Has It Really Been That Long??

Not much happening, though, until this weekend.  Friday night there was a puppy meeting.  Not much unusual there except it was snowing!!!  The humans were rather cold but it was still fun.  I didn't want to put my hind end down on the pavement but I did it anyway.  Then yesterday we went on a puppy outing to The Living Desert in Palm Desert, CA.  That was fun!  Lots of other dogs (there were 18 dogs and 30 people) and strange critters to see.  Some of them thought we were strange, too.  A giraffe leaned way over the fence to get as close as possible.  The badger snarled from behind glass.  The wolves barked and howled.  One of the workers said it was good for them to have some excitement and another talked about displaced aggression and said they were worried that the wolves would turn on each other.  Anyway, we got our picture taken and moved on.  We walked by some camels that were giving rides.  They stared at us just as long as we stared at them.  What funny looking critters!  The little electric trains were neat.  I wanted to go grab one but of course Mom said no.




Me and Kiko snoozing

 

After we got done there we all went to eat at a local restaurant.  Mom took pictures of lots of dogs asleep under tables!  Then Mom and I got to go to another puppy raiser's house to play in the back yard.  There was a swimming pool!  Uh, I don't like water!!  The other dogs loved it - don't they know they can't walk on it?  I finally waded in a little bit.  It's FUN!  Pretty quick I was the one still chasing the toys in the pool after  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slZdhImXYPY) the other three dogs had found something else to play with.  I was so excited I was talking to the guy throwing the toy, trying to tell him how excited I was and would he please just throw it!  I had SO much fun and I hope we can do that again.  My friend Kiko was there and two other friends, Gene and Vivian.  Gene and Vivian are brother and sister but being raised by separate puppy raisers.  It was neat to get to play with them.

Today Mom put on some wheels and we went for a run!  I've never done that before.  Mom hadn't done it in years so we got off to a slow start.  Mom was happy to see that I don't mind those wheels.  We had fun and definitely need to do it again!  Dad rode by on his biycle and I was cool with that, too.  No sweat!  The little girl was trying to learn to ride her little skateboard and that was no problem.  Mom is already trying to decide what wheels to do next!

What? What'd I do??

Yesterday Mom took me to a house I had never visited before.  They have three kids and a big back yard!  Mom was told to go ahead and let me run around - so she did.  And then had fun removing the kids toys from my mouth.  Chalk, a ball, a rollerblade, sticks...  Mom wasn't impressed but I had so much fun!  Pretty quick I was tied to a table leg in the kitchen - and now Mom needs another new leash...

Weekly Update

My routine doesn't change much but we did get to have some fun this weekend.  Mom was a little disappointed when I panicked at a skateboard Friday afternoon.  The guy on the skateboard was really nice about it, though.  As soon as he realized I was scared he hopped off the board and came over and said hello and let me sniff his board.  I made a new friend!  He walked another half a block past us before he hopped back on his skateboard.  I kept an eye on it.  I heard a roller bag and nearly jumped out of my skinbut I was able to immediately see it wasn't a skateboard so it only needed a short study.  Also on Friday there was a puppy meeting.  We picked up Janie and Kiko and headed to Yucaipa. I got to play quite a bit with the other dogs.  That's always fun!

Oh, on Saturday we went up to Big Bear and played in the snow!  I couldn't shovel it into my mouth fast enough!  I got to run around and fetch sticks and play until I was plain wore out. 

Then, instead of working on Sunday, Mom took me to a country club to eat with a bunch of dog friends and then we all went to a concert performed by a puppy raiser named Lorna Luft.  We got to parade in around the room and sit all together.  It was kind of loud but Mom had fun.  During the last song Lorna's puppy, Gene, barked from back stage - and all 16 dogs in the group barked back!  It was great to say hello but we were all quickly shushed.  After the last song Lorna and her husband, Collin, brought Gene out to say hello to all his friends and get pictures taken.  Man we had a lot of fun!  One of the littlest puppies had an accident in the concert hall on the carpet but his puppy raiser was right there with a baggie so it was cleaned up before anyone really noticed it.

Then today it was back to our regular routine.  Mom has started taking me to a scrapbooking store.  The ladies there are really nice and I have to learn to hold my tail still because the aisles are so narrow that I knock things down if I wag.  Oops, sorry!

A Couple of New Things

Life seems to have patterns - mine has been pretty boring since I got neutered and stuck in a crate!  Now that I have my stitches out and Mom knows I'm able to focus a bit better she's been taking me to places she thinks might present a challenge for me.  Boy do I have her number!  I wish there were more pictures of these feats but when it's just me and Mom who will take the picture?

