A Pill For You

We went to the vet again this morning.  More shots and anal gland squishing....ewwww.  

Dhali is now 10.8 lbs!  He's getting to be a big boy.  I would love to know how big his brothers and sister are getting.  And how they are doing.  They are all 14 weeks old today.

I have been saying that Tibby was 14 weeks when I got her, but that was NOT correct.  She was actually 16 weeks and 2 days when I brought her home.  So another 2 weeks and then I can start to compare them.....see if they look similar/size.  Tibby had a really thick, soft, plushy coat as a baby (and adult).  Unless he does something in the next 2 weeks, Dhali will not have the same coat.  I can hope!  Maybe it's a boy thing.

Tibby weighed 22.8lbs....which is EXACTLY the same as last time.  Strange that she would be exactly the same weight?  

So now Tibby is on more drugs than I am.  She is taking Previcox - a pain reliever and Dasaquin + MSM - a joint supplement.  She also has Xanax to take as needed - for anxiety. From the Dr.'s note, "Her x-ray showed that she may have some arthritis in her right hip and her left hip isn't seeded as well as it should be in her left hip socket."

So weird to pick the Xanax up at my grocery store pharmacy.  "Um, a prescription for Tibbit?"    

Dhali did really, really well at the Vet.  In the waiting room he just laid down by my feet.  Tibby had to sit on my lap.  No really...she doesn't let me say no.  Either she sits there or I have 22.8lbs of dog flying at my lap until the lap gives in.

In the exam room he wanted to explore and whenever anyone came in the room he had to run over and see what they were doing.  I kept him busy while Tibby was having her exam and he was eating treats when she started screaming.  She HATES to have anyone touch her butt.  She uses some salty dog language.   Dhali was really worried about what was happening to his big sister.  He would eat a treat, run over to the exam table, run back to eat another treat, run back to the exam table.  It was cute and didn't seem to cause any permanent damage.  He had to go 2nd.  And he didn't say a thing when they did his anal glands.

He was a little bit more tired today, but also we were outside almost all day too.

I tried out the Xanax on Tibby tonight.  I just wanted to see what would happen, in case I need to use it.  So far not much.  She does seem really playful tonight and wanting to play and train.  I saw her play bow to Dhali, which is new.  

Of course, now I don't know if it was the pain reliever or the anxiety med that made her feel so good.  Or if she was just feeling frisky.

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.

Hey Pretty La-dy

Just 'cause she's pretty and Dhali is always hogging the blog ;)

Tibby the diva dog.

Potty Training the Civilized Dog

Dhali was hot and tired.  He found the perfect place to rest his rear.

Yes, he is sitting on his water dish.

Either this makes him A) Brilliant!  First dog to invent an indoor doggie water toilet!

or

B) Idiot!  Dirty water!  Your bum is in your drinking water!

or 

C)  Brilliant!  Air conditioning for the doggie backside!  Take a seat and cool...your seat.

or

 D)  Idiot!  Now you have a wet rear end and need to invent the doggie toilet towel.

Which ever letter you pick it's scary cute!  It must have been comfortable, because he sat there for a long time.

"Excuse me!  Can I get some privacy?"

"La, la, la, just sitting around."

Sleep Less, Play More

"Sleep Less, Play More"  Dhali's motto at the moment.

Last night was an especially bad night.  At 2:30am Dhali ended up being moved (crate and all) into the bathroom.  I'm not sure if he's just growing up and testing the rules or what.

I got home from work at 11pm.  My parents had taken care of the pups - they reported that Dhali wasn't interested in running around outside.  He just laid in the grass.

So I get home and they go outside.  Dhali runs around the yard - big loops and checks out all his outside toys that I had moved off the grass.  We go inside and do a clicker session and then play some.  Back outside.  Inside and he plays with Tibby while I empty the dishwasher.  I work on calling him out of play from Tibby while I'm tidying the kitchen.  He comes flying to me 100% of the time.  Really good job recalling.  They were playing rough and chasing around into the bedroom and back to the kitchen.  But he came to me every single time!  Yay!

