10 Weeks Old

Remus is continuing to do well.  The housebreaking is going well, I've been doing a good job preventing him from having accidents, though he has had a couple (I am human and as I've been told by Deb at work- no one would like me if I was perfect all the time).

We had our 2nd Puppy Kindergarten class today which was very fun!!  Before our class started we attended a BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training) Class, (I'm co-teaching it with Katrin), instead of crating Remus I had him on leash.  During the meeting (no dogs attended) I worked on down, sit, eye contact and hand targeting which was good; he also got to be a puppy.  At the end of the class, Katrin brought out 2 lifelike stuffed dogs which Remus thought were real.  We demonstrated BAT to the class using Remus and the larger of the 2 stuffed dogs.  He did great, displayed very nice body language indicating that he wanted to increase his distance away from it; I happily praised that and we walked happily away.  I think this is a great start to a trusting lifelong relationship.  After he had a 30 minute break in a crate, we had our Puppy Kindergarten Class, there we worked on leash walking, preventing resource guarding and making fetch a super fun activity!!  Even after all of the activity he had we ended with Remus still wanting to work with me!!!  That was huge, for Remus to work for 2 hours with only a 30 minute break and to continue to be willing to work with me- I couldn't have hoped for more!!

Goals for the week- visiting different places

Life is fun, intro to Ryan

I want to talk tonight a little about Ryan, Remus' uncle and my adult Vizsla.  He is high energy and  obedient with strong hunting instincts.  After work I realized he needed to go for a run tonight since he hasn't had any real exercise since last week.  Long story short, we went for a run at a local spot owned by the Dept. of Wildlife- an old cranberry bog with lots of water and wildlife.  Ry ran the entire time we were there, I walked of course- I need to make a serious effort to start running again, another story.  As we walked along, a dog started barking and running towards Ry, I told him to "leave it," continued walking and called him to catch up- he responded within seconds and was off to find something else.  He used to have a thing for fishing poles which was a little scary (I didn't want him to ruin someone's pole) since I guess they look like really long sticks- happy to say that no longer seems to be the case.  The best thing was when he left a rabbit that was laying in the middle of the path (it had been half eaten by a coyote or something).  On the way out Ry found some ducks and had a good time chasing them in the marsh.  

Remus is doing well.  We slept late this morning so he had a harder time being quiet during work, I was extremely busy and didn't get to play with him as much during lunch as I would have liked to.  I am continuing to practice "down" with Remus, I really need to make an effort to add in distractions.  I am continuing to socialize him and am happy with the number of different people he has been able to meet.

Remus at 3 weeks

Almost a week

It's Wednesday, Remus has been with me for a week.  Everyday is as fun as the previous.  I know it's going to get more difficult, I suppose, when he gets a little older and becomes an adolescent. We were practicing down at lunch today, he's doing very well without distractions so it's time to add them in slowly.  He is sleeping during work for the most part except when it's time to go to the bathroom or eat lunch.  We played "come" in the backyard at work- that was a great idea, not only did I reinforce that coming to me is the most awesome thing EVER; Remus ran a lot and was tired enough to sleep through the majority of the afternoon.

Oh, and he met a nice man in a uniform today and a very nice woman with glasses on her necklace.  Everyday we meet someone "new" or do something new or go someplace new.  It's all about introducing something or someone new.

Here it is Tuesday night, I've been up since 5:30 am which I'm sure to a lot of people is not that early; for me, though, it's early.  Remus made it about 7 hours through the night which is great.  The housebreaking is going fine, he goes to the bathroom as soon as I take him outside.  He will go inside the house of course, at this age he has to go as soon as he feels the need.  Bringing him to work helps because he is confined in a crate and doesn't have a chance but to have an accident unless...  he has to wait too long.  He did jump on the door tonight when he was riled up running around; I'll take that as a maybe cue that I need to go out (or at least praise and offer him a functional reward).  He went to the bathroom when we got outside.

Remus and I had a good day at work.  Before I punched in we met a client (man with a light beard) at the front door who happily said "hi" to Remus.  He met a man and a woman at the office.  During my lunch break we practiced the down cue, played "come to me" and practiced ignoring the thunder.  Then, Heather brought Morgan in to say "hi" to Remus.  Little guy was nervous at first but by the end of my break he was starting to play with her.  Later in the afternoon he was able to meet another (woman) client, he loves meeting new people; always wagging his tail!

