March 31, 2011

Today was the first time I bathed big Ruff and felt like I was bathing a dog instead of a puppy. :*(

22 weeks old tomorrow... we'll get a current weight on him soon.

March 30, 2011

Ruff's sheep herding instinct test was both successful and adorable! He went absolutely CRAZY over the sheep, and immediately started chasing them in circles, turning them, barking, and just being adorably crazy. The trainer said he'd do very well with herding if we wanted to pursue it. I may look into it later this summer, but for now I prefer Schutzhund. He had his second day, and he did much better with prey drive. He chased, tugged, barked, and was suitably driven to chase his toy around. Our next assignment is to transition him from his stuffed animals to an actual Schutzhund training tug. To teach the bite work, they start the dog on a little stuffed tube toy on a rope, that's covered in the same material as the outside of the bite sleeve. From there, they transition to a pillow, to teach them to grab it with a full mouth. Then they go to a wedge, to help them make sure they're biting all the way to the back of their teeth. Then they go to a soft "puppy" sleeve, then the full reinforced sleeve. We've been working him with pieces of burlap to help him learn the feel of the material, so the next step is the tug. I need to ask about the tracking training, but we don't start the formal obedience until he's older. The big part of getting a puppy into this sport is teaching them to be driven and excited while they're working. It has to be a fun game for them, with lots of satisfaction and rewards. If they don't really want to do it, they won't do well.

His next training is on Sunday- 58 degrees and sunshine, best weather we'll have had for this so far!

We haven't gotten a weight lately- probably upwards of 55lbs. New photos soon.

March 21, 2011

Sunday Ruff had his first training day for Schutzhund! He did great. We started with some basic temperament exercises- walking over tarps, shaking coins in a bucket, opening umbrellas, walking over the a-frame wall, climbing fallen trees, and standing on a wobble board. He passed everything with flying colors, even outperforming some of the older dogs. He had a few problems with his prey-drive test, it boiled down to him only wanting to play with me, not the tester, and needing too much verbal encouragement to stay excited. So we need to work on getting him to stay excited and interested without a lot of chatter and without necessarily needing me to be involved. But everyone was impressed with him and said for his age he's doing really well and has a great temperament. I think he's going to do really well. He started showing a really strong desire to keep working and keep pleasing people as the day went on, he was always excited to come out of his crate and started looking for ways to make me and the trainers happy. It was very cute. For now we're going to be going every Sunday, eventually I'm going to start trying to make it Wednesday nights too. And Thursday he has a sheep herding instinct test- I just want to see how he does and see if it will be an option for future training. Right now I think we'll only have time for the Schutzhund, but I want to keep our options open in case he decides he's not a big fan of the Schutzhund after all.

March 20, 2011

A few days over 20 weeks / 5 months.

Ruff got his last set of puppy shots, including rabies, so he's now officially permitted to attend training and other events. And, I finally found 2 Schutzhund groups to meet up with- our first evaluation session is tomorrow (well, later today, when it stops being 2am). Weight at the vet was closing in on 44lbs, that was over a week ago, so probably past 45lbs by now. He's slowed to a nice steady pace, 3-5lbs per week, but definitely getting taller. He can get up some good speed now and he's learned to really wrestle and play with the dogs at the park. We've been visiting his cousins Lupa and Panzer more too, and he's learning to hold his own against them as well. Every day his overall training and manners improve. He's gotten very good about not putting teeth on people, even when we play. I'm excited to see how his first session goes tomorrow- Aunt Billie is supposed to be coming along to take some pictures! I'll post a good one if she makes it. :-)

March 6, 2011

Official weight: 40lbs.

I believe we're currently at 18 weeks, but honestly I'm starting to lose track. :-P

Big Ruff had his first "home alone" experience... the little boys are sick this week, so he had to stay alone one day (with 2 walks by the pet sitter, of course). He did very well and didn't appear the least bit concerned, which is reassuring. He's definitely started getting taller again, and he's got adult teeth coming in- the rows of teeth between his canines are all filled in and he's working on a few molars. He's getting much steadier and faster with his running, and much more confident in his playing. We've had some good park trips. We're working on "down", which is still one of his least favorite commands. He has good and bad days with leash manners, although even his bad days aren't horrible- not so much pulling as maintaining constant tension on the leash. I've got feelers out for Schutzhund trainers in the area- there's on in Alexandria I just located that has 3 of cousin Lupa's relatives in it. We're still working through some obstinateness, but overall he's a good pup.