Ok then back outside for another potty time.  

Quiet time with a bully stick.

Time for bed.

Lights out and the barking begins.  Bark,bark,bark. After 20mins, at 1am, I take him out for another potty break.  Maybe he needs to go?  Nope.  Just wants to lay in the grass.  Ok.....back to bed.  

At 2am I took him out for another potty break.  He goes pee.  Ok good!  He'll sleep now, right?  

Nope.

bark,bark,bark,bark,bark

2:30am  - off to the bathroom with Dhali.  With 2 closed doors between us Tibby and I get to sleep.  Dhali is quiet (must be sleeping) until I wake him up at 7:30am.

I take both pups out to potty and Dhali just wants to lay in the dog bed outside.  He's tired!  He goes potty and then into the x-pen.  Tibby and I fall asleep again until 9:30am.  Then both pups go outside for another potty break.

From 9:30 until 1pm Dhali did NOT stop moving.  He destroyed several cardboard boxes and played with a bunch of toys.  We did some clicker training and played.

Now he is passed out and asleep.  He has been so much quieter today.  Maybe yesterday was just a barky day.

Dhal-baby

I have been wanting to post this all week, but I couldn't find the time. Here is Dhali being totally awesome and a smart fun puppy on Monday! This video makes me soooo happy! He can do a tunnel!  He really knows what I want too.  And only in a few easy training sessions!  :)  P.S. Look at me throwing a leash like a real agility person LOL!  I watched people doing that on Sat. and couldn't resist doing it myself.  It's fun!  P.P.S.  I got some nice deep holes in my arms/hands from our play session.  You can hear me say that we need a toy.  Uh, yeah!  I'm getting eaten!  But I try not to show it, because I don't want Dhali to stop playing.

Yesterday we had a not so great training day, but today he is back to acting like he did in this video. Play, play, play! I think the difference may be the amount of Tibby time he gets. So restrictions are in place. They get to play, but Dhali has to be willing to come to me if I call while he is playing. No come = tied to mommy for a while. Fun for both of us LOL!

Yesterday he was willing to do heeling, ride his skateboard, balance on a ball in front of a busy store. However, later when we went to a park he blew me off - wouldn't come/didn't want to tug. The park was empty. Weird little guy. He might have been too hot....but then again today it was hotter and he was playing like crazy at home. Not sure. Just have to keep on trying different things.

Today I was very happy when we were playing in the living room after a breakfast clicker session, Tibby was resting on her dog bed and Dhali was able to ignore her. We worked our way across the room until we were right next to her and he kept playing with me. He tried to go see her a couple times, but thanks to Mr. Always present Leash he quickly redirected back to playing with me. We will keep working on this every day.

First Grooming, Food and Photo Bomb!

I haven't been updating very much - bad me!  We are having fun, but there isn't enough time between playing with Dhali and trying to get something done while Dhali barks in his x-pen, because he wants to DO SOMETHING!!  He is very go, go, go.  For example, today I had him outside with me for 2+ hours while I washed the siding and deck.  He 'helped' by chasing the hose, biting the broom, digging holes in mud and running around like a crazy head.  It was HOT, but he just ran and ran.  I also worked on recalls - calling him away from all the fun he was having whereever he was.  A few times I lost him!  So it's good he recalls.  He was exploring underneath the deck, in the bushes, the far side of the house.  He's on leash, but I have my doubts that I could catch him if he didn't want to be caught!

Then I was done, it was still really hot and getting hotter and Dhali had been running and running, soooo time for a nap, right?  Ah, no.  Time for Dhali to scream in the x-pen.  For almost 30 mins.....now he has stopped and it chewing on a bully stick.  But if I move he will start screaming again.  This is why I don't get anything done around the house!   

It is now after 7pm and I started writing this at 1pm......yeah.

The only good photo of Tibby post grooming with a photo bombing Dhali.

