Now I remember why I remodeled the basement - winter is nasty. It's dark, all the time. It's wet, all the time. It's cold and wet and dark. I would like to see the sun again! It's dark when I go to work and dark when I get home and then it gets darker. It has rained/drizzled for days and days. I can't remember how long! That's a long time.
So it was good to get out of the house tonight with Dhali and go shopping at Runnings again. We just wandered around and eventually bought some puppy food which conveniently was both on sale and something I needed to get. Dhali was good, which I sort of just expect from him now. He got to meet some people, a man and woman that asked to pet him. He was soooo good. He sits right down and snuggles up to them and then he wanted them to rub his belly. He thought the man's cowboy boots smelled really, really good. LOL! The check out girl remembered him from one of his first visits when he was a puppy. They are pretty nice to us there :) Some of the customers are surprised to see a dog in the store - I had one weird reaction from a woman when Dhali was a tiny baby and I was carrying him, but the store employees are all pretty relaxed about seeing us in the store.
It was nice to be able to walk around in the light and not be rained on. I am starting to feel like I live in a dark shoe box with two furry WWF fighters. Bitey games are fun, but not when they go on for hours. If you have somewhere to take your dog weekly and train - well you are lucky! It's going to be a long winter of cabin fever for us.
In Runnings we did some 'look at that' Control Unleashed sort of stuff. I don't really understand the whole game, but Dhali was looking at weird stuff and then I would say, 'yes!' and give him a treat. Then he was offering looking at weird stuff (tractor parts, chicken feeders, hoses, other farm stuff that I don't recognize) to get his treat, so I think he is starting to understand the game. We've worked on the beginning steps at home, which are sort of boring and Dhali gets too into it and wants to run at the object or do something like hit it with his paw.
I made the mistake of wandering into the brush department. Dhali LOVES brushes, brooms, sweepers, anything with bristles. He was trying to pick out his favorite one and then he found one he liked and tried to carry it away! I would have bought it, but it was almost $20 and he has a ton of toys already. I would like to find a cheaper one, that he likes, to use as a playtime/training toy. Also, a smaller one would be good too :P
One thing that is good about the rain and mud - Dhali has learned to wait. I taught him the same way I taught Tibby (and she has a pretty good wait). After he gets his paws washed off in the bathtub I let him jump out and then I dry him off. Then he has to wait while I open the door, shut off the light, walk out of the door and walk around the corner. Then I come back and release him with 'okay'. He runs out of the bathroom like a shot! Very cute. We worked up to all those steps - he gets his feet washed a lot, so lots of practice! The next step is to lengthen the time I'm out of sight and then I come back and leave and come back and leave - 'ya know proofing stuff. He's generalized this to other things too - like waiting while Catty drinks her milk snack and then getting released to clean up after her.
I was drying his feet tonight after a wash off and a tooth popped out of his mouth! It was a big side tooth. It just shot right out on to the floor! His canines are still all there and I wish they would fall out already! They look so weird. He doesn't seem to be bothered by his teeth at all - chews bully sticks, bites on Tibby and tugs the same. I try to be careful when we are playing that the toy doesn't get caught on his teeth. I don't want him to stop tugging or associate pain with tugging!
Happy Rad Tech week! I celebrated with my co-workers today and we had a potluck. I brought Cha Siu Bao - Chinese barbecued pork. It cooked slowly all last night and the puppies thought they needed to check on it multiple times during the night. I swear, Dhali woke me up and I let him out of the bedroom and he ran directly to the oven and stared at it. I also made the regular recipe for the buns, but I pretzel-ized them. OMG! I love pretzel buns now and they are so easy to make!
This time next month we will be getting ready for Dhali's first real dog show! Very exciting! If you are in St. Cloud Dec. 8th or 9th come and visit us!
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