get a sunburn.  All around I enjoyed this year's seminar much better than last year.  It was so relaxing to have Dhali with me.  Last year was stressful with Tibby.

And I learned a lot too!  I took lots of notes.  I can't wait to play with one jump :)

P.S. I ate a hamburger for the first time in over 15 years.  AND it was grilled by a world agility champion :D LOL!!!!  It was a tasty hamburger.  I couldn't remember what they tasted like, but now I know!

16 Weeks, 2 Days

Today Dhali is officially the same age as Tibby was when I brought her home.  16 weeks, 2 days old.

Tibby was a good looking puppy!  She was so soft and pretty.

It's hard for me to tell, but I think Dhali is bigger than Tibby was at this age, just going by the toy.  Although, the toy lost some of its stuffing when Tibby ripped out most of the seams.  That's a big difference between the two pups.  Tibby is a toy ripper, even to this day, and Dhali, so far, hasn't shown any interest in ripping up toys.....maybe because that would require him to stop and sit still for a few seconds!

Tibby August 2010

Dhali Sept. 2012

Their coats are SO different.  It's really interesting to see.  Yes, Dhali's 'white' feet are perpetually tan, because he has started a nice collection of holes in the backyard.  Plus he jumps in and out of his little pool between digging frenzies.  Dirt + water = tan feeties.  

At this point in Tibby's life, 16 weeks, 2 days she was starting at zero.  Zero socialization, human interaction, play, training, seeing the world.

And Dhali has 2 months of seeing everything and doing everything he possibly can do (at hyper speed :P).

He is a sweet little guy.

When he gets scared, for example a strange cat was hissing at him, he runs over to me for a little cuddle and then goes back to explore the 'scary' thing.  Sometimes it takes a few back and forth cuddles/exploring before he's brave enough to try and play with whatever it is, but he always eventually tries to play with everything LOL!  I love when he wants to cuddle - so sweet :)

Bonus 16 weeks picture.  He always looks so serious!  And he is the least serious dog EVER.

Chute!

 Dhali does the chute for the first time ever!! Yay! First Tibby shows him how it's done. What do you know, Loretta Mueller was right YET AGAIN. Jealousy is a powerful motivator.

 So funny that Tibby was totally into doing this to get her ball. Zero treats were involved in the making of this video. She's like, "Mouth off, little punk! That ball is MINE. No share."

 And Dhali coming out of the chute for the first time. Adorable. Like a little muskrat peeking out of is burrow.  Oh, what?  You guys didn't think muskrat?  LOL!

I think Tibby has made the ball a valuable reinforcer for Dhali.  It's so great when they train each other!  :)   I have been working with Dhali since he came home to fetch and play with a ball.  Seeing Tibby go crazy  (as crazy as Tibby gets - mild wild) over the ball made it SO much MORE EXCITING!!  After the chute playing we went downstairs and he 'fetched' the ball for a while.  Sometimes he even brought it back!  Actually he does pretty good at bringing it back.  I don't want to use treats (the way I taught Tibby to fetch), but rather I want the next throw to be the reward.

The reason we were playing inside?  Well, it was hot outside.  And my neighbor was out in his yard.  He's like that Wilson guy on Home Improvement, but without the talking.  Just the fence, big floppy hat and peeking over the fence.  Yeah......so not playing outside with peeking people.

Happy 2 Years Gotcha Tibby!

2 years ago today I brought Tibby home!  She was 14 weeks old.  She'll always be my heart dog, because she was my first puppy, first dog, first travel partner.  She's opened a big world up to me - having a dog best friend is the best!  We've had quite a journey these last 2 years.  I'm SO glad I have her here and I wouldn't change a single minute of the last 2 years.  Even the bad parts were not too bad with Tibby by my side

Hard to believe that this puppy became the elegant ladydog of today?

Nah, she was always a stylish girl!

Next year we'll see what Dhali looks like....I can't wait!  Except I CAN - STOP growing up Dhali!  That's an order!

Wordless (9 1/2 Weeks) Wednesday

So Far, So Perfect

So far Dhali is a perfect puppy.  He's slept through the night for the last 2 nights - looks like he will sleep through tonight too.  He's pretty knocked out!  I do get him up 2 times during the night and take him out to potty.  Then he goes back into his crate and sleeps, until I wake him up again.