So anyway.....Tibby and Dhali went for a grooming on Monday.  It was Dhali's first ever time at the groomer's!  I'm not sure how she did it, but he was groomed.  Magic skills apparently.  Nothing was snipped off that shouldn't have been.  I was a little worried about that when I saw that she had trimmed his wizzel fuzz.  All wizzel was still intact though - whew! 

Rockin' the 'puppy' cut, 'cause he's a puppy!!

5 seconds after this photo he was dirty and full of weed stickers again.  Had to rub off that stinky 'pretty boy' smell.

So it took the pups over 4 hours at the groomer's.  I didn't think it would take that long and I had an appt. out of town, so my Mom picked the pups up for me.  Earlier in the day I had brought home a bag of large breed puppy food and set it in the kitchen.  My Mom didn't know about that and Dhali helped himself.  Hmm, he must be a real dog or something.  Tibby would never, ever have done something like that.  Not lady-like ya know.

Nutrisource Food

The reason I bought the large breed puppy food.  Dhali's food is SO tiny!  I end up dropping more than I put in his mouth.  The lg. breed doesn't look that much bigger, but it isn't flat like the sm/med breed food.  I'm just using the bigger food for recalls.  It's also cut down on the amount of finger biting which is nice.  The only difference between the 2 puppy foods is the amount of protein.  The sm/med has a higher protein % per serving.

On the Throne? I Bark For Your Kong!

I use to have 2 puppy kongs, but Ellie chewed through one of them (in the first 5 mins. that I had her). I think I will have to get a 2nd one kong, but not a puppy one. Dhali is too strong a chewer. He has puppy teeth now and he leaves marks on the kong. When he gets those adult chompers all bets are off! Tibby is dainty when she eats out of the kong, so she can still have the puppy kong.

Tibby correcting Dhali. Telling him to back off. Check out their body language.

"Mmm, yum kongyummyslurplickmmmmm"

Tug Fail

Dhali likes to tug on this fleece strung across the x-pen. Sometimes he gets a little too into it and his whole body get involved! LOL! He isn't really stuck, but I was interrupting his game,so he stopped to look at me.

Dhali's First Lesson, Hiking! and First Agility Trial!

Wow we  have done so much in a short amount of time!  And I don't have pictures of ANY of it :(  Oh, well. 

Yesterday we went to Loretta's and Dhali had his first lesson!  He did a really, really good job.  He had a few moments when he wanted to do his own thing, but those moments were very few.  I think he thought it was too hot, because when we went in the shade he did better at staying by me, but considering how many new things he was introduced to - I think he did GREAT! :)
This is the list of things Loretta gave us to work on.  It's a lot, but I think Dhali will be able to do it. 
And me.  I'm the one that has trouble!

Minimum 80 recalls---no dining and dashing.

Playing----no playing and dashing. When doing recalls with toys, stop and play for 30 seconds.

Sits, downs and waits on a mat.

Agility trials---MAIN FOCUS IN SOCIALIZATION, get to as many as u can.

Kibble for treats.

Teach a jump on the ground, work up to a pinwheel. Start FC, RC.

Tunnels, chute (end opened) and start get on board, and reward on board.

RUN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Work food to toy to food transitions. Of having issues give breaks between transitions.

Playing with dogs 1 to 5 ratio. For every 1 min with dogs, 5 mins with you. INVOLVE IN THE PLAY! Recall out of play on leash. Reward heavily.

If you cannot MAKE HIM come to you, don't call him.

Reward and name potty times. On leash.

Once jump trained, start lateral and forward sends.

PLAY PLAY PLAY ALL THE TIME.

Jealousy is a good thing :-)

Loretta

I can see that I'm going to have a hard time with the 80 recalls a day.  That's a LOT!!  But I will try my best to get close to that number.  I'm also going to have a hard time with the 1 min. play time with Tibby for 5 mins. play time with me.  It makes Tibby happy to play with Dhali, but I know that the results in the future will be worth a little work now.
During Dhali's lesson Tibby waited and barked a lot.  I wanted to do something fun for Tibby, so on the way home we stopped at a state park and went hiking.  Tibby was very happy!  It was a nice hilly hike and we only saw 4 people and 2 of them were (female) park rangers.  So very nice hike for Tibby - no scary things or people.  It really shouldn't be a surprise to me that Tibby is happiest hiking, after all that's what we did every day for the first 3 months she was with me.  It was the only way I could keep her from keeping me up all night long - very long off leash hikes.  She would run and run and come home tired, but still happy to keep me up at night.  Yeah.....I was pretty sleep deprived for a long time.  Crate training, people....do it!