Then, we came home and the craziness started.  I am happy to report that we are fine and the worst that happened was that Remus startled himself a few times.  The kitchen chairs were on the table which Remus knocked off when he was jumping around.  He ran so fast toward the dining room that he almost jumped over the baby gate.  You can not imagine the power of praise.  I said "Good Boy Remus!" he turned on a dime and I lavishly praised him and fed him treats so that he would remember the fun we had and hopefully not the chair almost falling on him.  The baby gate almost fell on him which was nothing after the chair.  When we went outside with Ry, he and Remus were trying to play together.  It wasn't very successful since Remus started yelping, not hurt just scared of the big dog (who doesn't really know how to play with a puppy).  They are both learning, everyday gets easier.

You are taking my picture again?!

It's hard being a cute puppy with a camera around, LOL.

Starting The Week Together

It's Monday, Remus has been with me for 4 days.  Tonight we worked on the "down" cue, taught by using the capture method:  wait for the dog perform the behavior then- mark, praise and reward.  I also started using "free" as his release cue.  Capturing can be a preferred method to teach certain behaviors as it allows the dog to figure out what you want.  I was hand feeding him his dinner, by the time his bowl was empty, he pretty consistently laying down when I showed him the hand signal.  I also started teaching him to nose-touch my hand.

He is doing very well with sit.  Since I don't want him jumping on the baby gate, he needs to sit before I come into the kitchen with him.  Although, I'm not always very consistent in preventing him from jumping on me when he comes when I call him.

He is also retrieving toys for me.  He will run to pick one up and runs back to me with it.  So very cute!!  One of Ryan's toys is a green and yellow ball with little balls on the inside that you can hear when the ball rolls around.  Remus plays with that ball, running, jumping and barking at it.

Today I learned that Remus is nervous in new situations but, he recovers quickly.  I need to make sure that I introduce something new every day.  So far, Remus has met the girls at work, 3 men, my sister, and has been work, to the cranberry bogs, my sister's house, Katrin's house (and puppy class), her parents' house and he met Katrin's dog Tom.

First Weekend Together

Copper-Creek Remus' Workn Lika Dog; Whelped April 21, 2012

I picked up Remus in Connecticut on Thursday night at 9pm from the breeder then started the 2 hour drive home.  Remus is a purebred Vizsla, a pointing breed from Hungary that was around at the time of the Magyars; a very old breed.  Remus slept the first part of the ride home in Katrin's lap, the second part he cried and slept in his crate.  We arrived home at midnight and finally got to bed at 1 am.  Up twice during the night then off to work by 7 am.  How I got through that day with so little sleep is incredible.

We got to work by 7:30 am (I'm a vet tech and luckily able to bring him to work).  Poor little guy didn't know what to think about all of the barking, smells and commotion.  I'm happy to report that after an initial shaky start he did fantastic his first day.

Saturday we got up in the middle of the night (yes, I'm going to be getting up at the middle of the night for a week or so) to potty outside, then got up for real around 6 and had breakfast.  Around 10 we got into the car and were on our way to our first puppy class.  In class we started learning to walk on leash, to sit using the food lure and a capture down.  After class we had a nap at home, we were tired!

Sunday morning we had breakfast at 6, went to the bogs for our first off leash run with Ryan, another Vizsla and his uncle.  Remus had a great time following (trying to anyway) Ry and running up and down the paths.  I had to teach a lesson today (I'm also a dog trainer) so Remus had to stay home in his crate for a few hours with the big dogs- Ry and Clara-10 y.o. Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  I came home around noon, took Remus out and then had lunch sitting on the front lawn feeding Remus whenever a car went by.  Remus was not bothered by the cars going by.  I had to go out again, so back into his crate.  After it started to cool off this afternoon, we picked up my sister and drove to the field behind the school for a walk and to play the come game- she and I stood or sat about 8-15 feet apart and took turns calling Remus.  He came when called with such enthusiasm, it was so great to see!!  We sat in the shade for a little while, Remus fell asleep then we went back to Carol's for a little while.  We played with Remus in the back yard for a little while.  I went home and fed him and the other dogs, played with them outside and now he's been asleep for a few hours.  Gotta go wake him up so that he can potty again, then off to bed.  He's 9 weeks old today.  Busy first weekend.  I love him already!