Ruff had a fantastic trip to Canada! He swam, he dove, he kayaked, he hiked, and he loved every minute of it. I think he's sad to be home!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
July 9, 2011
20 days until we leave for our Canada adventure. Ruff will be the only one accompanying us this year. He's getting much better at swimming, but we're still bringing a life jacket for him. Still trying to figure out the food, it looks like we're going with dehydrated, but it's going to be expensive. May bring a few pounds of raw and organ to mix in with it, and of course we'll already have eggs and meat scraps as we cook.
Such a big boy...
Thursday, June 23, 2011
June 23, 2011
Not much new news- still progressing well in all his training. Will post some pics this weekend when his buddy Xander visits!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
June 7, 2011
7 months and 1 week old.
I'm hoping to get some new training videos soon. Ruff has been tracking 3 times now, and he's officially started learning the obedience routines. We're working on the heel, and we're going to start on the hold and bark soon. He continues to be absolutely incredible and I can't wait to see him trial.
He's also beginning to transition from puppy to adult in terms of mentality. We babysat for a friend's new 12 week old puppy this weekend, and he showed some adult behaviors as far as correcting the puppy for trying to take toys/bones out of his mouth, crowd him at the water bowl, and so forth. It was cute, if not a little sad... our big boy is growing up. I don't have a recent weight on him, but after trying to heft him into the bathtub today, I'm betting we're nearing 70lbs. He certainly looks like a grownup, until he starts bunny-hopping across the yard.
I did a slideshow movie of his growth-comparison photos. I wish I was better at editing, but it's okay.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
May 18, 2011
62lbs at 6.5 months (plus a few days).
Ruff has officially started work on the bite sleeve and has been doing excellent. He had his first day of tracking and did very well with that too. Right now Juergen is handling him for tracking, since we're both beginners and tracking is difficult to teach correctly. Right now, he's only doing very short, straight tracks, 50 footsteps or less. By the time he reaches Schh3, he'll be doing 800 foot tracks that cross each other, and passively indicate 3 lost articles along the way. We have homework to start with some basic heelwork, but his formal obedience doesn't start for a few more weeks.
In the meantime, we're gearing up for Canada! We've started putting together their first aid kit, Shakespeare has his life jacket already but I still need to order Ruff's. I think the boys are going to love it!
And one more video: Day 2 of the bite sleeve!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
May 10, 2011
I finally got a video of Ruff at Schutzhund. :-)
His trainer says he's ready to start tracking, so we'll be going out Sunday morning for that. And in a couple weeks, he gets to start transitioning to the puppy bite sleeve, and also start formal obedience work. By the first week of June, he should be doing a normal training routine with the other dogs, not just the puppy work he's been doing so far. I'm so proud of him! He looks amazing out there, he's come such a long way in just a few months from the puppy who wouldn't even play tug of war with the trainers on his first day. I think he's going to be an awesome dog, and I fully expect to get him all the way to Schh3.
He's doing great all around... we go on hikes and play dates with Lupa every week, and he's getting almost impossible to tire out. He's still between 55 and 60lbs. I need to get him to the vet for a weight check soon. He started getting knuckle bones to chew on when we're busy, and he can strip them down to almost nothing, although he still leaves the thickest, hardest parts of the bone behind. He's slowly starting to fill out and look more like a real dog and less like a mismatched goofy puppy with a bobblehead. :-)
Friday, April 8, 2011
April 8, 2011
Happy Birthday Ruff!
He's officially 6 months old today. :-)
He has most of his adult teeth in, and the rest are well on the way.
His training is going well. He's off this weekend, the trainers are at a trial in Kentucky. We're going to try to go Wednesday night instead.
His hair is changing- the coarser hair has taken over pretty much everywhere, and he's starting to develop a ruff around his neck.
He's getting really courageous at the park, he runs and wrestles more every day.
Overall he's a big, beautiful, wonderful boy. :-) Happy birthday Ruff!
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