First Mom found a busy, busy road where the speed limit is 55mph.  She thought it would be a challenge because of the vehicles flying by, trucks with jake brakes, median maintenance crews - even an ambulance screaming by.  She thought wrong!  What's the big deal?  So then she took me to a busy plaza area that has a freeway overpass to walk on.  We walked halfway across and paused there for a bit so I could see all the cars thundering underneath me - again, what's the big deal?  It's just noise, after all!  Next up - trains!  Since we had to wait for the train anyway, Mom pulled over and parked and we got out and walked toward where the train was rumbling by.  Mom thought it would get me rattled because it's not only noisy but the ground shakes a lot and the crossing has lots of bells and lights. Nope, no big deal!  I walked slowly and kept an eye on it but then when I realized it stayed in its place I quickly became interested in smelling everything else.

Now Mom is trying to think of more challenging things.  Things like relieving in odd places, crowds, etc.  So far I'm doing just fine except for kids and other dogs.  When I have my jacket on I do pretty well.  Mom can tell me to sit/stay and walk a couple of feet behind me and let the kids try to call me and offer me stuff but I know now I have to stay there.  She still can't go very far but we're getting there.  I have a few favorite people that always get to love on me when I'm not working so now Mom is showing me that when I have my jacket on I have to behave even when they want me to say hi.  That's more challenging than any noises she can throw at me!  My other challenge is slurping stuff off the floors.  *sigh* I don't know why I can't eat the little pieces of stuff on the floor but Mom's sure not happy when I do.  She will reach in my mouth as far as she has to to get the little piece out, put it back on the floor and tell me to leave it.  She looks at me like she's daring me to try reaching for it again but I wait until she's not looking to try.  She pries my jaws open again, all the while muttering about my acting like a teenager...

Man, oh Man!

Well, now I know what 'neutered' means!  I've been home for a couple of days now and really don't like wearing this cone on my head.  How am I supposed to clean my owie with this cone in the way?  Do you know how hard it is to chew a bone when you can't hold it with your front paws? 


At least when we went to a restaurant tonight Mom let me take it off for a while.  She still wouldn't let me near my stitches but at least I could finally scratch my neck!

Dennis and Patti were at work today.  When Patti came in to see me I just had to roll over and show her my owie.  I'm certain she was quite impressed.  Mom says I have to put up with this until the end of next week - when is that??

I'm Getting Tutored!

Or was it neutered?  Well, whatever, it's happening on Wednesday!  Mom says it will help my concentration when we're working and she's quite excited about that. 

Time to catch up!  You know it's bad when Mom has to go get her date book to remember what all we've been doing...



Patti and Dennis Wheeler with Lowe


On February 4th we went to dinner at the school and I got to meet two of my sponsors!  I learned more about the young Marine whose name I carry, too.  Dennis and Patti Wheeler are among the sponsors that I have.  And Mom was told that there is a little church in Illinois that has contributed as well.  They sure know how to love on a puppy! 



In puppy class on the 6th Mom was a bit frustrated with me.  I don't know why, I had a great time dancing around!  Mom would tell me to stay, walk to the end of her leash, and then the trainer would come around and call me - of course I went to her!  Uh, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?  Apparently not.  Mom says we'll be working on that one.

That was Sunday.  On this past Friday there was a puppy meeting.  I did very well there!  Mom told me to stay, walked away to get her food and I was still there when she came back.  Whew!  At least I got that one right...  Then yesterday we went to lunch at some people's house that I hadn't been to before.  They had someone sneaking around in their back yard!  I was growling and every bit of the wavy fur on my back was stnding up clear from head to tail like a mohawk.  Mom started laughing and turned me loose in the back yard to go check it out.  Are you kidding?  Without her??  Then she walked right up to it and patted it on the head.  OH!  It's pretend!  I guess the joke's on me - how was I to know?  I've never seen anyone put fake people in their yard before.

Today at puppy class I did much better.  Still not real good at the end of the leash but when heeling with Mom I was able to ignore the little puppies in the ex-pen and the other dogs pretty well.  Not perfectly, but enough that Mom was impressed.  I like being a good dog, you know.  When Mom says 'come' I have to go to her and sit by her left side.  Well, we made this into a fun game!  She would wait until I wasn't paying attention and sneak away to the end of the leash, then call me.  I would RUN over and plop right down!  Apparently this was very funny so I did it over and over - it was such fun!  I even added a few hops here and there as I ran over to her.  Yup, I'm still a puppy.  I'm eight months old and 68 pounds of pure goofiness!

Quick Update



She kept me running!  See my tongue hanging WAY out?!?



Mom has taken me to restaurants, stores, friend's houses, church - and no one is allowed to pet me while I'm in jacket!  *sigh*  That could get boring in a hurry!  I did get to have a play date with my friend, Kiko, again.  Oh, and I made a new friend today!  Her name is Ally.  She's a few months older than I but she took it easy on me.  I may be big but I'm still a puppy.  It may be more fun now to go to work with Mom!  We both had a good nap this afternoon.  Mom says a tired dog is a good dog - I must be perfect today!