He has NOT had an accident in the house yet.  Amazing!!  8 weeks old!  He even kept his crate clean while I was at work for 4 hours yesterday.  It's actually a really big crate and I made a potty area in the crate, because he is 8 weeks and that is a long time to hold it.  BUT he did hold it!

This morning we got up at the normal time around 6am - took Dhali out to potty, played, fed Dhali, went out to potty again and then I wanted to go back to sleep.  So I put him in his crate, but he was not going to go to sleep, so I put him in the x-pen.  He was not happy, but after a while he quieted down.  This is why they invented ear plugs.  I'll have to show you my escape proof x-pen design.  So far he hasn't been able to climb out and he had tried!

Later in the afternoon he needed to take a nap.  He'd been playing a lot and had eaten, pottied, everything.  He was just tired and like a baby was getting fussy-not wanting to sleep.  I put him in the x-pen and after throwing a little tantrum he finally gave up, crawled into his little crate and (after rooting around in the crate pad) took a nap.  It was so cute!  The way he was fighting sleeping, getting slower and quieter and finally he just stopped barking and gradually whines turned into little snores.

He figured out how to do steps.  Very cute.  He watched Tibby going up and down them for a while.  Then he tried a few times (fell a few times) and now he zips up/down/up/down.

They've played a few times.  Tibby gets too excited and scares Dhali, so he hides underneath my legs....until he decides to jump out and attach himself to Tibby's beard.  Yeah, not very scared.

She loves to be chased by him.

Dhali loves to tug!  And play chase!

And look cute!

Got Milk?

"I'm thirsty!  Where's the milk bar in this place?"

"Where 'ya hiding the milk bar?"

"Up here?"

"I think there's sumpin' wrong with your milk bar...."

"O there it is!  Funny place to hide the milk...."

"Hmmm, not getting any milk.....I'm thinkin' this is broke."

"We gotta get that fixed, okay?"

Dhali has tried to nurse on Tibby a few times now.  At first (when I took these pictures) she didn't know what he was doing.  Now she runs away really fast when he goes in for a 'drink'.

Speaking of milk...I didn't think Dhali was drinking very much water, so I've been giving him a little goat's milk after his kibble.  He likes his milk!  Today he started drinking more water, so I'm not so worried about it, but I have a big container of dried goat's milk to use up now, so Dhali and Tibby will be getting a little milk snack for a while.

Naming Issues

Ahhhh!  I need some help!

My Mom is saying that she will refuse to call the new puppy Dhali.  And that it is a horrible name.  She is hassling me a lot.

She likes the name Duo or Bhutan.

Or something combining the mom and dad's names - Scarlet and Diesel.  Soooo LetGas???  LOL!!  Just kidding!  Or Dilet?  Or Selet?  Or Carel?

I don't think so.

This is WAY harder than when I named Tibby.

I like Dhali!  So what if it sounds like Dolly.  There are lots of names that are girl/boy names.  It's getting frustrating, because every conversation ends with a fight discussion about puppy names.

Puppy Open House

Meet the new puppy!  So much personality!

Today I went to a puppy open house to meet the new member of our family.

It was so much fun!  So much cute puppiness!

This is Ch Shey Own's the Red Carpet
"Scarlet" the Momma dog.

And this is Ch. Shey's Smokin'
"Diesel" the Daddy.  Oh my, I LOVE this dog!  I hope the puppy takes after his daddy.  Such a fun, happy, playful dog.  Seriously LOVE him - would take him home is a second LOL!!

Crazy, but still a lover boy.  Perfect!

The puppies - 5 boys, 1 girl. The girl is in the very center head pointing toward the top of the picture.  My boy is on the left - of the two pups playing with the toy.

Very relaxed.  Puppies are hard work!  She is very fine boned and delicate.

Ready for some fun!  Like opening the screen door - which he did!  Awesome dog :)

Sleepy.  We played with them and then they had a snack at the milk bar.  After that they all went to sleep.

Here he is!

He's so sweet!  He was giving me kisses!

I'm so glad I didn't have to choose.  I don't know how any one can choose between them!  They are all so perfect. 

I love his symmetry.

Teething!  He really liked my finger.

Awwww.

Playing with the camera cord.