Getting BIG!

One benefit of working at the Animal Inn is having a key to the place. This weekend, we took advantage of it both Saturday and Sunday. We began building on our Tuesday night puppy kindergarten class that we started last week.

The first order of business was “Sit.” And as usual, a bribe was involved using food. This technique also works with college students; or when you might need something from your significant other. “Buttercup, lets go out for dinner so you don’t have to cook” and that is usually followed by, “What do you want to buy?”

The “Sit” went pretty well with both pups. Rita has a bit more attitude then Sam, but not to be outdone, Sam has the vocal chords. The next exercise was who can pee the biggest puddle on the floor Sam clearly won this one. Even I was impressed, and this from someone who likes to have a beer from time to time.

After the “Sit” was a little heeling. I am not sure what they did would be called heeling by anyones definition. More like a fit or a convulsion on a lead.

At one point someone in the class asked if we got our pups from Dave and Sandy. “Nope. They are mine, this was our litter” Dear old dad here was popping a button over this one.

Saturday and Sunday we had the Inn all to ourselves. We set up some agility equipment, tossed some tennis balls around the floor, and let them run wild. We did the “Puppy puppy” recall from across all three rings, and both pups responded perfectly. One time I did it and even Dawn came running. All those years of cheesy pick up lines and all I needed was the “Puppy puppy.” Who would have thought?

What impressed us both the most was the improvement in their heeling. I get up in the morning and walk them for a couple blocks (Separate) before Dawn gets up for work. It only takes a few minutes per dog, and the results are well worth it. We cant go too far, its cold here in the morning, and these guys are pretty young for long walks. Still, the daily trot is showing some results.

After the free for all, we snapped on a couple collars and worked them at opposite ends of the rings for about 10 minutes each, and then switched dogs. Again, both are doing great.

The highlight was the agility tunnel. We collapsed the thing, and Dawn and I got at opposite ends and called a puppy through. After a little investigation, both pups were bombing through the thing like there was nothing there. By the end of our little session, both pups were going through the tunnel after we expanded it all the way.

We are working on names also. “Paisleys a reasonable amount of trouble by Élan” or ‘Elan’s a reasonable amount of trouble by Paisley” we like for Sam. “I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble.” Is a quote from the Maltese Falcon for those of you living in a cave. Rita, we are still working on.

Stay tuned!!

C YA

Well,

Sue picked up the rest of the pups yesterday. After they left I sat on the floor where 15 minutes earlier, they were running wild as a group for the last time. I was surrounded by newspaper, toys, gates; all the things that a bunch of pups need to enjoy themselves. Dawn had left. It was just too much. All I felt was empty. “I am not good at this part. How am I going to ever do this again if I fall apart every time a puppy goes to its new home?” I thought to myself. Then oddly enough, I thought, “I hope I never get good at this part” The same thing that makes you sleep on an air mattress for three weeks, makes you put everything else you have going in your life on hold for the welfare of these pups, also makes you fall apart when they leave.

I am wrestling about what to do with this blog. At some point, I will compile all of it from day one in some from or another. Hey Becky. Can you get me published so I can be a famous writer and go live in Paris?

As for now, if Sue leaves the link up, maybe a few posts a week, with pictures naturally,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thanks everyone for your kind words, and support. And to all the new owners of my first litter: tommyjd@comcast.net

Updates and photos will be accepted!!

ps: grace, calm down!!!

Dogs!!

Tonight, some shots of, CARS!!! Ok, dogs. Some are mine, some for clients, some for fun, and some to meet the hot girl at the end of the lead. (I think I can actually hear Dawns eyes rolling as she reads this.)

Fail

I stared at a blank Microsoft Word page for a half hour, through tears, trying to put something on this page. I failed.

Take good care of your boy. He was a favorite at our home.

Tom, Dawn and Nicole

Pot Licker

After two days and just as many missed service appointments, we are back online. My next assignment according to Dawn is to sit down and write Comcast a scathing letter about their service and customer support. They are going to get it both barrels.

Thanksgiving! For someone who claims she cannot cook, Dawn put on a heck of a feast. I sat around most of the afternoon with my gut hanging out, moaning about fact that I over indulged. Then, I took a nap. Nothing as attractive as a middle aged man with a wife beater on, doing a carbon copy of Al Bundy. A paragon of pulchritude. Contain yourself ladies.