The last 2 nights Dhali has been so tired that he doesn't make a peep in his crate for 8 solid hours of sleep.  sweet, sweet sleep - ahhhh I love it.  Before that I had my construction ear muffs.  Pop those on and I can't hear anything.  Yes weird, but it works.  I tried those orange ear plugs, but they weren't strong enough.  Dhali's voice can pierce through brick walls.  I even tried ear plugs + ear muffs.  Well, any way he's doing better and it's so much easier having a puppy in a crate at night.

So we had fun hiking, then we came home and I gave both pups a bath and then they had after bath zoomies, I played tug with Dhali and then I was tired!  Dhali was still ready to go, go, go.  Lesson, hike, bath, play - more!  He doesn't sleep in the car very much either.  I don't remember if it took Tibby a long time to start relaxing in the car?  He watches me, chews his bully stick and barks.  Today he slept, but he was very tired.

So today!  We went to an agility trial in St. Cloud.  Just Dhali and me.  It was fun.  Dhali was awesome again.  My only complaint is the benches were super uncomfortable.  I need a chair with a back!  Otherwise it was great.  Fun to watch everyone and see some great dogs and handlers.  Dhali tugged on his toys, chilled and watched everything and watched me to get treats.  Mostly he just relaxed and watched everyone.  I DID notice where his comfort level for tugging was.  He was a crazy fiend in the parking lot - jumping and tugging really hard in the parking lot and on the walk to the trial site.  When we went around the side of the building and he could see people/dogs his tugging went down a lot.  He would still play, but he wasn't jumping as much. 

Although at the end of the day he did really fierce tugging right by the ring with dogs all around and people sitting around next to us.  People even stepped over him and he was still tugging and playing.  I think he did great.  We were there for a long time - almost 4 hours?  I think.  And he was focused on me really, really well.

So different from the first trial I took Tibby to.  She barked the ENTIRE time and she lunged at anyone/dog that came within her vision line.  We didn't stay very long, because she was acting so crazy and BARKING like a crazy.

Thank you Loretta for kicking me in the rear and getting me to take Dhali to agility trials.  I will try!!!

One thing that we need to work on - Dhali wouldn't pee!  He held it the entire time we were away from home!  He pooped, but NO PEE.  Silly pup.  So that was what?  We left at 12pm and got home at 7:30pm.  That was a long time to hold it!  Poor little tiny bladder.  He also wants to go really, really far away to poop.  Which is nice, but also a pain.  Gotta work on the potty on leash!

So after the trial we stopped at Petsmart and the best happy making me thing happened.  When we were checking out the Petsmart employee said, "I was watching you while you were picking out a collar and he just sat there and watched you the whole time!  It was so cute!"  Yes, he was a good boy!  We were working on focus and Dhali was a very good boy.  He doesn't try to jump on everyone he sees, but rather sticks with me and walks along or sits and watches me.  It looks like I actually train him or something LOL!!

Whew, so we made it home and Tibby missed me SO much.  She had to sit in my lap for a while until she calmed down and she followed me around to make sure I didn't try to escape again.

Very tired now.

When we got home Dhali was like, "Let's do something!  Play with me!  Toys!  Run around! Fun!"  and I was like no you are tired.  I know you are tired.  Dhali was like, "Put me in coach!  I'm ready!"  But yeah, 5 mins. in the x-pen he was sleeping.  He WAS tired!      

OW

"I bite!"