The nap was going well until I was awoken by a scream that would curl your hair. I bolted upstairs like my hair was on fire to find Dawn and Queela, pulling Sherman’s head out of the handle of a pot. It seems Dawn let the tank lick a bowl, and Sherman being Sherman, went nuts and got his muzzle caught in the handle. Naturally, he panicked, and started screaming. He was never in any danger, he just freaked himself out. My heart rate returned to normal about two hours later.

Three more pups are going to their new homes tomorrow. Sherman is going to his new home in Rochester MN, and Sue is taking Grace and Clark. We are going to miss Sherman around here. He has that intangible quality that is impossible to put into words. Grace and Clark are going to Sue, so we will see these two a lot.

I predict another difficult morning,,,,,,,

C YA

School

The first day of school for me was always an event. A bunch of brand new number two pencils, a half dozen new notebooks, an eraser, a few folders, several book covers, and the resolve to “Do better” this year. Within a month, the pencils were chewed like corn on the cob, the eraser got thrown at some kid in the front row, the notebooks we turned into assorted airplanes, and the book covers had enough profanity on them to get me detention for a month. By the time I got out of middle school, I was an expert at washing blackboards. There was always next year.

The pups did considerably better than I did at school tonight. Sam, Rita and Grace got the attention, like the girl in second period algebra. Everyone was fawning over them most of the evening. I took each puppy into the ring with a show lead on and just walked around. All three pee’d. I tried to get away with a lot in school, but peeing in the classroom was too radical, even for me.

Rita did NOT like the show lead one bit. She fought it most of the time, and was a little frightened until Jill fed her a few kibble. Sam was the best. He managed a few decent steps and actually LOOKED like show dog for about a nano-second. Grace was middle of the road. She was ok with it all for a few seconds, but then just wanted her dad. Smart kid. I can see more socialization is in order. Pups can go through a fear stage at eight weeks, and perhaps that’s what we had here.

Well, enough for tonight. Tomorrow is the last day of the work week for me and then four days off. All this school talk reminds me of the time me and few friends swiped the Abe Lincoln bust from the library and hung it from the maple tree outside school. My criminal career was off to a solid start.

C YA

Personality

The different personalities are really starting to emerge in the pups. In no particular order, here we go.

Ava; when you go down to the pen in the morning, she is waiting like a little lady, sitting on the pillow, alert, and calm. She loves to play, but is more reserved. “Look before you leap” might be Ava’s personality. Unlike her namesake, who drank like a fish, and rolled her Mercedes in France. Thanks to Ava Gardner, the “Gullwing” is no more.

Grace; stubborn, and tenacious. Insists on climbing out of the pen. Not afraid to mix it up with any of them. She also is a bigmouth. You have a screaming puppy, its Grace. Somehow, I don’t see her namesake climbing a wall in Monaco. Too unladylike.

Lana; behavior I would expect from a puppy. Given to bouts of craziness, followed by periods of calm. She also appears to sleep the hardest. The last to wake, and certainly the most vocal while sleeping. My Lana is a lot more reserved than her namesake, whose daughter stabbed her boyfriend to death.

Rita; of all the girls, she is the most active. The term “Climbing the walls” describes Rita. What she has in common with her namesake is beauty. I don’t think my Rita will be “Married” five times however.

Sherman; named after a tank. What can you say about a tank? Describing his personality is difficult. He is just a “Neat” dog. Neat is a technical breeder term for all you newbie’s.

Clark; if there is trouble, bet the farm Clark is involved. Reminds me of a kid on a sugar high. Remember that brat in Home Alone, who runs around screaming? Clark. I see a performance title in this ones future. Agility. I doubt the King would conduct his life in this fashion.

Sam; similar to Lana in temperament. One of the gang, yet able to relax. A tad shyer than Lana, and a polar opposite of Clark. He is staying here with Rita. I can hear the questions already; “Are you two from the same parents?”

Spencer; reserved in a “Lets look before we leap” kind of dog. Like his namesake, solid and reliable. A good solid Midwest boy.

There you go! My assessment!!

C YA