Dhali has a very interesting style of recall. I call it the Badger recall. He runs at me full speed (I'm kneeling down), jumps at my face with his mouth wide open and bites whatever is sticking out. Like my nose or cheeks or....hopefully not my eye. Tonight he got really close to my right eye. Everything always happens to that stupid eye too. That's the one that was lacerated almost 2 years ago - so, so painful. Only time I have ever gone to the ER as a patient.

I like the recall! I LOVE it! He's fast, happy and having fun. I would just like to not be bleeding or in pain after he recalls!

"I kiss your boo boos. *lick*"

Training A Trick: Tibby vs. Dhali

Tibby and Dhali have very different styles.  One isn't better than the other, but it's a lot easier to get excited when I'm training Dhali - just because he moves so much faster and is excited himself.

Dhali was a little bit distracted - he had to poop!  I cut our training session short, because he was doing some toots!  Went outside and yup he had to go LOL!  How's that for some behind the video info? :)

I think I may need a little bigger suitcase!

What A Nice Day

We had a nice long full of fun day.  I have 2 very tired puppies.

First we went on a walk this morning with my Mom.  Not sure if we will do that again any time soon.  Tibby's reactivity doesn't make a walk very much fun at 6am.  Too early for me to think.  Dhali had fun running and running and jumping and biting and grabbing.  I carried him twice, because he was annoying Tibby.  When he gets tired he grabs onto her harness and starts tugging on it.  You can almost see Tibby rolling her eyes at him.

Then we went home, the pups got a nice warm rinse off, because dew + road grime = yucky puppies (another reason not to take morning walks) and we took a little nap.  Tibby decided the best napping spot was on me, so she curled up, wet feet included, and snuggled.

Then we (my Mom helped me) did a TON of yard clean up work for 5 hours.  Dhali ran and ran and ran.  He also dug and snoopervised EVERYTHING.  Tibby stayed inside and watched from a safe distance.  She doesn't like the wheelbarrow.  She did come out and run around with Dhali a couple of times.  Dhali was very cute - of course!  He rode in the wheelbarrow, jumped out of it, tried to bite the tires, ect.  He followed me out of the yard every time I took a load of yard waste to the driveway.  Then he followed me right back into the yard.  Recall training!  He was really good.  His focus on me is always a surprise - I never take it for granted.  So different from Tibby.  He thinks everything is a toy - a stick, random plastic piece, weed, grass clump, my gloves, rake, shovel, ect.

After we were all done Dhali got a bath.  Tibby was happy that she had stayed inside - nice and clean!  He's easy to bathe - except that he always jumps out at the end.  Something to work on!

Then I went to run some errands and the pups took a nap - probably.

When I got home we played outside.  It's so much fun to have a dog that plays!

Then I did a quick little trick training with both of them.

I went to do a few more errands.

Came home played some more and did some more trick training.  The pups played a bunch.  Played with the new toys I picked up.  And now they are sleeping!

hee hee hee I CAN tire out a puppy!

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!

Dhali's First Hike Video

Video from last Sunday's hike - Dhali's first ever!

Where's Dhali?

Can you see him?

This was pretty neat. Zoe climbed a tree and she also did a 'downward dog' (LOL!) in the tree, but my camera was too slow to capture it.

Waz'at?

"Sure is a nice carton of milk you have there."

"If only I was a little bit taller!"

"Come on! Share with me!"

Wet Head

I'm trying to catch up with all the pictures I've taken of Dhali. Wet head! When it was warmer last week-end and we played with the hose and sprinkler.

Dhali Playing With Tibby

11 week old Dhali playing with Tibby. I can't believe how quickly he is growing up!!! I feel like he was 8 weeks old just yesterday....no I feel like he was just born yesterday. Wow! The days are going by fast.

Walking With Little Man

Say Cheese!

"What are you doing?"

"I'm smiling!"

"Why?"

"If you smile they give you their FOOD! And the best yummy things come from the table.">

"So you have to show your teeth??? I thought that was rude???" >

"Not to humans. They like to see teeth. It means they're happy. And then they give you yummy FOOD!!!"

"Hmmm....humans are strange."

"I'm glad I have a big sister to tell me the human secrets."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...just try smiling and we might both get treats."